Anti-lost, elevator to safety island reporter Liu Yadong A
Source: Evolution of Management
Many of today's puzzles are inextricably solved, and the answers are embedded in history.
Why do our schools always fail to produce outstanding talents? ——This is the "Qian Xuesen's question" that makes Chinese heartache.
Yesterday, listening to Academician Zheng Quanshui, chief professor of Tsinghua Qian Xuesen's class and founder of Shenzhen Zero One College, talk about talent training, mentioning cavendish laboratory, we may wish to travel through time and space, back to this cradle known as the "cradle of the Nobel Prize in Science" to see why talents continue to emerge here.
Bill Gates once said, "If I could travel through time to explore, my first stop would be Bell Labs in December 1947." Similarly, if you can travel through time to understand how to cultivate outstanding talents, the Cavendish Laboratory may be Mr. Qian Xuesen's first stop.
Cavendish Laboratory, the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge, was founded in 1871 by James Clark Maxwell, the father of electromagnetism, in honor of the great physicist, chemist and Cambridge University alumnus Henry Cavendish.
Cavendish Laboratory's research areas cover astrophysics, particle physics, solid state physics, biophysics, and is the first socialized and specialized scientific laboratory in the history of modern science. Since then, the physics laboratory has expanded from the private residences of scientists to become a research unit.
This practice conforms to the requirements of industrial technology for scientific development in the second half of the nineteenth century, plays a good role in promoting the development of scientific research, and has spawned a large number of important scientific achievements that can affect human progress, making a decisive contribution to the scientific development of mankind. With the development of science and technology, the scale of scientific research work is getting larger and larger, and socialization and specialization are inevitable trends.
29 Nobel laureates in 85 years
In the 85 years from 1904 to 1989, the Cavendish Laboratory produced a total of 29 Nobel laureates, accounting for one-third of the total number of Nobel Prizes at Cambridge University. If considered a university, it can be ranked 20th in the world in terms of awardees, along with Stanford University. Its scientific research efficiency is amazing, and its achievements are unparalleled in the world. At its peak, it was even praised as "one-half of the world's discoveries in physics come from the Cavendish Laboratory." ”
The average age of the 29 Nobel laureates was 35.3 years old.
John Strath, the third baron Rayleigh (Physics, 1904) studied gas density and discovered argon from it;
Joseph Thomson (Physics, 1906) discovers electrons; recognizes that electrons are subatomic particles; (His son later won a physics prize);
Ernest Rutherford (Chemistry, 1908) discovered the half-life of radioactivity and named the radioactive material α rays and β rays;
William Lawrence Bragg (Physics, 1915) conducts research on the analysis of crystal structure with X-rays (25-year-old winner, youngest winner);
Charles Glover Baclay (Physics, 1917) discovers the phenomenon of X-ray scattering;
Francis Aston (Chemistry, 1922) discovered isotopes of a large number of non-radioactive elements with the help of mass spectrometers and elucidated the law of integers;
Charles Wilson (Physics, 1927) invented the cloud chamber to observe the trajectories of α particles and electrons;
Arthur Compton (Physics, 1927) discovers the Compton effect;
Owen Richardson (Physics, 1928) discovers Richardson's law;
James Chadwick (Physics, 1935) discovers neutrons;
George Thomson (Physics, 1937) discovered that electrons have wave properties (son of Joseph Thomson);
Edward Appleton (Physics, 1947) discovered an ionosphere about 150 miles (241 km) high, the Appleton layer;
Patrick Blackett (Physics, 1948) observes cosmic rays using an anti-control cloud chamber;
John Kokerhof (Physics, 1951) uses particle accelerators to study atomic nuclei;
Ernest Walton (Physics, 1951) was the first man in history to artificially split the nucleus, proving the theory of atomic structure;
Francis Crick (Physiology or Medicine, 1962) co-discovered the double helix structure of dna (DNA) with Watson;
James Dewey Watson (Physiology or Medicine, 1962) co-discovered the double helix structure of DNA with Crick;
Max Peruts (Chemistry, 1962) co-determined the molecular structure of heme and globulins with Kendru;
John Kendrew (Chemistry, 1962) co-determined the molecular structure of heme and globulins with Peruts;
Dorothy Crawford Hodgkin (Chemistry, 1964) determined the structure of penicillin and vitamin B12;
Brian Josephson (Physics, 1973) predicted and discovered the Josephson knot effect;
Martin Ryle (Physics, 1974) was the first Nobel Prize-winning astronomer;
Anthony Hewish (Physics, 1974) discovers pulsars;
Neville Mott (Physics, 1977) and Anderson developed a basic theory of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems.
Philip Anderson (Physics, 1977) and Mott developed a fundamental theory of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems.
Peter Kapicha (Physics, 1978) discovers superfluidics;
Alain McLeod Cormac (Physiology or Medicine, 1979) successfully performed X-ray imaging analysis;
Aaron Klagg (Chemistry, 1982) used crystal electron microscopy to study the structure of viruses and similar substances.
Norman Ramsey (Physics, 1989) develops ultra-precision cesium atomic clocks and hydrogen microwave exciters.
Why is there a constant surge of talent here?
Why has the Cavendish Laboratory been able to produce so many scientific elites and make so many discoveries and inventions that are important to modern science? There are roughly four reasons for this:
First, aim at interdisciplinary frontier disciplines, and attach great importance to the selection of academic leaders
In terms of research direction, Cavendish Laboratory always aims at the forefront of the development of physics, and in each period, it has chosen the correct main direction of attack with great foresight, and put forward original ideas and topics, thus maintaining the advanced academic concept of the laboratory and the breakthrough of research results.
In the history of Cavendish Laboratory, disciplines are relative, and the breakthrough of interdisciplinary barriers and the mutual penetration of disciplines have induced many new fields and new disciplines, making laboratory achievements one after another, thus laying the foundation for a series of discipline theories such as electromagnetic theory, material electrical structure theory, and radio astronomy.
Cavendish Laboratory is known in the history of science for its ability to select, cultivate and cultivate world-class scientific leaders, and attaches great importance to the selection of laboratory directors, which includes outstanding organizational and management skills, competent for scientific research and teaching, and the formation of a unique and innovative school.
Nine outstanding laboratory directors were selected: Maxwell, Rayleigh (1842-1919), J. J. Thomson (1856-1940), Rutherford (1871-1937), W. L. Bragg (1890-1971), Mott (1905-1996), Pipard (1920-2008), Edwards (1928-2004) and Freund (1953-). It was under their leadership that the Cavendish Laboratory had such brilliance. J. J. Thomson took over as director of the laboratory at the age of 28, and under his leadership, the laboratory produced eight Nobel Prizes.
Second, select outstanding talents for the world and ensure that scientific research drives teaching
Thomson was open-minded and democratic, and at his suggestion, he took a number of historical initiatives in 1895:
1, for the first time to the world, set up a system for recruiting graduate students from abroad;
2, allow graduate students from other universities to come to The Cavensch Laboratory for research and can award advanced degrees from the University of Cambridge;
3, the first to implement the system open to female students.
These practices attracted a number of outstanding young scholars to the bridge, many researchers later became famous scientists, many won Nobel Prizes, and remarkable achievements also made the Cavendish Laboratory a mecca for physics, and physicists from all over the world came to visit.
Third, boldly make their own experimental instruments and equipment, and choose topics freely and creatively
Maxwell, the first director of Cavendish Laboratory, created a systematic system of combining teaching and scientific research, focusing on injecting the spirit of research into the teaching process, and implementing scientific research to promote teaching, so that talent training is fruitful. The room establishes a tradition of making its own instruments and doing experiments by students themselves.
Cavendish Laboratories adheres to the belief that "only by allowing graduate students to devote themselves to cutting-edge research, and only by allowing them to make their own experimental instruments and equipment in their own imagination can they produce excellent scientists". They believe that in order to achieve original and original results, it is necessary to make their own instruments and equipment to do experiments, according to Maxwell's proposition, physics teaching is not only systematically taught, but also supplemented by performance experiments, and requires students to do their own work, performance experiments require simple structure, students are easy to master.
Maxwell once said: "The educational value of these experiments is often inversely proportional to the complexity of the instrument." Although students often have problems with homemade instruments, they will learn more than with carefully adjusted instruments, and they will get more unexpected gains in research experiments, sometimes simply creation. ”
Fourth, create a unique academic atmosphere of freedom, democracy and equality
While ensuring the main research areas, the Cavendish Laboratory has always firmly supported some non-consensus whimsy, and supported young talents with original ideas to encourage independent innovation and advocate academic equality.
As long as it is an interested research direction, it will always be encouraged, never saying who can't do it or the research is hopeless. During his tenure, Rutherford often organized informal and unique academic exchange activities, such as tea-time talks at 5 p.m. every day, which is considered the "most beautiful moment" of the day at the Cavendish Laboratory.
Professors, researchers, and students all participate on an equal footing, and these scientists of different ages, in different disciplines and at different levels, in the process of meeting and talking, in the leisurely exchange of ideas, often sparks of wisdom, and sometimes spontaneous ideas are just used by the work of another person. In this good atmosphere, new ideas and original results are frequently poured out.
The reason why the Cavendish Laboratory continues to produce outstanding talents can answer the "Qian Xuesen's question".