Physics pioneer Qian dies at 98
By Wang Xiang |
July 31, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
QIAN Weichang, a renowned physicist and applied mathematician who is credited with founding the study of modern mechanics in China, died in Shanghai yesterday. He was 98.
The former president of Shanghai University passed away peacefully at 6am in the city's Huadong Hospital.
He was the last to leave this world of three pioneer scientists all surnamed Qian. The "three Qians" -- the others were Qian Xuesen, the father of China's space program, and Qian Sanqiang, a nuclear physicist -- all studied in foreign countries and built the study of modern physics in China from scratch.
In 1942, Qian Weichang obtained a PhD at the University of Toronto. He went on to work as a research associate in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of Technology, where he worked out a way to help London avoid being bombed by German rockets.
He returned to China in 1946 and taught at Tsinghua University, Peking University and Yanjing University.
Qian once said all the big choices he made in his life were made for China's prosperity. Upon his 1946 return, he said: "I don't have a specialty. I will become specialist in whatever field my country needs me to serve in."
Qian was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, in 1912. When he entered Tsinghua University in 1931, he only got five points out of 100 in physics in the entrance examination. He got full marks in Chinese and history.
He was admitted as an art student in Tsinghua, but soon transferred to the physics department after Japan invaded China in September 1931. He said he made the choice because he wanted to build weapons to fight the invaders.
The former president of Shanghai University passed away peacefully at 6am in the city's Huadong Hospital.
He was the last to leave this world of three pioneer scientists all surnamed Qian. The "three Qians" -- the others were Qian Xuesen, the father of China's space program, and Qian Sanqiang, a nuclear physicist -- all studied in foreign countries and built the study of modern physics in China from scratch.
In 1942, Qian Weichang obtained a PhD at the University of Toronto. He went on to work as a research associate in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of California Institute of Technology, where he worked out a way to help London avoid being bombed by German rockets.
He returned to China in 1946 and taught at Tsinghua University, Peking University and Yanjing University.
Qian once said all the big choices he made in his life were made for China's prosperity. Upon his 1946 return, he said: "I don't have a specialty. I will become specialist in whatever field my country needs me to serve in."
Qian was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, in 1912. When he entered Tsinghua University in 1931, he only got five points out of 100 in physics in the entrance examination. He got full marks in Chinese and history.
He was admitted as an art student in Tsinghua, but soon transferred to the physics department after Japan invaded China in September 1931. He said he made the choice because he wanted to build weapons to fight the invaders.
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