Contribution of Dr. Abdus Salam booklet long question
Answers
Early Education
LAWRENCE EVANS
Dr. Salam, you, of course, are very much interested in science and technology in the Third World, and that implies a strong interest in scientific education in those countries. I thought that it might be helpful to us if you could give us an account of your own education during the British occupation period.
ABDUS SALAM
Well, I was educated in Jhang as Professor Braibanti just told you. I was at school there till about the age of 16. Then I moved to Lahore, which is the capital city of Punjab—used to be the capital city of Punjab in the undivided India, and is still the capital of the divided Punjab of Pakistan.
I still remember very vividly one occasion when our teacher taught us what has become my specialty: the unification of fundamental forces. He told us about the forces in Jhang. And he said, “Gravity is one of the important forces.” Of course, gravity, we had all heard about. Then he took out a magnet from his pocket and he said, “This is magnetism." He showed us the iron filings and so on. Then he remembered to say “electricity.” He said, “Electricity, ah, electricity! Electricity does not live in Jhang. It lives in Lahore!" —the nearest place where the electrical current was still available and Jhang had electricity five years later. This is true. And then he went on to discuss the forces of nuclear power and so on. He said, “Ah, they live in Europe. They don't live in Pakistan here at all.” So that was the introduction which I got to the nuclear forces from him.
So then from that Lahore—I was studying mainly for the Indian Civil Service examination. That was the biggest examination which was possible for a young student to take. Fortunately for me, the examination stopped during the war and so I was left to do something different. Does that answer your question?
LAWRENCE EVANS
Well, partly. At what point did your talent and interest in mathematics become recognized?
ABDUS SALAM
Well, mathematics was a good exam spinner. So, I had to take that examination for mathematics. This was all meant to be examinations; the Indian Civil Service examination was meant to be the final objective of my studies. My father had taught me that earlier on in my life and so I had been preparing for the mathematics examination from that point of view. Although I showed a little bit of inventiveness in solving one of the problems of Ramanujan when I was about 14 or 15. This was published. But that was just a sort of flourish of the inconsequential time. Then I came to Cambridge and that’s where I really became interested in science and then I never looked back from that.