He has successively carried out the rapid heating process of atomic nuclei and steel ingots in China, and he has engaged in research in many fields such as mainland nuclear reactor theory, critical safety and engineering design, and he has made important contributions to the successful development of the mainland's first generation of atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs.
In 1915, Peng Hengwu was born in Changchun City, Jilin Province. His father, Peng Shutang, graduated from Waseda University in Japan in his early years, was a well-educated intellectual, and served as the county magistrate of Changchun County after the Xinhai Revolution, so he was also called "Changchun Peng." Peng Hengwu has been influenced by the culture of his family since he was a child, loves to read and write, and has a high talent especially in the field of arithmetic.
At the age of 4, Peng Hengwu had already mastered the four very complex operations before he went to school, which also left a solid knowledge foundation for his later life development path.
At the age of 15, Peng Hengwu followed his father and brother to Beijing to study Xi, and at the same time, with his excellent Xi academic talent and hard work, he was successfully admitted to Tsinghua University. While studying at Tsinghua University, he also began an indissoluble bond with physics.
It is worth noting that although Peng Hengwu's academic performance is very good, he is a mess of his daily life, he can't wash clothes or cook, and his body has always been weak and often sick. Despite this, the trivialities in life did not hinder Peng Hengwu's further development in academic Xi.
In 1935, after graduating from Peng Hengwu University, he decided to continue his postgraduate studies at Tsinghua University, and continued his research in the field of physics with his supervisor Zhou Peiyuan. Not only that, during his graduate studies at Tsinghua University, Peng Hengwu also met Yang Zhenning, Wang Zhuxi, Lin Jiaqiao and others. Later, the four of them were also known as the "Four Masters of Tsinghua University" because of their intelligence.
In 1941, in order to better develop China's physical science and technology strength and save the country through science, Peng Hengwu decided to study abroad. As a result, Peng Hengwu successfully entered the Dublin Institute for Advanced Study to continue his studies. During this period, Peng Hengwu also cooperated with other scientists to create a large number of contributing documents. For example, the HHP theory, which is also considered by the physics community to be an important achievement in describing the behavior of particles under weak interactions.
Not only that, Peng Hengwu's outstanding contributions to physics and excellent academic ability are deeply loved by tutors. In the eyes of his mentors Born and Schrödinger, Peng Hengwu was a very intelligent and capable student who could understand very complex physical theories. It was also praised by his mentor that Peng Hengwu was also recognized by a large number of famous physicists in his later academic career.
In 1941, Peng Hengwu already had the idea of returning to China for development after completing his studies, but due to the complexity of China's domestic form and the fact that it was still in the war stage, his return journey to China was never realized. With the outbreak of World War II in the world, the situation in Europe is not optimistic, Peng Hengwu can only go to the United States, and then return to China.
After arriving in the United States, the U.S. government asked Peng Hengwu to sign a statement of commitment. In this regard, Peng Hengwu was very angry, and he still needed to sign a promise to return to his country, and this promise was only for Chinese. So, Peng Hengwu chose to refuse to sign, and then chose the right time to return to China.
Peng Hengwu's wait took nearly 6 years. It was not until 1947 that Peng Hengwu successfully returned to his country. After returning to China, Peng Hengwu taught in many well-known universities in China, treated students approachably, helped solve various problems, and cultivated many outstanding talents for the development of national physics.
In 1960, due to the rapid deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations at that time, the Soviet Union withdrew all technical experts who had assisted China and took with them relevant research materials. In 1961, due to a shortage of talents, Peng Hengwu was transferred to the National Nuclear Weapons Research Institute to help the further development of nuclear weapons on the mainland.
At that time, due to the lack of advanced computers, a large amount of data could only be calculated by hand through an abacus. With the efforts of Peng Hengwu and many other scientists, the relevant data were successfully calculated. However, its data are not the same as those kept by Soviet specialists. As a result, the mainland's scientific research work fell into a stage of stagnation for a time.
Later, at Peng Hengwu's insistence, it was discovered that the data given by the Soviet Union was wrong, and the mainland's nuclear weapons research and development was on the right track. In 1964, the mainland successfully detonated its first atomic bomb. Three years later, the mainland successfully tested the first hydrogen bomb.
In 1995, 80-year-old Peng Hengwu also donated 1 million Hong Kong dollars for the country's future scientific research plan. It is precisely because of the selfless dedication of Peng Hengwu and many other scientists that the mainland has greatly improved its nuclear weapons research and development, and has also further enhanced the mainland's national defense strength and international status.