Remembering Professor Hamed Gohar: A long belated respect for an Egyptian and Arab scientist

Google celebrated in the Arab world celebrated on Tuesday the 115^th of Egypt and the Arab’s founding father of oceanography Dr Hamed Gohar with a cute and geeky doodle.

Dr Hamed Gohar featured on 15 November's Google Doodle in the Arab World 

Thanks to Google, many Arab newspapers from the Gulf to the Ocean ran small news reports about who that Egyptian scientist was and how he was the first in his field in the region as well as he tried to spread his knowledge to the public audience through his famous nearly two-decades-long “Sea World” on Channel Two on Egypt’s State-owned TV.

Born in 1907, Professor Gohar was first Egypt as well as Arab to publish Nature Journal in a study about marine life in 1934. 

King Farouk during his visit to the Marine Life Museum in the city of Hurghada
Professor Gohar is on the left wearing the tarboosh aka Fez while Farouk

The Marine Life Museum in Hurghada he established is still there along his Marine life institute and very rich library that needs support. 

Here is a playlist of five episodes from “Sea World” from Egypt’s State TV archives.

I wish that Egypt as the President of the 27^th session of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change celebrated all those late pioneer environmentalists and scientists featuring them in the COP27 including Dr Hamed Gohar and Dr Mostafa Tolba as well as Mandy Bahaa El-Din.

I grew up seeing the mockery that old man was facing whether from the public or from the mainstream media, especially from the comedians including some comedian legends that I personally love and respect.

So, to see that doodle on Tuesday and that new interest among young Egyptians and Arabs about him gives me hope.

Now a quick piece of info related to the COP27 as well as our Red Sea, Do you know that our Red Sea is actually the latest refuge for the coral reef to thrive against climate change as our coral reefs are tolerant to high temperatures unlike other places in the world?

Nevertheless, there is a big challenge to preserve our coral reef against bleaching as well as to preserve marine life in general in the Red Sea.

FYI, that story or incident between Hamed Gohar and famous belly dancer Sohair Zaky did not take place as the Egyptian social media claims, it is a legend.