On August 1, 2017, another scientific research superstar fell, and Jiang Xikui, a 91-year-old academician of the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed away in Shanghai.
Again, this is a very unfamiliar name to most people. However, Mr. Jiang's great contribution to the motherland will forever be recorded in history.
Fluoroelastomer is an irreplaceable key material in the advanced industry of national defense and an indispensable new material in the "two bombs and one satellite" project. At that time, Jiang Xikui was ordered to successfully develop China's first piece of fluoroelastomer, breaking the blockade of Western countries.
In 2002, he grew old and strong, and the team won the first prize of the National Natural Science Award, which was vacant for 4 years. High-profile!
He has also won honorary titles such as National Advanced Worker and Shanghai Science and Technology Hero.
On September 5, 1926, Jiang Xikui was born in Shanghai. He is a descendant of the Jiang family in Jinling, and his family is very well-off. Later, the Jiang family moved to Shanghai. Mainly engaged in the real estate industry in Shanghai. When he was 5 years old, his family bought a 12-seater extended luxury Buick made in the United States, which was the second family-owned luxury car in Shanghai at that time. Jiang Zhuang, next to the West Lake in Hangzhou, is also an asset of his family, and in 1980, Jiang Xikui's mother donated it to the state according to Jiang Xikui's father's will.
Jinling Jiang Jiazu was engaged in water transport work. Although the family was very wealthy, his great-grandfather, Jiang Chunhua, the richest man and philanthropist in Nanjing at the end of the Qing Dynasty, set four major trainings for the descendants of the Chiang family. "Public welfare is the internal affair of life", "the widow is not gold by the scriptures", "The an ben learns to suffer losses", "The gentleman should be self-reliant", so the descendants of the Jiang family are deeply immersed in the family style, good to the beautiful, and talented.
There is also an academician in Chiang's door, that is, Jiang Youxu, a professor at Peking University who was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1999.
Jiang Xikuo's father, Jiang Guobang, was a scholar and poet of traditional Chinese studies, who studied under many masters of traditional Chinese studies, and in his later years he combined philosophy, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, theory, poetry, and calligraphy into one, and compiled and published books such as "Jinling Series" and "Collection of Relics of The Qing Daoists". In order to adopt his mother, he bought a villa near the fish viewing spot in the west lake of Hangzhou, commonly known as "Jiang Zhuang". He has been educating Jiang Xikuo at a young age with Confucius thought and tradition. His mother, Ms. Feng Wuxiao, was an educator who carefully selected for her son the Xinzha Road Primary School of the Shanghai Bureau of The Ministry of Works, a characteristic school with advanced educational concepts at that time, and the influence of traditional Chinese culture to nourish Western scientific knowledge laid a good foundation for Jiang Xikui's future development.
Jiang Xikui showed an interest in chemical research from an early age, and when he was in junior high school at Huatong College, he often did chemical experiments with his cousin in a small laboratory at home. At one point, they mixed hydrogen and oxygen and almost blew up their fingers. In high school, when he was attached to St. John's University, he developed a strong interest in biology. By today's standards, it's a little science junkie!
At the age of 17, Jiang Xikui read Robinson's book "How to Think Independently", and the seeds of science sprouted. He believes that the scientific thinking and methods of scientists include the principle of "not jumping to conclusions easily". For example, it cannot be said, "This law is correct because it was said by Einstein," but only that "This law that Einstein said is correct because it has been proved by the practice of a certain scientist." ”
In 1947, Jiang Xikui graduated from the Department of Chemistry of St. John's University in Shanghai with the first place. He stayed on as a teaching assistant. Later, he went to the University of Washington to pursue a doctorate.
Three months before going abroad, he wrote in his diary: "I understand how China will need industrial talents in the future, but I also know what kind of way of life my temperament is suitable for." In any case, he has already gained confidence in serving the people of the motherland. ”
During his doctoral studies, Jiang studied under the physical and organic chemist Daoben. His excellent performance is highly recognized by his teachers.
In 1952, the U.S. Congress passed a bill prohibiting the study of science, engineering, agriculture, and medicine in the United States
Chinese students returned to China. Jiang Xikui reluctantly entered a large multinational chemical company, Klauger Company. There, Jiang and his colleagues invented a method of adding a small amount of water-soluble additives to the water instead of methanol as a solvent. The cost of industrial production is much lower, while reducing environmental pollution. Klauger immediately filed for a U.S. patent.
In 1953, Jiang Xikui challenged the famous organofluorine chemist Miller's view, experimentally proved a new reaction, and obtained a stable new compound β-sulfonolactone. He became a "hero" of Klauger, a reaction that is still widely used in industrial production today. This reaction is also included in the prestigious and authoritative organic chemistry series Organic Chemistry Methods.
In 1955, Jiang Xikui and many international students broke through the layers of obstruction of the US government and finally returned to the motherland. In the Organic Chemistry Laboratory of the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jiang Xikui is responsible for the research of organofluorine.
In his 1958 autobiography, he wrote: "Because of my thoughts, I also had a wet pillow in the middle of the night... In the depths of my heart, I have always thought of returning to my motherland, and I feel that as long as I have the opportunity to return to my home country after working in the company, I can immediately resign and return to my country immediately.
After returning to China, his task is very arduous, to break through the blockade of developed countries, develop China's own fluoroelastomers, and escort China's national defense cause. Through 5 months of trial and error, they synthesized a monomer raw material , perfluoropropylene and vinylidene fluoride. After 6 months of hard work, Jiang Xikui's research group developed a white fluoroelastomer sample.
In September 1959, under the leadership of Jiang Xikui and Hu Yadong and others, after just two months of hard work, the military product Fluoroelastomer No. 1 was finally successfully developed. A generous gift for the 10th anniversary of the National Day!
During those difficult years, he was forced to hang a heavy object around his neck for a long time to "undergo modification", his cervical spine suffered permanent damage, and in his later years he would fall while walking, and he could only go to the office in a wheelchair. But he insisted on going to work every day.
Before his death, the father asked his son if he regretted returning to China in the first place, and Jiang Xikui calmly replied to his father, "I chose to return to the motherland and serve the motherland, and there is nothing to regret." ”
In 1978, Jiang Xikui, who returned to scientific research, ushered in a spring in his life. The first physical and organic chemistry laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was established in the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, which mainly carried out basic theoretical research on organic chemistry.
In 1981, Fan Weiqiang, a graduate student of Jiang Xikuo, observed an experimental phenomenon that did not conform to the general laws of organic chemistry during the experimental process of hydrolysis reaction of long-chain esters. Jiang Xikuo is keenly aware that hidden behind this phenomenon is an unknown field of research, in the next few decades of research work, Jiang Xikui led all the scientific researchers of the research group to conduct in-depth and meticulous research on this issue, and achieved important scientific research results. In layman's terms, their research is directly related to the formation of life and the emergence of many diseases, and it is likely that many new drugs will be produced in the future, or how Chinese medicine plays a therapeutic role.
Atherosclerosis is a terrible disease, the culprits of which are cholesteryl lipids and triglycerides. Jiang Xikuo found the composition of atherosclerotic plaques, and the co-clustering tendencies of each component formed plaques. If an effective non-toxic antitubule can be found and can be continuously introduced into the bloodstream, it may become a drug to prevent or even treat atherosclerosis.
On the other hand, he proposes that by studying whether the ingredients of ancient Chinese herbal medicines have a clustering effect, it may be possible to find some undiscovered substances. The concept of clustering can also be used to study the surface structure of cancer cells to design new anti-cancer drugs.
In 2002, the research results of Jiang Xikui and his colleagues won the first prize of the National Natural Science Award. The award has been vacant for four consecutive years. It is worth mentioning that the name of graduate student Fan Weiqiang appeared in the list of winners. And it is also the main finisher. This made Fan Weiqiang, who had left the institute for more than 18 years and worked in the United States, feel very emotional.
Jiang Xikui is a truth-seeking and pragmatic person, he does not advocate that basic research should be linked to economic benefits, because many major scientific and technological production is pure scientific discovery, only by breaking the shackles of utilitarianism, can we do work of great academic significance! He also stressed that as a first-class scientist, you must have both the determination to uphold the truth and the courage to self-deny.
As the first scientist in China to study organofluorine chemistry, Jiang Xikui also frankly described the harm of Freon, writing in the preface to a book, "If we had carried out more basic research on the physical properties and reactions of organofluorine compounds (such as freon) decades ago, perhaps we would have foreseen today's 'disaster' and replaced it with harmless substitutes..." Regret and bitterness overflowed with words.
He chose his disciples to regard virtue as the foundation of man. Criticizing students is also criticizing in person, never saying bad things about people behind their backs. Bright and clear, love and hate are clear.
Jiang Xikui had great hopes for the younger generation. He once said that life blossoms and falls, and the former sprinter must give up the leading position to young people. He has trained more than 50 master's, doctoral and postdoctoral students.
In his later years, Jiang Xikui carried a briefcase every day at work, which was a birthday gift prepared for him by all the teachers and students on his 70th birthday.
In daily life, Jiang Xikuo liked Dvořák's "Symphony of the New World", often humming a familiar tune and once filling in the words with this melody, "There is a bright star in that distant sky, it is my ideal, it will always illuminate my destiny." ”
Although Mr. Jiang is far away from us, his scientific spirit is like a bright light, which will shine on the future students to continue to move forward, and his home and country feelings and tenacious spirit are worthy of our eternal remembrance!
The material for this article comes from the Internet