Dr. Salman Hameed

Salman Hameed is Associate Professor of Integrated Science and Humanities at Hampshire College – the same college where Eqbal Ahmad taught for many years. He is the director of the Center for the Study of Science in Muslim Societies (SSiMS) and his primary research focuses on how Muslims look at biological evolution and the relationship between science & religion. In his previous life he spent his time studying processes that lead to formation of stars in spiral galaxies. He runs his blog Irtiqa.

Given are a few of his writings and videos:

SCIENCE, RELIGION AND SOCIETY

• Avoiding Miracles and Emphasizing Naturalism in Science Teaching

• Blasphemy laws are darkening Pakistan’s skies

• Muslims must be free to debate issues such as evolution without fear

• Muslim thought on evolution takes a step forward

• Nature and Natural Disasters: Some thoughts on Pakistan’s 2005 Earthquake

• Science, religion, and the building of scientific culture in Pakistan

• Telescopes versus terrorism in Pakistan

• Why are some Muslims calling to replace GMT with Mecca Time?

• When Evidence is powerless

ASTRONOMY

• Anticipating a glorious death of our Sun

• A recipe to create gold in space: Collide two dead stars

• If a Pakistani Went to Mars

• Listening to the whispers of merging black holes

• Planets, planets everywhere: Kepler telescope confirms 715 new planets

• Some Thoughts on the Discovery of Earth’s Bigger, Older Cousin

• The travelogue of an astronomer

• Urdu floating at the edge of our Solar system

TALKS

• When Evidence is Powerless

• How Do Muslims View Science And Evolution

SCIENCE KA ADDA (CAFE SCIENTIFIQUE)

• Where Is Our Home Located In The Universe? (Science Ka Adda, Episode # 1)
  Salman Hameed reflects on the location of the Earth in the universe with respect to our Solar system & local supercluster of galaxies.

• The Reality Of Black Holes (Science Ka Adda, Episode # 2)
  Do such black holes exists in the universe as shown in the recent blockbuster film, Interstellar? Let’s explore such a possibility.

• Water and the Search for Life on Mars (Science Ka Adda, Ep # 3)
  Water on the Red Planet has long been sought by researchers. If Mars holds water, it might even hold life.

• Exploring Baby Solar Systems to Search for Our Own Origins (Science Ka Adda, Ep # 4)
  Salman Hameed talks about the discovery of a “protoplanetary disk” that can tell us a lot about the origins of our own solar system.

• The Arabian Nights and Water Geysers on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus (Science Ka Adda, Ep # 5)
  Why is there a crater named Sinbad on Saturn’s moon Enceladus? Is there an underwater ocean on Enceladus and what are the chances of life existing on such a moon? In this episode of Science ka Adda (SkA), Salman Hameed talks about the connection between “The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights” and one of the most mysterious, interesting, and puzzling objects in our solar system.

• Who owns Mars (Science Ka Adda, Ep # 6)
  Salman Hameed looks at United Nations Outer Space Treaty and explores the question: If we discover microbial life on Mars, will we then have a right to be on “their” planet and alter their future?

• Pluto – A New World – Again! (Science Ka Adda, Ep # 7)
  Salman Hameed examines some of the latest pictures from New Horizons spacecraft and talks about the mysteries that these pictures have opened up in our understanding of Pluto. And of course, he reaffirms his absolute support for redesignating Pluto as a planet!

• How the idea of extraterrestrials became scientific? (Science Ka Adda, Ep # 8)
  In this episode of Science ka Adda, Salman Hameed ponders on the possibility of aliens on other worlds.

• Urdu Floating at the Edge of Our Solar System (Science ka Adda, Ep # 9)
  There is a greeting in Urdu that is floating in space more than 19 billion kilometers from Earth! How did it get there? Is it at the edge of our solar system? For that matter, how do we even figure out the boundaries of our own solar system?

HAMARI KAINAAT (OUR UNIVERSE)

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 1)
  Topic: Latest findings of the most earth-like planets found yet and extrasolar planets in general. Podcast published by Umair Asim and Dr Salman Hameed.

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 2)
  In this episode, Dr. Salman Hameed and Umair Asim talk about the latest news of 5 rocky planets found in very ancient ‘solar system’ and more.

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 3)
  Topic: Triple Transit on Planet Jupiter in January 2015, the importance of Jupiter in our solar system and some of its historical background.

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 4)
  Topic: The recent outburst of a binary star system, U Geminorum, which became 100 times brighter than usual. What is U Geminorum and why it became so bright?

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 5)
  In this episode, we answer your submitted questions. We talk about protoplanetary disks, end of the Universe, expansion of the Universe, history of Sun-centered and Geo-centered model of the ‘Universe’, importance of Astrophotography in Astronomy and the efforts of amateur astronomers for popularizing Astronomy in Pakistan.

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 6)
  In this episode, we talk about a recent nova that happened in the constellation Sagittarius; What is a nova? What are the processes that make it happen? What are the different types of novae? What is Chandrasekhar limit and why it is so important to understand white dwarf in a nova?

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 7)
  In this episode, we talk about stars: How did we first know the nature of stars in the night sky? What amazing knowledge spectroscopy of starlight has given to us? What different colors of stars can tell us about their physical properties?

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 8)
  In this episode, we discuss how to learn about different types of stars on H-R Diagram, and how to know the life cycle of any star by looking at its place on H-R Diagram.

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 9)
  In this episode, we discuss the latest news of water on Mars and its implications.

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 10)
  In this episode, we talk about the new findings of exoplanets’ possibility in globular clusters and what impact it can make on any possible alien life in the system.

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 11)
  In this episode, we talk about the recent finding on Planet X and discuss how credible it is.

• Hamari Kainat (Urdu Podcast, Ep # 12)
  Let’s talk about ‘Gravitational Waves.’ What are these waves? How they are produced? How did we detect it? and What is coming in the future?