Voyage Through Time: Walks of Life to the Nobel Prize (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Damanhur, where I was born in 1946, is a sprawling Delta town, which now has some 200,000 inhabitants..." (more)
Key Phrases: fastest camera, femtosecond time scale, femtosecond spectroscopy, United States, Ahmed Zewail, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product 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 endearing exposé of his life and work until his receipt of the Nobel Prize in 1999, he draws lessons from his life story so far, and he meditates on the impact which the revolution in science has had on our modern world — in both developed and developing countries. What makes the book enchanting and engaging is Zewail's emphasis on the human dimension and his unique ability to paint the journey of Life and Science with insightful analogies and ingenious metaphors.

But this inspiring book goes far beyond the usual province of an autobiography. Zewail integrates the two worlds he equally belongs to — Egypt and America — and, despite differences, he emphasizes the confluence of the two cultures — the East and the West. He rejects the view that the current state of the world is due to a clash of civilizations or a conflict of religions, and suggests a concrete course of action for the world of the have-nots. The book ends with his road map for a partnership between developed and developing worlds. Throughout the book, Zewail takes on the mantle of philosopher, historian and even political and economic adviser.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Inc (July 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9812383409
• ISBN-13: 978-9812383402
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,442,262 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book by the King of Femtoland., August 17, 2002

By	Medhat Sadek (Lund, Sweden ( Visiting Researcher)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: VOYAGE THROUGH TIME (H) (Hardcover)

To me, there is no happier moment than when I crack open a new book. After preparing a cup of tea, I'll settle down in anticipation of a pleasant journey. While doing the same with Zewail's book, I discovered that I read more than 70 pages without a second sip of my, then cold, tea. I have always thought of Zewail as an eminent scientist, but it wasn't until I read his book, that I discovered he is a talented writer as well. Zewail received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1999 for founding and developing what is now known as "femtochemistry". The book is his autobiography. The author's description of his childhood and early years of study in Egypt is breathtaking. He also describes in a very interesting and humorous way, how he dealt with different cultural challenges facing him on his quest of a Ph.D. in the States. According to Zewail, the political barrier was relatively easy to overcome in comparison with cultural issues. He recalls an instance when a young man and woman started kissing each other passionately during a laboratory session in the university. As the person who was supposed to supervise the class, poor young Zewail could not believe his eyes and absolutely had no idea what to do. He soon ran out of the lab to consult his superior, who said: "Well, Ahmed, you know . . . they . . . they, you know, they do this here . . ".

The book, however, is not a mere biography. It explains the work that paved the way to Stockholm for the Nobel Prize. For a long time, scientists have been trying to understand what is happening during a chemical reaction: how molecules form; the way atoms respond to the movement of other atoms, and how they join, split or rotate or whatever. Unfortunately for us, all the events of a chemical reaction start and end within an extremely short time, only some femtoseconds (a "femtosecond" is a million billionth of a second). With his research group in Caltech, Zewail succeeded in using ultra-short laser flashes (short, relative to the time scale on which chemical reactions occur) to uncover what actually happens during this unbelievably short time. In order to understand how important this achievement is, imagine you are cooking a meal in a magical place. You add flour to raw meat and a pizza promptly forms, with everything happening so fast that you cannot witness the process, you see only the result, pizza. It is nice, albeit annoying that you cannot add salt or spices, or for that matter, modify the result in any way God rules the interim. Thanks to Zewail's achievements, not only do we understand more about chemical reactions, but we may also be able to manipulate non-compatible substances in the creation of never before dreamt of materials. It is a major contribution to science. The author also explains the scientific process, how the selection of scientists for prizes is decided upon, how scientific institutions celebrate the honoring of their own members, and how such awards can affect the lives of the honored and their families. The book richly reminds you of many events and views in the history of science. The author also makes known to the reader his own views regarding the future and how developing countries can contribute to science.

My only complaint would be the use of "adaption" for "adoption" on p. 178. The book was written well before 2002 but it appeared in 2002. As it is certainly going to be a classic, its talk of the 10-drachma coin of Greece (p. 100) will probably not be easily understood by future generations. Perhaps a footnote should have been added, explaining that there existed a form of currency before the Euro.

What were they able to see with the laser flashes?
Read "Voyage Through Time" to get the answer.

5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Femtoscope and Zewail Unit, November 12, 2002

By	Ahmed Muhammed Seddik (Cairo,Egypt) - See all my reviews

This review is from: VOYAGE THROUGH TIME (H) (Hardcover)

A papyrus of profundity:
One of the most inspiring autobiographies,destined to become a classic,
beautifully illustrated,
what an epitome of wisdom!
Blends the real with the ideal,
a Universal character from Kemet,the land of Maat,
the character of the age who lived an age of character
A mighty clarion call for all to excell,
A map of ideas,
A vision of beauty towards a green knowledge,
A paradigm on Geniization...
As Zewail freezes his book:"The book encapsulates six stations of the journey:childhood, which began on the banks of the Nile and was shaped by the love and confidence of my parents; admission to the Faculty of Science in Alexandria, which defined my science career as well as my engagement to a science student; the scholarship in America, which opened up a whole new world for me; the years of scientific discovery at Caltech, which have changed the way we think about the science of time and matter; the receipt of the King Faisal International Prize, which was the first major prize to recognize my group's contribution and which ultimately provided me with a new family; and the receipt of the Nobel prize, which led to a place in the history of science"
Chapter titles are but genius:
1-On the banks of the Nile
2-The Gate to Science
3-The American Encounter
4-California Gold
5-The Invisible Atom
6-The Race against Time
Six Millenia to Femtotime
7-Time and Matter
The Femtouniverse in Perspective
8-On the Road to Stockholm
Festivities and Fairy Tales
9-A personal Vision:
The World of the Have-Nots
10-Walks to the Future
My Hope for Egypt and America

Success--Is there a Formula?

Exquisite Language:
"I explored the landscape of molecules glimpsed on the scale of their lives in the split-second world of the femtosecond, a millionth of a billionth of a second, and the landscape of personal events glimpsed at the important stations of my life. Faith, fate, and intuition were forces influencing this voyage."Dr.Ahmed Hassan Zewail