s****s
发帖数: 4 | 1 The role played by science in human being's development is obvious, and
China's lack of it, especially in modern times is puzzling. But once you
take a deeper look at some scientific developments in recent history,
including those in early twentith century in both China and Japan, the
importance of leading figures immediately manifest itself.
One might argue the importance of "tradition". But so called "tradition" is
essentially another expression for dominant leading figures, its community
and its continuity. Obviously the continuity of the leading figure and his
community depends on the social environment. Some hinder the continuity,
while others stimulate it. One can find numerous examples in history where
certain social environment destroys an excellent "tradition" or community,
while others stimulate or even simply take over the leading figure and its
community from other places.
Obviously there can be only two sources to generate leading figures : born
locally or trained in another community.
Let's look at China and Japan. Culturally they are very close, but
scientifically they diverged from early to mid twentieth century. Obviously
the social environment of China hinders the continuity of any leading figure
and its continuity after 30's and prior 80's even if there exists one. So
we'll look at period prior 30's or even 40's. One will notice lots of
similaries in both countries' scientific community which is manifested in no
better places than the area of physics and mathematics.
In early twentieth century both countries realized the importance of science
, and both countries did not have any existing leading figure or community
in these fields. Whence the only way to generate a leading figure and set up
a community in these fields is to train somebody in another eslablished
community. Europe was dominant in any scientific field at that time,
especially Germany.
Both countries sent lots of students to Europe. The result was obvious and
leading figures were generated almost immediately. For Japan, in physics, it
was Nishina (as in Klein-Nishina), in mathematics, it was Takagi (as in
class field theory). For China, in physics, it was Peng (as in Born-Peng)
and Huang (as in Born-Huang), in mathematics, it was Chern (as in
differential geometry), Chow (as in algebraic geometry) and Hua (as in
number theory). But both countries diverged quickly due to the dramatic
changes in social environment. Some were imposed externally, some were self-
imposed.
Japan had a relative stable domestic social environment before it went on a
route of self destruction. Nishina went back from Germany and quickly
established a physical community. Under his leadership, there were born
people like Yukawa and Tomonaga who acted as next generation leaders and
continued the community even after the self destruction of the country. One
can say a "tradition" or community was born at that time. Similarly Takagi
went back and established a mathematical community where there were born
people like Taniyama and Shimura (and lots of others).
China, on the contrary, very quickly developed a very chaotic social
environment due to both external and internal factors. Peng and Huang only
went back after the foreigners were driven away and the country was reunited
. But the later domestic social environment hindered their development even
though both made further contributions in their respective field. Chern and
Chow went back and then moved to US due to the chaotic environment. Hua only
went back in 50's and again the domestic social environment hindered his
further development even though he played a leading role in domestic
mathematics.
The difference between Japan and China after 50's was that in Japan, there
were still leaders who could continue playing their leading role and train
the next generation of talents, the community maintained the continuity.
While in China, there were some leaders, but their leading role was
compromised, they couldn't effectively develop the next generation of
talents. The community was almost non-existent and the continuity didn't
exist.
Fortunately the social environment of current China is completely changed.
The only missing piece is the leader figure and the community. But I believe
it's just a matter of time for the appearance of giant leaders. When that
happens, the development of science in China will be no less than any other
country in histry.
The young peope who are determined to do research in science should maintain
their curiosity, build up self confidence, and learn from some leading
figures. All these factors are very important. Unless you are a self-taught
talent like Dirac or Einstein, a leading figure will help you mature in
researching and looking at things from a correct angle. Curiosity can
maintain your drive and continuity. Self-confidence can help you grow, put
things in perspective and overcome potential seemingly "insurmountable"
difficulties on the road. When you look at those "giants" past research, you
should be able to have the maturity and curiosity to marvel at the master
pieces, but should also have the confidence to act like XiangYu when he saw
the QinErShi. | s*****V
发帖数: 21731 | | h********0
发帖数: 12056 | 3 这个作文最多给 1.5. 有很多常识性的错误。
is
【在 s****s 的大作中提到】
: The role played by science in human being's development is obvious, and
: China's lack of it, especially in modern times is puzzling. But once you
: take a deeper look at some scientific developments in recent history,
: including those in early twentith century in both China and Japan, the
: importance of leading figures immediately manifest itself.
: One might argue the importance of "tradition". But so called "tradition" is
: essentially another expression for dominant leading figures, its community
: and its continuity. Obviously the continuity of the leading figure and his
: community depends on the social environment. Some hinder the continuity,
: while others stimulate it. One can find numerous examples in history where
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