Scientists working with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN increasingly believe that the new particle discovered last year is the Higgs Boson. Nicknamed the ‘God particle’, the Higgs Boson is considered to be critical to our understanding of the universe, and its discovery would be a monumental scientific achievement.
Fittingly, this week on Thursday 21 March – Imperial College are holding an event celebrating the life and works of Professor Abdul Salam, a theoretical physicist from Pakistan whose ground-breaking work on sub-atomic particles included predicting the existence of the Higgs Boson. In 1979, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for his research on the Standard Model of particle physics, which theorised that fundamental forces govern the overall dynamics of the universe.
Coincidentally, the Professor’s story is also relevant – but more tragically so – given the recent attacks against minorities in Pakistan. Despite his leading contributions to science, Professor Abdus Salam is little known in Pakistan, where as an Ahmadi, his name is absent from the nation’s textbooks, and consciousness. The Professor left his government employ, and native country, in protest against the passing of a law in 1974 that declared Ahmadis non-Muslim. On his death in 1996 in Oxford, his body was returned to Pakistan and buried with a gravestone which read ‘First Muslim Nobel Laureate.’ However, a local magistrate subsequently ordered that the word ‘Muslim’ be removed.
Thou seest not, in the creation of the All-merciful any imperfection, Return thy gaze, seest thou any fissure? Then Return thy gaze, again and again. Thy gaze, Comes back to thee dazzled, aweary.
Professor Salam quoted these verses from the Qur’an during his acceptance speech.
Thursday’s event will feature various guest speakers, including Professor Tom Kibble who will discuss Professor Salam’s contribution to Higgs Boson, Professor Michael Duff who will talk about working with Dr Salam as his PhD student. Professor Salam’s brother and daughter will also share their personal memories. Crucially, Saba Manzoor, a PhD student at Imperial College, will offer an explanation of Higgs Boson for non-physicists. We let our inner Sheldon get the better of us and thought we’d have a go here, but many, many Google searches later – and we have only a migraine to show for our efforts.
So if you’re interested, you’ll have to get down to Imperial College this Thursday at 5.30pm. We’re told the event is strictly about celebrating the science and works of the Professor, so if you’re planning to go, make sure you’ve had your Weetabix! To confirm your place, RSVP to Saba Manzoor. Further details on the event are available here.