Abdus Salam: celebrating a unifying force in global physics

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Hello, and welcome to the Physics World Weekly

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Podcast. I'm Hamish Johnston.

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In this episode, we explore the extraordinary life

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of Abdus Salam,

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who shared the 1979

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Nobel Prize for Physics.

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But first,

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A pioneer of modern physics who shaped the

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way that we look at the universe.

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That's Abdus Salam. In

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1979,

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he shared the Physics Nobel Prize with

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Sheldon Glashow

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and Steven Weinberg

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for their work on the unification

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of the weak and electromagnetic

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interactions.

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Salam was born in 1926

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in the Punjab province of British India.

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In 1947,

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Punjab was split between the newly independent Pakistan

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and India.

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And Salam

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became a citizen

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of Pakistan.

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By then, he had won a scholarship to

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attend the University of Cambridge.

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And in 1949,

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Salaam earned a BA degree with double 1st

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class honors in mathematics

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and physics.

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He stayed at Cambridge to do a PhD

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on Quantum

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Electrodynamics,

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which set the scene for his later

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Nobel Prize winning work.

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After a brief stint in Pakistan,

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he returned to the UK,

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and he spent much of his career at

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Imperial College London.

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And now the university is gearing up to

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celebrate the centenary

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of his birth on the 29th January

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2026.

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Here is Physics World's Mateen Durrani in conversation

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with Claudia Durham and Ian Walmsley,

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2 physicists

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at Imperial College who were involved

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in organizing the celebrations.

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Abdus Salam was one of the greatest theoretical

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physicists of the 20th century,

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and he was the only scientist from Pakistan

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to ever win a Nobel Prize sharing it

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with Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg

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for unifying the electromagnetic and weak forces.

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And for many years, he was at Imperial

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College in London and I'm delighted to be

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joined by 2 people from the college

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who are helping celebrate Salam's legacy. It's Clouder

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de Arame who's a theorist at Imperial and

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Ian Walmsley, Provost of the College. Welcome to

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you both.

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Hi. Thank you. Hello. Thank you. Thanks for

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joining us. So Claudia,

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let's start with the basics for people who

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have forgotten who Abdulsalam was. Do you want

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to remind us about,

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who he was and his background and, you

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know, the contributions he made to physics?

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Yes, absolutely. And you already introduced him a

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little bit. But,

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I think it's fair to say that we

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can consider Professor Abdus Salam

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as really one of the founders of modern

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physics, of the way we think about, modern

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physics today.

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He one of the major things he did

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is pioneering the study of symmetries and unification.

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And that helped to contribute in the formulation

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of the standard model of particle physics, where

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the notion of symmetries is extremely important. It's

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foundational.

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And there's perhaps a little bit of a

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similarity in his way he's thinking of using

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symmetries

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to building the architecture

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of the fundamental constituents of matter and the

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fundamental forces of nature

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with perhaps

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the culture in which was,

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growing of Pakistan

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and the beautiful

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symmetry in the architecture itself.

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And one of the key physics aspects of

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what he did,

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was in

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1967.

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He incorporated the Higgs mechanism,

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which was actually co discovered as well by

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one of his imperial colleague,

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Professor Tom Kibbling.

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And so he incorporated the Higgs mechanism

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into electroweak unification

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theory.

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And this corresponds to unification

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of electromagnetism

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and the weak force. And that is,

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has sort of changed the way we see

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the world in realizing that,

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how important the notion of symmetry are, but

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also how,

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some different some forces which may appear as

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being different, actually a linked, unified through the

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same

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framework. So as you mentioned, this led him

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this breakthrough led him to the Nobel Prize

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of Physics

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in 1979,

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with Weinberg and Glashow. And that was the

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first Nobel Prize, the only Nobel Prize for

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Pakistan.

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It's actually making him the first

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Nobel Prize in science from an Islamic country,

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and actually the latest Nobel Prize, at Imperial.

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So we're very proud of him.

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You mentioned his connections with Imperial. So, you

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know, he grew up, he was born in

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British India, and then he studied after in

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Pakistan in his student years. Then he came

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to Cambridge, but of course, as you say,

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he had

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a long standing

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contribution and links with Imperial, didn't he? That's

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right. So after that, he studied,

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in Cambridge. And then, for a while, he

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went back to Pakistan, but he realized that,

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the scientific,

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opportunities there were were more limited. So he

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went back to Cambridge for a while, but

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then he was very quickly appointed as a

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professor

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of applied mathematics first at Imperial

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in 1957.

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And that made him the first Asian

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academic to hold a professorship at any UK

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university.

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And then he actually stayed at Imperial,

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he then moved to to physics.

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But he stayed at Imperial for his whole

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career. So for 40 years,

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He retained his position at Imperial throughout his

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life, and he really considered Imperial to be

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his scientific home all the way, to the

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very end.

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And at Imperial, he

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was really foundational

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there as well. He founded the theoretical physics

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group, and he worked

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with quantum electromagnetics

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and quantum field theory.

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And so he has developed

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the work,

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that led you to the breakthrough and the

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Nobel Prize.

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But he continued throughout his career at Imperial

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to do foundational work on the renormalization,

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electroweak theory, grand unification,

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supersymmetry,

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etcetera,

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and leading to,

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the centers of research in fundamental physics, which

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was really

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leading,

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leading the world,

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leading the state of the art in those

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aspects.

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There's actually many of his students,

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like Professor Michael Duff and Ray Vivers,

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had incredible

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discoveries, incredible impact in physics and paved the

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way for the way we do quantum theory

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today still.

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And of course, he was a sort of

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incredible figure who also wanted to help

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scientists from other parts of the country that

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of the world, in fact, who perhaps didn't

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have the opportunities that many people in the

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West did. And he was pivotal in well,

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he did set up the International Center For

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Theoretical Physics in Trieste, didn't he?

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Absolutely. Yeah. And you can see that in

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in many levels in how he

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thought about science, not only the unification in

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science itself, but unification

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in using science as a unification, as a

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unifying force in some sense.

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And even in setting up the theoretical physics

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group at Imperial, that was very much his

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perspective

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in using it as a center so that,

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people from all over the world could come

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and discuss together. This seems something,

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which is kind of, we're used to,

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today. But at the time, that was kind

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of

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foundational as well

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in setting up a center

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where, it was very much in driving,

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collaborations between people from different parts of the

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world. But yeah, Ed Salaam wasn't an incredible

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scientist,

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per se, but he was an incredible,

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really an incredible human being and eager to

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champion

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diversity and opening new opportunities in science and

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recognizing that

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doing science in a diverse way is for

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is for the best of science itself and

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for the best of humanity.

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So he was, I would say he was

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ahead of his time in realizing the unifying

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power of science

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and the ability to foster it,

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throughout the world. So that is, to some

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extent, one led the initiative,

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including

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founding ICTP, which is the UNESCO

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International Center For Theoretical Physics.

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He founded it in 1964.

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And the goal of ICTP

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was,

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sort of combat some of the issues related

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to our relations,

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that some people in some part of the

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world were facing,

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some lack of resources,

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particularly that some people in the global south

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were facing with.

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And that had a huge impact.

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It continues to do so.

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So today, ICTP is actually a network of

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5 institutions

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spread over 4 continents

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devoted to advancing

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international collaboration

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and scientific expertise

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to the non Western world.

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And and he has, as I said, he

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has been foundational for many, many scientists for

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generations now.

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It hosts around 6,000 scientists every years, and

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50% of them are from global cells.

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And and and we're very eager to make

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connections with with those as well.

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And then when Salaam died in 1996, and

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he had quite a sort of the last

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few years were quite difficult for him. He

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had a very difficult illness. But, you're probably

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too young to remember him, Claudia. But, Ian,

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I think, you

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you can share some of the stories of

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00:10:55,665 --> 00:10:56,965
what you know about his life.

282
00:10:58,544 --> 00:10:58,865
Yes.

283
00:10:59,424 --> 00:11:00,004
I I,

284
00:11:00,785 --> 00:11:03,080
being considerably older than Claudia,

285
00:11:03,460 --> 00:11:04,440
had the privilege

286
00:11:05,139 --> 00:11:07,000
of meeting him when I was an undergraduate

287
00:11:07,220 --> 00:11:09,639
here in the Physics department. And,

288
00:11:10,180 --> 00:11:13,205
certainly he was he was a present figure

289
00:11:13,205 --> 00:11:15,384
then even to 1st year undergraduates

290
00:11:16,004 --> 00:11:16,325
and,

291
00:11:17,125 --> 00:11:18,745
in the sort of initial

292
00:11:19,339 --> 00:11:21,579
gathering of the freshman class, a number of

293
00:11:21,579 --> 00:11:22,159
the senior

294
00:11:22,779 --> 00:11:24,779
academics were there and he gave a sort

295
00:11:24,779 --> 00:11:25,839
of short talk

296
00:11:28,065 --> 00:11:30,544
on his work and on the work of

297
00:11:30,544 --> 00:11:32,865
the theoretical physics group as a whole and

298
00:11:32,865 --> 00:11:34,004
the work of the department.

299
00:11:34,950 --> 00:11:36,870
And it's that kind of thing, not that

300
00:11:36,870 --> 00:11:37,529
I understood

301
00:11:38,389 --> 00:11:40,090
much of it at all at that point,

302
00:11:40,230 --> 00:11:42,649
but it's the kind of presence and inspiration

303
00:11:43,029 --> 00:11:45,274
that I think is really important for,

304
00:11:47,035 --> 00:11:49,835
motivating young people to think about these questions

305
00:11:49,835 --> 00:11:51,615
and take on these hard problems

306
00:11:52,394 --> 00:11:54,940
and just to get get a sense of

307
00:11:54,940 --> 00:11:55,440
the

308
00:11:56,220 --> 00:11:58,139
kind of problems he was tackling and the

309
00:11:58,139 --> 00:11:58,639
enthusiasm,

310
00:11:59,500 --> 00:12:02,154
that he went about that was, was was

311
00:12:02,154 --> 00:12:04,794
really fantastic for for a young student. So

312
00:12:04,794 --> 00:12:06,235
that must have been, what, in the mid

313
00:12:06,235 --> 00:12:08,074
eighties was that? Ida must have already won

314
00:12:08,074 --> 00:12:10,820
his I wish it was. That was

315
00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:12,579
he came here in 1977

316
00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,079
that end, so, yeah, a little before that.

317
00:12:16,079 --> 00:12:17,360
A little before that. Had he won his

318
00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:19,125
Nobel Prize when do you have that lecture

319
00:12:19,125 --> 00:12:21,205
from him? He won it, when I was

320
00:12:21,205 --> 00:12:23,605
a second year student. So he was, you

321
00:12:23,605 --> 00:12:25,465
know, there was a lot of big celebrations

322
00:12:25,764 --> 00:12:27,784
and, parties in the department

323
00:12:28,950 --> 00:12:31,429
on that occasion. And as Claudio has already

324
00:12:31,429 --> 00:12:33,190
noted, there were there were a number, aside

325
00:12:33,190 --> 00:12:34,309
from him at that time, there were a

326
00:12:34,309 --> 00:12:36,889
number of other luminaries like Tom Kibble around,

327
00:12:37,334 --> 00:12:37,654
who'd,

328
00:12:38,214 --> 00:12:41,735
made lots of important contributions. So that group

329
00:12:41,735 --> 00:12:42,394
was really

330
00:12:42,855 --> 00:12:44,714
celebrated, I think, as probably

331
00:12:45,629 --> 00:12:49,090
the leading theoretical particle group in the UK

332
00:12:49,629 --> 00:12:51,490
and among the best in the world.

333
00:12:51,790 --> 00:12:53,549
And he really set that up and it

334
00:12:53,549 --> 00:12:55,784
was fantastic for the department to have that

335
00:12:55,784 --> 00:12:58,524
real, real boost of somebody of that caliber

336
00:12:58,745 --> 00:12:59,644
in its list.

337
00:13:00,345 --> 00:13:02,845
And Claudio, to come back to you, it's,

338
00:13:02,899 --> 00:13:05,220
you know, Salam was born in 1926, so

339
00:13:05,220 --> 00:13:07,059
we're coming up to his centenary of his

340
00:13:07,059 --> 00:13:09,139
birth. And I know you've got quite a

341
00:13:09,139 --> 00:13:09,879
few activities,

342
00:13:10,740 --> 00:13:13,355
planned for that celebration. Do you want to

343
00:13:13,355 --> 00:13:14,815
tell us about some of them?

344
00:13:15,754 --> 00:13:17,754
Yeah. So we already been having quite a

345
00:13:17,754 --> 00:13:18,894
few activities,

346
00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:21,659
initiatives been set up,

347
00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,620
building up to his 100 year

348
00:13:25,159 --> 00:13:25,659
birthday.

349
00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:27,259
We had a 98

350
00:13:28,554 --> 00:13:31,375
year birthday celebration just a few months ago,

351
00:13:31,914 --> 00:13:34,554
here in the campus of, Imperial College in

352
00:13:34,554 --> 00:13:35,375
South Kensington.

353
00:13:36,554 --> 00:13:38,950
So that the 29th January,

354
00:13:39,570 --> 00:13:40,389
that's his birthday.

355
00:13:41,329 --> 00:13:42,149
This year,

356
00:13:43,169 --> 00:13:46,709
this led to a big event on campus

357
00:13:47,315 --> 00:13:48,215
where we celebrated

358
00:13:48,835 --> 00:13:50,295
his, his legacy,

359
00:13:50,754 --> 00:13:54,035
very much the past legacy, but also moving

360
00:13:54,035 --> 00:13:55,955
into the future and seeing how we can

361
00:13:55,955 --> 00:13:57,095
use this to promote

362
00:13:57,540 --> 00:14:00,500
and celebrate the excellence in fundamental science, but

363
00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:01,399
also the excellencies

364
00:14:02,100 --> 00:14:02,759
in bridging,

365
00:14:03,620 --> 00:14:04,100
with,

366
00:14:04,420 --> 00:14:06,740
with engaging with the Global South and engaging

367
00:14:06,740 --> 00:14:07,934
with other opportunities.

368
00:14:09,995 --> 00:14:12,574
So what has already happened here on campus

369
00:14:12,634 --> 00:14:15,790
is, for instance, there's been a renaming of

370
00:14:15,790 --> 00:14:18,509
the Imperial Central Library to the Abu Salam

371
00:14:18,509 --> 00:14:20,269
Libraries. And now it is the Abu Salam

372
00:14:20,269 --> 00:14:20,769
Library

373
00:14:21,230 --> 00:14:23,009
with an official plaque and billing

374
00:14:23,815 --> 00:14:24,215
that,

375
00:14:24,695 --> 00:14:27,414
many people from the college, including Ian, were

376
00:14:27,414 --> 00:14:28,235
present too.

377
00:14:28,695 --> 00:14:29,654
There was a big,

378
00:14:30,350 --> 00:14:32,269
in addition to this unveiling, there was a

379
00:14:32,269 --> 00:14:33,570
public talk featuring,

380
00:14:34,110 --> 00:14:34,610
various

381
00:14:35,309 --> 00:14:38,050
fundamental physics, theoretical physics, physicists,

382
00:14:38,835 --> 00:14:41,735
including the ICTP director, Professor

383
00:14:42,115 --> 00:14:43,174
Atisha Dabodkar

384
00:14:43,795 --> 00:14:45,235
and Professor Brian Cox.

385
00:14:45,875 --> 00:14:47,014
We probably know,

386
00:14:47,590 --> 00:14:48,570
He's been recognized

387
00:14:48,950 --> 00:14:50,170
as a face of science.

388
00:14:50,550 --> 00:14:52,490
So we had a big, big event.

389
00:14:53,110 --> 00:14:54,195
It was very much

390
00:14:54,674 --> 00:14:57,335
as a testament of Salam's legacy

391
00:14:57,875 --> 00:14:59,335
and ensuring how

392
00:15:00,274 --> 00:15:00,934
the strength

393
00:15:01,394 --> 00:15:04,790
of the science itself, but also in showing

394
00:15:04,790 --> 00:15:05,290
how

395
00:15:05,990 --> 00:15:07,210
himself as a figure

396
00:15:07,910 --> 00:15:10,230
allows us to engage with people. And we

397
00:15:10,230 --> 00:15:12,410
had an outreach event here on campus,

398
00:15:13,375 --> 00:15:14,434
which was an exhibition

399
00:15:15,214 --> 00:15:18,174
featuring some of the articles from SALAM Life

400
00:15:18,174 --> 00:15:18,674
itself.

401
00:15:19,214 --> 00:15:19,714
So

402
00:15:20,759 --> 00:15:23,960
using that to engage with school children from

403
00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:25,019
all around London.

404
00:15:25,639 --> 00:15:27,500
So on the day there were over 4,000

405
00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:28,220
people

406
00:15:28,914 --> 00:15:31,075
that have registered for the lecture. There were

407
00:15:31,075 --> 00:15:32,695
thousands of people on campus

408
00:15:33,075 --> 00:15:35,970
from young children to all the all the

409
00:15:35,970 --> 00:15:38,610
people just eager to learn more about salaam

410
00:15:38,610 --> 00:15:39,669
and what it means,

411
00:15:40,370 --> 00:15:41,669
or to learn about,

412
00:15:42,370 --> 00:15:44,714
how we can move forward with his, with

413
00:15:44,714 --> 00:15:45,534
his legacy.

414
00:15:47,355 --> 00:15:49,754
And a lot of those aspects are actually

415
00:15:49,754 --> 00:15:52,779
now being exported online. So the exhibition was

416
00:15:52,940 --> 00:15:53,440
concretely

417
00:15:53,740 --> 00:15:55,120
here on campus with

418
00:15:55,980 --> 00:15:58,300
real, real things on campus. But now it's,

419
00:15:58,620 --> 00:15:59,920
you can find it online.

420
00:16:00,300 --> 00:16:02,735
You can find online as well some

421
00:16:03,214 --> 00:16:05,534
essay. There was an essay contest being made

422
00:16:05,534 --> 00:16:07,634
with, school children from Pakistan,

423
00:16:08,654 --> 00:16:10,115
in seeing how Salaam

424
00:16:10,820 --> 00:16:13,779
has inspired them. And it is very nice

425
00:16:13,779 --> 00:16:14,679
to see how,

426
00:16:15,620 --> 00:16:17,000
young children see,

427
00:16:18,365 --> 00:16:21,004
the trajectory, the journey that has gone, that

428
00:16:21,004 --> 00:16:23,325
Salaam has gone through, and realize that they

429
00:16:23,325 --> 00:16:25,245
can connect with art, and then themselves can

430
00:16:25,245 --> 00:16:27,085
realize this is something they can do. This

431
00:16:27,085 --> 00:16:27,919
is something possible.

432
00:16:29,039 --> 00:16:32,000
So we had 100 of essays being submitted

433
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:33,700
by school children from Pakistan.

434
00:16:34,559 --> 00:16:36,399
And we selected a few of them, and

435
00:16:36,399 --> 00:16:38,134
those are now, they've been featured all the

436
00:16:38,134 --> 00:16:39,735
day, and now they you can find them

437
00:16:39,735 --> 00:16:40,235
online.

438
00:16:40,694 --> 00:16:42,314
We also had a special documentary

439
00:16:42,774 --> 00:16:45,754
made, in salam, which you can find online.

440
00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:48,600
But this is, as you say, very much,

441
00:16:48,919 --> 00:16:50,139
building up to

442
00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:53,480
how we can move forward to, to engage

443
00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,580
even, even, even further.

444
00:16:56,274 --> 00:16:58,754
I think one thing that was clear through

445
00:16:58,754 --> 00:17:01,235
this event, through building up to this event

446
00:17:01,235 --> 00:17:02,295
already in January

447
00:17:02,675 --> 00:17:04,775
and seeing the engagement of people,

448
00:17:05,329 --> 00:17:08,130
is how much people can how much his

449
00:17:08,130 --> 00:17:10,630
life story and what he has done resonate

450
00:17:10,769 --> 00:17:13,250
with people at every level. Absolutely at every

451
00:17:13,250 --> 00:17:13,750
level.

452
00:17:14,505 --> 00:17:17,565
No matter your background, no matter whether you

453
00:17:18,024 --> 00:17:19,944
are a scientist per se or not, I

454
00:17:19,944 --> 00:17:21,404
think it does awaken,

455
00:17:22,259 --> 00:17:24,420
the scientist in all of us in his

456
00:17:24,420 --> 00:17:26,279
way. He connects with people.

457
00:17:27,380 --> 00:17:29,619
But now we really want to to build

458
00:17:29,619 --> 00:17:30,315
some of that.

459
00:17:30,794 --> 00:17:32,634
And we want to build some of those

460
00:17:32,634 --> 00:17:33,134
initiatives

461
00:17:33,754 --> 00:17:35,054
and understand much more

462
00:17:35,914 --> 00:17:37,855
fundamental curiosity driven.

463
00:17:38,460 --> 00:17:40,079
Fundamental research is,

464
00:17:40,539 --> 00:17:41,839
also as a way to

465
00:17:42,140 --> 00:17:45,259
outward looking towards making connection with the non

466
00:17:45,259 --> 00:17:46,880
West Global Global South.

467
00:17:47,485 --> 00:17:49,585
So we're very much looking forward to,

468
00:17:49,965 --> 00:17:52,445
even bigger type of celebration for for his

469
00:17:52,445 --> 00:17:53,664
100th birthday.

470
00:17:54,019 --> 00:17:56,119
That would be on January 29th, 2026.

471
00:17:56,899 --> 00:17:58,500
And reach a new level of engagement,

472
00:17:59,859 --> 00:18:02,440
with with society, with the global south.

473
00:18:03,275 --> 00:18:04,494
And I don't know if,

474
00:18:05,035 --> 00:18:05,615
if Ian,

475
00:18:06,875 --> 00:18:07,855
you want to say

476
00:18:08,154 --> 00:18:10,305
anything else? Yeah. I was gonna say, Ian,

477
00:18:10,305 --> 00:18:11,960
you know, how how well known do you

478
00:18:11,960 --> 00:18:13,900
think Salam is to the wider population?

479
00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:16,539
Because there was always that concern in Pakistan

480
00:18:16,599 --> 00:18:17,740
because of his particular

481
00:18:18,674 --> 00:18:20,994
religious affiliation that he had, that the country

482
00:18:20,994 --> 00:18:23,075
sort of wouldn't say disowned him, but they

483
00:18:23,075 --> 00:18:25,075
didn't, make as much as they might have

484
00:18:25,075 --> 00:18:27,309
done if he had been belonged to the

485
00:18:27,470 --> 00:18:30,269
2 main sort of Islamic sects that, are

486
00:18:30,269 --> 00:18:31,970
at the moment. Do do you think he's

487
00:18:32,110 --> 00:18:33,870
a well known figure? And, you know, where

488
00:18:33,870 --> 00:18:35,470
would you place him in the sort of

489
00:18:35,470 --> 00:18:37,325
pantheon of great physicists?

490
00:18:39,465 --> 00:18:41,705
Let's see. Maybe those are 2 slightly different

491
00:18:41,705 --> 00:18:42,205
questions.

492
00:18:43,144 --> 00:18:44,285
Is he well known

493
00:18:45,099 --> 00:18:47,839
in the physics community globally? Absolutely.

494
00:18:48,940 --> 00:18:50,000
Is he well known

495
00:18:51,099 --> 00:18:53,714
in the general public in Britain as one

496
00:18:53,714 --> 00:18:54,694
of the UK's,

497
00:18:55,474 --> 00:18:55,974
adopted,

498
00:18:56,515 --> 00:18:57,494
great scientists?

499
00:18:58,115 --> 00:19:00,934
Probably not. I think he is well

500
00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:03,980
regarded and known across the Muslim community

501
00:19:04,279 --> 00:19:06,460
more than he is across the general population.

502
00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,180
And I think that's a shame because his

503
00:19:09,744 --> 00:19:12,085
skills as a pedagogue and his concern

504
00:19:12,625 --> 00:19:14,325
for people as a whole, and

505
00:19:14,625 --> 00:19:17,480
science as a motivating force for that, are

506
00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:20,599
really important messages, and things that he really

507
00:19:20,599 --> 00:19:22,299
championed, as, as Claudia said.

508
00:19:24,335 --> 00:19:26,115
On the ranking of great physicists,

509
00:19:26,734 --> 00:19:27,794
I'd hate to

510
00:19:28,494 --> 00:19:30,994
try and speculate there, but clearly, no, he's

511
00:19:31,454 --> 00:19:33,390
one of the superstars who has

512
00:19:33,710 --> 00:19:35,650
made a real difference to the field.

513
00:19:36,029 --> 00:19:37,570
And, it was really

514
00:19:38,190 --> 00:19:39,250
great to see,

515
00:19:39,630 --> 00:19:42,285
to have the opportunity for us to name

516
00:19:42,285 --> 00:19:45,025
a building after him, especially the library where

517
00:19:45,164 --> 00:19:45,664
students

518
00:19:46,045 --> 00:19:47,984
are congregating all the time.

519
00:19:48,605 --> 00:19:48,765
And,

520
00:19:49,565 --> 00:19:51,380
some of the great things have been

521
00:19:52,019 --> 00:19:52,519
there's

522
00:19:53,220 --> 00:19:55,380
a piece in the library right on the

523
00:19:55,380 --> 00:19:57,460
wall that describes a little bit about him

524
00:19:57,460 --> 00:19:59,319
and has a great picture of him.

525
00:19:59,779 --> 00:20:00,019
And,

526
00:20:00,795 --> 00:20:03,275
often families will go in because you can

527
00:20:03,275 --> 00:20:05,434
see it without entering the library and families

528
00:20:05,434 --> 00:20:06,654
will go in and

529
00:20:07,515 --> 00:20:09,819
take their children and show that picture and

530
00:20:09,819 --> 00:20:10,720
read the narrative.

531
00:20:11,339 --> 00:20:12,140
And I think it's,

532
00:20:12,859 --> 00:20:14,380
it's the kind of thing that is, that

533
00:20:14,380 --> 00:20:16,299
will no doubt spread his fame a bit

534
00:20:16,299 --> 00:20:18,400
more. So I think that's really, really important.

535
00:20:19,605 --> 00:20:21,365
Lovely. Well, I wish you all success with

536
00:20:21,365 --> 00:20:23,684
the, initiatives over the next year and a

537
00:20:23,684 --> 00:20:26,345
half before his, centenary of his birth. Claudia,

538
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,240
is there a central place that people can

539
00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,000
go to to find out more? I guess

540
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,960
the Imperial College website would be a good

541
00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:33,859
place to start.

542
00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:34,660
That's

543
00:20:34,960 --> 00:20:35,454
right.

544
00:20:36,095 --> 00:20:38,515
So there's an Empire College website,

545
00:20:39,054 --> 00:20:42,034
one which is dedicated to salon. It's

546
00:20:42,335 --> 00:20:44,839
quite, quite easy to find. And then from

547
00:20:44,839 --> 00:20:46,700
there, there will be links to the,

548
00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:49,420
the virtual exhibition,

549
00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:51,960
that where you can learn much more about

550
00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:52,845
his life,

551
00:20:53,305 --> 00:20:54,445
from every aspect.

552
00:20:55,384 --> 00:20:57,164
And there's also links to,

553
00:20:58,025 --> 00:21:00,045
the videos we have made and testimonies.

554
00:21:00,849 --> 00:21:01,589
There's also

555
00:21:02,210 --> 00:21:02,869
the speeches,

556
00:21:03,170 --> 00:21:04,690
some of the speeches that were made for

557
00:21:04,690 --> 00:21:05,349
the event,

558
00:21:06,049 --> 00:21:08,724
and the essays from the schoolchildren. So so

559
00:21:08,724 --> 00:21:10,964
that's why you're seeing links from all sorts

560
00:21:10,964 --> 00:21:12,585
of, different aspects

561
00:21:12,964 --> 00:21:14,644
of the Salamis in life,

562
00:21:15,045 --> 00:21:17,045
from the work perspective and from the connection

563
00:21:17,045 --> 00:21:17,970
perspective. Yeah.

564
00:21:18,529 --> 00:21:20,049
Lovely. Well, thanks so much for joining us

565
00:21:20,049 --> 00:21:22,049
on the podcast, Ian and Claudia. Great to

566
00:21:22,049 --> 00:21:23,569
hear from you. Thank you very much. Thank

567
00:21:23,569 --> 00:21:24,710
you. Thank you.

568
00:21:31,115 --> 00:21:34,474
That was Claudia Duram and Ian Walmsley in

569
00:21:34,474 --> 00:21:34,974
conversation

570
00:21:35,309 --> 00:21:36,369
with Matin Durrani.

571
00:21:36,750 --> 00:21:39,470
And there's much more about Abdus Salam on

572
00:21:39,470 --> 00:21:40,930
the Physics World website.

573
00:21:41,549 --> 00:21:43,890
A good place to start is Matin's review

574
00:21:44,134 --> 00:21:45,035
of the 2018

575
00:21:45,414 --> 00:21:45,914
film,

576
00:21:46,215 --> 00:21:47,275
Abdus Salam,

577
00:21:47,654 --> 00:21:48,634
which was directed

578
00:21:49,015 --> 00:21:49,835
by Anand

579
00:21:50,215 --> 00:21:50,715
Kamalikar.

580
00:21:51,799 --> 00:21:52,619
It explores

581
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,859
Salaam's faith as an Ahmadi,

582
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:56,059
a minority

583
00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,099
Muslim movement that has suffered persecution

584
00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:00,140
in Pakistan.

585
00:22:00,954 --> 00:22:01,775
To read that

586
00:22:02,394 --> 00:22:03,775
review, just look for the headline,

587
00:22:04,315 --> 00:22:05,375
Abdus Salam

588
00:22:05,755 --> 00:22:06,894
back in the spotlight.

589
00:22:07,755 --> 00:22:09,630
I'm afraid that's all the time we have

590
00:22:09,630 --> 00:22:12,609
for this week's podcast. Thanks to Ian Walmsley,

591
00:22:13,070 --> 00:22:16,350
Claudia Duram, and Mateen Durrani for joining me

592
00:22:16,350 --> 00:22:19,274
today. And a special thanks to our producer,

593
00:22:19,414 --> 00:22:20,315
Fred Ailes.

594
00:22:20,934 --> 00:22:23,255
We'll be back again next week with a

595
00:22:23,255 --> 00:22:24,954
chat about how quantum

596
00:22:25,419 --> 00:22:26,000
sensors are

597
00:22:26,539 --> 00:22:27,039
revolutionizing

598
00:22:27,900 --> 00:22:28,799
our understanding

599
00:22:29,339 --> 00:22:30,559
of brain development.

600
00:22:31,500 --> 00:22:34,305
But until then, have you ever wondered if

601
00:22:34,625 --> 00:22:36,725
humans could run on water?

602
00:22:37,424 --> 00:22:39,985
Find out by listening to the latest episode

603
00:22:39,985 --> 00:22:42,325
of the Physics World Stories podcast

604
00:22:42,890 --> 00:22:44,990
which is inspired by basilisk

605
00:22:45,289 --> 00:22:45,789
lizards

606
00:22:46,250 --> 00:22:49,549
and their ability to run upright across water

607
00:22:49,769 --> 00:22:50,910
to escape predators.

608
00:22:52,105 --> 00:22:55,465
The podcast features Nicole Sharp, who is an

609
00:22:55,465 --> 00:22:57,485
engineer and science communicator

610
00:22:58,184 --> 00:22:58,684
specializing

611
00:22:58,985 --> 00:23:00,205
in fluid dynamics.

612
00:23:01,099 --> 00:23:02,960
She chats with Andrew Glester

613
00:23:03,340 --> 00:23:06,000
about how the lizards manage to stay afloat

614
00:23:06,299 --> 00:23:08,320
while dashing across water,

615
00:23:08,974 --> 00:23:11,534
and explains how water running could be a

616
00:23:11,534 --> 00:23:12,674
sport for humans,

617
00:23:13,134 --> 00:23:14,835
but not here on earth.

618
00:23:15,375 --> 00:23:18,289
Nicole also talks about her passion for fluid

619
00:23:18,289 --> 00:23:18,789
dynamics,

620
00:23:19,170 --> 00:23:20,390
and her fascination

621
00:23:20,850 --> 00:23:22,870
for the roles that instabilities

622
00:23:23,410 --> 00:23:25,269
play in the rich behavior

623
00:23:25,650 --> 00:23:26,870
of fluid systems.

624
00:23:27,605 --> 00:23:29,525
You can listen to that episode on the

625
00:23:29,525 --> 00:23:30,825
Physics World website

626
00:23:31,285 --> 00:23:34,025
or at your favorite podcast provider.

627
00:23:34,619 --> 00:23:37,580
Just look for the headline, Could Humans Run

628
00:23:37,580 --> 00:23:38,400
on Water?