Prof. Nidhal Guessoum is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. He has published over a hundred research papers, participated in dozens of international conferences, and lectured at many prestigious universities around the world, including Cambridge, Oxford, Cornell, Wisconsin, Malaya, NYU Abu Dhabi, and others.

In December 2020, Prof. Guessoum was named among the Top 100 most influential leaders in space exploration by the digital platform Richtopia. In 2018, he was ranked 22nd among top Arab thought leaders by the Swiss Gottlieb Duttweiler think-tank. He has also made substantial contributions to the diffusion of science among the general public. He has been interviewed in numerous international media, including Al-Jazeera, BBC, France 24, Le Monde, NPR, Sky News Arabia, and others. He has published hundreds of newspaper articles, produced hundreds of YouTube videos (he has over 500,000 subscribers to his channel), and has over 130,000 followers on Twitter and 150,000 on Facebook.

Brief Synopsis

I first discuss the need for wide ‘science literacy’ in our world today as well as the importance of developing a ‘scientific Culture’. I then look at data on science literacy in the world today and note that there is very little data on scientific literacy and culture in the Muslim world. This was the reason for a survey that was conducted online in March and June 2020 in a project I was involved in. I give a few examples of the 28 questions that were asked to 3000+ survey respondents. I then mention a few conclusions from the survey and general recommendations that can be made for the advancement of science engagement in the world through these challenging times.

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