
Voyage Through Time
Walks of Life to the Nobel Prize
Ahmed H. Zewail(Author)
The American University in Cairo Press
Published on 15. February 2004
Book
Paperback/Softback
344 pages
978-977-424-843-6 (ISBN)
Description
From a beginning in an Egyptian Delta town and the port of Alexandria to the scenic vistas of sunny southern California, Ahmed Zewail takes us on a voyage through time - his own life and the split-second world of the femtosecond. In this engaging expose of his life and work until his receipt of the Nobel Prize in 1999, Zewail explores in non-technical language the landscape of molecules glimpsed on the scale of one quadrillionth of a second: the femtosecond, 0. 000 000 000 000 001 second. Zewail enriches the journey into the strange territory of femtochemistry with insightful analogies and illustrations to aid both the general reader and the scientifically inclined. He likewise draws lessons from his life story so far, and he meditates on the impact the revolution in science has had on our modern world - in both developed and developing countries. He suggests a concrete course of action for the world of the have-nots, and ends the book with hope for Egypt in developing the nation's greatest natural resource - its youth - to build a more promising future, and for America to develop a new vision domestically and internationally.
Reviews / Votes
"Zewail's book demonstrates that he has the ability - rare for most working scientists - to eschew technical jargon in favor of communicating to a nonscientific audience the goals, techniques, and results of his research by making extensive use of ingenious analogies and metaphors.... at times his prose verges on the poetic." - Chemical Heritage; "Ahmed Zewail's idealism and success is evident on every page of his autobiography..." - al-Jadid"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cairo
Egypt
Illustrations
80 illustrations
ISBN-13
978-977-424-843-6 (9789774248436)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2004
I.B.Tauris
€14.49
Available for download

E-Book
01/2004
I.B.Tauris
€14.49
Available for download
Person
Ahmed Zewail received the Nobel prize for chemistry, unshared, in 1999. He currently occupies the Linus Pauling Chair of Chemistry and he is professor of physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena. Dr. Zewail has been awarded the Grand Collar of the Nile, Egypt's highest state honor, and more than fifty international degrees and prizes from around the world.