Sameera Moussa Explained

Sameera Moussa
Birth Name:Sameera Moussa Aly
Birth Date:3 March 1917
Birth Place:El Gharbia, Sultanate of Egypt
Death Place:Wyoming, United States
Resting Place:Cairo, Egypt
Nationality:Egyptian
Other Names:Mother of Atomic Energy
Known For:Atoms for Peace
Awards:Order of Sciences and Arts
Native Name Lang:سميرة موسى
Fields:Nuclear Physics
Workplaces:Cairo University
Alma Mater:Cairo University

Sameera Moussa or Samira Musa Aly (March 3, 1917 – August 15, 1952) was an Egyptian atomic scientist and physicist, she is the first female Egyptian nuclear physicist.[1] Moussa held a doctorate in atomic radiation.

She hoped her work would one day lead to affordable medical treatments and the peaceful use of atomic energy. She organized the Atomic Energy for Peace Conference and sponsored a call that set an international conference under the banner "Atoms for Peace." She was the first woman to work at Cairo University.[2] [3]

Early life and education

Sameera was born in Egypt in Gharbia Governorate in 1917. Her mother died from cancer, and her father Moussa Ali was a famous political activist. He moved with his daughter to Cairo and invested his money in a small hotel in the El-Hussein region. At the insistence of her father, Moussa attended Kaser El-Shok primary school, one of the oldest schools in Cairo. After she completed her primary education, she joined the Banat El-Ashraf school, which was built and managed by her father.

Despite the fact that Moussa achieved high grades in her secondary education, and could have pursued a career in engineering, she insisted on joining the Faculty of Sciences at Cairo University. In 1939, Moussa obtained a BSc in radiology[4] with first class honors after researching the effects of X-ray radiation on various materials. Dr. Moustafa Mousharafa, the first dean of the faculty, believed in his student enough to help her become a remarkable lecturer at the faculty. Afterwards, she became the first assistant professor at the same faculty, the first woman to hold a university post, and the first to have obtained a PhD in atomic radiation.

Career

Nuclear research

Moussa believed in Atoms for Peace. She was known to say "My wish is for nuclear treatment of cancer to be as available and as cheap as Aspirin". She worked hard for this purpose and throughout her intensive research, she came up with a historic equation that would help break the atoms of cheap metals such as copper, paving the way for a cheap nuclear bomb.

Moussa organized the Atomic Energy for Peace Conference and sponsored a call for setting an international conference under the banner "Atom for Peace", where many prominent scientists were invited. The conference made a number of recommendations for setting up a committee to protect against nuclear hazards, for which she strongly advocated. Moussa also volunteered to help treat cancer patients at various hospitals especially since her mother went through a fierce battle against this disease.[5]

Visits to the United States

Moussa received a Fulbright scholarship in Atomic Radiation and researched at the University of California, Berkeley. In recognition of her pioneering nuclear research, she was given permission to visit the secret US atomic facilities.[6] The visit raised vehement debate in United States academic and scientific circles since she was the first non-American person to be granted that privilege.

She turned down several offers that required her to live in the United States and to be granted the American citizenship saying "Egypt, my dear homeland, is waiting for me".[7]

Death

Before her death, Samira Moussa Aly worked at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.[8] [9] [10] She was a Fulbright Fellow visiting from Fuad I University in Cairo performing cancer control research and a recipient of a grant "to engage in nuclear physics in the United States."[11] She had also worked at the National Bureau of Standards.

Samira Moussa Aly died in a car crash near Sheridan, Wyoming on August 15, 1952[12] while traveling on vacation.[13] She was riding passenger in a 1952 Buick sedan with driver Arling Orwyn Kressler, a U.S. Air Force civilian employee assigned to Washington D.C., when their car lost control and fell 54feet into a 30feet ravine.[14] Both died at the scene beside U.S. Highways 14-16, 18miles east of Clearmont, Wyoming. Arrangements were made to send her body back to Cairo by air.

Some used the circumstances of her death to allege rumors that the Israeli Mossad murdered Moussa, aided by Jewish-Egyptian actress .[15] [16] [17] [18] [19]

Awards and honors

In recognition to her efforts, she was granted many awards.[20] Among them were:

Authored works

Dr. Sameera Moussa was the first assistant professor at the school of Sciences at Cairo University and more impressively the first woman at the university to obtain a university post due to her groundbreaking PhD in atomic radiation from the 1940s.[24] Inspired by the contribution of earlier Muslim scientists, including her teacher, Dr. Moustafa Mashrafa, Sameera began writing an article on the work done by Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi in founding algebra. She also authored multiple articles that communicate the theory behind nuclear energy, its impact, and safety of their use in simpler terms. She also discussed the history of the atom and its structure, and dangers of nuclear fission technology, as well as the properties of radiation and their biological effects.

Research papers

See also

Notes and References

  1. 2017-03-03. Sameera Moussa. Physics Today . EN. 10.1063/PT.5.031428.
  2. Web site: 2021-05-11 . Dr. Sameera Moussa was a nuclear scientist and proponent of the peaceful use of atomic energy . 2024-06-07 . AWIS . en-US.
  3. Web site: Honoring the Life of Sameera Moussa: Egypt’s First Female Nuclear Scientist (1917-52) . 2024-06-07 . CSA Reviving Community . en-US.
  4. News: Aslam . Syed . 12 May 2011 . 20th Century Muslim Scientists - Sameera Moussa . 13 . 15 . . 20 . 4 April 2016 . 1531-1759.
  5. Web site: Sameera Moussa: "My wish is that nuclear cancer treatment is as affordable and cheap as aspirin" . 2024-06-07 . Rincón educativo . en-US.
  6. Web site: 20 July 2009 . Dr. Sameera Moussa . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131113211113/http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Templates/Articles/tmpArticles.aspx?ArtID=2251 . 2013-11-13 . State Information Service.
  7. Web site: Sameera Moussa. The MY HERO Project. 2020-05-04.
  8. News: August 18, 1952 . Former Egyptian Student Here Killed in Auto Crash . 74 . 3A . . 326 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: August 17, 1952 . Two Killed in Highway Wreck . 61 . 1 . . 160 . . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: August 19, 1952 . Ex-Allentonian Dies in Wyoming Car Accident . 125 . 5 . . 42 . Allentown, PA . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: August 24, 1952 . Death Ruled Accidental . 61 . 5 . . 166 . . Newspapers.com.
  12. Web site: Wyoming State Death Records, 1909-1969 . Wyoming State Archives . Cheyenne, WY . . Name: Samira Moussa Aly, Death Age: 35, Death Date: 15 Aug 1952, Death Place: Leiter Rural, Sheridan, Wyoming, USA, Cause of Death: Accident, Certificate Number: 1643.
  13. News: August 18, 1952 . 2 From Here Killed in Wyoming Accident . 78 . 10B . . 68 . Newspapers.com.
  14. News: August 17, 1952 . Washington Man Killed in Wyoming Auto Crash . 100 . 1 . . 230 . Newspapers.com.
  15. News: Zvi Bar'el . As Egypt elections near, one candidate faces the worst accusation – Jew . Haaretz .
  16. "Raqia Ibrahim: Egyptian Jewish Actress Recruited by Israel to Prevent Egypt Owning Nuclear Bomb" Egypt Independent (1 December 2014).
  17. Web site: Al-Masry . Al-Youm . 2014-12-01 . Raqia Ibrahim: Egyptian Jewish actress recruited by Israel to prevent Egypt owning nuclear bomb . . en-US.
  18. News: حسن . ماهر . August 3, 2008 . مـــصــريــــات . ar . Egyptian . . Alt URL
  19. Web site: Fullerton . John . October 21, 1989 . Brother Says Egyptian Scientist Was Murdered . . en-US . Opposition newspapers in Cairo, noting that Bidair’s demise was the latest in a series of deaths involving Egyptian scientists, have brushed aside prosaic explanations. The newspapers said the first death was of nuclear physicist Samira Musa in the United States in 1953..
  20. Web site: 2018-10-09 . Dr. Sameera Moussa – Nuclear Medicine . 2019-06-29 . POC Squared . en.
  21. Book: Bilal, Abdullah . اغتيال العقل العربي: سيرة ذاتية لأولى شهداء العلم د.سميرة موسى . 2000 . Egypt . ar . The Assassination of the Arab Mind (Biographies of the First Martyrs of Knowledge): Dr. Samira Moussa . Dar al-Amin.
  22. Web site: Bahauddin . Hussein Kamel . مراجعة كتاب اغتيال العقل العربي: سيرة ذاتية لأولى شهداء العلم د.سميرة موسى - عبد الله بلال . Review of the book Assassination of the Arab Mind: A Biography of the First Martyrs of Science, Dr. Samira Musa, written by Abdullah Bilal . 2023-04-24 . كتوباتي kotobati . ar.
  23. Web site: Book The Assassination Of The Arab Mind A Biography Of The First Martyr Of Science Dr Samira Moussa . Noor Book . Book Description.
  24. Web site: Dr. Sameera Moussa Women as Partners in Progress Resource Hub. pioneersandleaders.org. 2020-05-04. 2021-03-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20210303013309/https://pioneersandleaders.org/women-pioneers/dr-sameera-moussa. dead.