He is a world-famous physics master. His prestige in the physics community was once comparable to Newton and Einstein . To this day, he has become one of the only one of the top physics giants in ancient and modern times who exist in the world.
He is also the first Nobel Prize winner won by the Chinese, but even though he has such high achievements and prestige, countless people in China still criticize him. What did he do to arouse the anger of the people?
This issue will bring you a look at the story about Yang Zhenning.
After the qualification to study abroad during the war
On October 1, 1922, Yang Zhenning was born. He lived with his mother in Hefei County, Anhui Province. His parents were famous local intellectuals, and his father Yang Wuzhi was a famous domestic mathematician.
At this time, no one knows how big a name this newborn baby will make in the physics community.
Yang Zhenning showed extremely high learning ability since he was a child. He just started to recognize words at the age of four. He learned how to read and write more than 3,000 words in just one year. However, in that era, he was destined to be unable to complete his studies in a stable manner.
In 1928, Yang Zhenning's father returned from the United States and took his family to Xiamen University . After living here for less than a year, Yang Wuzhi was hired by Tsinghua University , and then went to Beiping at home.
Yang Zhenning, who came to Peking, lived with his relatives in Tsinghua Park . He spent his childhood here. Tsinghua Park had a special meaning for him, which is also the reason why Yang Zhenning chose to move into Tsinghua after returning to China.
1933, the Japanese army launched the July 7 Incident , breaking the tranquility of Peking. Affected by the war, Yang Zhenning's family began to flee everywhere. During this period, Yang Zhenning did not put down the books in his hand.
is also the desire for knowledge that allows him to maintain his inner peace while running around.
After coming to Kunming, he was in his second year of high school in the local school, but in the same year he took the unified enrollment exam and was admitted to Southwest Associated University with excellent results.
At this time, Yang Zhenning was studying in the chemistry department under the arrangement of his father, but when he really came into contact with chemistry, he realized that his favorite was physics. It was in this subject that Yang Zhenning showed his extraordinary talent.
He studied for a master's degree at Southwest Associated University and lived in the social environment of the country at that time. If he wanted to continue his studies, he had to go to the United States.
In that era, studying abroad was extremely difficult. The first thing needed was to have strong abilities. Fortunately, what Yang Zhenning lacked was ability. In 1945, Yang Zhenning started his own path to studying in a foreign country.
became the first Chinese Nobel Prize winner
After graduating from doctoral degree, he came to Princeton Advanced Research Institute to work. It was here that he met Li Zhengdao, who was also a Chinese student, and began a perfect cooperation journey between the two.
Physics is a world of geniuses, and every genius is unique in his field. Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao have surprisingly consistent views on physics, and most of the research directions of both sides are the same.
The cooperation of two top people is destined to burst into bright fireworks.
In 1956, Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao jointly published a paper, whose content overturned one of the central information of physics at that time. The paper
caused a stir in the academic community as soon as it was published. Even the Nobel Prize, which is extremely xenophobic and extremely harsh in the selection, cannot ignore it.
Relying on the theory of parity non-conservation, Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao won the second year's Nobel Prize in Physics , which is also the first Nobel Prize for Chinese people to win.
Of course, Yang Zhenning's achievements are much more than that. His most outstanding achievements are the proposal of Yang-Mills theory .
To tell you how powerful this theory is, although Yang Zhenning did not directly win the Nobel Prize, dozens of winners of the subsequent physics prizes had direct or indirect relationship with this theory.
It is precisely because of this theory that Yang Zhenning can compete with the famous Newton and Einstein and become the top figure in the physics community.
In 2000, in the famous science and technology journal " Nature ", Yang Zhenning was one of them, and he was also the only physicist still alive on the list.
His extraordinary status in the physics community can be seen. It is such a great physics master who has been questioned and criticized by the outside world.
Returning to China in his later years to settle down in
1949 New China was founded . At this critical moment of prosperity, countless scientists studying abroad responded to the call of the country and tried every means to return to China to build a brand new China that the great powers dare not invade.
Qian Xuesen , Deng Jiaxian and a large number of scientists who have made outstanding contributions to the country returned to China during this period.
As a physicist who gained higher reputation in the later period, Yang Zhenning not only did not return to China, but instead joined the US nationality in 1964. Such behavior is no less than betrayal in the hearts of most citizens.
can change nationality, which means that Yang Zhenning is not patriotic?
You should know that Qian Xuesen and others had already achieved success and fame when they returned to China, and Yang Zhenning was still an ordinary researcher. His field of research was not a major in nuclear physics, and he might not be able to receive attention after returning to China.
And the topic he was studying could only exude vitality in the relatively stable academic environment of the United States under the background of the times.
Yang Zhenning's subsequent achievements also prove that his choice was not wrong at that time, but in comparison, other scientists may have been much worse in the senses of the people.
, Yang Zhenning, who is in the United States, did not have patriotic intentions. In 1971, when Sino-US relations eased, he had already taken a flight to China and was the first person to visit New China by a well-known American scholar.
After returning to the United States, he actively held speeches in many cities to increase the promotion of friendly exchanges between China and the United States. At this time, China-US relations have not been officially thawed, and his behavior itself has taken certain risks, but he still did this without hesitation.
1977, Yang Zhenning founded the All-American Chinese Association, with only one purpose, that is, to promote Sino-US relations. More and more people have begun to have a good impression of China because of his existence.
At the end of 2003, Yang Zhenning, who had lived in the United States for most of his life, decided to return to China to settle down due to the death of his wife. Yang Zhenning did not expect that he would marry a young woman fifty-four differently because of this decision.
Yang Zhenning's wife was named Weng Fan . The first time they met was in 1995. Yang Zhenning was invited to attend the conference. Weng Fan, who was studying at this time, was responsible for the reception work.
Yang Zhenning, who was like stars holding the moon, left a deep impression on Weng Fan. After the two left their contact information, they maintained a letter exchange for a period of time. At this time, she didn't know that her future life would be closely linked to Yang Zhenning.
In 2004, the two began to have a brief meeting and then began to make an appointment to play together. Gradually, the relationship between the two parties changed into lovers, and then registered for marriage. At this time, Weng Fan was only twenty-eight years old, while Yang Zhenning's family was eighty-two years old.
No one is optimistic about this marriage at first, but after more than ten years of ups and downs, their relationship remains stable. The two people living in Tsinghua University, one is studying for a doctorate degree in school, and the other is teaching a new generation of students in class.
In 2015, Yang Zhenning gave up his American citizenship and became a Chinese citizen. With his outstanding achievements in physics, he changed from a professorship to an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Yang Zhenning's years of dedication to the country and his actual contributions seem to be insignificant in the eyes of outsiders, but the country has not forgotten it.
2021, Yang Zhenning was elected as one of the top ten Chinese figures, and he deserves this award.
People’s lives are diverse, and they cannot erase other people’s achievements just by just one thing. Mr. Yang Zhenning has indeed made many criticisms, but his sincere patriotism has never changed.
