As 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 do feel quite strongly about this that probably one of the things that unfortunately this age now to get a Nobel Prize is to really use part of it to help the young people get excited about science.
More Ahmed Zewail Quotes
-
-
When I was a child, I thought of my Delta town as the center of the universe, but now I realize how little I know about the universe.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
I 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 ZEWAIL -
Although the Nasser revolution of 1952 was secular, the culture remained deeply religious – but it was a faith of moderation and tolerance.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
I 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 ZEWAIL -
If 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 ZEWAIL -
The fastest possible speeds are determined by their molecular vibrations and this speeds is about a kilometre per second.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
Scientists 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 ZEWAIL -
We don’t work like the best basketball player and the best musician and so on. Science is a collective effort.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
I do feel that there are tremendous amount of talent in Egypt, human resources.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
So, I’m an old fashioned still in this regard but these are the moment where I really can be creative, if I am, to be left alone with just a book and piece of paper and to be thinking.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
Invest in basic research and recruit the best minds.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
I want to really focus on doing this two things I really would like to focus on science and the excitement of science and to help with science.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
We still don’t understand how the big bang and evolving all the way to the human species and so on. So all of this is going to be a very, very exciting to the new people.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
I am not one of the new media experts working all the time with my computers and the PowerPoint’s and things of that sort.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
I 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 -
Women 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 ZEWAIL -
And 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 ZEWAIL -
So, that’s my intention to focus my efforts there and I hope I will be able to do so.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
You should have some time to think and that’s very important.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
One of the things I enjoy most is to be left alone with a book.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
I came from Egypt and I owe Egypt a lot to what I am now.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
When I give a lecture on Egypt there are thousands of people in the lecture hall, so obviously they would like to go to science and they would love to do science, but you really have to get the correct science base in order for them to interact.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
I think the Nobel Prize helps for a number of reasons. Number one, if I can be frank, there is these people will feel by getting a Nobel Prize that I’m one of them, that it is possible to contribute on the world map of science and technology.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
There are many, many books I’ve read and I think this is quite naïve actually because we all just try to uncover something.
AHMED ZEWAIL -
Of 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 ZEWAIL -
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 ZEWAIL