Perhaps the most valuable thing he taught me (his father) was that there is no contradiction between devotion to work and enjoyment of life and people
AHMED ZEWAILPerhaps the most valuable thing he taught me (his father) was that there is no contradiction between devotion to work and enjoyment of life and people
AHMED ZEWAILYou should have some time to think and that’s very important.
AHMED ZEWAILI do have a concern however, humanity has a great way of adapting and I’m sure scientists of the future, probably after I leave this planet, earth will have a new way of dealing with the internet but I do have a concern in the transition period.
AHMED ZEWAILWhen they called me with the Nobel call from Secretary General of the Swedish Academy it was twenty minutes to six and he said well that was well hope I’m not disturbing you but I am the Secretary General of the Swedish Academy.
AHMED ZEWAILAnd the other thing also which I’m hoping for is that the government in Egypt is willing and interested in promoting science and technology and this is an ideal time now to be able to do something.
AHMED ZEWAILWomen made up nearly half my class at university, and my senior academic adviser there was a woman. In Alexandria, my friends were Christians and Muslims.
AHMED ZEWAILSyria is the proud heir of an ancient civilization that has a unique spectrum of minorities that encompasses Muslims and Christians of various denominations. There are at least ten such ethnic and religious groups.
AHMED ZEWAILWe don’t work like the best basketball player and the best musician and so on. Science is a collective effort.
AHMED ZEWAILOf course you can imagine I was frozen in time when he said that but then he made a very famous statement, something to the effect that this is the last 20 minutes of peace of your life.
AHMED ZEWAILIf you like, there is a Guinness time. The reason for that it’s fundamental. It is not that we have to keep shortening the time. It turns out all molecular and biological systems have speeds of the atoms move inside them.
AHMED ZEWAILElectrons and possibly x-rays to be able to get the architecture of these molecules, the molecular structures themselves, of very complex biological systems. That’s the ultimate goal.
AHMED ZEWAILScientists contribute in a variety of ways and I don’t think I can singular one even including [Albert] Einstein, that I can say that he’s the best.
AHMED ZEWAILAs a child, I thought I was immortal, but now I recognize how limited a time we all have. As a child, success meant scoring A on every exam, but now I take it to mean good health, close family and friends, achieve- ments in my work, and helping others.
AHMED ZEWAILI don’t know all the reasons for these achievements, but I know that I love what I do and I have never wanted to rest on my laurels.
AHMED ZEWAILThere are many, many books I’ve read and I think this is quite naïve actually because we all just try to uncover something.
AHMED ZEWAILI found with my students they don’t necessarily look at journals any more, but they print right away from the internet what’s relevant to what’s he doing you see.
AHMED ZEWAIL