AMU mourns sad demise of Prof Razaullah Ansari
ALIGARH : The Aligarh Muslim University mourned the sad demise of Prof Shaikh Mohammad Razaullah Ansari, a former Professor of Physics, Aligarh Muslim University, who passed away in Delhi. He joined the Department of Physics as a Reader in October 1969 and was promoted as Professor in January 1983. He began his career as a Physics lecturer at Delhi College (now Zakir Hussain College) in 1956.
Expressing a deep sense of grief on his demise, AMU Vice Chancellor, Prof Tariq Mansoor said, “I am deeply saddened by the demise of Prof Razaullah and extend sincere condolences to his family, and wish peace for the departed soul. May Allah give strength to his family and loved ones to bear this loss.”
In his condolence message, Chairman of the Department of Physics, Prof Sajjad Ather prayed for strength and courage to the bereaved family.
He said that while working at Delhi College, he was awarded the Alexander Von Humboldt Fellowship and worked at the Institute of Theoretical Physics for research. He later shifted to Eberhard Karl University at Tübingen (Germany), where he completed his D.Sc. (Dr. rer. nat.) in 1966 in Mathematical Physics.
During his sojourn in Germany, he specialized also in the history of exact science in India and Islamic countries. He researched during 1966-1969 as a research scholar/associate of German Council of Research in various capacities.
Prof. Ansari developed a keen interest in Astrophysics and developed a group focused on Solar Physics and Physics of Interstellar Matter after joining AMU. In recognition of his contributions to Astronomy and Astrophysics, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (London) in 1972 and subsequently became a member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1973. He was also involved in the development of the History of Science, particularly in the History of Astronomy, and helped establish the Department of History of Science and Medicine at Hamdard Institute (Now Jamia Hamdard), New Delhi, during 1984-86.
Prof. Ansari was involved in a UNESCO project in Tehran (Iran) as an expert of Muslim contributions to sciences during Islamic Middle Ages.
Another of his outstanding achievements is the completion of a critically edited Persian text of the Astronomical Tables of Maharaja Sawā’i Jai Singh – the Zīj-i Muhammad Shāhī – a project sponsored by the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi.
In his later career, he focused on studies in History of Science, particularly in Medieval India (Persian Sources) and in Islamic countries. He was elected as president of International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology and also worked as the founding President of Commission for the History of Ancient and Medieval Astronomy.