Qian Xuesen was born in Shanghai on December 11th, 1911. He is known as “the father of China’s space program” and “the king of the rocket”.

When he was 24 years old, Qian went to America for further study. After graduation, he worked in America for a few years, where his working conditions were better. In the early 1950s, he learned his motherland was badly in need of scientists and decided not to stay in America any longer. He succeeded in coming back to his motherland in 1955 though American government tried to stop him.

In 1956, Qian Xuesen suggested setting up a special organization, which later became the leading organization for China’s rocket and air travel program. In June 1964, China successfully created its first medium rocket. Qian also played an important role in developing China’s first man-made satellite. On April 24, 1970, “Dongdanghong-I” was successfully sent into the air.

In 1964, a young man wrote Qian Xuesen a letter and pointed out a mistake in his published article. Qian immediately answered the letter and encouraged the young man to write an article about the mistake.

Zhu Yilin, who was said to be the last student of Qian Xuesen, once said, “I learned a lot of professional knowledge as well as the spirit and attitude that a scientist should have from Mr. Qian, especially his deep love for the motherland. Without that, he couldn’t have helped to develop science and technology when our country was badly in need of scientists for its development. Without that, he would not have made the great contribution to rocket industry in the late 1950s and early 1960s when conditions in China were too hard. ”

Mr. Qian died in 2009, but he will live in the memory of Chinese people forever.

The famous scientist and thinker, Charles Darwin, was born on February 12, 1809. His family lived not far from the River Severn, England.

Darwin’s father was a well-known doctor. He hoped that his son would also become a doctor.

As a boy, Darwin liked to go for walks in the fields and forests. He watched nature, and compared what he saw with everything he had read in science books. He also liked collecting very much. He collected many things, such as birds, eggs, stones and leaves. His father did not like this, as Darwin was not studying very well at school.

At the age of sixteen, Darwin was sent to Edinburgh University to study in order that he could become a doctor. But he was interested in the history of nature. Then he was sent to study in Cambridge University. There he studied until 1831.

Some time later he heard that the ship Beagle was going on a trip to South America and needed a scientist. His professor advised him to go. He said the trip would be just for Darwin. So when the ship left England in December 1831, Darwin was on it. The research lasted almost five years. The Beagle studied the waters in the-sea near South America. It also visited New Zealand, Australia and islands in the Pacific Ocean. Darwin saw many new plants and animals. He collected all kinds of plants.

In 1842, Darwin went to live in Kent, where he continued his studies of changes in nature. Darwin understood that plants and animals are not always the same, and that they really change.

By 1859 Darwin had finished his famous book The Origin of Species(《物种起源》). It made a great hit in the world of science. He was opposed by the church and even by some scientists. But later, more and more scientists agreed with him.

For the past 20 years, the Touching China annual people award has honored people from all walks of life across the country. They are people who warm our hearts with their actions. On March 3 2022, the 2021 Touching China Award ceremony aired on CCTV. Ten inspirational role models were on the list, Yang Zhenning is one of them. When mentioning the greatest theoretical physicists in the world, Yang Zhenning is a name never to be forgotten.

Yang was born on September 22, 1922, in Hefei Anhui, China, and grew up in the peaceful and academical atmosphere of the campus of Tsinghua University. From a young age he had an interest in physics. At the age of 12, Yang showed his great ambition to win a Nobel Prize after being attracted by a book about the unknowns of the universe.

With this goal in mind, Yang studied hard. After getting a master’s degree in Tsinghua University in 1944, Yang got the opportunity to further his studies in the United States. There he met another Chinese student, Tsung-dao Lee (李政道), who shared the same interests, and they often discussed the physics issues together.

In 1957, the two jointly proposed the theory of parity non-conservation in weak interactions (弱相互作用中宇称不守恒), which made a great contribution to high-energy physics. Once the theory was put forward, it immediately caused a sensation (轰动) in the physics community. Months later, the two won the Nobel Prize in Physics. It let other Chinese people know that Chinese scientists could stand out in the global science community and be on the global frontier (前沿) to compete with their peers.

At the Nobel Banquet, Yang also expressed his pride, saying, “I am as proud of my Chinese heritage and background as I am devoted to modern science, a part of human civilization of Western origin.” No matter where he has been, Yang Zhenning has always had his motherland in mind.

However, the frozen Sino-US relationship prevented Chinese scientists who obtained (获得) doctoral degrees from the US like Yang from returning to China. In 1971, Yang finally got the chance to return to China for a visit. Later, to support domestic education, Yang sold a mansion in the US, donating all the money to Tsinghua University. In 2003, Yang returned to China and also taught at Tsinghua. Under his influence, many overseas Chinese also returned to China to make contributions, such as Turing Award winner Yao Qizhi, physicist Wu Xiaogang, mathematician Zhang Shouwu.

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