The mosque was the neighbourhood house of worship, but it was also the place where my high school friends and I came to study.

Like everywhere in the world, people of the Middle East aspire to liberty and justice. They wish to have a better life and a decent education for their children.

A femtosecond is comparable to one second in 32 million years. It is like watching a 32-million-year movie to see one second.

As a cultural product of both ‘East’ and ‘West’, I do not believe there is a fundamental basis for a clash of civilisations, or that the West is the cause of all problems.

The partnership between the United States and Egypt is crucial to both countries, and it can’t be predicated on political manipulation and threats of withholding aid.

Investing in science education and curiosity-driven research is investing in the future.

I think I succeeded in getting the Egyptian people excited about the importance of science, and this is the only way Egypt can get out of this dark ages.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salifist parties are a real force in the Egyptian society.

Molecules A and B meet, marry, and beget the species. This takes place in one-millionth of a billionth of a second. This is a fundamental process in nature, and the world was looking for a...

America was and still is able to make the necessary changes to maintain research institutions that are the envy of the world.

As an instructor at Alexandria University, I did research that was published in international journals. Although I left to pursue a doctorate in the United States, it was not for want of a good life.

The so-called Arab Spring has proved that the fall of a Mubarak-like presidency does not mean the immediate rise of democracy. In spite of this, I am confident that Egypt will not return to an...

Investment in education and economic prosperity is the best way to cure fanaticism and for establishing a just peace in the Middle East.

I’d rather have the influence than the power, and the influence to me is to build institutions of independence and democracy, to regain for Egypt prestige in education and science and technology.

The soft power of science has the potential to reshape global diplomacy.

On Sunday August 5, 2012, I was among a group of people who witnessed the Rover landing on Mars in real time at NASA’s Caltech-managed Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

As someone from, and directly involved with, this part of the world, I am convinced Arabs are qualified to regain their glorious past.

As recently as the September 11 event, the majority of Muslims were, as the rest of the world was, against its violence. However, if despair and humiliation continue in the population of more than one...

The U.S. can still maintain research institutions, such as Caltech, that are the envy of the world, yet it would be hubristic and naive to think that this position is sustainable without investing in science...

It is true that Egypt’s attempt at democracy after the 2011 revolution encountered many obstacles in governance and infrastructure.

In adapting to life in the melting pot of America, I discovered that the same soft power of science has a huge influence in building bridges between cultures and religions – and has the potential...

The vast majority of Muslims are moderates working for a better future and seeking a peaceful life.

On the banks of the Nile, the Rosetta branch, I lived an enjoyable childhood in the City of Disuq, which is the home of the famous mosque, Sidi Ibrahim.

Curiosity – the rover and the concept – is what science is all about: the quest to reveal the unknown.

Besides being a prime cause of poor economic growth, poor governance breeds corruption, which cripples investment, wastes resources, and diminishes confidence.

The universe at large is full of questions that we still don’t know anything about, and there will be always young people, brilliant, who are going to make new discoveries.