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Editor's Note: Four years ago, the news that 82-year-old China Nobel Prize winner Yang Zhenning married 28-year-old graduate student Weng Fan caused widespread controversy and concern. Yilin Publishing House published the book Yang Zhenning written by Ye in 2005. Starting from his parents, this paper introduces Yang Zhenning's growth, study, research and award-winning in detail. Besides winning the Nobel Prize, he also talked about his other achievements in the field of science and his contribution to the development of scientific research and education in China. He also revealed some interesting stories about his little-known life, which added interest to this book.

Love made him forget the teacher's advice.

1950 One day at noon, Yang Zhenning and his colleagues went to the only China restaurant in Princeton for dinner as usual. Suddenly, he saw a familiar, handsome and beautiful girl face on the table next door. The other party seemed to recognize him, but he was a little embarrassed to say hello, so he left his seat and walked over. The other party stood up politely and introduced himself. At this point, he clearly remembers, doesn't he?

From left:,, (ex-wife, daughter of Du Zhi, a famous former Kuomintang general)

1950 new york wedding on August 26th.

Du Zhili's father's name is Du Yu Ming. Because of her father, she often has the opportunity to get close to Chiang Kai-shek and Song Meiling. Song Meiling liked this girl as a gift since she was a child.

1at the end of 947, Du Zhili, who was only eighteen years old, decided to study in the United States. She loved music, art and literature since she was a child, and she learned English well. Before going to the United States, Song Meiling personally arranged for her to go to her alma mater in the United States-the famous Wesleyan College.

When Yang Zhenning met Du Zhili at China Restaurant in Princeton, she had been in the United States for more than two years. Zhenning and the saluting teachers and students reunited in different places. One is smart, handsome, enthusiastic and confident, and the other is beautiful and refined. The seeds of feelings quickly germinate and blossom in it. Yang Zhenning made a passionate pursuit of Du Zhili. He went to new york from Princeton every weekend for a date with Du Zhili.

Long before he came to Princeton, Professor Fermi, Yang Zhenning's teacher, once advised him that Princeton is a veritable "ivory tower", isolated from the world, and staying there for too long is not good for ideological and academic development. He suggested that Yang Zhenning transfer to a more open and active academic environment after studying there for one or two years. However, Yang Zhenning, who has fallen in love at the moment, has put the teacher's "advice" out of her mind in order to meet Du Zhili conveniently.

Soon after, on August 26th, 1950, Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili got married in new york.

The following year, Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili gave birth to their first child, a boy. According to the tradition of China people, Yang Zhenning wrote to his father and asked his grandfather to give his grandson a name. Yang Wuzhi was relieved and named Yang's grandson Guangnuo.

When naming his grandson Guangnuo, Yang Wuzhi really didn't expect that just a few years later, Yang Zhenning won the Nobel Prize in Physics and became the first person in China to win this honor.

1966 Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili's residence in Princeton was photographed.

The cooperative relationship between Yang and Li is enviable.

1950 after marrying Du Zhili, Yang Zhenning continued to work in the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, and was hired as a permanent researcher by Oppenheimer, president of the Institute, on 1952. At that time, there were only 20 permanent researchers in this 100 institute, of which only 5 belonged to physics. Yang Zhenning is one of them.

1950, Li Zhengdao also completed his doctoral program with a paper on white dwarf astrophysics, and then applied to teach at the University of California, Berkeley. A year later, Li Zhengdao also came to Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies to meet with Yang Zhenning again. From then on, the two men began to form a close academic cooperative relationship, and published joint articles many times, which aroused widespread concern in academic circles. Some foreign colleagues even joked that the cooperative relationship between Yang and Li is so good that people are jealous?

1summer of 956, or rather1June 22, 956. Put forward a breakthrough theory. Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao put forward for the first time in a joint article "Parity Conservation in Weak Interaction" that the parity of θ and τ is not equal in the decay process because the left and right are actually different in weak interaction. The whole physics community was shocked at once. Some people shouted great, but more reaction was doubt or even denial.

This theory needs to be verified by experiments. At this time, another outstanding Chinese physicist appeared. This is Ms. Wu Jianxiong.

Wu Jianxiong, one of the earliest students in China to study beauty. He has been teaching at Columbia University since 1950s. He is a colleague of Li Zhengdao and a good friend of Yang Zhenning.

Wu Jianxiong married China scholar Yuan Jialiu in the United States. Yuan Jialiu's grandfather was Yuan Shikai, the "great president" of the Republic of China, and his father Yuan Kewen was Yuan Shikai's eldest son.

When Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao's article were published, Wu Jianxiong and Yuan Jialiu had arranged to go to Geneva for vacation and give lectures together, but when they saw that two good friends had put forward such an important theory, other experimental physicists remained on hold. Without further ado, enthusiastic and hearty Wu Jianxiong immediately canceled the travel plan, leaving her husband to set off alone and stay for the experiment.

After several months of repeated verification, a large number of data strongly prove that the law of parity conservation does not exist in weak interaction. Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao's assumptions are completely correct!

1957 65438+1October 15, the physics department of Columbia University held a press conference, announcing that the basic law of parity conservation had been overturned. The next day, The New York Times published the news on the front page.

President Mao Zedong received Yang Zhenning.

Won the Nobel Prize and became a well-known scientific star.

1957 5438+00 In June, the Nobel Prize in Physics was officially announced to the world: Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao won the Nobel Prize in Physics that year.

This announcement caused a strong reaction all over the world. China people won the Nobel Prize for the first time and made headlines in major newspapers. The photos of Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao were published on the cover of the newspaper. For a time, Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao became famous science stars.

The award ceremony was held in the auditorium of Stockholm Conservatory of Music in1957 65438+February 10, Sweden, and the Nobel Prize finally fell into the hands of China scientists for the first time.

At the dinner party, all winners need to make a short speech to express their feelings and feelings. For Yang Zhenning, this is an unusual moment, an unusual historical moment. How can a general courtesy thank you reflect his excitement at this moment? In just a few minutes, Yang Zhenning delivered a speech full of historical feeling and shocking, in which he emphasized: "Standing here today to tell you these things, I am deeply aware of the fact that I am the product of China and western culture in more than one sense. On the one hand, I am proud of my China origin and background. On the other hand, I will dedicate my work to modern science originating in the West, which is part of human culture. "

Yang Zhenning's speech should be said to be a declaration of conscience of a scientist in China. Facing the great material rewards and honorary achievements given by the western world, Yang Zhenning has not forgotten his motherland, let alone the suffering of the Chinese nation under the aggression of western powers. He said without hesitation, "I am proud of my China origin and background."

Generally speaking, it takes a real conscience and great courage to say such a thing. In Yang Zhenning's life, his pride in his China origin and background has never wavered or changed.

Premier Zhou chartered an appointment with Deng Jiaxian.

On August 4th, Premier Zhou Enlai of the State Council met with Yang Zhenning in the Great Hall of the People. When the person in charge of the Association for Science and Technology who received him asked him what help he needed, Yang Zhenning took out a list of people he wanted to see.

Most of the people on the list are well-known scientists and professors, so it is not difficult to arrange a meeting. Only the name at the top of the list stumped the receptionist.

The name is: Deng Jiaxian, the father of the two bombs in China, the head of the theoretical design of atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs, and Yang Zhenning's good friend who grew up together.

1950, Deng Jiaxian received his doctorate in theoretical physics from Purdue University. At that time, New China had just been established. As soon as Deng Jiaxian graduated, he returned to China by boat and entered the China Academy of Sciences to help establish the Institute of Physics. After that, Yang Zhenning and Deng Jiaxian lost contact for a long time. Until one day, an earth-shattering news "exploded"-196410, China successfully tested the first atomic bomb, and the United States and other western powers were dumbfounded.

Only three years later, in June of 1967, China successfully detonated the hydrogen bomb again, and the nuclear threat and blackmail of western powers were broken.

Just like the United States trial-produced an atomic bomb, the location of scientists and research bases engaged in this covert operation in China is top secret. But not long after, American intelligence agencies have collected and disclosed some information, and Deng Jiaxian's name suddenly appeared in the list of the main persons in charge of making two bombs in China. The United States believes that Deng Jiaxian is one of the key figures who play a decisive role in technology.

In fact, as early as 1955, shortly after the founding of New China, Mao Zedong and other central leaders had decided that China would build its own atomic bomb. At that time, China had not found the raw material of uranium, let alone other technical conditions. China's atomic bomb career began with the search for uranium.

In the following ten years, Deng Jiaxian served as the director of the theoretical department, and led the theoretical design of atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs from scratch at the Western Suburb Nuclear Weapons Research Institute and the Lop Nur Desert Experimental Base in Qinghai Province, including mechanical structure, material state, experimental device, explosion process, etc ... Finally, the first atomic bomb was successfully tested in 1964, followed by the development of hydrogen bombs.

However, at the critical moment when the design of the hydrogen bomb was about to be completed, the Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966, and the whole country fell into great polarization and turmoil. Deng Jiaxian's wife, Xu Luxi, was interrogated at her home in Beijing, and her two daughters were sent to the countryside ... At this time, regardless of personal safety, Deng Jiaxian put forward the slogan of "completing the hydrogen bomb test ahead of time and making a gift for the Cultural Revolution", knowing the revolutionary justice, and sure enough, both groups who were preparing for the warfare calmed down, laid down their weapons and went back to work. Results China's hydrogen bomb was successfully trial-produced in June 1967, the climax of the Cultural Revolution?

So, this list was submitted to Premier Zhou Enlai for instructions, and Premier Zhou personally gave instructions? "See you in the arrangement."

Yang Zhenning: I miss my ex-wife and cherish Weng Fan (photo)

Yang Zhenning and his wife Weng Fan join hands.

On April 27th, 2008, Professor Yang Zhenning, the most dazzling star of Zhengzhou Book Fair, gave a small-scale lecture in a five-star hotel in Zhengzhou. In the lecture entitled "My Life", Professor Yang Zhenning told his life and feelings with a lot of beautiful poems and emotional language. He also revealed the details of his acquaintance with his wife Weng Fan for the first time.

Surprise: Yang Zhenning doesn't talk about physics and life.

Yesterday, 10: 30, Yang Zhenning appeared on time. He is wearing a blue shirt and looks good. Although yesterday's lecture was made by Sanlian Bookstore to promote his new book Twilight, Weng Fan, the editor of this book, did not appear. Even so, Yang Zhenning kept saying the famous mantra "Weng Fan and I ..." The audience always thought it was an academic lecture on physics, but Yang Zhenning reported that the theme of the lecture was "My Life". "I have listened to thousands of lectures in my life, and it is the first time for me not to talk about physics today." Yang Zhenning's lectures are also quite fashionable. He produced a large number of slide photos, which attracted the audience's interest again and again with precious pictures.

Romance: Poetry and songs are often talked about.

Throughout the lecture, many Chinese and foreign poems that Yang Zhenning likes were interspersed, showing the romantic feelings in the scientist's blood. When talking about his childhood in Xiamen, Yang Zhenning said that he first saw bananas and pineapples in Xiamen and knew how to use the toilet for the first time. "Those years reminded me of a poem, and the sea magnified my feelings." When talking about his study career in The National SouthWest Associated University, Yang Zhenning recited The National SouthWest Associated University's school song at the scene, saying that "it's a great shame through the ages, and China should make progress." . I now hope to change it to "shame on the Millennium, help in the snow, prosper in China, and need talents." When Yang Zhenning summed up his life, he quoted Shakespeare's Ashoka and recited some fragments in English, which won the house applause. Yang Zhenning's speech language is also very emotional and poetic. Looking back on his initial physics research, he even used the literary language that "the hard life of that year decided all my love and hate for physics".

Heavy: full of nostalgia for his ex-wife

The climax of the lecture was that Yang Zhenning took the initiative to talk about his love life. At this time, a photo of a lady in cheongsam appeared on the screen behind him. Everyone has speculated, who is this beauty? Yang Zhenning calmly began to tell, "I have a student named Du Zhili, a student in her class, and later Luo Guangbin and Zong Pu, a writer who wrote Red Rock. On 1949, I met Du Zhili in a hotel. We got married in August of 1950. But when she was 75 years old, she got a long illness and finally died. " Although the language was calm, Yang Zhenning's expression was unusually heavy, and the venue became silent because of his heaviness. "Du Zhili and I have three children," Yang Zhenning continued. At this moment, a picture of China boy and Einstein appeared on the screen. Yang Zhenning's face lit up: "This little boy is my eldest son. I'm at Princeton University, and so is Einstein. One day I met Einstein in the yard and left this precious photo. "

Tenderness: disclosing the details of communication with Weng Fan.

When talking about life in Hong Kong after 1982, Yang Zhenning said that 1999 was a special year for his life. "That year, Du Zhili and I visited Shantou University. At that time, the school sent a little girl named Weng Fan as our guide. Du Zhili and I both think this little girl is very cute. " At this point, a photo of Weng Fan accompanying Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili after inspection appeared on the screen. Weng Fan in the photo looks childish with heavy makeup. "After we went back, we had some contact intermittently, mainly Christmas postcards and so on. On New Year's Day in early 2004, I was already in Hongkong, and I received a New Year card from Weng Fan. So, I called her. Later, she came to Hong Kong to see me. Later, we got married. " Yang Zhenning narrated in a calm tone, but as we all know, this is the first time that he publicly disclosed the details of his contact with Weng Fan. At this moment, a photo of Weng Fan standing by the sea appeared on the screen. Yang Zhenning's tone is full of warmth: "This photo was taken for Weng Fan when I first met her in Hong Kong in 2004." Later, Yang Zhenning also showed his wedding photos with Weng Fan and their travel photos.

Summary: My life is a circle.

At the end of the lecture, Yang Zhenning said that he liked the seventh act of Shakespeare's "ASYOULIKEIT", "Back to childhood, back to a loss, no teeth, no eyes and no taste. Fortunately, I still have teeth, eyes and taste ... "Yang Zhenning's humorous words drew laughter from the scene. Later, Yang Zhenning summed up his life with a poem by his favorite poet T.S. Eliot, only to see that Yang Zhenning read in English that "My starting point is my end point, and my end point is my starting point ..." Yang Zhenning read in Chinese that "we will continue to search, and the search will take us back to the end point, so as to know our own position for the first time". Yang Zhenning's voice just fell and he gently pointed, and a circle appeared on the screen behind him. He pointed to the circle and said, "This is my life. My life has drawn a circle until now. " (Hu Xiao)

Yang Zhenning: I won't be here anymore. I am in favor of Weng Fan's remarriage.

Yesterday, Yang Zhenning, a famous physicist, and his wife, Weng Fan, attended the new book release conference of his selected work Twilight. This book is Yang Zhenning's vivid summary of the past and prospect of the dawn of the new century. In the book, Yang Zhenning wrote affectionately, "The era of Lu Xun, Wang Guowei and Chen Yinque is a long night in the history of the Chinese nation. My classmates and I grew up in this seemingly endless night. Fortunately, the Chinese nation has finally come through this long night and seen the dawn. I'm eighty-five years old and I can't see the sun. Weng Fan promised to show me ... "

New artistic or literary works

Talking about science, old friends and father.

The book Dawn Collection published by Life, Reading and New Knowledge Sanlian Bookstore contains more than 50 papers, speeches, letters, interviews and essays written by Mr. Yang and his friends. About half of them have never been published, and many articles have never been published.

As Yang Zhenning's major, physics is undoubtedly one of the main contents discussed in this book. Yang Zhenning discussed the beauty of physics from different angles, reviewed the development history of quantum science in the 20th century, remembered the achievements and past of many famous physicists, and recalled the contacts with many old friends.

Besides Friends, Yang Zhenning also wrote about his father. In the article "Father and I", he relived the happiness when he was with his father and the pain of separating them later. To this day, Yang Zhenning often remembers: "My father never forgave me for giving up my old country until he died."

mood

I know him better because of writing.

Yang Zhenning's wife, Weng Fan, is the editor of this book. She not only edited all the articles, but also translated some papers that have never been translated into Chinese.

Because of the editor, Weng Fan knows her husband better. She said: "When compiling this anthology, I realized one thing: he watched a nation and a society go through many stages of change and development, but it was difficult for my generation to have such a profound feeling, because when we were sensible, the society had begun to develop rapidly. I therefore understood his enthusiasm and hope in the book. " Twilight episode can also be said to be the mental journey of Zhenning in the past twenty years-everything he has walked, thought, understood, cared about, loved and expected. "

Yang Zhenning expressed great satisfaction with the translation of his beloved wife. "Weng Fan has translated several articles, some of which are related to the history of physics, which is difficult for her because she doesn't study physics, but these articles are not too long. The longest article is 1980, a visit to me by an American TV station. There are many things involved, and Weng Fan translated it very well. "

marry

"We learn to appreciate each other."

The New Year love between Yang Zhenning and Weng Fan shocked the world. In the new book, they also frankly recorded their understanding of this relationship.

In the article "Thirty or forty years later, everyone must think this is a love affair", it is revealed that two people decided by themselves and then informed their families. Weng Fan quoted a sentence that Yang Zhenning said. Thirty or forty years later, everyone will think that this is a relationship. I think so too. There is no special reason for me to think so, just because we have a good life.

The article also revealed that when they were discussing marriage, Yang Zhenning once said to Weng Fan, "I'm not here anymore, and I agree with you to remarry. She said, "Of course I won't. How can you say that! "... I told her that it is the older Yang Zhenning who is in favor of your remarriage in the future; Young Yang Zhenning, I hope you will never get married again. "

At the book launch conference, a reporter asked Weng Fan what was the biggest change in her married life in recent years? Weng Fan said that after several years of marriage, we gradually learned to appreciate each other. When asked if it is possible for her to write a book about her and Yang Zhenning in the future, Weng Fan said that she hasn't thought about it yet.

Yang Zhenning: Both "flash marriages" are happy.

Yesterday at the National Book Fair, when the reporter saw Yang Zhenning for the second time, Weng Fan was rarely with him. According to insiders, this is because Yang Zhenning wants to talk about his life in combination with his new book Twilight Collection, including his former close friend Li Zhengdao and his ex-wife Du Zhili, and these people are not only his inner circle and Weng Fan's. Perhaps he has been concerned about Yang Weng's love for too long, and Yang Zhenning wants to prove that Weng Fan is only a part of his life.

Talking about Li Zhengdao: The biggest regret is the breakdown of friendship.

Yang Zhenning talked about Li Zhengdao more than he talked about others yesterday. It's been a long time since he recalled his old friend so happily. Yang Zhenning and Li Zhengdao won the Nobel Prize in Physics together. They were classmates and close friends for many years, so the sudden breakdown of their relationship later shocked the academic circles.

"My friendship with Li Zhengdao broke down at 1962, which is the most regrettable thing in my life." Yang Zhenning said yesterday. The break between them is related to the breakthrough of the idea that the universe is not conserved, and to who first raised the argument. Today, more than 40 years later, although Yang Zhenning's original idea has not changed, he can obviously take a more relaxed attitude towards his close friends of that year. Yesterday, Yang Zhenning showed a photo of him and Li Zhengdao in the United States. The number was 1947. "Li Zhengdao is three years younger than me, and he is a year later than me. We were all bachelors at that time. The background of the photo is that we bought a second-hand Ford car of 194 1, and we drove it to the western United States for seven weeks. "

When Yang Zhenning talked about Li Zhengdao, his 86-year-old face showed the playfulness of his schooldays. "I use Su Shi's poem" We are brothers for generations, but we have no reason for the future "to compare my friendship with Li Zhengdao. But friendship didn't last. " So far, the two men haven't restored their friendship or met each other, but Yang Zhenning still cares about his old friend. "Li Zhengdao is now over 80 years old and still studying at Columbia University."

Talking about ex-wife: the love between teachers and students 58 years ago

When Yang Zhenning showed a photo with Li Zhengdao yesterday, he joked that he was very thin at that time, only about 100 kg, and his weight gain was after he got married. All this is related to Yang Zhenning's first wife, Du Zhili.

Yang Zhenning and Du Zhili are the standard love between teachers and students, while Du Zhili was Yang Zhenning's student when he was teaching at National Southwest Associated University in 1960s and 1990s. However, according to Yang Zhenning, among the 30 students he taught at that time, Du Zhili was not particularly outstanding. He didn't even care too much about the student, let alone have love. The mutation occurred after a reunion of 1949. The teacher and students met at a party in a China restaurant in the United States. It has been several years since I left The National SouthWest Associated University, and the fresh breath of Du Zhili has given Yang Zhenning a great favor. "To paraphrase Hong Kong, we will soon have a' date'. We got married in August of 1950. " Time flies from falling in love to getting married.

Du Zhili gave birth to three children, a daughter and two sons for Yang Zhenning. "She accompanied me for 53 years until she died of an incurable disease in 2003 at the age of 75." However, Du Zhili met her husband's second wife, Weng Fan, and expressed satisfaction with Weng Fan.

Talking about Weng Fan: Meeting her is a historic event.

When Du Zhili met with Weng Fan, it was also Yang Zhenning's first meeting with Weng Fan. "It was 1999 at the academic conference of Shantou University. The school sent a group of first-year students as guest guides, including Weng Fan. This is a historic event. Yang Zhenning stressed at that meeting yesterday, "Du Zhili and I both think this girl is very good." . "In fact, because of Du Zhili, Yang Zhenning will make up his mind to marry Weng Fan five years later.

After saying goodbye to Shantou, Weng Fan kept in touch with Yang Zhenning's family and sent Christmas cards every year. At the beginning of 2004, a New Year card from Weng Fan completely touched Yang Zhenning, who was still in the loneliness of losing Du Zhili. "I will call her as soon as I receive the New Year card and ask her to come to Hong Kong to see me." A few months later, the news that "Yang Zhenning married Weng Fan" was widely known.

He still held Weng Fan's hand tightly.

For more than three years, scientist Yang Zhenning seems to have become an artist because he married Weng Fan, who is 56 years younger than him. On the other hand, Yang Zhenning did give many media opportunities to do news. In the past three years, he and Weng Fan have appeared in every public occasion together, and they are clasped with their fingers and look at each other affectionately. The media called them "Show Ai En". After a lengthy "show of love" report, Yang Zhenning still showed his love for Weng Fan. He always talks seriously about Weng Fan, their love and the arrangements for Weng Fan when he is away. Three years later, Yang Zhenning's seriousness has not changed at all. At the National Book Fair, he still held Weng Fan's hand so strongly, and his eyes looked at Weng Fan so affectionately.

Therefore, Yang Zhenning's "show love" is much more real than many stars. For an 86-year-old man who sees life thoroughly, there is no ostentation, no fame and fortune, and even no purpose. Yang Zhenning is undoubtedly misinterpreted in many gossips and taunts of "an old man with few wives". But this misinterprets the feelings that Yang Zhenning stubbornly wants to express. The day before yesterday, when he led Weng Fan into the exhibition hall of the National Book Fair, the author saw his true colors with his own eyes. He wanted to tell people without reservation how happy he was when he married Weng Fan.