Jamal Mimouni is an Algerian astrophysicist, who received his higher education partly in Algeria (B. Sc. in Theoretical Physics in 1977 from Algiers University) and partly in the States (Ph. D. in Particle Physics in 1985 from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia). He is also an actor on the science, society, and the cultural dimension of the scientific debate in the Arab-Muslim world and has developed a keen interest in the philosophy of contemporary science, as well as to spreading scientific culture in societies of the developing world. On the “ground”, he has acted as adviser and resource person to amateur astronomy associations in Algeria and is the head of the well-known Sirius Astronomy Association. He has been elected last year as President of the African Astronomical Society (AfAS) based in Cape Town, SA. He has been working closely with the Algerian Ministry of National Education as a scientific adviser, and has conceived and directed various regional training workshops for both Elementary School and High School Physics Teachers: «From Geography to the Cosmos». Finally, he has authored along with N. Guessoum a popular science book in Arabic “The Story of the Universe : from Early Conceptions to the Big Bang” for an University educated readership, and contributed to an academic collective book «Science and Religion in Islam».
