Pakistani to Head UN Science, Tech and Innovation Committee
Courtesy uneca.org
Renowned Pakistani scientist Professor Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman has been appointed as the chairman of United Nations’ committee on Science, Technology and Innovation. A Pakistani scientist specializing in organic chemistry, Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman has also served as the Chairman of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan and as the former federal minister for science and technology. The committee would discuss ways and means to promote science, technology and innovation among the member states.
He studied Chemistry from the University of Karachi and went on to get a PhD and then an ScD in organic chemistry from Cambridge. Honored with all four Pakistani civil awards including Nishan-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Rahman is one of the best scientific minds of this country and has 900 important publications in the field of Organic Chemistry and 28 patents.
Professor Solves 300-Year-Old Math Equation
Courtesy CNN
It was a problem that had baffled mathematicians for centuries -- until British professor Andrew Wiles set his mind to it. "There are no whole number solutions to the equation xn + yn = zn when n is greater than 2."
Otherwise known as "Fermat's Last Theorem," this equation was first posed by French mathematician Pierre de Fermat in 1637, and had stumped the world's brightest minds for more than 300 years.
In the 1990s, Oxford professor Andrew Wiles finally solved the problem, and this week was awarded the hugely prestigious 2016 Abel Prize -- including a $700,000 windfall.
The prize, often described as the Nobel of mathematics, was awarded by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, with an official ceremony featuring Crown Prince Haakon of Norway to take place in May.