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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 21 - 27 October 1999 Issue No. 452
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Brawn for the brains
I rejoiced at the ceremonies held for Ahmed Zuweil on the occasion of his receiving the Nobel. I wrote about him in my column when he visited Cairo -- this was about 10 years ago. I did not know him at the time, but I was sitting in a restaurant with my family when a man with Egyptian features and a warm smile came up and introduced himself. It was indeed Ahmed Zuweil.
But what will we do when the party's over? After the confetti has been swept away, will everything be just the way it was? I think we should try to benefit from Ahmed Zuweil's scientific genius. We should ask him to help lay the groundwork for Egypt's scientific infrastructure, so that talented researchers can receive the funding and assistance they need. We should create a national scientific committee in which he could participate, along with all the country's scientists residing abroad, who have done so much for their country: heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yaqoub, for instance, and nuclear scientist Farouq El-Baz, to mention only two. They could work in tandem with their colleagues, who have stayed in Egypt, to formulate a strategy for scientific development.
Scientific research can require an investment of millions of dollars a day, but this committee could look into the best use for our limited resources. If India and Pakistan, despite the economic challenges they face, have become nuclear powers, we should be able to cross the threshold of the technological revolution.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
