In 1964, the first atomic bomb developed by China was successfully detonated.
In 1967, China successfully exploded its first hydrogen bomb.
In 1970, China successfully launched China's first artificial satellite, Dongfanghong 1, becoming the fifth country in the world to independently launch artificial earth satellites after the Soviet Union, the United States, France, and Japan.
In the past six years, the achievements of the "two bombs and one satellite" have attracted attention, and the continuous development and growth of China's science, technology and industry for national defense has announced to the world that China has gone from standing up to standing firm, and that a country and a famous ethnic group are moving toward prosperity.
However, the development of the Chinese nation to this day is not easy, the more glorious and dazzling glory behind the darkness and efforts experienced are unimaginable, in addition to the well-known father of the two bombs and one star, Deng Jiaxian and Qian Xuesen, there are also thousands and tens of thousands of scientists who have also devoted themselves to the great project of national construction.
On 18 September 1999, on the occasion of the 50 th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission solemnly commended 23 scientific and technological experts who had made outstanding contributions to China's "two bombs and one satellite" cause and awarded them the "Two Bombs and One Satellite Merit Medal."
Today we want to talk about one of the "two bombs and one satellite" feat, Peng Hengwu, which is unknown to many Chinese people.
On October 6, 1915, Peng Hengwu was born in Changchun, because he was an old man, he was loved by thousands of people, his parents named him "Peng Mengxiong" only hoped that he could be healthy and strong like a bear, but it backfired, Peng Mengxiong was very weak from birth, his limbs were skinny, and he could not speak at the age of two, because of cerebral anemia and often dizzy and fell to the ground.
After graduating from primary school, he was refused to enter junior high school because he did not have the ability to take care of himself, and after four years, Peng's father still decided to let Peng Hengwu go to junior high school, not to go to primary school for the rest of his life, because he was bullied during school, and Peng Hengwu's brother planned to take him to Jilin to study - Yuwen Middle School.
Also because Peng Hengwu could not take care of himself, he only married at the age of 43.
Peng Hengwu showed his talent for science when he was a child, and with the summer tutoring at home, Yuwen Middle School accepted him into the third year of junior high school.
Because the school pays attention to mathematics, physics and chemistry, which is Peng Hengwu's strength, he quickly ranked first in the class, and his classmates admired him very much, and at the same time, they also admired his self-conscious, hard-working learning spirit, initiative to teach, and diligent thinking learning methods.
At the age of 14, he finished reading Darwin's On the Origin of Species and Thomson's Outline of Science, and from then on he focused on the path of science.
Some people are born to be big things, because Peng Hengwu's excellent grades, he also rose three levels in high school, and he also loved tennis, in the case of a friend invitation, he stepped into Tsinghua for the first time, this top university in China, as soon as he entered Tsinghua, he was attracted by the neat and lush lawn of Tsinghua, he decided to apply for Tsinghua University, at this time it was only four months before the exam, in order to be safe, he also applied for Peking University, but on the eve of the exam, he unfortunately had a serious illness, severe diarrhea, because he missed the exam of Peking University, But he still dragged his sick body to the Tsinghua exam.
On the day of the listing, the dense list, but only 100 people were admitted, Peng Hengwu was expectant and nervous, he carefully looked at the absence of his name, unfortunately he fell off the list.
Although disappointed and regretful, he is confident that he will be admitted to Tsinghua next year, the 16-year-old boy is full of spirits, the next day he went to play tennis with friends, but friends all gathered around, congratulated him on his admission to Tsinghua, and asked him to invite guests to dinner, he thought it was a joke of a friend, half-believed, but still hurried back to the dormitory to take out the newspaper and read it carefully, the second time he found his name, it turned out that the newspaper was vertical, his name was printed in two lines, one up and down, a little carelessness will be missed.
In this way, 16-year-old Peng Hengwu was admitted to Tsinghua as he wished.
Not long after entering the school, the war broke out, the 918 incident broke out, and the students were filled with righteous indignation, and Peng Hengwu was no exception.
His brother went to the Whampoa Military Academy, he also dreamed of rushing to the battlefield, but when Tsinghua University carried out military training, his cerebral anemia recurred, a statement forbade him to exercise vigorously, just like that, others train, Peng Hengwu can only watch others train, watch others fight bloodily, Peng Hengwu also has a clear goal for his future, he also wants to become a man of lofty ideals, but in terms of knowledge, science.
He made a four-year study plan for himself, while he flipped through medical-related books to recuperate, and a year later, he returned to the tennis court.
Because of his excellent results, Peng Hengwu has also been rated as the "Tsinghua Four Masters" of the Department of Physics, these four masters are Wang Zhuxi, Peng Hengwu, Lin Jiaqiao, Yang Zhenning, these four masters are the famous figures of the Tsinghua Department of Physics, and their study stories also inspire future generations to love knowledge.
As the artillery fire of the war gradually approached and his roommate died of tuberculosis, Peng Hengwu became more and more negative about life, but he kept his patriotism in mind and bought a pack of arsenic, thinking that if he was caught by the Japanese and made a prisoner, he would eat arsenic into his stomach.
When the Qiqi Incident broke out, Peng Hengwu's arsenic would be discovered by his family, and at the same time, Peng Hengwu also decided to travel thousands of miles to teach at Yunnan University, and in 1938, Southwest Associated University moved from Changsha to Kunming, and Peng Hengwu met a teacher who had been separated for a long time.
The future is unpredictable, and soon Peng Hengwu ushered in a turning point in his life, under the lobbying of his teacher, he took the public examination for studying abroad, and he naturally made the list with outstanding results, and under the advice of the teacher, he chose the University of Edinburgh, even if he had a better choice - Cambridge University.
Studying under one of the founders of quantum mechanics - Marx Born, and the outbreak of World War II, bullets and bullets, war, and panic, but Peng Hengwu believes that it is more important than losing his life at any time to learn knowledge, and to plan for life in the impending death.
In the library, classrooms, dormitories, Peng Hengwu immersed himself in hard study, forgot to sleep, received a doctorate from the University of Edinburgh in 1940, and was highly praised by his supervisor Max Born, and Bonn repeatedly mentioned Peng Hengwu in his letters to Einstein: "He is smarter and more capable than other students, as if he knows everything and can do anything." ”
In 1948, Peng Hengwu was elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy of Sciences, even though he had become famous in Europe, he still could not forget the invaded motherland, his patriotism was as strong as a rock, and he had learned to swim in order to return to the motherland as soon as possible for fear that his ship would be destroyed in the Atlantic.
Peng Hengwu's decision to return to China alarmed the scientific circles of the two countries, and some people wondered: "You were elected as an academician of the Royal Irish Academy of Sciences at the age of 33, and you have made great achievements abroad, why did you refuse to retain high salaries and return to poor and backward China?" ”
Peng Hengwu replied: "This question is not right, you should ask why you didn't return to China." ”
For a person who is drifting overseas, it is normal to go home and return to China, and no reason is needed. However, Peng Huanwu's merits and fame have given people from all walks of life an illusion: no profit is not needed as a reason.
After crossing the ocean, he finally returned home after completing his studies.
This time when he returned to China, Peng Hengwu knew better than anyone what he had to face, the country was in ruins, he wanted to hide his merits and fame, and cultivate on the barren soil of the Gu family, because of the limited resources in all aspects, this is not only a difficult war but also a protracted war.
But his resolute return to China shows that he is confident that he will devote himself to this and will succeed, but it is only a matter of time.
In 1949, Peng Hengwu returned to Tsinghua to teach and trained the first graduate student in New China.
In 1961, Peng Hengwu responded to the call of state secrets and went to the barren and barren Gobi Desert to participate in the development of atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, underground nuclear experiments and other work, immersing himself in work day and night. This not only reflects the spirit of exploration of scientists, but also a vivid interpretation of the love of serving the country.
With the success of the experiment, while the Chinese people cheered, they could finally relax and rest.
In 1995, the "Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Science and Technology Achievement Award" awarded Peng Hengwu 1 million Hong Kong dollars, but Peng Hengwu set up the "Peng Hengwu Memorial Grant", which was donated in 8 years to subsidize people who had participated in nuclear work and suffered physical injuries, benefiting 35 people, at this time Peng Hengwu was 80 years old.
In 2006, Peng Hengwu was 91 years old, approved by the International Astronomical Union Small Celestial Nomenclature Committee, and officially named asteroid No. 48798 discovered by Chinese scientists as "Peng Hengwu Star".
You don't need a reason to return home, and you don't need a reason to be patriotic.
Peng Hengwu has been catching up with knowledge and has been walking on the right path, and he also clearly knows where he should go, and the spirit of his predecessors is worthy of admiration, pointing out the direction of future generations' actions.
There are many bright stars like Peng Hengwu, even if they have long left this world, their spirit lives on. They are the pioneers of the country and the great figures we need to remember.
No matter what era we are in, moving forward on the right path is the brilliance of our humanity, which may be the only meaning that the Creator has given human beings to think. Remembering the past, benefiting the present, and inspiring future generations may be the meaning of history.