On February 16, 1997, the famous Chinese-American scientist Chien-shiung Wu died in New York, USA, at the age of 85. In the 40s of the 20th century, she participated in the "Manhattan Project" in the United States as a foreign female scientist. Surprisingly, however, Wu's tombstone bears the words: "She is an outstanding citizen of the world and an eternal Chinese." What is the profound meaning of this sentence?Wu Chien-shiung was born in May 1912 in Liuhe Town, Taicang City, Jiangsu Province, the son of his father, Wu Zhongyi, who studied at Nanyang College in Shanghai and participated in the movement against Yuan Shikai. In 1923, at the age of 11, Wu Chien-shiung went to Suzhou No. 2 Girls' Normal School, 50 miles away from home, with the support of his father.
After graduating, Wu Chien-shiung became a primary school teacher, but her father encouraged her to pursue further education. In 1929, Wu Chien-shiung entered the Department of Mathematics of the National ** University on an escort, and transferred to the Department of Physics the following year. At that time, the percentage of female students going on to university was very low compared to that of male students, and most female students chose liberal arts, with few choosing to study mathematics and later transferring to physics like Wu Chien-shiung. In fact, long before that, Wu Chien-shiung learned that Western countries were undergoing revolutionary reforms through reading Western newspapers and other means. She idolized female scientists such as Marie Curie and aspired to travel to Western countries to learn the most advanced physics. With this in mind, she went to Zhejiang University in 1934 to work as a teaching assistant after graduating from ** University with honors.
In 1936, with the sponsorship of his uncle, Wu Chien-shiung got the opportunity to go to the United States for further study, and went to the University of California, Berkeley to study nuclear physics, and studied under Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb". In just two years, Wu Chien-shiung began to conduct nuclear physics experiments, and in another two years achieved a series of remarkable scientific research achievements. In 1940, Wu Chien-shiung successfully obtained his Ph.D., which was published in the authoritative academic journal Physical Review. At this time, Wu Chien-shiung was already well-known in Western academic circles, and some people even called her "Chinese Marie Curie" in China. While making many breakthroughs in his career and academics, Wu Chien-shiung also encountered another big gift in his life, that is, he met the love of her life, physicist Yuan Jialiu.
Yuan Jialiu's father, Yuan Kewen, is the second son of Yuan Shikai and a famous Chinese physicist. In May 1942, Wu Chien-shiung and Yuan Jialiu tied the knot in the United States. Wu Chien-shiung was invited to participate in the Manhattan Project at about the same time, becoming the only female physicist of Chinese descent. Her research focuses on the most important reactions in the atomic nucleus, which was crucial to the development of the atomic bomb. Wu's experimental results successfully solved the problem that the chain reaction could not be sustained, and brought important inspiration to Fermi, the core figure of the "Manhattan Project", thus greatly shortening the development time of the atomic bomb. Meanwhile, Wu Chien-shiung became the first-ever female lecturer at Princeton University in 1944.
With her help, two Chinese scientists, Yang Chenning and Lee Tsung-dao, made a major breakthrough in the experiment of the "law of conservation of universal symmetry" in 1956, for which they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957. Although Wu and her husband had planned to return to China, the plan did not materialize due to their busy schedules. It was not until the early 70s of the 20th century, when Sino-US relations eased and China resumed formal diplomatic relations with the United States and Japan, that Wu Chien-shiung and her husband had the opportunity to return to their hometown. However, when they returned to Jiangsu, they found that their parents and two brothers had died. Despite this, she went out of her way to visit the Mingde Girls' High School founded by her father, and shed tears under a crape myrtle tree on campus.
After the end of their trip to their hometown, the couple came to Beijing and were cordially received by the Prime Minister. Say to them: "You are outstanding representatives of the Chinese and have contributed to the world's science. It is the pride of our Chinese people, and it is the pride of Chinese people all over the world. "Mr. Chien-Shiung Ng, a distinguished physicist, became a highly respected figure for his academic achievements and admirable character. In 1978, he was appointed as an honorary professor at Nanjing University, Peking University, University of Science and Technology of China, and a member of the Academic Committee of the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1990, the Purple Mountain Observatory named the international number 2752 as "Wu Chien-shiung", which was approved by the International Minor Planet Center.
In addition, he also helped to initiate the establishment of the "Wu Chien-shiung Academic Association" in 1992, which was supported by Yang Zhenning, Li Zhendao, Ding Zhaozhong, ** and other Chinese Nobel laureates. In 1993, Mr. and Mrs. Wu Chien-shiung proposed and participated in the launch of the third-generation synchrotron radiation accelerator, a scientific achievement that enabled China to become a leading Asian leader in this field. In the same year, Wu Chien-shiung was elected as one of the first foreign academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Even when he was over eighty years old, he returned to China nine times to hold more than a dozen lectures. In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Wu Chien-shiung also established a scholarship in the name of Mr. Wu Zhongyi with their life savings to return to the motherland.
In February 1997, 85-year-old Wu Chien-shiung passed away in New York, USA, and according to his last wishes, Mr. Yuan Jialiu escorted his ashes back to his motherland and buried next to the Ziwei Pavilion of Suzhou Mingde School. Mr. Wu Chien-shiung has been loyal to China throughout his life, and even while working in the United States, he always wears a cheongsam and communicates in Chinese with his husband and children at home. Although Wu Chien-shiung was forced to become an American citizen and participate in the "Manhattan Project" due to special historical background and accidental factors, if the situation permitted, Wu Chien-shiung and his wife resolutely returned to their motherland and unconditionally donated their scientific research results and life savings to the country and the people. All in all, Mr. Wu Chien-shiung is an eternal Chinese, followed by an "outstanding global citizen".
He repaid the motherland that raised him with practical actions, showing the spirit of academic without borders. ** Wu Chien-shiung and his wife once called "the pride of the Chinese people, but also the pride of the world", this evaluation is enough to conclude the coffin of Wu Chien-shiung's life. Sorry, I can't help you get the full text of the article. If you need help with anything else, please feel free to let me know.