How strong is the Chinese scientist, what did the 50g radium let him experience, what kind of tribulations he endured for the study of nuclear physics in our country, long press praise and attention, we understand Academician Zhao Zhongyao together.
I believe that many small partners see this name is relatively unfamiliar, but when it comes to his students, you are absolutely like thunder, Wang Ganchang, Qian Sanqiang, Deng Jiaxian, Yang Zhenning, Li Zhengdao, etc., these big cattle in the world's scientific community are trained by Zhao Zhongyao, if you think that his achievements are limited to this, then it is too underestimated this academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Nobel Prize Committee in Physics has evaluated him in this way, Zhao Zhongyao is a real Nobel Prize winner in the hearts of world physicists, and the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences agree with the evaluation of Academician Zhao Zhongyao. If it is not the mistake of others, Teacher Zhao should be the first Nobel Prize winner in China, so what happened to make Academician Zhao Zhongyao miss the Nobel Prize?
In 1925 Zhao Zhongyao graduated from Southeast University as a teaching assistant at Tsinghua University, the so-called teaching assistant can be understood as a disguised work-study, during the teaching assistant Zhao Zhongyao had a feeling, that is, the gap between Physics in China and abroad is too big, so big that we can't even see clearly behind others, the idea of going out to study took root in Zhao Zhongyao's mind, according to the regulations of Tsinghua University at that time, the teaching assistant time reached four years to get a free study quota, but Zhao Zhongyao's desire to learn made him wait less than four years. After only two years as a teaching assistant, Zhao Zhongyao went to the California Institute of Technology at his own expense to study, and the person responsible for teaching Zhao Zhongyao at that time was professor Millikan, the Nobel Laureate, who thought that this was just a gold-plated Chinese, so he gave him a difficult experiment, and said to Zhao Zhongyao that as long as you study this thing in two years, then you can get a doctorate, but Zhao Zhongyao did not come for a doctorate, but to learn advanced nuclear physics knowledge. Stubbornly, he asked Professor Millikan to replace himself with a more difficult subject, and it was this stubbornness that pushed Zhao Zhongyao to the position of a world-class master.
In 1929, Zhao Zhongyao discovered positrons through an experiment, this discovery was so large in gold content at that time, when the scientific community generally believed that the birth of the universe was in contact with positive and negative matter, and this theory was put forward by Albert Einstein, when so many years had passed, no one could use experiments to prove the existence of positrons, it can be said that Zhao Zhongyao's discovery is across the era, then why did he not win the Nobel Prize, the reason is that people are copying his experiments, One method has a mistake once the instrument deviates, so they unilaterally believe that Zhao Zhongyao's discovery is false, two years later Zhao Zhongyao's classmate Anderson found the trace of positrons in another way on the basis of the original experiment, he also won the Nobel Prize, and at this time Zhao Zhongyao has ended his work at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, returned to China to establish the first nuclear physics laboratory, and he also brought back 50g radium from The United Kingdom, which is a parting gift from Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, Being recognized by this super bull shows Zhao Zhongyao's outstanding performance during his time in Cambridge, and as for the preciousness of radium, you can check Out Marie Curie.
Zhao Zhongyao returned to China and placed radium in the laboratory of Tsinghua University, and this is the introduction of the second story, in 1937, the Anti-Japanese War broke out in full swing and fell of Beiping, Tsinghua University was forced to move south to Changsha, but the precious radium was still left in the Tsinghuayuan laboratory, once such a precious thing fell into the hands of the Japanese, it was a loss for the entire Chinese scientific community, so Zhao Zhongyao risked his life to contact Liang Sicheng, and the two of them sneaked into the Tsinghuayuan laboratory together to take the radium out. In order to prevent Zhao Zhongyao from being found storing radium in a lead can, and placing it in a foul-smelling pickle jar, he dressed himself as a beggar all the way south to Changsha, what happened on the road he did not mention nor know, when people found Zhao Zhongyao again, a beggar shouted at the gate of Changsha Qinghua Garden to see Mei Yiqi (then the principal of Tsinghua), this 50g radium played a key role in the future nuclear and hydrogen weapons research, and Zhao Zhongyao's own contribution to nuclear weapons research is also indelible.
In 1946, Zhao Zhongyao was sent by the government of the Republic of China to the United States to visit the atomic bomb experiment, the secret task was to buy an electrostatic accelerator for nuclear physics experiments, but Zhao Zhongyao found that there was simply not enough money to buy, he gritted his teeth and thought about only buying difficult parts, the rest of the parts were painstakingly researched out in assembly, in order to learn relevant knowledge Zhao Zhongyao went to various universities to study, it is difficult to imagine zhao Zhongyao's life during that time, but the final result is that he succeeded. In 1950, after Zhao Zhongyao sent the electrostatic accelerator back to China, he also embarked on a ship back to China, but when passing through Japan, he was investigated by the FBI and detained for a short time, and finally Under the continuous efforts of our country, Zhao Zhongyao was released, during which he also refused the solicitation of Bay Bay, Zhao Zhongyao arrived in Beijing in January 1951, since then Zhao Zhongyao has been fighting in the front line of nuclear physics research, and the research on the most critical gyrotron of the atomic bomb was completed by the team led by Academician Zhao Zhongyao.
When we mention nuclear weapons, we think of those big guys, but I sincerely hope that you will also remember that they also have a more remarkable teacher - Zhao Zhongyao, this issue ends here, if you are interested in the ancestors of Chinese science, you can leave a message in the comment area to see the scientists, we will see you in the next issue.