Mahmoud Hessaby
Encyclopedia
Sayyed Mahmoud Hessaby (February 23, 1903, Tehran
– September 3, 1992, Geneva
) was a prominent Iran
ian scientist, researcher and distinguished professor of University of Tehran
. During the congress on "60 years of physics in Iran" the services rendered by him were deeply appreciated and he was called "the father of modern physics in Iran". He was the only Iranian student of Albert Einstein
.
to Abbas and Goharshad Hessaby. When he was seven, the family moved from Iran
to Beirut
in Lebanon
where he attended school.
At seventeen he obtained his Bachelor's in Arts and Sciences from the American University of Beirut
. Later he obtained his B.A.
in civil engineering while working as a draftsman. He continued his studies and graduated from Engineering school of Beirut.
Hessaby was admitted to the École Superieure d'Electricité and in 1925 graduated while he was employed by the SNCF
(French National Railway). He started working in the electric locomotive maintenance department. Hew was a scientific mind and continued his research in Physics at the Sorbonne
University and obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from that University at the age of twenty-five.
Dr Hessaby was a Polymath
, having held five Bachelor's degrees in literature, civil engineering, mathematics, electric engineering and mining engineering. He continued lecturing at University of Tehran
for three working generations, teaching seven generations of students and professors.
In 1947, he published his classic paper on "Continuous particles". Following this, in 1957 he proposed his model of "Infinitely extended particles".
As Hessaby wished, he was buried in his hometown, Tafresh
.
, French
, English
, German
and Arabic
. He was also familiar with Sanskrit
, Latin
, Greek
, Pahlavi
, Avestan, Turkish
and Italian
, which he used for etymological studies.
The museum has been established by his family, colleagues and students in order to value his 60 years of scientific, educational and cultural activities, and to set an example for young generation of Iran, students in particular, of a hard-working contemporary scientist, who despite his difficult childhood led a successful life and contributed greatly towards his country's progress by establishing many scientific, industrial, cultural and research centers in Iran among which one can name Tehran University, the first modern university in the country.
Every item of the museum is a reminder of a corner of his life and bears a valuable lesson of life.
Dr Hessaby Museum is situated in his personal house, north of Tehran, and visited daily by many visitors from different scientific, cultural and educational institutes and organisations, free of charge.
APS
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
– September 3, 1992, Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
) was a prominent Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian scientist, researcher and distinguished professor of University of Tehran
University of Tehran
The University of Tehran , also known as Tehran University and UT, is Iran's oldest university. Located in Tehran, the university is among the most prestigious in the country, and is consistently selected as the first choice of many applicants in the annual nationwide entrance exam for top Iranian...
. During the congress on "60 years of physics in Iran" the services rendered by him were deeply appreciated and he was called "the father of modern physics in Iran". He was the only Iranian student of Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
.
Biography
Hessaby was born in TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
to Abbas and Goharshad Hessaby. When he was seven, the family moved from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
where he attended school.
At seventeen he obtained his Bachelor's in Arts and Sciences from the American University of Beirut
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...
. Later he obtained his B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in civil engineering while working as a draftsman. He continued his studies and graduated from Engineering school of Beirut.
Hessaby was admitted to the École Superieure d'Electricité and in 1925 graduated while he was employed by the SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
(French National Railway). He started working in the electric locomotive maintenance department. Hew was a scientific mind and continued his research in Physics at the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
University and obtained his Ph.D. in Physics from that University at the age of twenty-five.
Dr Hessaby was a Polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
, having held five Bachelor's degrees in literature, civil engineering, mathematics, electric engineering and mining engineering. He continued lecturing at University of Tehran
University of Tehran
The University of Tehran , also known as Tehran University and UT, is Iran's oldest university. Located in Tehran, the university is among the most prestigious in the country, and is consistently selected as the first choice of many applicants in the annual nationwide entrance exam for top Iranian...
for three working generations, teaching seven generations of students and professors.
In 1947, he published his classic paper on "Continuous particles". Following this, in 1957 he proposed his model of "Infinitely extended particles".
As Hessaby wished, he was buried in his hometown, Tafresh
Tafresh
Tafresh is a city in and the capital of Tafresh County, Markazi Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 13,914, in 4,254 families.Tafresh is located amidst high mountains southwest of Tehran...
.
Languages
Prof. Mahmoud Hessaby was fluent in five living languages: PersianPersian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
. He was also familiar with Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Pahlavi
Parthian language
The Parthian language, also known as Arsacid Pahlavi and Pahlavanik, is a now-extinct ancient Northwestern Iranian language spoken in Parthia, a region of northeastern ancient Persia during the rule of the Parthian empire....
, Avestan, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, which he used for etymological studies.
Dr Hessaby Museum
The Museum Of Dr Hessaby is a collection of some of personal belongings and communications with various scientific cultural figures.The museum has been established by his family, colleagues and students in order to value his 60 years of scientific, educational and cultural activities, and to set an example for young generation of Iran, students in particular, of a hard-working contemporary scientist, who despite his difficult childhood led a successful life and contributed greatly towards his country's progress by establishing many scientific, industrial, cultural and research centers in Iran among which one can name Tehran University, the first modern university in the country.
Every item of the museum is a reminder of a corner of his life and bears a valuable lesson of life.
Dr Hessaby Museum is situated in his personal house, north of Tehran, and visited daily by many visitors from different scientific, cultural and educational institutes and organisations, free of charge.
Dr Hessaby Foundation
Dr Hessaby Foundation, was established to continue all different aspects of his work, highlighting his belief that giving priority to research and researchers is the basis of scientific and industrial progress of a country.Children
He had a son and a daughter. His son graduated in engineering and is currently in charge of Dr Hessaby Institute.Accomplishments
According to the Dr Hessaby Institute, the following were some of his accomplishments:- Founding the Highway Engineering school and teaching there from 1928
- Survey and drawing of the first coastal road-map between Persian GulfPersian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
ports - Founding the "teachers college" and teaching there from 1928
- Construction of the first radio-set in Iran (1928)
- Construction of the first weather-station in 1931
- Installation and operation of the first radiology center in Iran in 1931
- Calculation and setting of Iranian time (1932)
- Founding the first private hospital in Iran (Goharshad Hospital) in 1933
- Writing the University carechair and founding Tehran University (1934)
- Founding the Engineering school in 1934 and acting as the dean of that school until 1936 and teaching there from then on
- Founding the faculty of science and acting as its dean from 1942 to 1948
- Commissioned for the dispossession of British Petroleum Company during the government of Dr Mossadegh and appointed as the first general manager of the National Iranian Oil CompanyNational Iranian Oil CompanyThe National Iranian Oil Company , a government-owned corporation under the direction of the Ministry of Petroleum of Iran, is an oil and natural gas producer and distributor headquartered in Tehran. It was established in 1948...
- Minister of Education in the cabinet of Dr Mossadegh from 1951 to 1952
- Opposing the contract with the consortium while in the Senate of IranSenate of IranThe Senate House of Iran was the upper house legislative chamber during the Pahlavi dynasty and was disbanded after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 in Iran , when the legislature became unicameral...
in 1954 - Opposing the membership of Iran in CENTOCentral Treaty OrganizationThe Central Treaty Organization was formed in 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. It was dissolved in 1979.U.S...
- Founding the Telecommunication Center of Assad-Abad in Hamedan (1959)
- Writing the standards charter for the standards Institute of Iran (1954)
- Founding the Geophysical Institute of Tehran University (1961)
- Title of distinguished professor of Tehran University from 1971
- Founding the atomic research center and atomic reactor at Tehran University
- Founding the atomic Energy center of Iran, member of the UNUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
scientific sub-committee of peaceful use of member of the international space committee (1981) - Establishment of Iran's space research committee and member of the international space committee (1981)
- Establishment of the Iranian music society and founding the Persian language Academy
Key publications
- Hessaby M, Model of an Infinite Particle, Journal de Physique et le Radium 18 (5): 323-326 1957. Times Cited: 0 University of Tehran.
- Hessaby M, Theoretical Evidence for the Existence of a Light-Charged Particle of Mass Greater than That of the Electron, Physical Review, Vol. 73, Issue 9, p. 1128 (1948). Times Cited: 1 While at Institute for Nuclear Studies, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
APS
- Hessaby M, Continuous Particles, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 33, No. 6, pp. 189–194 (1947). Times Cited: 0 University of Tehran and Princeton University
- Hessaby M, Continuous Particles, Proceedings of the American Physical Society, Minutes of the Meeting at Montreal, June 19–21, 1947,
Cultural
- The Hessaby Dictionary
- Dictionary of Iranian Names
- Articles for the Establishment of the University of Tehran (1933)
- Treatise on "Our Path" (1935)
- Physics textbook for first year in high school (1939
- Minutes of the meeting of the National Academy of Science (1947)
- Rules for the University of Tehran Budget (1961)
- The New Physics and the Philosophy of Ancient Percia (1963)
- Genealogical Tree of the Hessaby Family (1967)
- The Power of the Persian Language (1971)
- "Complete Poetical Works of Hessaby", from the 17th century (1975)
- "Roots of Persian Words" (1989)
- "Specialized Terms in Physics" (1961–1990)
- Dictionary of "French Verbs-Persian Verbs"
- "The how of Iranian History"
- Research on and Interpretation of the Poetry of Hafez
- Research on the "Golestan" of Saadi
- Research on the Poetry of Baba Taher
- Research on the "Shahnameh" of Ferdowsi
- "In Memory of Albert Einstein" on the occasion of his death (1955)
Books
- "Electrodynamics"
- "Electric Eye"
- "Viewpoint in Physics", University of Tehran, 1961
- "Magnetic Eye", University of Tehran, 1966
- "Solid State Physics", University of Tehran, 1969
- "Quantum View" University of Tehran, 1979
Other
- Doctoral dissertation "Sensitivity of Photoelectric Cells", Sorbonne University Press, 1927
- Thesis in "The Interpretation of Dubrois Waves", in French, 1945
- "Structure of Essential Particles of the Nucleus of an Atom in Einstein's Theory of Relativity", Princeton University, 1946
- Article on "Connected Particles", National Academy of Science, U.S., 1947
- "The Effect of Matter on the Path of Light" as co-researcher at the Nuclear-science Institute, Chicago, 1947
- "The Correction of Newton's Law of Gravity". "Maxwell's Law of the Electromagnetic Field" 1947
- "The Effect of Matter on the Path of Light and the Deviation of Light Waves on the Surface of Matter", Nuclear Science Institute, Chicago, 1947
- "The Deviation of Light Waves in the Presence of Matter", research at the University of Chicago, 1948
- Continuation of research on "The Structure of Essential Particles of the Nucleus of an Atom", University of Tehran; laboratory research on "The Transmission of Light through Matter" College of Science, University of Tehran - Thesis on "The Theory of the Diffusion of Infinite Particles", University of Tehran, 1997
- Research on the formula for the Law of Gravity
- Research on the formula for the Law of Electrical Attraction
- Research on the formula for the Law of the Electromagnetic Field
- Research on the breakage of light near solid matter
- Research on lasers
- Research on nuclear magnetic resonance
See also
- Intellectual Movements in IranIntellectual movements in IranIntellectual movements in Iran involve the Iranian experience of modernity and its associated art, science, literature, poetry, and political structures that have been changing since the 19th century.- History of Iranian modernity :...
- The Physical Society of Iran
- List of Iranian intellectuals
Resources
- Dr Mahmoud Hessaby at website of University of Tehran.
- his biography in Persian
- درباره دکتر محمود حسابی
- پروفسور محمود حسابی
- همنشین بهار: دکتر محمود حسابی و جعلیات اینترنتی
External links
- Mahmoud Hessaby Home Page
- Infinitely extended particles
- Doctor Hasabi Museum, Tajrish Avenue, Maqsud-Beek Street, Doctor Hesabi Street, No. 8, Tehran, Iran. (English), (Persian)
- Dr Mahmoud Hessaby, Iranian Personalities, Iran Chamber Society.
- پروفسور محمود حسابی پدر فيزيك ايران
- Dr Mahmoud Hessaby