Farouk El -Baz Brings Arab Ingenuity Back To Life
By: Habeeb Salloum/Contributing Writer
Due to his work and inventions, Dr. Farouk El-Baz, a geologist and native of Egypt, has become a renowned American scientist, recognized for dramatic advances in studying arid lands using satellite remote-sensing technology. Under his directorship, the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University has grown to become a leading force in the application of remote sensing technology for environments around the world. A geology instructor for the Apollo astronauts, he has also been for many years a leading member of the space research team and Director of Research in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. His work has left a deep imprint in the modern world of invention and experimentation.
An expert on remote-sensing tools, he is known for pioneering work in the applications of space photography to the understanding of desert terrain, particularly the location of ground-water resources. Based on the analysis of space photographs, his recommendations resulted in locating ground-water resources in numerous areas of the Middle East. In addition, he has contributed greatly to interdisciplinary field investigations in all major deserts of the world and his applications of remote sensing technology to the fields of archaeology, geography and geology are world-renowned.
While helping to plan the Apollo moon expeditions, Dr. El-Baz became an authority on lunar geology. When spacecraft began taking detailed photographs of Mars, he used the illustrations to study the planet’s deserts and compare them with those on the Earth. That geologists can learn so much about places they have only seen in images is a testament to the power of remote sensing – thanks to El-Baz’s pioneer work in this field. A man of many worlds, throughout his career, Dr. El-Baz has succeeded in conveying the excitement of scientific research and the importance of using advanced technology.
Dr. Farouk El-Baz was born in January 1938 in the Egyptian Nile Delta town of Zagazig. In 1958, he received a B.S. in chemistry and geology from Ain Shams University in Cairo and in 1961, he received a M.S. degree in geology from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. He received a Ph.D.in 1964 in geology from the University of Missouri after conducting research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1989, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree by the New England College in New Hampshire.
During the period 1958-1960, Dr. El-Baz returned to Egypt and taught geology at Assiut University and, then the University of Heidelberg, Germany (1964-1965). He joined the Pan American-Egyptian Oil Company in 1966, where he participated in the discovery of El-Morgan, the first offshore oil field in the Gulf of Suez. From 1967 to 1972, Dr. El-Baz took part in the Apollo Program as Supervisor of Lunar Science Planning at Bellcomm Inc., a division of AT&T that conducted systems analyses for NASA Headquarters. He had exceptional teaching abilities when it came to research – attested to by the Apollo astronauts who came to call him ‘the King’. While circling the moon for the first time during Apollo Mission 15, Alfred Worden commented, “After the King’s training, I feel like I’ve been here before.”
During his Apollo Program years, Dr. El-Baz outshone other NASA officials in briefing members of the press in connection with the scientific accomplishments of the lunar missions. His unique ability to simplify complex issues in clear, condensed and easily understood fashion made him appealing to the general public. As a tribute to this ability, the then popular television program “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, featured a shuttle craft named “El-Baz”.
In 1972, Dr. El-Baz joined the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. to establish and direct the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the National Air and Space Museum. In 1973, NASA selected him as Principal Investigator of the Earth Observations and Photography program and in 1975 to work on the first joint American-Soviet space mission. From 1982 to 1986, he was Vice President of Science and Technology at Itek Optical Systems, Lexington, Massachusetts.
In 1986 Dr. El-Baz joined Boston University as founding Director of the Center for Remote Sensing to promote the use of space technology in the fields of archaeology, geography and geology. Thereafter, he became noted for pushing forward the horizons of employing remote sensing in archaeology. One of his most important works in this area was the development of a methodology for non-ruinous investigation of a sealed chamber containing a disassembled boat at the base of the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt.
Above all, Dr. El-Baz became well known as a pioneer in the application of space-borne data to groundwater exploration. Utilizing innovative techniques, he successfully applied satellite images to identify fracture zones, and radar data to reveal sand-buried courses of former rivers, alleviating shortages of water in areas of the globe in dire need of this life-giving substance. Emphasizing the study of the origin and evolution of arid landscapes, he collected field data during extensive field trips to almost every major desert in the world.
Travelling to Egypt’s outlying regions, Dr. El-Baz detailed each region’s natural resources and how they could be most wisely used. As a result, the many projects he initiated continue to help the people of Egypt today. His desert research of more than 25 years, aided in dispelling misconceptions that deserts were man-made and that arid lands originated and evolved in response to global climatic changes. His research methods are now commonly duplicated in desert studies throughout the world.
In the literary world, Dr. El-Baz has authored and co-authored some twelve books, including Say it in Arabic, The Moon as Viewed by Lunar Orbiter, Apollo Over the Moon, Egypt as Seen by Landsat, Deserts and Arid Lands, The Gulf War and the Environment, and Atlas of the State of Kuwait from Satellite Images. Further, he has contributed about 450 scientific papers to professional journals, supervised numerous graduate students, and lectured in academic institutions and research centers across the world. From among these: Preliminary Observations of Environmental Damage Due to the Gulf War, The War for Oil: Effects on Land, Air and Sea; Kuwait’s Oil Lakes: A New Phenomenon; and Geologic Impacts of the Gulf War on the Desert Surface of Kuwait.
He has won numerous honours and awards, including NASA’s Apollo Achievement Award, Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, and Special Recognition Award; the American Association of Petroleum Geologists’ M.T. Halbouty Human Needs Award; the University of Missouri Alumni Achievement Award for Extraordinary Scientific Accomplishments; the Certificate of Merit of the World Aerospace Education Organization; the Golden Door Award of the International Institute of Boston; the Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the Arab Republic of Egypt’s Order of Merit – First Class; the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Science and Space Technology; and the Egyptian American Professional Society’s Achievement Award.
In 1999, the Geological Society of America (GSA) established the ‘Farouk El-Baz Award for Desert Research’, an annual award aimed at encouraging excellence in arid land studies. In 1985 he was elected member of the Third World Academy of Sciences and subsequently represented the Academy at the Non-Governmental Organizations Unit of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Still busy as ever, today, Dr. El-Baz is a member of the United States National Committee for Geological Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the new Alexandria Library in Egypt, the Arab Science and Technology Foundation, the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, the Egyptian-American Affairs Council, the Moroccan-American Council, the World Affairs Council of Boston, as well as being a member of the editorial boards of several international professional journals. Also, he is a member of many national and international professional societies and a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Astronomical Society (London), and the Explorers Club (New York).
Even though he has had an illustrious career in the West, Dr. El-Baz has not forgotten his land of birth. He is Adjunct Professor of Geology at the Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt and travels often to the Middle East and North Africa, still mystically connected to the Middle Eastern deserts. He has even developed a theory dealing with the origins of Egyptian civilization and how the pyramid came into being.
He believes that the beginning of Egyptian civilization occurred when two people groups, nomads from the western desert and farmers from along the Nile River came together. The farmers brought their knowledge using water for growing crops and the nomads, who been forced to move eastward because of the desertification of their once lush savannah, brought their ‘desert wisdom’ which included the knowledge of pyramid shaped land-forms. Perhaps, he has a point. A world desert scientist par excellence, his historic ideas cannot be taken lightly.
