The Machine of Soil and Water Management for Rice Crop Cultivation (SWMR) is devised by Mohamed El-Sayyed El-Hagarey at the Desert Research Center in Cairo. The machine ploughs the field in a manner that saves about 50 per cent of water used for rice irrigation, and cut the fertilizer usage up to 25 per cent.

Rice paddies across the world use 34−43 per cent of available water for irrigation. But the growing demand of water for agriculture, increasing population and climatic changes are responsible for rapid shrinking of developed fresh water resources around the globe.

The Zig-Zag paddy field

El-Hagarey designed a simple SWMR machine. Towed by a cart, the machine makes “V” shaped lines 20 cm deep and equally wide. It also sows rice seedlings automatically by a tray on top.

The basic cylinder is heart of the machine with many circular projections around. The projections carved cross section of trenches in the soil.

The V-shaped tranches use less water as compared to normal ground level. In traditional rice cultivation the in paddy field often submerge in water completely.

The machine was tested at Kafr el-Sheikh area, which is a famous for rice cultivation in Egypt. The initial test showed very promising results.

“I observed great results by saving about 50 per cent of irrigation water and 25 per cent of nutrients,” El-Hagarey said.

In an email reply to Muslim Science, El-Hagarey said that he is also working for further efficient model of the machine which could save more water and fertilizer in the future.

The innovative machine won the WatSave Award for Young Professionals from the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) in November 2016.

Many countries are interested to use this machine and even offer a joint venture to El-Hagarey.

“Actually I have some problems in funding, but investigators from many states especially from India and China are offering me for commercial or joint venture,” told El-Hagarey to Muslim Science.

Experts in Egypt warn of water scarcity as a result of Ethiopian Renaissance Dam at the River Nile. On the other hand, Egypt is facing water shortage due to climatic changes and increasing population.

Published online 20 November 2014

In the not-too-distant past, biomedical research was conducted almost exclusively in North America and Western Europe. While Asia and South America have made impressive strides in contributing to scientific output over the past two decades, the Arab world is still lagging.

Ali A. Bazarbachi, Samia J. Khoury and Mohamed H. Sayegh

Populations in the Middle East are generally afflicted with diseases similar to those prevalent in Western countries. These include cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and neurological disorders. However, regional specificities have had an impact.

A high rate of consanguinity has led to various hereditary disorders. There has also been a significant increase in metabolic disorders, specifically in the Gulf region, largely attributed to widespread changes in diet and lifestyle. Furthermore, healthcare systems have been undermined by political instability and strife, resulting in an increase in infectious diseases, malnutrition and disability.

The concept of advanced biomedical research still does not exist in most of the region, with the exception of Turkey and Iran. Recent developments in biomedical research have surfaced in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region as well, with major investment in the creation of research infrastructure and research funding. But the fruits of such effort are yet to appear because of the absence of a critical mass of committed scientists.

Most of the region’s medical schools and universities offer the transmission of ‘second-hand’ knowledge in the absence of a true research culture. A general disinterest in scientific research adversely affects the quality of teaching and cultivates a culture of apathy.

Most active research is championed by a few dynamic individuals, based on their earlier achievements abroad, with little or no institutional incentives. They mostly collaborate with their university of origin in the United States or Europe and there is scant meaningful collaboration between institutions at the national or regional level.

The region’s participation in the advancement of science and medical discovery is important. Breakthroughs will improve quality of life for Middle Eastern people and ensure better patient care. There is also a need to attract internationally renowned investigators to create a nucleus of future scientific leaders.

Scientists should be encouraged toward personal academic growth. We need to involve students in medical research by bringing the latest research findings, including the results of a faculty’s own research activities, into the classrooms. This will generate research productivity and quality publications to increase the success rate in extramural funding, and pave the way to establish PhD and MD-PhD programmes in basic medical science.

Proposed solutions

The culture of research must be nurtured across society. This should start at the most basic level; as part of school curricula. Research is a complex process requiring critical thinking and strategic planning. Teaching students these skills would motivate them to be involved in research and provide them with a solid basis for the future.

The public must also be educated about research. There are many non-governmental organizations in the region, some of which are involved in supporting patients with particular diseases. In collaboration with the local governments and universities, these NGOs could provide education to the public about the importance of proper research and how it should be conducted.

The development of basic biomedical research can be encouraged by building on the strengths of the few areas where a critical mass of high-quality research already exists. This could be achieved by establishing regional collaborative groups for translational and clinical research.

These groups could then be used to launch meaningful investigator-initiated clinical trials and to forge partnership with the pharmaceutical industry. Regional incubators or centres of excellence are also needed to better manage resources and to attract investigators from abroad. They can also generate science-based innovations if partnerships with industry are established.

These centres require solid evaluation, auditing and quality assurance mechanisms. Based on track record, size and relative stability, the American University of Beirut Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center in Lebanon, the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Saudi Arabia, and other centers in the Gulf area (such as Kuwait Science Foundation or Qatar Foundation) could spearhead this programme with the goal of integrating others at a later stage. The initial centres can establish a network that allows mobility of researchers, students and technicians.

A vital step in propelling research is establishing a regional, cross-border institute for funding of biomedical research. This should be similar to the National Institute of Health in the US or the European Research Council, and be funded by private donors, governments and foundations. Funding should be merit-based and dependent on the ongoing quality of research.

Research productivity must be scientifically evaluated through a regional watchdog with a special focus on promoting original publications in high impact journals. This body can also determine initial funding of the centres of excellence and regularly evaluate them. As research is now evolving rapidly at a high rate, support mechanisms and government regulations should allow for rapid decisions, quick customs procedures and easy international contacts.

We propose the establishment of a think-tank at the highest regional level (for example the deans of certain medical schools and heads of research institutes in the region) to develop the potential structure for the regional funding agency described above. This group would then become the figurehead for persuading governments, foundations and the private sector to create a regional NIH-like structure for the region.

This is a priority and an essential step to put the region on the map in biomedical research. We believe that we have the resources and the brainpower, but we need the stimulus.

As Seneca said: it is not because things are difficult we do not dare, it is because we do not dare things are difficult.

The authors are all members of the American University in Beirut’s Faculty of Medicine.

doi:10.1038/nmiddleeast.2014.263

This article was originally published on NatureAsia. Read the original article.
Featured Image Credits: Thinkstock

Just beneath the sun scorched sands of the Wadi Al-Hitan lie the bones of creatures whose discovery has added a new and thrilling chapter to the story of evolution.

Say the word ‘Egypt’ and most people will conjure up images of ancient pharaohs and the monuments to their spectacular civilization, that attract millions of visitors every year. However a small but significant number have now abandoned the much-travelled tourist trails, in favour of Egypt’s latest, must-visit destination.

Wadi Al-Hitan, which lies 150 km southwest of Cairo, was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO¹ in 2005 in acknowledgement of the importance of the region to paleontology. Today, it’s a sand-locked desert valley – so inhospitable, that it’s only since the availability of four-wheel drive, that exploration has become practical. Thirty-seven million years ago though, these same sands were covered by the warm waters of the Tethys Ocean, edged by a lush mangrove lagoon. There, marine creatures fed, mated and died, leaving their bones behind in the mud. Over millennia, the waters receded and the bones were covered by layer upon layer of sediment, which ultimately formed into the region’s epic sandstone cliffs.

Muslim Minds

Wadi Al-Hitan translates as Valley of the Whales. Although the fossilized remains of sharks, sea cows and turtles have all been found there, it’s the region’s ancient whale bones, that have put it on the scientific map. To understand why, we have to go back to the 9th Century.

University of Michigan camp in Wadi Hitan, Egypt (image courtesy Professor Gingerich)

Charles Darwin is generally considered to be the father of evolutionary theory, but his work was based on many centuries of established scientific observation and commentary. In “On the Origin of Species” Darwin theorized, that animals adapt and change over the course of many generations, in response to their environment and competition for survival. Species with the most useful adaptations survive and pass those new traits onto their offspring. He called this process evolution, “by means of natural selection”. However, such ideas weren’t new: they were already well known in the Muslim world.

In 1874, the scientist John William Draper wrote in his book, “The History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science”, that Western scientists were still far behind their Islamic counterparts in their understanding of “the Mohammedan theory of the evolution of man from lower forms. […] The intellectual movement of Christendom”, he added, had only just “reached that point, which Arabism had attained to in the tenth and eleventh centuries; and doctrines which were then discussed are presenting themselves again for review; such are those of Evolution, Creation, Development…” .²

In fact, in the 9th Century – a thousand years before Darwin’s birth – Iraqi polymath Al-Jahiz³ had written his own theories on evolution. In his book “Kitab al-Hayawan” (“The Book of Animals”), he wrote with great wit and insight, about how animals evolved in response to their environment and competition with other species for survival.

Five hundred years later – and 482 years before Origin of Species was written – Tunis scholar Ibn Khaldun, shared his own thoughts on the topic in his book “Muqaddimah”:

“[…] notice that this world with all the created things in it has a certain order and solid construction. It shows nexuses between causes and things caused, combinations of some parts of creation with others, and transformations of some existent things into others, in a pattern that is both remarkable and endless […] The animal world then widens, its species become numerous, and, in a gradual process of creation, it finally leads to man, who is able to think and to reflect. The higher stage of man is reached from the world of the monkeys, in which both sagacity and perception are found, but which has not reached the stage of actual reflection and thinking .” ⁴

Why Whales?

It’s thanks to theorists like Al-Jahiz, Ibn Khaldun, and Charles Darwin, that scientists now believe, that life on Earth began in the oceans. It was over 360 million-years-ago, that animals first moved into shallow waters in search of food. Slowly, their fins evolved into legs and their simple lungs became efficient enough to breathe air. It took 300 million years before their ancestors – the mammals – came to dominate the planet. However whales appear to have done an evolutionary u-turn.

Basilosaurus isis fossil whale skeleton excavated in Wadi Hitan, Egypt (image courtesy Professor Gingerich)

Darwin himself struggled to find an explanation for the puzzle posed by whale evolution. These vast, air-breathing leviathans are mammals, like us. Their ancestors must have been land-dwellers, presumably with legs. So why did they return to the oceans and where were the fossils to prove it? This is where the whales of Wadi Al-Hitan enter the story.

Whales have been around for 60 million years but until the 1970s no fossil had been found to link their land-living ancestors and the early ocean-living cetaceans⁵. Then in 1975, Dr. Philip Gingerich was doing fieldwork in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, where his team found the bones of what they jokingly dubbed a ‘walking whale’. Further finds in Pakistan and India convinced Gingerich, that his team were onto something. In 1980, they turned their attention to Wadi Al-Hitan. Finally in 1989, they found the first ever knee bone, from an ancient whale species, called Basilosaurus. On the last day of the expedition, paleontologist Holly Smith, found a complete set of inch-long toes. The significance of that find reduced her to tears.

Now that they knew what they were looking for, the team were able to revisit some of their previous excavations in Pakistan. There in 2000, one of Gingerich’s graduate students, Iyad Zalmout, made an equally significant find: an ankle bone among the remains of a 47 million-year-old whale, known as Artiocetus. Seconds later Pakistani geologist, Munir ul-Haq, found another. It was a eureka moment. Although these bones weren’t strong enough to support the whale’s weight, they were evidence that the whale’s ancestors were indeed land-dwellers.

Working the Wadi

When Dr. Gingerich and his team began work in the Wadi Al-Hitan, they were overwhelmed by the sheer scale of fossil finds in the region. But it’s thanks to this vast paleontological storehouse, that we now finally have answers to the great puzzle of whale evolution. We know that hippos and one of the earliest known species of ancient whale⁶, probably shared a common ancestor. We also finally have a visible ‘link’ between land-dwelling and oceanic whales: Basilosaurus.

Basilosaurus dates from 40-34 million years ago. That’s ten million years after whales left the land. Yet what emerges from the finds so spectacularly preserved in the Wadi’s desert rocks, is a species in transition. These whales were in the last stages of evolution from land to marine mammal, and probably still returned to the shallow waters to mate and bear their young. In April 2005, Dr. Gingerich and his colleagues in the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency, announced the successful excavation of the first ever complete Basilosaurus skeleton, meaning that there’s more yet to be learnt from the Wadi’s whales.

Basilosaurus isis fossil whale skeleton excavated in Wadi Hitan, Egypt (image courtesy Professor Gingerich)

Mai El-Amir is a Postgraduate student at the Department of Geology, Mansoura University, whose field of study focuses on the whales of Wadi El-Hitan. “In November 2011”, she says, “I was lucky to be part of a field trip to Wadi El- Hitan organized by Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology Center (MUVP) under the supervision of Dr. Hesham Sallam. When my feet touched the ground for the first time, it captured my imagination … When we were arranging our bags to go home, I said to myself ‘I’ve left a part of my soul here. I have to come back again to get it.’ But I’ve found that every time I go to Wadi El-Hitan, I leave another part behind. All of me is in Wadi El-Hitan now!”

Mai is one of a new generation of Muslim scientists, whose passions have been fuelled by this incredible World Heritage Site “I think Wadi El-Hitan is one of the most important places for telling the whale evolution story”, Mai comments. “The importance of the Wadi whales is not just their degree of preservation – which is remarkable – but also because they fill a very important gap in our knowledge of whale evolution. The Wadi whales possessed very small hind limbs, which could not support them on land. What is really magnificent about these nonfunctional limbs is that they make the whole story of evolution more logical and more complete. Why would these giant whales have such small, useless hind limbs unless they were traceable links to their land-living past?”

Evolution is an evolving story. Every new find adds a new chapter to the tale of life on Earth. Muslim scientists were amongst the first to theorize about evolution and the work in the Wadi Al-Hitan continues to inform and inspire those, working in the Muslim world today.

Paula Hammond is a professional author of over 35 non-fiction books, including popular science volumes on fossils, dinosaurs and endangered animals. She has a passion for learning and the wonders of the natural world.

References:

1. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
2. Full text can be read at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1185/1185-h/1185-h.htm
3. Darwin was born in 1809 and wrote “On the Origin of Species” in 1859. Al-Jahiz was born in 767 and wrote “The Book of Animals” some time after 816. Ibn Khaldun was born in 1332 and wrote “Muqaddimah” in 1377.
4. Full text can be read at: http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ik/Muqaddimah/
5. An animal group that includes whales, porpoises and dolphins. The name comes from the Greek meaning “huge fish or sea monster”.
6. Artiocetus

Never before has anyone seen mummy hair, muscles and bone at such fine resolution.

It is enabling scientists for the first time to tell their age of the mummies, what they ate, the diseases they suffered from, and how they died. Each mummy was put into a state-of-the-art CT scanner. Researchers probed them layer by layer to build up a high-definition 3D picture of each one. Once digitised, British Museum staff were then able to peel away each layer, to see the face of the person underneath the bandages.

John Taylor, who is the museum’s curator of Ancient Egypt and Sudan said he was “stunned” when he saw the images. “It’s as if you switched a light on in a dark room and things jump out with a clarity where you are able to find out what the life experiences of these people really were,” he told BBC News.

The researchers were able to see muscles and even arteries. They noted some seemed clogged with fatty deposits, suggesting these particular people ate rich food and perhaps suffered and possibly died of coronary heart disease.

Peeling away the muscle, researchers were able to see the skeletons in unprecedented detail. They were able to estimate the age of the individuals from their pelvis and their dental structure. Many of them had bad teeth with signs of severe abscesses that must have been very painful on a daily basis.

One scan shows a spatula – shown in green – left inside the individual’s skull.

The tool was to be used to pull the brain out through the nostrils, but a large chunk of brain – shown in blue – was left inside, along with the tool. It is evidence perhaps of a slip-shod job that was covered up by the embalming practitioners.

The mummies for this project were selected from the British Museum’s collection. They cover a time span of 4,000 years, from 3,500 BC to AD 700. The individuals all lived in the Nile Valley.

Source: BBC NEWS

On the flakier side, some say aliens did it.

Perhaps the most confounding mystery of all involves how incredibly large stones made their way to the middle of the desert without massive mechanical assistance. No camel, even the Egyptian kind, is that strong.

The truth, researchers at the University of Amsterdam announced this week in a study published in the journal Physical Review Letters, may actually be quite simple. It has long been believed that Egyptians used wooden sleds to haul the stone, but until now it hasn’t been entirely understood how they overcame the problem of friction. It amounts to nothing more, scientists say, than a “clever trick”.

They most likely wet the sand.

“For the construction of the pyramids, the ancient Egyptians had to transport heavy blocks of stone and large statues across the desert,” the university said. “The Egyptians therefore placed the heavy objects on a sledge that workers pulled over the sand. Research … revealed that the Egyptians probably made the desert sand in front of the sledge wet.”

It has to do with physics. The sort of sledges the Egyptians used to transport the two-tonne loads of stone were pretty rudimentary. They were wooden planks with upturned edges. Dragging something that heavy through hot sand would – unsurprisingly – dig into the grains, creating a sand berm that would make progress nearly impossible. It “was perhaps observed by the Egyptians that in [a] dry case, a heap of sand forms in front of the sled before it can really start to move,” says the study, authored by a team of eight researchers led by Daniel Bonn.

The only way around that problem would be to constantly clear the sand out of the way, making a tedious process even more tedious.

Damp sand, however, operates very differently. According to the research, “sliding friction on sand is greatly reduced by the addition of some – but not that much – water”. So this time, researchers placed a laboratory version of an Egyptian sledge in a bin of sand that had been dried in the oven. Then they threw down some water, and measured the grains’ stiffness. If the water had the appropriate level of wetness, something called “capillary bridges” – extremely small droplets of water that glue together individual grains of sand – would form.

These bridges not only stopped the sled from forming sand berms but also cut by half the amount of force required to move the cart. “I was very surprised by the amount the pulling force could be reduced – by as much as 50 per cent – meaning that the Egyptians needed only half the men to pull over wet sand as compared to dry,” Bonn said.

Indeed, he says the experiments showed the required force decreased in proportion to the sand’s stiffness. “In the presence of the correct quantity of water, wet desert sand is about twice as stiff as dry sand,” the university says. “A sledge glides far more easily over firm desert sand simply because the sand does not pile up in front of the sledge as it does in the case of dry sand.”

Too much water, however, would create separate problems. “The static friction progressively decreases in amplitude when more water is added to the system,” the study says.

Adding more evidence to the conclusion that Egyptians used water is a wall painting in the tomb of Djehutihotep. A splash of orange and grey, it appears to show a person standing at the front of a massive sledge, pouring water onto the sand just in front of the progressing sled. What this man was doing has been a matter of great debate and discussion.

“This was the question,” Bonn said. “In fact, Egyptologists had been interpreting the water as part of a purification ritual, and had never sought a scientific explanation. And friction is a terribly complicated problem; even if you realise that wet sand is harder – as in a sandcastle, you cannot build on dry sand – the consequences of that for friction are hard to predict.”

He said the experiment not only solved “the Egyptian mystery, but also shows, interestingly, that the stiffness of sand is directly related to the friction force.”

In all, the scientists say, “the Egyptians were probably aware of this handy trick.”

Source: Sydney Herald

Science and innovation in Egypt initiated, when mankind began to populate the valley of the Nile. Ancient Egyptians were leaders in scientific discoveries and innovation, which turned Egypt into the world cradle of civilization.

Throughout history, Egyptian scientists have contributed to the advancement of science and to the foundation of different sciences, such as astronomy, chemistry, medicine and engineering. Many of their achievements remain enigmas, like the construction of the pyramids and the practice of mummification, and so on and so forth.

Egypt’s contributions towards science and technology, are not restricted to ancient Egyptians’ achievements. During the middle ages and the

Ibn al-Haytham

Islamic civilization, many Muslim scientists, who made major contributions to human knowledge, were working in Egypt. These include giants such as Ibn al-Haytham, Ibn Al-Nafis and others. Cairo, along with Bagdad and Damascus, were acting as Mecca for the European researchers.

In more recent decades too, Egypt has given birth to many prominent scientists, whose contributions to science and technology, have added immense value to our knowledge. Examples of these include, Mustafa Meshrafa, Ahmed Zewail, Farouk El-Baz, MagdyYakoub, Moustafa El-Saayed and many others.

Ahmed Zewail once wrote in an article in an Egyptian newsletter (AlmasryAlyoum, August 2011),

“We do not want to just take pride in our history, but we need to work in order to shape the future, that Egypt deserves.” It is painful but true, that science and technology in Egypt has had an insignificant impact on Egyptian life and society – particularly in the modern times. Egypt, who lead the world of science and innovation in the old ages, is suffering from illiteracy and knowledge deficiency today. If we aim to understand the reasons behind this phenomena,we need to briefly explore the current state of science, technology and innovation (STI), in Egypt.

The recent global competitiveness report for 2013-2014, produced by the World Economic Forum (WEF), offers a distinctive summary of the major challenges facing STI development in Egypt. According to the report, Egypt’s primary education ranked last in its list of priorities and development initiatives. Looking at it from this lens, it is all too obvious why science is in such a bad state in Egypt today. How can one do good science without receiving a good education. Farouk El-Baz has famously said: “The way for real development lies in education.”

The low quality in education, unfortunately, is not limited to primary education, but lasts through different stages of education, including,the university level. The number of university students, exceeds the capacities and resources available in Egyptian universities, which in turn, is reflected in the quality of its graduates. Universities direct their already limited resources, towards education, and hence, research lies low on their priorities. Research centers, as a result, are major victims of deterioration, owing to the paucity of resources.

In addition, tenure contracts, not particularly linked with performance, applied in all Egyptian universities and research centers, cause de-motivation and kill the competition, among staff and researchers.

Another major issue is, that laws governing the STI in Egypt, are outdated and hinder scientific development in the country. The applied laws do not allow importing some scientific ingredients, which are essential for advanced research, for e.g. cell lines, and do not allow the formation of spin off companies in the universities. Assessment and promotion rules are extremely unfair and do not support innovation, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research, which negatively affects the quality of produced research.

The system in Egypt depends solely on seniority and does not give a chance for young talented scientists to play major roles. Prof. Farouk El Baz, in his plenary lecture in Biovision (Bibliotheca Alexandria, 2014) was of the opinion, that Egypt’s future depends on young people, and while directing his words towards the youth, he said, “Only you are capable of shaping the future.”

Nevertheless, there is always light at the end of the tunnel. Egypt is replete with bright minds and skillful scientists. There are increased funds for research, owing to the science and technology development fund (STDF). One of most important program run by STDF, is the establishment of centers for scientific excellence, with funds up to 10 million Egyptian pounds. “The ‘Centers of Scientific Excellence Initiative’, represents the conviction of Egypt, that science is the way forward”, said Prof Mahmoud Sakr, the executive director of STDF and newly appointed president of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT).

Zewail City for Science and Technology

There are several agreements between Egypt and several international partners, for funding collaborative projects through the STDF and the ASRT, for e.g. EU, Germany, USA, France, Tunisia, South Africa etc. There is also great hope, that the Zewail City for Science and Technology (established by the Egyptian Noble laureate, Ahmed Zewail), will play a major role,to drive research and technology in the country forward. NGO’s in Egypt, like ‘Misr El kheir’, have recently begun to invest heavily in STI and created several programs supporting scientific research and entrepreneurship. The community in Egypt should encourage more NGO’s to follow this path.

In the end, the main problem for science and innovation in Egypt, is not the funding, but the system of STI and how it is operated. In my opinion, pouring more funds for research is important, but it will remain useless, unless we make a general reform for the STI system and rectify the laws that govern scientific research in Egypt. In addition, enabling young scientists should become the first priority, as young scientists represent the future of the country and house the required skills and expertise, to solve the county’s problems.

The Author is an Associate professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Head of center for scientific excellence “Helwan Structural Biology Research” (HSBR) and Co-chair of the Global Young Academy (GYA), Helwan University, Egypt.

References:

1. Farouk El baz – ‘Biovision plenary lecture’ in Youm7: http://www1.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=1600585#.U0t53F65MpE

2. Ahmed Zewail – ‘Science is future bridge’ in Al masary Elyoum (Arabic article): http://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/105345

3. Mahmoud Sakr – Youm7: http://www.youm7.com/News.asp?NewsID=957620#.U0t6-F65MpE

4. Global competitiveness report: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2013-14.pdf

“Science has much to say.

Science has much to say to the Islamist zealots who preach an intolerant doctrine.

It has much to say to young democrats enamored of the new technologies.

It has much to say to those who yearn for a better economic future.

And more importantly, it has much to say about the kind of values that we must adopt if our societies are to be truly open and democratic, for these are the values of science.”

– Dr. Ismail Serageldin (The Values of Science, 2011)

An enigma of sorts, Ismail Serageldin wears many hats. His personality shines forth in a variety of shades and its myriad roles. The aphorism ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ is proven wrong by Serageldin, as he is a prime example of the master of all trades owing to the exceptional talents he has acquired over the course of his life, encountering unique experiences, and steering the helm of several arts , whilst gaining utmost respect and appreciation in each.

It is sometimes said, that the age of polymaths is long gone for phenomena, and knowledge has now become so complex, that it is hard for a single soul to master – or even operate – well across several domains. Instead, it is sometimes said, that multidisciplinary teams are the way to approach today’s complex problems, like global warming, food security, resource mobilization, etc. Nevertheless, if there is one individual in the Islamic World that comes near to the definition of a true polymath – the Renaissance Man – it is no other, than Ismail Serageldin of Egypt.

Serageldin, born in 1944 in Giza, grew up in Cairo and graduated in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering, from Cairo University. He later graduated with a Masters and PhD from Harvard University. He began his career as an economist and over time, delved in a range of fields and disciplines of inquiry, including, environment and ecology, water, agriculture, philosophy, humanities, and the sciences.

The Bibliotheca Alexandria

The depth and breadth of his intellectual canvass is so vast, that Serageldin was honored with 33 Honorary Doctorates fields as diverse as sociology, agriculture, international affairs, science, economics, laws, and arts, among others. Serageldin has published over 60 books and monographs and over 200 papers on a variety of topics including biotechnology, rural development, sustainability, and the value of science to society. In his home country, Serageldin, who is fondly referred to as the “most intelligent man in Egypt.”

During the several decades of his public career, Serageldin has held several important high positions including the Vice Presidency of the World Bank (1993-1998), Chairmanship of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR, 1994–2000), Chairmanship of the Global Water Partnership (1996–2000), the Chairmanship of Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest, a microfinance program (1995–2000) and the Chairmanship of the World Commission for Water in the 21st Century (August 1998-March 2000). For his tremendous public service across the range of these platforms, Serageldin was awarded the Public Welfare Medal, from the National Academy of Sciences, in May 2011. He has also received numerous other international awards from several countries, including, the Order of the Rising Sun from Japan and the Legion d’Honneur and the Commandeur of Arts and Letters of the French Republic.

Despite these momentous achievements, Dr. Serageldin is not without critics. He is a self-described secularist  and has received fierce backlash from several communities. They most significantly came to the forefront when he refused to have a mosque built in the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the library for which he is the Founding Director. He is also known to be closely allied with former President Hosni Mobarik and his family and was once accused of embezzling funds into Suzzanne Mobarak’s accounts. The charges, however, remain unproven. These allegations came to the fore a few years ago, when Islamists in Egypt made an attempt to replace the Royal Library of Alexandria with a mosque.

His defenders and proponents consider him to be a preacher of Islamic liberalism, a modern scholar who sides with reason and tolerance in a society rampant with irrationality and extremism. For instance, in his essay ‘Islam, Science, and Values’ Serageldin notes:

Ismail Serageldin receives lifetime Africa Achievement Prize, December 2010

“As the world explores the marvels of the genes and breaks down the secrets of the atom and reaches to the stars and calculates the age of the oldest rocks … we in the Muslim world debate “the hadith of the fly”… we debate whether a woman’s nail polish prevents her from having full ablutions, we look with suspicion on the new and try to erect barriers to limit where our minds may range… It is always amazes me to find this pernicious debate on “Islam and Science” being put forward as if they are contradictory.”

He also challenges the idea that ‘the nature of knowledge and truth is such that it precludes a true Muslim from being a practicing scientist, or accepting scientific evidence’ and goes on to challenge the Muslim Scientist to: “let us not waste time on artificial and misleading dichotomies that are neither supported by the primary sources nor by the historical record of the Muslim societies.”

Dr. Ismail Serageldin is a passionate advocate of education. As the founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina – one of the largest learning institutions in this part of the World, he believes that the only way any nation can guarantee its prosperity, is if it focuses on education and science, and “…cultures a better understanding of its future.” A very staunch believer in this idea, Serageldin certainly appears as a man of black and white beliefs, for whom certain strict demarcations decide all.

Ismail Serageldin receives honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin, December 2009

One would think that a man with so many achievements will be anything but modest. But that, Serageldin is not. Although he claims complete credit for the creation and establishment of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, he is ready and willing to accept his mistakes and acknowledge his inadequacies when needed. During the closing ceremony of a conference in 2010, he publicly apologized to Rashad Hussain, President Obama’s special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, saying, “I spoke to him in a tone that appeared to him to be dismissive, and I apologize for that.”

Serageldin is a staunch advocate of the freedom of expression. He feels that rules or practices that limit freedom of expression, are better done away with. At times, his passionate promotion and defense of his ideas may make him appear condescending, rude or stepping out of the boundaries, but, he strongly believes in peoples’ freedom to speak what’s on their minds, including those of other faiths, who choose to attack Islam.

For instance, he notes “Do you think that in the last 1,400 years, there were not books attacking Islam everywhere, there were colonial powers everywhere, and despite that Islam has spread throughout the world. So let us not be afraid of opinions and ideas; we can fight ideas with ideas.”

Dr. Serageldin shines as one of the foremost liberals in an illiberal world, a paragon of rationality and reason in a particularly irrational milieu and a staunch champion of science in an ignorant epoch of the Muslim World.

His efforts to improve the lot of his people are vastly visible in this part of the world and he continues to infuse a healthy sense of self-belief into people as, he believes, it is only belief in oneself that can trigger development as a whole. Serageldin would not have it any other way.

Ismail Serageldin with the Dalai Lama

References:

¹http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/03/world/middleeast/03egypt.html

²http://northafricapost.com/849-ismail-serageldin-the-enlightened-scholar-brought-to-court.html

³http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/2577/islamists-take-over-egypt

⁴Serageldin, I., 1996, Islam, Science, and Values

Researchers have discovered the earliest confirmed case of cancer in a young man who lived in ancient Egypt.

The discovery of a diseased skeleton dating back to around 1,200 BC was made at the Amara West site in northern Sudan. The new finding suggests that the disease has its roots in the distant past. Details of the skeleton have been published in the Journal PLOS ONE. The skeleton was discovered by Michaela Binder, a PhD student at Durham University. She said the find was of “critical importance in learning about the underlying causes of cancer in ancient populations, before the onset of modern lifestyles”.

Cancer is thought of as a modern-day disease, spurred on by smoking, unhealthy lifestyles and the stresses of day-to-day living. Ms Binder’s discovery suggests that the disease was prevalent thousands of years ago. “I was surprised to see such a cancer in an individual from ancient Egyptian times,” she told BBC News. “We still don’t know a lot about cancer. Only a very few examples have been found of the disease in the distant past.”

Ms Binder’s finding is of particular interest because it is 2,000 years older than the previously confirmed instance of the disease. When she unearthed the skeleton she found that the bones were riddled with holes. She worked with Daniel Antoine, a curator at the British Museum, who is responsible for the museum’s human remains. “It was very exciting to work with such a well preserved skeleton,” he told BBC News. Close up Close-up pictures showed that the bones were riddled with holes caused by a type of cancer. “The marks on the bones were very clear and our analysis showed that there was evidence that the young man suffered from a type of cancer.”

The discovery will be of great interest to medical researchers, according to Dr Kat Arney of Cancer Research UK. “If they can analyse the DNA from the skeleton, it might tell us about the gene mutations that made [this person] susceptible to this type of cancer. That could shed light on the evolution of the disease, along with the evolution of humankind.”

There have been some previous hints of the disease in archaeological records. Last year, a US researcher published details of a 120,000-year-old fossilized Neanderthal rib that showed indications of a bone tumour. There have been other finds from around 4,000 years back that show some similar signs. But without a full skeleton to show the spread of the disease, it is hard to confirm that these specimens actually had cancer.

Source: BBC News