Please tell us about your foray into the fields of nuclear physics and math. How did it all begin for you? In 1973, I came to Islamabad, then a new city for everyone, and began my teaching career at Islamabad University. I had come straight from MIT which had probably admitted me because back in my Karachi school days I had somehow developed a mad fascination for mechanical and electrical gadgetry, ripping things apart and sometimes successfully putting them back together, or making new things from their parts. MIT gave me a 50 percent scholarship. The remaining 50 percent of my university expenses I made up by doing all kinds of menial work on campus such as in cafeterias and libraries, and even as janitor. It was very good for me because it made me appreciate the dignity of labour. My initial goal was electrical engineering at MIT. A job in the US was no problem – in fact right after my sophomore year General Radio Corporation offered me something. But all else began to look mundane because I had fallen under the spell of physics and math after listening to some very inspiring teachers. In particular there was Professor Philip Morrison, a leading nuclear physicist who worked on the physics of stars, and subsequently the Manhattan Bomb Project in the 1940’s. After Hiroshima he became an outspoken opponent of the Bomb. A wheelchair bound paraplegic who would somehow get to class, he’d support himself with a stick while leaning against the blackboard, write an occasional formula, and speak passionately about classical mechanics as though it were classical music. I soon became convinced that nothing could match theoretical physics for its sheer beauty and truthfulness. It’s not too surprising that I eventually ended up doing a PhD in nuclear physics and also hating the bomb. Twenty-five years later, just a day after India tested its nuclear weapons in May 1998, I happened to be at MIT for a short research visit and spoke against it. Morrison came to my lecture, sitting next to the podium in his wheelchair. You are also a social activist. Why, and what kind of activism? As a physicist I try to understand the physical world in terms of science. As a social activist, I try to convince others that resolving conflicts peacefully is essential if we are to sustain human civilisation in an age where science has created terrible weapons. Kashmir is one example of a conflict that has consumed tens of thousands of lives, caused immense human suffering, and could be the cause of a devastating nuclear war. I made a documentary film in 2004, together with my friend Zia Mian of Princeton University, to show people in Pakistan that there is a side to this conflict other than the one that my government chooses to show. And, similarly, to show Indians what horrific violence their government has inflicted upon the people of Kashmir. I have spent a part of the last five years serving on the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Affairs. This experience tells me that the dream of a world government is still far away both because the UN is largely powerless but also because even in an institution mandated to look at the interests of all humanity, people there still think along nationalistic lines and are unwilling to upset their respective national governments. It’s a terrible truth that humans today are furiously making more and better weapons, polluting the air and sea with gases and garbage, and inter-group conflicts are becoming ever more intense. Never before has it been more urgent to think of oneself as a global citizen and realise that we’re all riders on spaceship earth. Tell us a little about your school life. How were you as a student? I found schoolwork and teachers boring and uninteresting, and my grades were close to failing until I reached the O Levels after which they improved hugely. Even as a kid of 12-13, I read prodigiously – maybe four-five books every week. They were on grownup stuff – philosophy, science, economics, lots of novels, etc. Everything was borrowed from the British Council in Karachi or the USIS. Because of my reading habits I became aware of the world outside. Fortunately there was no TV in those days so I’d spend my evenings with books. My afternoons would be spent in the qabbarris (junk shops) near Regal Cinema where I would hunt around for good deals on magnets, electric motors, headphones, etc. Tell us about a memorable incident during your career. I’ll tell you a sad one. Being in the world of high energy physics has taken me often to universities and laboratories around the world. Scientists come there from everywhere, many from India but almost none from Pakistan. There are hardly any Muslims, except a few now from Iran and Turkey. Once, while visiting CERN for a few months, an Indian and I accidentally crossed paths and started talking about a new experiment. He asked me where I was from, expecting that I would be from Delhi. When I said Islamabad, he said in surprise: I didn’t know that they do physics in Pakistan. Ouch, that hurt! ‘It’s a terrible truth that humans today are furiously making more and better weapons, polluting the air and sea with gases and garbage and inter-group conflicts are becoming ever more intense’ In what ways can Pakistan improve its education system and make it world class? The students who come to colleges and universities, and who have gone through the Matriculation and FSc system, have a very poor grasp of the fundamentals of mathematics and science. When these students are compared against O-A levels students, one sees a world of difference. Those who have not been forced into rote learning are much better equipped. I wish there was a quantitative comparison with other countries; if this is ever done I suspect we will find that our students are many years behind those at the same age level. The quality is so bad that the majority are incapable of learning at the college or university level in either physics or maths. Therefore, at the end of their MSc degree, they will not have mastered the equivalent knowledge of a freshman at good American university. If we want things to improve, the teaching method will have to change drastically. Take mathematics, which is such a dreaded subject. In school if students are given small problems to solve, and if those students who successfully solve them are rewarded, then this will help establish a pattern where clear thinking is required. It has to be recognised that mathematics is not about learning multiplication tables or doing additions and subtraction or just learning the rules of algebra. Mathematics is about learning to analyse problems and to think in clear and creative ways. Your work must make you travel far and wide. Which is your favourite vacation spot? Life is too short to take vacations. I like peace and quiet so that I can work. That, plus access to WiFi is good enough for me! We, at Daily Times, consider you one of our national heroes. Who are some of yours? Everyone who stands up against the dirty, rotten system we have here in Pakistan is a hero for me. There are thousands of Pakistani women and men who have stood up against religious and cultural oppression, and who refuse to be gagged. Achievements MULTI-TALENTED PROFESSIONAL The renowned Pervez Hoodbhoy is the master of all trades. He is a nuclear physicist, mathematician and activist who also serves as a distinguished professor at the Forman Christian College and previously taught physics at the Quaid-e-Azam University. Pervez Hoodbhoy is also a prominent activist in particular concerned with the promotion of freedom of speech, secularism and education. A PROMINENT SCHOLAR Hoodbhoy has studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for nine years, where he received degrees in electrical engineering, mathematics and solid-state physics, eventually leading to a PhD in nuclear physics. Hoodbhoy went on to conduct post-doctoral research at the University of Washington, before leaving to serve as a visiting professor at the Carnegie Mellon University. He remained with the Quaid-e-Azam University until 2010, throughout which he held visiting professorships at MIT, University of Maryland and Stanford Linear Collider. In 2011, Hoodbhoy joined the Lahore University of Management Sciences. Hoodbhoy is generally considered one of the most vocal, progressive and liberal member of the Pakistani intelligentsia. REVERED SCIENTIST Hoodbhoy has worked as a guest scientist at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics. He is a sponsor of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and a member of the monitoring panel on terrorism of the World Federation of Scientists. He is the proud recipient of the Kalinga Prize for the Popularisation of Science. GLOBAL RECOGNITION Hoodbhoy has won several awards including the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics as well as the Burton Award from the American Physical Society. In 2011, he was included in the list of 100 Most Influential Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy. In 2013, he was made a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament. A LITERARY FIGURE Hoodbhoy is the author of Islam & Science – Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality. He is the head of Mashal Books in Lahore, which claims to make “a major translation effort to produce books in Urdu that promote modern thought, human rights, and emancipation of women”. Hoodbhoy has written for Project Syndicate, Dawn, The New York Times and The Express Tribune. Published in Daily Times, August 16th 2017.