Today is the 110th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Wu Jianxiong, the "Queen of World Physics". Today, 1912, Wu Jianxiong was born in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, and has since begun a legendary life in the history of world physics.
Wu Jianxiong Source: Wu Jianxiong College, Southeast University
A schoolgirl with a difference
Wu Jianxiong's difference seems to be foreshadowed in the name. Her generation is the "Jian" character in the family tree, and the four brothers and sisters are named "Hero Haojie", which is how she got the rather masculine name of "Jianxiong". Someone advised her father, Wu Zhongyi, to change her daughter's name, but her father said: "What is wrong with today's Chinese girls, who have more male masculinity?" ”
Wu Zhongyi's ideological enlightenment did not stop there, he resolutely opposed foot binding, supported women's study, and personally founded a girls' school in the town. This family atmosphere gave Wu Jianxiong the character of not letting her eyebrows be raised, and listening to the stories of scientists told by her father cultivated her interest in science.
After graduating from middle school, Wu Jianxiong entered Shanghai China Public School, where he was appreciated by the principal Hu Shi, and the two formed a teacher-student relationship. After that, he entered Nanjing Central University (now Southeast University) to study physics, and after graduation, he worked as a teaching assistant at Zhejiang University for one year.
In 1935, on the recommendation of Hu Shi, Wu Jianxiong came to shanghai to work as an assistant at the Institute of Physics of the Academia Sinica. Gu Jinghui, China's first female doctor of physics, who was responsible for supervising her, was 12 years older than Wu Jianxiong, who was admitted to Tsinghua Geng to stay in the United States, earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Michigan, and returned to China to teach, serving as the head of the physics department at Nankai University.
The drama "Spring Death" tells the story of this Republic of China version of "girls help girls" Image source: "Drama Nine People" WeChat public account
At that time, the Institute of Physics was short of funds, unable to provide advanced experimental equipment, and could not immediately learn about the latest research trends abroad. So Gu Jinghui offered to contact his teachers at the University of Michigan and recommend Wu Jianxiong to study abroad. In 1936, with the financial support of his uncle Wu Zhenzhi, Wu Jianxiong set off for the United States.
The road to becoming the "Queen of Physics"
On his way to the University of Michigan, Wu Met Yuan Jiaqiu of the University of California, Berkeley, in San Francisco, and was her lifelong companion in her career and life. Yuan Jiaxiao took her to visit the University of California, an international first-class advanced scientific and technological device, a variety of laboratories in the Department of Physics, and a top physics professor at the international level, which made Wu Jianxiong think that this is the "holy land" of science that she dreamed of. So she changed her mind and had a strong desire to transfer to the University of California, Berkeley.
But the school had already started, and the director of the UC School of Political Science and Physics was deeply prejudiced against foreign students, especially Chinese and women. But Wu Jianxiong was not discouraged, accompanied by Yuan Jialuo, with the sincerity and courage of the young man, came to the director's office for an interview. Sure enough, after several conversations, the director was impressed by her: Wu Jianxiong's solid basic knowledge of physics and the talent potential revealed by his speech eliminated his prejudice and agreed to Wu Jianxiong's transfer request.
During his doctoral studies, Wu studied the electromagnetic radiation produced when charged particles slow down, as well as the radioactive isotopes of xenon produced by the fission of uranium nuclei. In June 1940, she received her doctorate with honors.
After a short postdoctoral study at the Radiation Laboratory, Wu moved to the East Coast to teach at Smith College and then Princeton University. In 1944, Wu became a scientist at Columbia University and joined the Manhattan Project, where the United States built the atomic bomb. As a team member, she helped develop the process of using gas diffusion to separate uranium atoms into charged uranium-235 and uranium-238 isotopes. This work eventually produced enriched uranium, which is key to nuclear reactions.
In 2020, the US "Time Magazine" selected the Century Woman of the Year and selected Wu Jianxiong as the 1945 Woman of the Year. "When people are asked about the Manhattan Project and the weapons it makes, few people think of the name Wu," the magazine read. But without the physicist, the project could have failed, and even World War II might have been delayed until after 1946. Source: @China Daily
After World War II, Wu remained at Columbia University, focusing on the study of the radioactive processes of β decay. She studied the fast-moving electrons or positrons emitted by β particles from their nuclei during radioactive decay.
According to Wu Jianxiong's granddaughter, Enrico Fermi, who built the world's first practical nuclear reactor, also consulted Wu Jianxiong because of the confusion of "shutdown", and then solved the problem of "xenon 135 pollution, a by-product of nuclear fission".
Wu Jianxiong "has a calm breath whenever there is a big event." In a 1941 article on her nuclear fission research, she was called a "petite Chinese girl" who looked "like an actress, an artist, or a rich lady who pursued Western culture", but in fact, she was "an authority on the study of decay in contemporary β"!
break
"Unbreakable Laws"
At the time, none of the top 20 research universities in the nation had a single female physics professor. However, Wu Jianxiong never lived behind people because of his nationality or gender. In her 1965 speech, she boldly advocated that the scientific community should include more professional women. Soon, while attending a symposium on women in science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wu attacked the "unbreakable traditional notion" of science as the male realm and asked: Are atoms or DNA molecules "biased toward men or women" as much as our society?
In the mid-1950s, the left-right symmetry of the universe, or cosmological conservation, was considered an irrefutable fact. But theoretical physicists Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao believed that the universe might not be conserved in the weak interaction, so they sought cooperation from Wu Jianxiong. Later, Yang said that Wu Jianxiong was the only one who understood the urgency and importance of testing their theory.
By observing the decay of cobalt-60 atoms, Wu measured the change in radiation intensity with the direction of radiation and came up with a way to make the cobalt-60 atoms all rotate in the same direction to improve accuracy. She observed more particles flying away in the opposite direction of the nucleus' rotation. The conservation law predicts that atoms emit particles in a symmetrical manner, but Wu's observation means that the "law" does not hold, and she discovered that the universe is not conserved.
Wu Jianxiong's physics experiments have always been known for their accuracy Source: Popular Science Suzhou
This breakthrough achievement laid the foundation for Wu Jianxiong's status as a world-class experimental physicist, and also helped Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao stand on the podium of the Nobel Prize in Physics. However, Wu's contribution has been ignored, which has led to the dissatisfaction of many scientists, which has also become a major unsolved case in Nobel history.
Wu Jianxiong himself has never publicly expressed his opinion on this. Later, she wrote in a letter:
"I've devoted my life to the study of weak interactions, and I've enjoyed it. Even though I've never done research for an award, it hurts me deeply when my work is overlooked for some reason. ”
"Exceptional citizen of the world
and a Chinese forever"
Despite missing out on the Nobel Prize, Wu Jianxiong still carved his name in the history of world physics with his outstanding work and achievements. In 1975, Wu became the first female president of the American Physical Society, and in the same year, he was awarded the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor in the United States. In 1990, the Purple Mountain Observatory named asteroid 2752 after her. In 1994, he was elected as one of the first batch of foreign academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Things changed, and Wu Jianxiong in his later years was finally able to return to his hometown. She returned to China many times to visit and lecture, cared about the scientific and educational undertakings of the motherland, and set up the Wu Jianxiong and Yuan Jialuo Awards at her alma mater, Southeast University, to reward young and promising teachers, and also set up the "Wu Jianxiong Laboratory".
On February 11, 2021, the U.S. Postal Service issued a permanent stamp in honor of Wu Jianxiong, one of the most influential nuclear physicists of the 20th century
In 1997, at the age of 85, Wu Jianxiong died of illness at home. According to the will, her husband Yuan Jialuo brought her ashes back to Liuhe Town. On her tombstone, Jiang Caijian, author of "Wu Jianxiong", wrote:
"Buried here is the world's most eminent female physicist, Wu Jianxiong (1912-1997); her long and profound scientific work, showing deep thinking and insight; her willpower and dedication to work, reminiscent of Marie Curie; her entry into the world, elegance and intelligence, reflecting sincere love and perseverance; she is an outstanding world citizen and an eternal Chinese."
Source: China Science Popularization Network, editor
Editor: Mao Mengyuan
Review: Wang Fei
Final Judge: Chen Lei