Ahmed Zewail

Ahmed Hassan Zewail (Arabic: أحمد زويل) (born February 26, 1946) is an Egyptian American chemist, and the winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on femtochemistry. Born in Damanhur (60 km south-east of Alexandria) and raised in Disuq, he received his first degrees from the University of Alexandria before moving from Egypt to the United States to complete his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. After some post doctorate work at UC Berkeley, he was awarded a faculty appointment at Caltech in 1976, where he has remained since. In 1990 he was made the first Linus Pauling Chair in Chemical Physics. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1982. Image File history File links Zewail. ... Image File history File links Zewail. ... The Arabic language (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), or simply Arabic (Arabic: ‎ translit: ), is the largest member of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family (classification: South Central Semitic) and is closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... February 26 is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Egyptian Americans are Americans of Egyptian ancestry, first-generation Egyptian immigrants, or descendants of Egyptians who immigrated to the U.S. One large community of Egyptian Americans is located in northeastern Virginia, in the Washington DC metropolitan area. ... Multicolored chemicals are frequent hallmarks of chemistry. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... List of Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry from 1901 to the present day. ... Femtochemistry is the science that studies chemical reactions on extremely short timescales, approximately 10–15 seconds (this is one femtosecond, hence the name). ... This article is about Damanhur the town, For the Italian spiritual community see Federation of Damanhur Damanhur , is a town of Lower Egypt, and the capital of al-Buhayrah (Beheira or Behera) governorate. ... This article needs to be updated. ... Disuq is a small city which is located 80 K.M. south east of Alexandria. ... Alexandria University is a university in Alexandria, Egypt. ... The University of Pennsylvania (Penn is the moniker used by the university itself ) is a private, nonsectarian research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... It has been suggested that UC Mens Chorale be merged into this article or section. ... California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (commonly known as Caltech) is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... Linus Carl Pauling (February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American quantum chemist and biochemist, widely regarded as the premier chemist of the twentieth century. ... Naturalization is the process whereby a person becomes a national of a nation, or a citizen of a country, other than the one of his birth. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Zewail's key work has been as the pioneer of femtochemistry—i.e. the study of chemical reactions across femtoseconds. Using a rapid ultrafast laser technique (consisting of ultrashort laser flashes), the technique allows the description of reactions at the atomic level. Femtochemistry is the science that studies chemical reactions on extremely short timescales, approximately 10–15 seconds (this is one femtosecond, hence the name). ... A chemical reaction is a process that results in the interconversion of chemical substances [1]. The substance or substances initially involved in a chemical reaction are called reactants. ... A femtosecond is the SI unit of time equal to 10-15 of a second. ... In physics, ultrafast describes events that occur on femtosecond timescales. ... Lasers range in size from microscopic diode lasers (top) with numerous applications, to football field sized neodymium glass lasers (bottom) used for inertial confinement fusion, nuclear weapons research and other physics experiments. ... Introduction In optics, an ultrashort pulse of light is an electromagnetic pulse whose time duration is on the order of the femtosecond ( second). ... Properties In chemistry and physics, an atom (Greek άτομον meaning indivisible) is the smallest possible particle of a chemical element that retains its chemical properties. ...

In 1999, Zewail became the third Egyptian to receive the Nobel Prize, following Anwar Sadat (1978 in Peace) and Naguib Mahfouz (1988 in Literature). Other international awards have included the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1993) and the Robert A. Welch Award (1997). In 1999, he received Egypt's highest state honour, the Grand Collar of the Nile. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Naguib Mahfouz (Arabic: نجيب محفوظ ) (born December 11, 1911) is an Egyptian novelist. ... The Wolf Prize has been awarded annually since 1978 to living scientists and artists for achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among peoples, irrespective of nationality, race, colour, religion, sex or political views. The prize is awarded in Israel by the Wolf Foundation, founded by Dr. Ricardo...

External links

• Ahmed Zewail's Caltech website