Pasadena is a small town near Los Angeles in the United States. In 1963, a person was buried in the cemetery here.
The funeral procession was a long line, including people from all over the world, not only Americans and Europeans, but also Chinese and Japanese.
Their identities are also different, including government officials, military generals, academic leaders, business celebrities and so on.
So where is this deceased man so sacred that so many great people from all over the world can send him his last journey?
It turns out that he is the famous American aerospace engineer Theodor von Karman , it is not surprising that such a famous figure has received such an honor.
von Karman has a very high status in the United States. For example, there is a consensus within the US Air Force that the US Air Force can dominate the world in the second half of the twentieth century. The contribution made is indelible.
It is precisely because of the technological innovations he initiated that the US Air Force can continue to progress, and even The Gulf War 's victory is inseparable from this.
But such an American scientist, perhaps he has made great contributions to the United States,But what does it have to do with us in China?
It turns out that von Karman has a lot of origins with China. He has trained three outstanding scientists for China. It can be said that he indirectly contributed to the development of Chinese science.
Qian Xuesen - the most famous disciple of von Karmen
Speaking of the three Chinese disciples of von Karmen, the most famous is Qian Xuesen.
When Qian Lao was studying and working in the United States, he really got a lot of help from Mr. von Karman, which was a great inspiration for his research.
Qian Xuesen and von Karmen first met in the late 1930s. Although Qian Xuesen was already a well-known rocket dynamist in the United States at this time, compared with von Karmen, the Taishan Beidou in the industry , the reputation is still worse.
However, Qian Xuesen's outstanding talent still impressed Von Karmen. He believed that Qian Xuesen was a rare genius in rocket dynamics, so he immediately admitted him.
Therefore, from the late 1930s to the 1940s, von Karman and Qian Xuesen began to cooperate continuously, and achieved no small results.
In fact, Von Carmen and Qian Xuesen belong to a relationship that is both a teacher and a friend,Although von Karman also has a lot of guidance for Qian Xuesen, there are also quite a lot of cooperation elements.
In a few years, they jointly published many academic papers in journals such as "Aviation Science", "JPL Report", "Applied Mechanics", etc. been passed down as a legend.
Later, their results were even more significant. In the early 1940s, they found that in the compressible airflow, there is a certain relationship between the flight speed and the pressure experienced by the memory when the aircraft is flying at the subsonic speed of , Finally a formula is derived.
This formula is called " Carmen - Qian Xuesen's formula", and it is a very important discovery, enough to make aerodynamic development go far forward.
The reason why the relationship between the two is a teacher and a friend is precisely because of this, the two can have a very efficient cooperation.
In fact, Qian Xuesen and von Karman differ in their specialties. Qian Xuesen is better at practical research and theoretical analysis. .
Von Kármán was more of a diverging mind, often coming up with some very constructive ideas on which to base research propositions.
Von Kamen had many disciples in his life, but in his opinion no one was as good as Qian Xuesen. Even in his later years of his memoirs, he had a separate chapter to introduce Qian Xuesen, in which he wrote: Qian Xuesen was the best student of my life.
This great scientist still has a broad mind. When Qian Xuesen became famous and famous in the world, he never claimed that he trained Qian Xuesen, but that he only had a guiding role. What really depends on Qian Xuesen's own efforts and outstanding talent.
Even when von Karman was in an interview with reporters, he praised Qian Xuesen and said: "It's not that I discovered Qian Xuesen, but he discovered me. Without his practice, I would Some of the assumptions made by the proud of our outstanding students.
On the other hand, in the matter of Qian Xuesen's return to China, von Karmen also helped him a lot.
After the founding of New China, there was an urgent need for some overseas scientists to return to China to support the construction of the motherland, and Qian Xuesen was the first choice.
However, this matter was strongly obstructed by the United States. After evaluation, they believed that Qian Xuesen was a highly valuable rocket expert and must not let him return to China. After all, China and the United States were still nominally hostile at that time. .
for this,The Americans put Qian Xuesen under house arrest. As soon as he went out, he would be followed by agents of the FBI , and there were often calls from the police at home to confirm his whereabouts, which made Qian Xuesen extremely annoying.
In addition, because the United States believes that Qian Xuesen has a heart for China and has become an untrustworthy person, it is determined not to let him contact the research of cutting-edge technology, the reason is to prevent him from leaking secrets.
In this way, Qian Xuesen can only be forced to do some marginal research, which is too cruel for a top scientist.
But the Americans don't care. In their opinion, since Qian Xuesen can't be made to play for the United States, it will simply destroy him. Anyway, he can't be made to play for China.
This period was the saddest time for Qian Xuesen. For him, not being able to conduct scientific research was like life without color and meaning. Fortunately, at this time, von Karman extended a helping hand.
Although it is impossible to directly involve Qian Xuesen in his research projects due to regulations, it is at least possible to communicate with Qian Xuesen indirectly for the purpose of ordinary academic exchanges, at least not to let his major be abandoned.
In von Karman's view, although he has become an American citizen, science knows no borders, and he should do so.
Later, China and the United States reached an agreement on Korean War ,The two sides ended the war, and there are many American prisoners of war on the Chinese side, which has become an important bargaining chip.
The United States also discussed whether to use Qian Xuesen to exchange prisoners of war, and also invited some well-known scientists in academia for consultation.
von Karman is naturally among them. In fact, he is not willing to let Qian Xuesen return to China, because he visited China once in 1945, and he knows that the foundation of this new country is too weak, and there is no scientific research foundation at all. , Qian Xuesen may be difficult to play his strength in China.
On the other hand, von Karmen also expressed his deep understanding of Qian Xuesen's patriotic enthusiasm, and finally he voted in favor.
Later, when Qian Xuesen returned to China and became the father of 's two bombs and one star , he still did not forget the help of von Karmen to himself. Do not take the guidance of Mr. von Karman.
Although Qian Xuesen never met von Karman after he left the United States, he never forgot the concern of this senior mentor to him.
Qian Xuesen also expressed his deep condolences when von Karman died in the 1960s.
Weichang Qian is another high foot of Mr. von Karman
Weichang Qian is a little younger than Xuesen Qian, he originally studied at Tsinghua University ,Later, when the Anti-Japanese War broke out, he did not want to be a slave to the subjugation of the country, so he planned to study abroad, hoping to build the motherland after returning from his studies.
In 1940, Qian Weichang finally came to study at the University of Toronto in Canada.
This is the first time the University of Toronto has accepted international students from China. At that time, Qian Weichang first studied applied mathematics with Professor Xin Qi.
But during the study, Professor Xin Qi found that Qian Weichang was best at physics, and Professor Xin Qi also had some research on this, so the two resonated and decided to start cooperation.
They later co-authored a paper titled "A Unified Intrinsic Theory of Elastic Plate Shells".
After the completion of the dissertation, Prof. Xin Qi, through his own connections, approached Prof. Von Karman from the Department of Aeronautics of the California Institute of Technology, the most famous in the academic world, and asked him to make corrections.
Professor von Karman was immediately interested in this article. After he learned that one of the authors was from China, he immediately thought of another student, Qian Xuesen.
Although Qian Weichang was not as famous as Qian Xuesen at this time, his talent made Von Karmen very fond of him, and the two sides established an indissoluble bond.
Qian Weichang completed his three-year study in Toronto and successfully completed his Ph.D. At this time, Feng · Carmen invited him to come to Caltech to study with him.
This makes Qian Weichang's information unusual. Von Karman is the Big Dipper of the aerospace industry.
So Qian Weichang came to Caltech and joined von Karman's research group.
Qian Weichang is mainly engaged in ballistic calculation and aerodynamic design of various types of missiles. Through repeated research and calculation,
first proposed a simple calculation scheme that the artificial satellite will reduce its altitude by a specific value every time it orbits the earth due to energy consumption during orbital operation.
The research results shocked the scientific community and made Qian Weichang famous, becoming a new star in the American aerospace industry.
At this moment, Qian Weichang accepted another important task.
It was 1944 and World War II was in full swing.Under the blow of the world's anti-fascist forces, Nazi Germany was losing ground.
In order to save the defeat, Nazi Germany developed a brand new weapon, called the V2 rocket .
This is the first time the missile appeared on the battlefield, although it seems that the V2 rocket is a bit primitive, compared with the current ballistic missile , both the power and accuracy are much worse , at the time, this new weapon was enough to give the Allies a headache.
Nazi Germany's strategy at that time was mainly to attack Britain. As long as Britain surrendered, it would be able to incorporate British Navy , thereby preventing the Allied forces from assisting the Soviet Union.
To this end, Nazi Germany prepared thousands of V2 rockets, ready to carry out a devastating blow to the British capital London.
If Nazi Germany's plans are carried out, London, with millions of people, will be a hell on earth.
After getting this information, the British government felt a headache, but they could not take effective precautions. At this time, they heard that the United States had made progress in this field, so it was like the United States asking for help.
After the British Prime Minister Churchill calls the US President Roosevelt The US government also attaches great importance to this matter, because once the UK suffers, the US will not be able to escape in the future.
Although the V2 rocket can only hit one or two hundred kilometers, it is difficult to guarantee that Germany will not produce more advanced rockets in the future, and the United States will suffer. Therefore, the US government immediately convened relevant personnel to discuss countermeasures.
Prof. von Karman was the foremost among the experts convened by the US government, but he was leading an important research project at the time, so he recommended his student Qian Weichang.
But the US military personnel hesitated. He always looked down on the Chinese, so he did not believe that Qian Weichang could solve the problem.
But von Karman laughed and said: "You may not believe him, but you should trust my vision. Look, he will do better than you expected."
Qian Weichang was also very excited when he received this assignment. He left China to study, in order to fight the Japanese invaders after he learned the technology.
The aggression of the Japanese army made him extremely indignant, and now he can get this opportunity to fight against the fascists, he naturally agreed.
Soon, Qian Weichang was secretly sent to London.
Nazi Germany was already testing rockets and London suburbs had been hit, which shows that the Germans were adjusting their positions,Once they identified their target, the final blow would come, and time was running out.
So Qian Weichang did not rest for a moment after arriving in London, but immediately threw himself into his intense work.
After on-the-spot investigation, he found that German rockets were basically launched from the west coast of Europe, that is, English Channel The coastline of France, and their targets basically fell on east London.
This phenomenon has attracted Qian Weichang's attention. The Germans must choose the industrial areas of London, but the main industrial areas of London are in the north rather than the east.
This shows that Nazi Germany did not really want to hit British industry, but because the range of the V2 rocket is very limited, it can only hit here.
Based on this, Qian Weichang proposed a targeted deployment. He suggested that the British military create some false impressions of being hit by missiles in central London to deceive the Germans .
In this way, the Germans are likely to set the parameters as they were, because they would mistake their rockets for hitting central London.
After the British took this advice and it worked, a lot of the German missiles were wasted and when they realized something was wrong,Missiles were almost exhausted, and London survived the crisis.
Afterwards, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also expressed his gratitude to Qian Weichang. He had to admit that the Chinese people are amazing.
After the war, Qian Weichang won many accolades in the United States as a hero, and he also achieved greater achievements. But after a few years, he had the idea of returning to China.
When I came to study abroad, the fundamental purpose was to return to China to work. Now that I have learned something, it is time to fulfill my promise.
When Qian Weichang told Von Karmen what he thought, the other party also felt very sorry. Now that Qian Xuesen is gone, Qian Weichang has become his best student. Von Karmen is very reluctant to let him leave. America.
But for Qian Weichang's patriotic enthusiasm, von Kamen also expressed understanding, and Qian Weichang has a daughter who has never seen him in his family. He is very concerned about it. go back.
After Qian Weichang returned to China, he continued to shine in the field of scientific research. In his later years, he also led the reform of Shanghai University , which received a lot of praise.
In his autobiography, Qian Weichang mentioned that his achievements are inseparable from the guidance of von Karman, and he always misses his teacher very much.
Guo Yonghuai was Von Carmen's last apprentice from China
Guo Yonghuai was the same group of students who went abroad as Qian Weichang,The two studied together at the University of Toronto and were also admired by von Karman.
However, unlike Qian Weichang, Guo Yonghuai did not finish his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto, but left for Caltech in 1941 and joined Professor von Karman.
That is to say, Guo Yonghuai completed his master's and doctoral degrees at Caltech.
When Guo Yonghuai first met Von Karmen, he left a deep impression on him.
At that time, Guo Yonghuai proposed that he wanted to study the instability of the aircraft when flying at the supersonic speed of , which made Von Karman a little puzzled.
He thinks that the aircraft at that time were mainly propellers, and the speed was not fast, and the jet has just started, and it is far from reaching supersonic speed. When the objective conditions are still immature, he chose to be so advanced. Research projects, this is a bit impractical.
So he asked Guo Yonghuai why he chose this project.
Guo Yonghuai replied: "I witnessed the brutal Japanese aggression before going abroad, so I want to help China develop an advanced air force to defeat the invaders."
von Karman sighed Tone: "I have been to China,I have also visited Tsinghua University, the best institution there, but with all due respect, even Tsinghua University, the technical reserve is too weak, National Government wants to form an air force, they are too far behind. "
But Guo Yonghuai said firmly: "Because of this, I have to work hard and use the knowledge I have learned to build my country in the future." "
At this time, Von Kamen already understood that this student would definitely go back in the future, and he would not stay in the United States. And Guo Yonghuai also knew in his heart that he said so bluntly, Professor von Karman may not accept himself.
But unexpectedly, von Karmen said: "You are not my first Chinese student, I will take you to the research room in a while, there You will meet him. His name is Qian Xuesen. I will let him show you the environment.
Guo Yonghuai did not expect that the other party would accept him, and he was overjoyed.
In this way, at Caltech, Guo Yonghuai met Qian Xuesen, Qian Xuesen took great care of this junior and senior brother, and both of them were for each other Impressed by his talent, he forged a deep friendship.
Von Kamen believes that Guo Yonghuai is different from Qian Xuesen, he is a pioneering scientific researcher, and he is suitable for leading a research group alone.
At this time, Professor William Hills, a student of von Karman, founded the Aeronautical Engineering Research Institute at Cornell University, so von Karman suggested that Guo Yonghuai should teach there and start his own research group by the way.
I have to say that Professor von Karman has a very good vision. Guo Yonghuai started his own research project after two years of teaching at Cornell University .
The main purpose of his project is to solve the problem of transonic gas dynamics. Under his leadership, the research group has achieved success. The singular perturbation theory came out in 1949 and has been applied in various fields. . Since then, Guo Yonghuai's name has spread all over the world.
Science knows no borders, but scientists have their own nationalities. After the founding of New China, Guo Yonghuai also actively prepared to return to China.
It is a pity that Guo Yonghuai, like his senior brother Qian Xuesen, was obstructed by the US government when he applied to return to China. Finally, with the help of Professor von Karman, he finally returned to China in the 1950s. .
After returning to China, Guo Yonghuai and Qian Xuesen not only maintained the friendship they had when they were studying together, they also started new cooperation.
In 1958, Mr. Guo Yonghuai and Mr. Qian Xuesen were responsible for the establishment of the Department of Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering and the Department of Chemical Physics of the University of Science and Technology of China.And served as the first head of the Department of Chemical Physics.
Later, Guo Yonghuai made great contributions to the development of my country's atomic bomb , and became one of the fathers of two bombs and one star.
Unfortunately, not long after the successful test of the atomic bomb, the famous patriotic scientist Guo Yonghuai died in a plane crash.
Many years later, when he mentioned this incident, Qian Xuesen still expressed great regret. In his opinion, Guo Yonghuai showed that his talent was not inferior to his own when he was studying with Professor von Karman.
It is a pity that such an excellent scientist died before the age of sixty. If it weren't for this air crash, perhaps his achievements would not be inferior to Qian Xuesen.
Qian Xuesen, Qian Weichang and Guo Yonghuai are all great scientists in New China, they have made great contributions to the cause of national defense, and they are all talents cultivated by Professor von Karman .
Professor von Karman's life is great. He not only made great achievements himself, but also cultivated talents. Such a great scientific master cannot be praised enough.
However, Professor von Kármán devoted all his energy to scientific research, but paid no attention to personal problems. This led to his lifelong celibacy instead of marrying a wife and having children.
Perhaps this is a pity,But for a person like Professor von Karman who regards scientific research as life, he should have no regrets.
Professor von Karman is full of peach and plum, he has cultivated so many outstanding scientific research talents, he will never be alone.
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