7 stories, strung together his patriotic dedication of life

Qian Xuesen is a giant in the scientific community and the founder of China's space industry. His brilliant scientific life and touching personality charm are the precious spiritual wealth left to us. A few days ago, Qian Yonggang, the son of Qian Xuesen and the director of the Qian Xuesen Library of Shanghai Jiaotong University, told us the story of Qian Xuesen in a series of lectures on the family style and family training of the Shanghai Librarian.

Today, I want to use the form of storytelling to let everyone know how Qian Xuesen was a student, a teacher, and a leader through 7 stories. In a word, it is how Qian Xuesen is a man. I hope to show you the patriotic and dedicated life of the older generation of scientists from different sides.

"Teacher, I am not full marks"

In 1996, Shanghai Jiaotong University held a centennial celebration. The archives exhibited a precious archive to the public for the first time, which aroused the curiosity and amazement of many visitors. This test paper, which has been kept by the teacher for 46 years, is the hydraulics test paper of Qian Xuesen University in his third year. Although the paper is yellowed, the roll surface is neat and neat, comparable to printing.

That has to start with Qian Xuesen entering Jiaotong University in 1929. Qian Xuesen was admitted to Jiaotong University from the High School Attached to Beijing Normal University with the third place in the entrance examination. In Senior high school, Qian Xuesen received education aimed at inspiring students' interest and intelligence, and never worked overtime during the exam, so his usual test results were not outstanding. However, Jiaotong University is very strict with the examination requirements. Each course requires more than 90 points to be considered excellent.

At first, Qian Xuesen didn't care about the scores as he did in high school, and his grades were mediocre. However, many students from the High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University and Jiangsu Yangzhou Middle School spontaneously formed a trend of competition. Qian Xuesen went all out to study in order to win honor for the High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University. As a result, his academic performance rose sharply. He is extremely strict with himself. Every exam is always neatly written, clean and beautiful. Even the equal sign is like drawing with a ruler. Teachers in all subjects admire him very much and say that correcting Qian Xuesen's test paper is a kind of enjoyment.

On June 24, 1933, after a hydraulics examination, the teacher, Professor Jin Yi, handed out the examination paper for comment. Qian Xuesen came first and got full marks. Professor Jin picked up the first examination paper from the platform and handed it to Qian Xuesen with a smile. The students around him were very envious. However, Qian Xuesen was full of doubts, because after the exam, he found that he had made a clerical error and wrote "Ns" in a string of formulas as "N". He got the test paper and saw that the question was wrong, so he raised his hand and reported: "Teacher, I am not full marks." Qian Xuesen pointed out his clerical error, and Professor Jin changed the test paper to 96 points, but immediately announced: Although Qian Xuesen's classmates were deducted 4 points, he sought truth from facts and strictly required his learning attitude. In my mind, it was full marks. The whole class applauded Qian Xuesen warmly.

The test paper was treasured by Professor Jin-court. At the end of 1979, Professor Jin, who was ill in bed, saw the report on Qian Xuesen's visit to Shanghai Jiaotong University from the school newspaper, and donated the 46-year-old test paper to his alma mater.

2 "Who dares to compare with me"

In 1935, Qian Xuesen went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study abroad. He is good at learning, but what he can't tolerate most is the arrogance of Americans looking down on the Chinese. Once, he and two classmates went to the cinema to watch a movie, and found that the American next to him whispered to the waiter, and then the waiter came to Qian Xuesen and said: Sir, I'm sorry, can you change to another seat? It turned out that the white American next to him did not want to sit with them. Qian Xuesen was very angry and left the cinema angrily. From then on, Qian Xuesen, with strong national self-esteem, was angry at reading and determined to fight for the Chinese people.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, there was an American student who ridiculed Chinese men for smoking opium, women for their feet, ignorance and ignorance in front of Qian Xuesen. Qian Xuesen was very angry and immediately challenged the American student. He said: We in China as a country than you behind the United States, but as individuals, who dare to compare with me? By the end of the term, we will see who has better results.

During the final exam, a professor had some difficult problems that most of the students could not do. They were very angry and thought that the teacher was deliberately making things difficult for the students, so they gathered together to find the professor to comment. But when they came to the door of the professor's office, they found a test paper pasted on the door. The handwriting on the paper was neat and neat. Each question was completed accurately without any trace of alteration. In the upper right corner of the test paper, the teacher wrote a big "A" followed by "". Whose paper is this? Everyone looked intently and found that it was Qian Xuesen's. Unexpectedly, this usually quiet Chinese student had such great ability. From then on, the students all sat up and took notice of Qian Xuesen.

3 "We have to make up for basic lessons for students"

In 1955, Qian Xuesen finally returned to the motherland after hardships. He successively served as the director of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the dean of the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense. Qian Xuesen is very clear that whether it is to develop science and technology or consolidate national defense, the key lies in talents, and he always puts talent training in a very important position.

After receiving his doctorate in the United States, Qian Xuesen has been engaged in teaching, educating people and theoretical research. After returning to China, he is happy to stand on the podium as a teacher. At the beginning of 1956, there was no house in the Institute of Mechanics. Qian Xuesen borrowed the house of the Institute of Chemistry to hold a workshop on engineering cybernetics to impart the latest scientific knowledge. Qian Xuesen's workshop is held once a week. In addition to young researchers from the Institute of Mechanics and the relevant research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there are also young teachers from Peking University, Tsinghua University and other universities. More than 200 people come to the class each time.

At first, the students were a little worried, for fear that Qian Xuesen could not understand his lecture in English. As we all know, Qian Xuesen has lived in the United States for 20 years and has been teaching engineering cybernetics in English. Can he explain such an esoteric engineering theory course in Chinese in less than half a year after he returned to China? Unexpectedly, when Qian Xuesen was lecturing on the podium, he spoke authentic Mandarin, acting as an interpreter himself, without a single sentence of English, which surprised everyone. It turned out that in order to teach a good lesson, he spent a lot of time asking others for the meaning of English words in Chinese, such as the word "randam". He comprehensively compared the opinions of many people and finally decided to translate it into "random".

What is even more amazing is that Qian Xuesen never brought books to his lectures. He took two sheets of paper and a piece of chalk. The board writing was very delicate and standard. The lectures were detailed, concise and fascinating. This workshop has trained a large number of talents in automation and control for our country, and has made great contributions to China's aerospace industry, missile research and development in the future.

Later, at the initiative of Qian Xuesen, the State Council decided to set up two research classes in engineering mechanics and automation at Tsinghua University. Qian Xuesen personally taught "hydrodynamics" in the engineering mechanics research class ". From the end of 1958 to the beginning of 1959, Qian Xuesen taught once a week. Under the national conditions of the shortage of talents at that time, he broke the traditional practice of a teacher with a graduate student, and used the method of collective training to quickly cultivate a group of graduate students.

Qian Xuesen still felt "not satisfied" with the research class alone ". In February 1958, some scientists jointly initiated the establishment of a new type of university, focusing on cultivating cutting-edge scientific and technological talents urgently needed by the country. Qian Xuesen is also one of the active advocates. On June 2, 1958, the university was approved to be established, and its name was "University of Science and Technology of China". From the beginning of its establishment in 1958 to the relocation of the University of Science and Technology of China from Beijing to Hefei, Anhui Province in 1970, Qian Xuesen has been concurrently the director of the Department of Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering (later changed to the Department of Modern Mechanics) for 12 years.

Qian Xuesen has high requirements for basic courses such as mathematics, physics and chemistry, especially mathematics. He said that a dynamist's housekeeping skill is to count. Once, he asked a tutor who graduated from engineering: How many math problems did he do in college? The answer was more than 300. Qian Xuesen asked the deputy director of the Department of mechanics: how many math problems do students usually do? The answer is more than 340. Qian Xuesen said: This is not possible. The University of Science and Technology of China should have higher requirements than ordinary engineering colleges and must supplement basic courses for students. In the end, the school decided that 58 students graduated half a year later. Qian Xuesen chose the book "Mathematical Methods in Engineering" to start a course. After half a year, he did more than 3000 math problems alone. Students generally reflect that although they graduated half a year later, they have laid a good foundation and benefited for life.

"My name is money, but I don't love money"

After returning to China, Qian Xuesen enjoyed the treatment of special researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with a monthly salary of 350 yuan. Later, he was hired as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (later called an academician) and increased the subsidy by 100 yuan-which was already a high salary at the time.

In 1962, the central government called for a pay cut for cadres. At that time, Qian Xuesen's daily work had been transferred to the aerospace field, but his salary relationship was still in the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Once he accidentally heard about the salary cut, he took the initiative to write to the secretary of the party branch of the Institute of Mechanics to ask for a salary cut for himself, from 450 yuan to 331.5 yuan per month. Since then, Qian Xuesen's salary standard has not changed until the reform and opening up.

In addition to salary income, Qian Xuesen also has some contribution income. It is only natural to use the manuscript fee to improve your life, but Qian Xuesen always said: My life is okay, and there are many people who are more difficult and in need of help, so whenever he has manuscript fees or other income, he always does not hesitate. Donate it.

At the beginning of 1957, Qian Xuesen's "Engineering Cybernetics" won the first prize of the Natural Science Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences with a prize of 10000 yuan. At that time, he responded to the government's call and used the money to buy state bonds, which matured and totaled 11500 yuan with interest. In December 1961, Qian Xuesen donated the money to the University of Science and Technology of China to improve teaching equipment.

Qian Xuesen always gives up his own fee to his collaborators for articles he co-writes with others. He often said to his collaborators, "My salary is higher than yours, so keep it to subsidize the family. Before 1990, Qian Xuesen co-authored seven books with others, and he gave all his due fee of 14238 yuan to his collaborators.

At the beginning of reform and opening up, when "ten thousand yuan households" were still the dream of most people, Qian Xuesen also did a great thing-donating millions of yuan at a time. In 1995, he won the first "He Liang He Li Excellence Award" with a bonus of HK $1 million. After the huge cheque was remitted, he wrote a power of attorney without looking at it, authorizing the secretary to transfer the money to the management committee of the fund for the promotion of desert industry development to support the desert management in western China.

5 "The responsibility lies with me, not with you"

When faced with failure and scientific researchers under great pressure, Qian Xuesen not only did not criticize them, but also took the initiative to take the responsibility, allowing scientific researchers to travel lightly and focus on finding the causes and solving problems.

In 1962, the "Dongfeng-2" missile designed and developed by my country disintegrated and crashed shortly after it was launched. It fell only 600 meters away from the launch tower, blowing out a big pit in the Gobi Desert. Lin Shuang, the chief designer of the missile, walked around the 30-meter-diameter pit and said in tears: "This pit is mine, and I am going to bury it here." Qian Xuesen fully understood the heavy heart of the researchers. He saw that the researchers in charge of the overall design were disheartened and did not criticize them, but took the initiative to decompress them. Qian Xuesen said: If you are thoughtlessly, first of all, I am thoughtlessly. The responsibility lies with me, not with you. You just boldly study how to improve the structure and experimental methods, and don't think about anything else.

Qian Xuesen's words relieved everyone's psychological burden, and their enthusiasm for work was suddenly mobilized. Soon, the cause of the failure was found, mainly due to problems with the engine and control system. Through this lesson, Qian Xuesen proposed to eliminate the fault on the ground, which has become an important principle of China's space industry.

6 "I think it's time to draw a full stop now"

Qian Xuesen took honor very lightly all his life, and he only wanted to do more for the country and the people. When the honor came, his attitude was calm and modest.

In 1991, Qian Xuesen was 80 years old. This year, the China Association for Science and Technology, which he served as chairman, also changed its term. Since then, Qian Xuesen has withdrawn from all front-line scientific and technological work. In order to commend him for his contribution to my country's science and technology, the central government is planning to award him the honorary title of "National Outstanding Contribution Scientist" and the first-class hero medal. the whole preparatory process did not tell qian xuesen, knowing that he would resolutely oppose it. When everything was ready, on October 10, the relevant leaders told Qian Xuesen the decision. Now that the central government has decided, Qian Xuesen had to show obedience.

One day after the award ceremony, Qian Xuesen pointed to the newspaper that promoted him and said to his secretary: "This matter must be stopped. The newspaper said good things about me every day these days. I felt very uncomfortable when I read it. I think, is there no different opinion on this matter?" the secretary told him truthfully that he did hear some different opinions, saying how did the party's intellectual policy be implemented on Qian Xuesen alone? Qian Xuesen immediately said: "Many people have contributed to the country's science and technology in their respective positions. Don't overdo it because of the promotion of Qian Xuesen, which hurts the feelings of others and affects the enthusiasm of others. So, I think it's time to draw a full stop now, let's call it a day. Please call those newspapers and TV stations immediately and ask them to remove all my articles from tomorrow and stop publicizing them."

"It is unscientific to call me the 'father of missiles"

In his later years, Qian Xuesen insisted on the "seven nos", that is, no inscription, no preface, no participation in any scientific and technological achievements review meeting and appraisal meeting, no attendance at "occasion" activities, no honorary positions, no foreign meetings when he is old, and no overseas visits. A central leader once lamented that it is really not easy for a person to do these points! In fact, Qian Xuesen's life to adhere to the principle, far more than the seven "no".

On October 8, 1956, Qian Xuesen was appointed director of the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense. However, in order to concentrate on thinking and solving major technical problems in missile development, Qian Xuesen offered to resign on his own initiative. Three years later, the State Council appointed Qian Xuesen as the deputy dean of the institute. Since then, Qian Xuesen has only served as a deputy, focusing on major technical issues in the development of my country's national defense science and technology. In 1986, Qian Xuesen was elected chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology. It was only when Fang Yi, Yang Shangkun, Deng Yingchao and others came forward to do the work. As Qian Xuesen himself said, "I am a scientific and technical personnel, not a high-ranking official. I don't want the treatment of those officials either."

Regarding himself being called the "father of missiles," Qian Xuesen said: "It is unscientific to call me the'father of missiles', because missile satellite work is a big science, and it was created by the cooperation of millions of people. There are hundreds of people in charge of science and technology alone, and there is no" father '." Qian Xuesen's attitude towards the work he has done is that "all achievements belong to the party and the collective, and I personally just did what I should do at the right time".

Qian Xuesen was born in Shanghai on December 11, 1911. His ancestral home is Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. From 1938 to 1955, Qian Xuesen studied aerodynamics, solid mechanics, rockets, missiles and other fields in the United States. At the age of 28, he became a world-renowned aerodynamicist. In October 1955, Qian Xuesen finally broke through all kinds of resistance to return to the motherland. After returning to China, he and Qian Weichang cooperated to establish the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and became the first director of the institute. Soon, he was fully committed to China's rocket and missile development work.

Qian Xuesen has made pioneering contributions in the fields of aerodynamics, aviation engineering, jet propulsion, engineering cybernetics, physical mechanics and other technical sciences.

On October 31, 2009, this scientific giant known as the people's scientist completed his life and passed away.

Source: Liberation Daily