Professor Jim Al-Khalili
British Scientist
Jim Al-Khalili was born in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq on 20th September 1962. His father was an Iraqi electrical engineer and his mother an English librarian. As a child he went to school where he was taught in Arabic and at home he spoke in English. The family often went on holiday to England.
His father’s family came from Iran and when Sadam Hussein came to power there were tensions and border conflicts between Iraq and Iran. People with Iranian connections found life very difficult. The family left Iraq and came to settle in England in 1979 where, with a British mother, he was able to naturalise as a British citizen. This was less than a year before Iraq invaded Iran and started an eight year long war. Many of Jim’s childhood friends were killed in the Iran-Iraq war or imprisoned and even executed by Saddam’s regime.
Jim Al-Khalili went to the University of Surrey and graduated with a B.Sc. in Physics in 1986. He then stayed at Surrey to study for a Ph.D. in nuclear reaction theory which he completed in 1989. He worked at University College London and then returned to Surrey in 1991. In 2005 he became a professor of Physics.
Professor Al-Khalili has an interest in science research and in communicating scientific ideas to the general public. Professor Al-Khalili has lectured widely both in the UK and internationally and has numerous awards for science communication.
He has appeared regularly on the television and the radio and publishes articles in newspapers and magazines. He has published popular science and academic books. His television broadcasting includes a three part 2009 BBC series Science and Islam, parts of the programme can be viewed on Youtube.
Professor Al-Khalili has a strong interest in the Arabic/Muslim contribution to the development of science and has publishedThe House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance(Penguin reprint 2012).
Questions
You will need to research on the internet to answer the questions
- What is the term used to describe people who can speak, and often read and write in two languages?
- What were the main causes of the Iran Iraq war?
- Why would people with connections to Iran have found life difficult in the late 1970s and in the 1980s?
- How many people were killed in the Iran Iraq war?
- What is meant by the term naturalise, how can someone naturalise?
- How do you think Jim Al-Khalili and his family would have felt about moving to England?
- What kind of difficulties do you think he may have faced when he started school in England?
- What qualifications do you need to become a lecturer at a university?
- What are the grades or levels, the ranking, for people teaching in UK universities?
- Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines; can you list some of the main branches of physics?
- Name some of the major awards Professor Al-Khalili has received.
- Can you name any of the Arabic or Muslim scientists who contributed significantly to the development of science?
- Professor Al-Khalili’s mother was a Protestant Christian and his father a Shia Muslim, what are his religious views?
- Is there anything that surprises or interests you about Jim Al-Khalili’s life, anything you would like to know about him?
Here are some links to help you answer the questions:
Photo and text by kind permission of Professor Jim Al-Khalili
Dominique Moore EMTAS 2010