One day, at the gate of Tsinghua University, a ragged beggar came, his body was smelly, and his hair was already in clumps. Although this man looked as thin as wood and weak, he clung to a pickle jar and shouted loudly, "I want to see Principal Mei Yiqi." After the doorman saw it, he rushed to drive him away, at this time, the principal Mei Yiqi walked out of the school, and President Mei fixed his eyes on it, and this beggar turned out to be Zhao Zhongyao, a physicist at Tsinghua University, and the two embraced each other and cried. After entering the campus, Zhao Zhongyao opened the pickle jar, and Mei Yiqi looked inside and was surprised.
Why did the professors at Tsinghua University, a physicist, become beggars and be forced to beg? Why hold on to a pickle jar when you have nothing? What exactly was contained in the jar that surprised President Tsinghua? Today will bring you the story of Zhao Zhongyao.
First, a genius in physics, he became a teacher at Tsinghua university at the age of 23
On June 27, 1902, Zhao Zhongyao was born in a rural area in Zhuji, Zhejiang. His father was both a doctor and a private schoolmaster. In that era of poverty and weakness, in order to let the poor come to see a doctor, his father would charge less for medicine, and the children of the poor family would not have money to study, so he would charge less tuition, so that Zhao Zhongyao's family did not become very rich. His father, who was both a doctor and a teacher, gradually found that in the face of poor and weak China, no matter how much relief he could not change this situation, so he pinned all his hopes on Zhao Zhongyao.
Zhao Zhongyao was physically weak since he was a child, and his parents were afraid that he would fall and fall, so they did not allow him to exercise. At the age of fifteen, he entered middle school, although he was always a spectator in physical education class, but in terms of learning, he was a student of physical chemistry outside the language and had a high score. Four years later, he applied for the Nanjing Higher Normal School, later Southeast University. Because Zhao Zhongyao likes to do experiments, Zhao Zhongyao chose to study chemistry.
Although he chose the Chemistry Department, but other subjects of science are to be learned, at that time the physics textbook of Southeast University was all in English, which made Zhao Zhongyao from the countryside difficult, he could only look up the English dictionary before class, and marked the English words in the book one by one with Chinese, and it took a whole month for Zhao Zhongyao to adapt to it.
In 1925, he left Southeast University and became a teaching assistant at Tsinghua University at the age of 23, taking physics students with him to do experiments. In addition to teaching, this physics genius also taught himself courses in electricity, mechanics, and advanced mathematics, which greatly enriched his background knowledge. In addition, Tsinghua teachers can take a year off for every six years of teaching, and this year teachers can go abroad for further study, and Tsinghua University will bear all the costs. But Zhao Zhongyao only taught for two years, so he was ready to study at his own expense. He borrowed some money from his friends and relatives, and applied for some bursaries from Tsinghua University, and after making enough of them, in 1927, he went to the United States to study.
Second, take the initiative to change the experimental questions, and rub shoulders with the Nobel Prize
After coming to the United States, Zhao Zhongyao entered the California Institute of Technology to pursue a doctorate, and his supervisor was the school's president, the famous Professor Millikan. Professor Millikan, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1923, studied the most cutting-edge and difficult physics topics of the time.
Millikan gave Zhao Zhongyao a doctoral project, but Zhao Zhongyao felt that this topic was too simple, and he wanted to learn more techniques and repay the motherland. So he found Michigan and asked for a more difficult topic, and Miligan gave Zhao Zhongyao, who "did not know the height of the sky", one of the most difficult topics, "the determination of ray coefficients". It is this topic that makes Zhao Zhongyao famous all over the world.
In 1930, he completed the determination of the radiation absorption coefficient through experiments, and at the same time, he also discovered the phenomenon of abnormal absorption for the first time, and after continuing the experiment, he discovered the positron. So I wrote another paper, both of which were published in the authoritative American journal Physical Review. Seeing that the students had experimented independently and achieved such high achievements, Professor Millikan could not sit still, and he changed his usual attitude and was full of respect for this student from China.
In 1936, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Anderson for observing positron trajectories. Many scientists feel sorry for Zhao Zhongyao, because Zhao Zhongyao is the first person to discover positrons! Anderson himself said that at that time, his office was adjacent to Zhao Zhongyao's laboratory, and his experiments were based on Zhao Zhongyao, who inspired him. In this way, Zhao Zhongyao lost the Nobel Prize.
After the success of his doctoral studies, he came to the United Kingdom for a visit, and the British scientist Rutherford gave 50g radium as a gift to Zhao Zhongyao, which is an indispensable material for the study of nuclear energy, so Zhao Zhongyao cherishes it very much.
3. Professor Tsinghua and the "Zhonghua Brand" pencil
After returning to China, Zhao Zhongyao served as a professor of physics at Tsinghua University, teaching advanced physics technology from abroad to his students. These students have all become the pillars of the motherland, and Deng Jiaxian, Yang Zhenning, Qian Sanqiang, and Qian Xuesen were all once his students. Influenced by his father, Zhao Zhongyao always wanted to save poor and weak China, and he and his friends jointly opened a pencil factory, named "Great Wall Brand" Pencil Factory, and the production machine was purchased from abroad to produce pencils in China. Later, the name of the pencil was changed to "Zhonghua Brand" pencil, which has been passed down to this day.
Fourth, give birth to radium, thousands of miles to ride alone
In 1935, the domestic situation was very grim, the Japanese were eyeing China, at this time the president of Tsinghua University, Mei Yiqi, decided to establish a branch of Tsinghua University in Changsha, and gradually withdrew Tsinghua University from Beiping to the southwest region. In 1937, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out, and the Japanese soon occupied Peiping, and Tsinghua University was also controlled by the Japanese. At this time, Zhao Zhongyao knew that once the precious 50g radium fell into the hands of the Japanese in the laboratory of Tsinghua University, the Japanese would definitely use it to make weapons of mass destruction, and Zhao Zhongyao decided to bring the radium out for the sake of the motherland and the people.
Late at night, Zhao Zhongyao sneaked into Tsinghua University, at this time, there were many Japanese soldiers patrolling the school, Zhao Zhongyao picked a place without lights, and finally came to the laboratory and brought out the radium in the lead can. However, Zhao Zhongyao thought and thought, holding such a precious thing in his hand, it was too easy to expose, how could he not attract the attention of the Japanese and send radium safely to the Tsinghua University branch in Changsha?
Zhao Zhongyao thought about it all night, and finally decided to put the radium in the pickle jar and walk from Beijing to Changsha! In order to hide his eyes, he wore a worn-out dress, smeared mud on his face, dressed as a beggar, and hugged the pickle jar tightly in his arms. Along the way, Zhao Zhongyao constantly inquired about the movements of the Japanese army, taking the small road, and sometimes, when the Japanese were strictly checked, he rushed to the road at night and slept during the day. As mentioned earlier, Zhao Zhongyao was physically weak from an early age. I haven't even taken physical education class, and my health is not very good when I grow up, so what makes Zhao Zhongyao burst out with such admirable strength? Presumably, the officials already had the answer in their hearts, and it was out of love for the motherland that Zhao Zhongyao, who was frail and sickly, did not flinch even if he ate and slept in the wind, and his motivation was only two words: "China!" His direction was only two words", "Changsha!" ”。
In order to reduce the burden, Zhao Zhongyao did not carry too much food, soon ran out of food, he used money to exchange things with the people along the way to eat, but soon, Zhao Zhongyao's money was also spent, he could only beg, Tangtang Tsinghua Professor, the world's top nuclear physicist, actually for the motherland, put down his identity, really became a beggar, really listener tears, smell sentimentality. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, it was precisely because of patriots like Zhao Zhongyao who endured humiliation and burdens, charged ahead, were not afraid of sacrifice, and defended the dignity of the motherland with their lives, so that China would always stand tall, and they were the real backbone of the nation!
After a month, Zhao Zhongyao finally came to the door of the Tsinghua University branch in Changsha, and at this time, he was completely out of shape. He was full of tears, because he saw the four words "Tsinghua University" on the door sign, shining brightly, he knew that his efforts this month had not been in vain, he was only one step away, he was going to hand over the pickle jar in his hand to Mei Yiqi, the president of Tsinghua University.
But at the door, Zhao Zhongyao was stopped by the doorman, after all, Tsinghua University, as a higher institution of learning, came and went with teachers or students, Zhao Zhongyao is now a complete beggar, really not like a person in Tsinghua University. Zhao Zhongyao shouted loudly, "I want to see Principal Mei Yiqi, and I want to see Principal Mei Yiqi." Heaven took care of it, Mei Yiqi just passed by the door at this time, he heard the shouting, immediately stepped forward, Mei Yiqi looked at the person in front of him, how could he not recognize it, and the people around him also gathered to see who this beggar really was?
Only to see the beggar suddenly rush forward, take Mei Yiqi's hand, and tremble and say, "Mr. Mei, I have finally arrived." Mei Yiqi only then recognized that the beggar in front of him was the famous Zhao Zhongyao, and the people around him were all in awe when they learned the truth.
After the two reunited, Mei Yiqi led Zhao Zhongyao to the university and prepared to let him rest well, but Mei Yiqi was curious to see that Zhao Zhongyao had been holding the pickle jar, so she asked what was inside the jar? When everyone around him dispersed, Zhao Zhongyao opened the altar, and the 50g radium was brought back by Zhao Zhongyao intact, Mei Yiqi was shocked, and he hugged Zhao Zhongyao and cried fiercely.
Because Mei Yiqi knew that this 50g radium was the most important material in the field of nuclear physics in China at that time, the material did not fall into the hands of the Japanese, which was a great fortune for the country. He also knew that on this road, Zhao Zhongyao must have gone through countless hardships. Moreover, radium is a radioactive substance, and although it is contained in a lead canister, Zhao Zhongyao's chest is still burned. Because of this incident, posterity praised Zhao Zhongyao, "Give up your life and carry radium, go a thousand miles to ride alone!" ”
After the founding of New China, Zhao Zhongyao still made great contributions to China's nuclear physics, not only in the academic achievements, in the field of education, but also for the new China to train a number of two bombs and one star of the founding, we know That Qian Xuesen was once a student of Zhao Zhongyao. Although the world owes him a Nobel Prize in Physics, China has given him the highest praise. He was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955 and was awarded the Science and Technology Progress Award in 1995.
In 1998, Zhao Zhongyao died of illness. Although the great man has gone, but the peach and plum are all over the world, and now, the scientists of the China Institute of High Energy Physics are learning and carrying forward Zhao Zhongyao's patriotic dedication, and I believe that in the near future, the Chinese physics community will be able to create brilliant achievements again!