AHMED ZEWAIL (WINNER OF THE 1999 NOBEL PRIZE CHEMISTRY)

Hi readers!

Today I am going to talk about the winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His name is Ahmed Hassan Zewail. He is an Egyptian-American scientist, known as the "father of femtochemistry". He won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry and became the first Egyptian scientist to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field. He is the Linus Pauling Chair Professor Chemistry, Professor of Physics and the director of the Physical Biology Centre for the Ultrafast Science and Technology at the California Institute of Technology.

In 1999, Zewail became the third Egyptian national to receive the Nobel Prize, following Egyptian president Anwar Al-Sadat (1978 in Peace), Naguib Mahfouz (1988 in Literature). Mohamed ElBaradei followed him (2005 in peace).

I chose this scientist because I like very much Egypt and he became the first Egyptian to win a Nobel Prize in a scientific field. The subject of chemistry is also very interesting and the date 1999 has attracted me because it is when I was born.

Prof. Zewail has many achievements to his name. He is best known for femtochemistry, for which he got the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999. So what is this science?

Many chemical reactions occur so fast, that we have no idea what is going on. Many of them, like that of sodium with chlorine, are over in just a million-billionth of a second. That is called a femtosecond. Knowing how these reactions proceed is important, especially when they are useful for us.

Dr. Zewail worked out that if you used laser light flashes that happen for just a few femtoseconds (million-billionth of a second), you can figure out what goes on in these reactions. You keep the reaction tube in the path of the laser and turn it on. Add the reacting chemicals in the tube. The reaction starts, and the light hits the chemicals. They take up the light, and emit light at a different wavelength (this is called spectroscopy). This light can be studied to tell us about what is going on.

It's not an easy science, but takes years and years of patient, repeated study. Over the years, Dr. Zewail has built a team of dedicated research workers, who have helped solve many puzzles.

This brilliant scientist has been awarded by countless prizes, which we can highlight: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow (1978-1982), Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1979-1985), Alexander von Humboldt Award for Senior United States Scientists (1983), National Science Foundation Award for especially creative research (1984; 1988; 1993)...

This video is about the delivery of Ahmed Zewail's Nobel Prize.

And that's all for today.

See you next time!