After returning home, he often wrote some popular science articles, and he became more and more interested in this work. On the eve of Beiping's liberation, he wrote a book, The Sun and the Solar System, and wanted someone to copy it after writing. At that time, in order to help students from poor families, Yanjing Student Union was organizing students to help themselves. The student union introduced him to two female students, one of whom was Liu from the Foreign Languages Department. Liu Ye often takes part in group activities. They have known each other for a long time, but their relationship has been further strengthened by helping him copy books.
This book was published, and Dai Wensai sent a copy to Saint Mei. At that time, Liu had left Yanjing to teach in a middle school. The middle school is in the city and Yanjing is in the western suburbs. The two were far apart, so they began to write to each other. Every Sunday or holiday, Wensai will go to town to see her. They walked and talked together. Every time, he always tells her some exciting good news: "liberation, everyone is busy." Now, many institutions and schools have invited me to give lectures and ask me to talk about astronomy. It seems that the producers of * * * still attach great importance to science. I this "unpopular" also began to heat up ... "
Quiet and elegant Mei Sheng always listens to him carefully. He is older than himself, he is learned, and she likes his energetic enterprising spirit.
"Well, that's interesting!" Wen Sai's eyes sparkled with excitement: "So many people, from white-haired old people to children wearing red scarves, kept asking: Where did the earth come from?" How does the moon go around the earth? Will the fireball of the sun go out ... this was unimaginable before liberation. "
"How interesting!"
"Unfortunately, I can only introduce the theories of the ancients and foreigners, Kant, Laplace, Buffon ... or the Schmidt School of the Soviet Union, Fei Sen Cherenkov, Sappho Lanoff, but no one in China said. Speaking, we are still the most developed country in ancient astronomy ... "
The more you talk, the happier you are. He talked and talked. Suddenly, he stopped and looked at Mei Sheng. He realized that Mei Sheng didn't go out for a walk with him to listen to his academic report. He laughed innocently.
Gradually, Vincent realized that he shouldn't always fill their love life with astronomy, and he tried his best to avoid endlessly talking about astronomy in front of St. May. He can talk about many topics! After liberation, the school carried out the ideological reform movement. He learned many new terms and gained a lot of experience. He composed several piano pieces to express his feelings and love for the new society. The music is lively and relaxed. He played this piece for Saint Mei. Mei Sheng asked him, "Isn't ideological reform to criticize old ideas? Isn't it painful to dig out your old ideas? How can it be relaxed? "
"It certainly hurts a little when you dig, but you will feel better after you dig it out."
"How did you dig it?"
"Me? I don't dig well. " Wensai shook his head discontentedly: "Our general branch secretary criticized me!"
"Huh?"
"He is also a student I have taught before. He said to me,' Miss Dai, why do you write all the trivial things!' ……"
This time, it was Mei Sheng's turn to laugh. She laughed at his bookishness. A person who doesn't know how to adulterate people often looks ridiculous. But it is this simple and honest temperament that she loves him. They finally got married.
1953, Dai Wensai visited North Korea as the head of the condolence group to resist US aggression and aid Korea. This is an experience that he will never forget. What he saw and heard excited him and made him proud that he was a China native. On the other hand, he felt that compared with the heroic Chinese people's Volunteer Army, his contribution to the motherland was too small. So when he came back from North Korea, he had secretly made up his mind not to live in Beijing, but to go to Nanjing, because the main base of astronomical work in China is Nanjing, where there are the Astronomy Department of Nanjing University and the Purple Mountain Observatory. He wants to change his life. No one forced him to do so. A scientist's sense of responsibility and a patriot's conscience forced him to do so. He told Saint Mei what he thought.
St. May was embarrassed to hear that. Beijing is her hometown. She is used to life in Beijing and doesn't want to leave. Leaving Beijing also means giving up the job she loves. She hesitated for a long time, but Vincenzo persuaded her. What can we do? Obeying the needs of developing astronomy has now become her obligation as an English teacher. Nantah campus is located in a noisy urban area, but at night, the empty playground is a quiet place. When the weather is clear and the stars are shining, groups of young people often come here to wander. They looked up for a moment and then whispered. Standing among them is a middle-aged man. He held a flashlight in his hand, covered its light with a red cloth and pointed at the night sky, so young people gathered around him and listened to him. He is Dai Wensai, head of the astronomy department at NTU. He introduced freshmen to constellations. He speaks in clear and slow Mandarin with a slight Fujian accent. He explained the name, magnitude and spectrum of constellations, and often interspersed with some Greek fairy tales. The students listened with relish and lingered. This job could have been done by a young teaching assistant, but Dai Wensai likes talking with young people. He not only taught them knowledge, but also taught them love. He loved science, his career and his motherland like lovers in love. His affection strongly infected his students. Many years later, when these students grow into the backbone of the scientific front, these nights of walking under the stars are still engraved in their precious memories.
When Dai Wensai came to Nantah, he had already drawn a "blueprint" in his mind. To develop astronomy in China, we must start with cultivating talents. A barren garden needs people with lofty ideals to cultivate and sow. He is willing to be a hard gardener.
He is busy teaching students, arranging study plans for graduate students and guiding them to write papers. He reviewed and revised the reading notes written by graduate students word for word. One year when I was studying in Beijing Institute of Socialism, my graduate students sent me reading notes and articles. He not only read carefully, but also went to the Beijing Library again and again to check the relevant original works, and then sent them back after checking. One of his important tasks after his arrival in Nantah was to compile a set of astronomy textbooks suitable for the specific situation in China. He went all out to undertake the main task of compiling, and at the same time gave full play to the strength of young teachers. He organized all forces and successfully completed a "basic construction" work of astronomy teaching. Some people compare him to "the condensation center of raindrops". How did it rain? Because there is dust in the sky, the dust absorbs the surrounding water vapor and condenses into water droplets. When the weight exceeds the buoyancy of air, it will fall to the ground. Dai Wensai has given a timely rain to astronomy education.
He is a learned scholar, but he never stands still. He likes to be close to the younger generation and learn from others' strengths, so he can constantly absorb new things and cultivate an academic atmosphere of equal discussion and learning from each other's strengths. He wrote a course in stellar astronomy, and he felt that some mathematical calculations needed to be tested. He handed the manuscript to his former student, Comrade Qu Qinyue, and said, "The manuscript involves Fourier transform, and you are more familiar with it than me. Please take a closer look. " Just as his tutor Professor Eddington admitted his lack of knowledge in front of young people. 196 1 year, the course of electrodynamics was held in Nantah Physics. The lecture was given by the lecturer, and Professor Dai Wensai listened carefully with a notebook. However, he has a lot of social activities, so he can't attend class on time. Sometimes he will arrive a little late and sneak in through the side door of the classroom. The lecturer who was giving a lecture saw him come in, and out of respect, he deliberately stopped to bow slightly to him. But once, a student in the class was late, and the lecturer severely criticized him: "Don't come in if you are late again!" " "Hearing this, Dai Wensai also thought of himself. Since then, he always tries to get to the classroom as early as possible. In case of activities such as receiving foreign guests, he can't catch up with the class and no longer walks into the classroom halfway.
Of course, he never forgot his scientific research plan. He made an ambitious attempt to establish his own school in the field of celestial evolution. He persistently collected information and conducted in-depth research. His ambition is on solid land, and one step forward is to get close to the goal.
Now, his life is much more tense than when he was in Beijing. He has little time to play the piano, play chess and swim. He has a full schedule, writing and counting on his desk all day. Mei was afraid that he was overworked and deliberately ordered him to do some housework: "Wensai, go to the street and buy something for me."
He replied without looking up, "Sunday!"
Mei Sheng works in NTU library now. She is in trouble at work and needs to talk to him. His answer is still: "Sunday!"
Finally, on Sunday, Mei Sheng reminded him: "Today, let's go shopping together." He raised two eyebrows and said, "I told you to wait for Sunday!" " "SAN mei just don't know how to tell him. In the 1960s, astronomical science made great progress. Due to the progress of observation methods, foreign astronomers have made a series of new discoveries, among which quasars, pulsars, microwave background radiation and interstellar organic molecules are called the four major discoveries of astronomy in the 1960s. During this period, we found that 9.6 million square kilometers of land was submerged by the Red Sea. As a result, the professor who galloped in the vast universe was also ordered to explore his "crime".
What's going on here? He tried to answer all these phenomena with his scientific mind. He is familiar with dialectics of nature, proficient in scientific reasoning and superior in wisdom. He could guess the mystery of the sky, but he finally fell into a dumbfounded predicament. Sadly, he believed all the beautiful and moving words and didn't know that there would be lies to cover up the truth in the world. His honesty brought him more trouble.
"Dai Wensai, you be honest! What is your connection with imperialism? " A group of supreme people
The judge began to interrogate him.
Dai Wensai remembered his experience of participating in the ideological reform movement in the early days of liberation, and he felt that he should
"Believe that the masses believe in the party", he should be "honest and have nothing to say to the party". He gave a detailed account of his contact with foreigners. When he was in yenching university, he attended a banquet in Si Tuleideng, and had a close personal relationship with a foreign professor ... and so on. Once again, he "wrote all the details." He really thought he was "seeing the world through the storm"! He walked into the "bullpen" and was sent to work on the bridge site. He still believes that this is an exercise for him. He started the car and ran very fast. Pushing a cart during the day, being criticized at night, and breaking his ankle bone on the muddy road.
Lying in bed for months. On the wall of the house, there is also a big slogan: "Be lenient in confession and strict in resistance!" " Is there anything he hasn't made clear? He explored and explored. Before the fracture healed, he was forced to go down to Liyang rural area with crutches. He and some other "ghosts and monsters" were arranged in a farmhouse and rolled on the wet mud. Leaving home and wife really needs exercise. Mei Sheng also came to Liyang, but she lived in a village ten miles away and couldn't take care of her. His clothes were dirty, so he had to stand on his own feet. But the water used here was picked by his comrades from a few miles away, and he was reluctant to use it. He soaked his clothes and scrubbed them with soap-he knew it. Then he gritted his teeth and hit a basin of water chosen by others, floated the clothes in the basin and hung them on the rope. The comrade-in-arms next to him told him, "Teacher Dai, you can't wash clothes like this!" " He pointed to the bucket and said, "My feet are not good, so I can't carry them. How can I waste a lot of water? " Comrades said, "This is not a waste. You can make good use of it. " He shook his head. "No, no, nothing."
In Liyang, he can neither work in the fields nor read or write. He can only sit on the ground floor in a daze every day. He is still exploring a problem in his mind. What's all this for? As a result of the exploration, he still doesn't understand the magician's tricks like a naive child.
1972, Dai Wensai went to work again. This year, he just turned 60. The school is a mess. His holy plum is sick all over, and his research work is far from finished. There is a saying that:
"Life is seventy years old, how much time can he have?"
With this in mind, I really want to mobilize the energy of every cell in my body. He has been engaged in the study of celestial evolution for 20 years. This is an important basic theoretical research. 1956 when the national science plan was formulated, he volunteered to undertake the task of compiling celestial evolution data. If he doesn't finish the work, he will die with his eyes closed. Today, he has achieved a lot, but there are still many difficulties to overcome. So when he returned to work, he flew around day and night like a machine with full horsepower. In order to solve a problem, he often falls into a trance.
One morning, he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. Suddenly he shouted, "Mei Sheng! Mei Sheng! Where's my towel? " "ah! It's so fresh. Isn't your towel hanging well on the shelf? " "no! Come and help me find it! " Mei Sheng went in and took a look. She couldn't help laughing.
"My goodness! Why did you throw the towel into the toilet? "
He went back to the astronomy department, looked at the long-lost foreign language materials, and saw the achievements of others in recent years, which made him more anxious. He decided to push people around him to catch up with the business and do it again.
The condensation center of raindrops. He first proposed that some scientists in Nanjing organize small-scale activities across units, and then launched the "Nanjing Astrophysics Seminar" at 1975. This is the so-called "southern film" activity in astronomy. (Later, it was extended to Anhui, Shanghai, Yunnan and other places. )
Before the downfall of the Gang of Four, it was necessary to take certain political risks to initiate and organize such activities. But Dai Wensai is naive. He said that the national constitution clearly stipulates that citizens have freedom of assembly and association. We get together to discuss academic problems-and they are hundreds of millions of kilometers away from the earth. How can there be risks?
Unexpectedly, in the universe hundreds of millions of kilometers away from the earth, there are also sensitive political issues and "two-route disputes."
According to scientists' research on galaxy physics, it is found that the extragalactic galaxies in the universe are moving away from each other at a great speed, and some galaxies are even moving away at half the speed of light. Astronomers have different opinions. Some scholars call this phenomenon "Big Bang" or "Cosmic Expansion". But during the period of the Gang of Four, this was a very sensitive issue. Under the yoke of the cultural absolutism of the Gang of Four, some people simply started from the philosophical concepts of idealism and materialism and systematically dismissed the Big Bang or the theory of cosmic expansion as idealism and metaphysics, in fact, cosmology was listed as a forbidden area. From August 65438 to August 0976, Southern Film held an academic seminar in Hefei. Dai Wensai is going to give an academic report on this issue. He tends to support the theory of galaxy expansion and opposes replacing the simplification of natural science with philosophy in general. Physical phenomena that exist objectively can never be solved in political terms. But who knows, the atmosphere became very tense at the beginning of the meeting. Before he gave his report, there was a rumor at the meeting that someone would criticize him. Several of his students were worried that he was "politically insensitive" and tipped him off overnight to persuade him not to show all his views.
Dai Wensai is not as sensitive as his students on these issues. He didn't feel the atmosphere of "great criticism" at the meeting. (As usual, the academic conference at that time also opened the way with "great criticism". ) But he remained indifferent. He said with a clear conscience: "This is an academic issue! What do I think? I should fully clarify and stick to the truth. " He boldly expressed his views at the meeting. He is a scientist, and everyone thinks he is a bit bookish. But this time he can withstand the pressure, thanks to his bookishness.
The academic activities of "Southern Film" are fruitful. After the turmoil, the astronomical community quickly kept up with the international pace and cultivated a strong academic atmosphere in the astronomical community. His efforts were not in vain, and the seeds he planted are now bearing fruit. In the past, the study of galaxies in China was almost blank, but now there are dozens of scholars in astrophysics, physics, mathematics and mechanics all over the country who are doing research with great enthusiasm, and have made a series of achievements in the fields of galaxy structure, high-energy physics and celestial evolution, which have attracted the attention of international academic circles. Take the Astronomical Department of Southern University as an example. Before the Cultural Revolution, it was rare to publish one paper a year, but in 1979, they published more than 30 papers. What a gratifying situation this is. A solemn academic report is going on. Everyone who attended the lecture stared at a pile of formulas on the blackboard with wide eyes. Professor Dai Wensai also fell on the desk, taking notes carefully.
The speaker's name is Yan Lu. He is introducing the new trends of elementary particle research at home and abroad to the astrophysicists in South Shadow. He is a technician in Nanjing Telecom Instrument Factory. He studies basic particle theory in his spare time and has published a series of papers. Dai Wensai read his paper and made friends with him. It was he who recommended him to the scientific community and invited him to participate in the academic activities of "Southern Film". Later, Nantah hired him to teach in the astronomy department.
When recalling Professor Dai Wensai, Yan Lu told an anecdote in the history of science.
There is a physicist in Denmark named Bohr, who is a Nobel Prize winner and is very famous. He was once called the founder of atomic physics. The Copenhagen School headed by Bohr is mainly attended by accomplished young scientists. Bohr was invited to give lectures in the Soviet Union. The Soviet asked him, "How did he unite so many talented young people around him?" He replied: "Because I am not afraid to admit my lack of knowledge in front of young people, and I am not afraid to admit that I am a fool." Unexpectedly, Li Fuxizi, who was a translator at that time, translated this sentence into the opposite meaning and became: "I am not afraid that young people are fools", which caused a burst of laughter. After the incident, Soviet academician Kapicha said with great emotion: "The translation of Word Difference by Lifu Xizi just pointed out the different characteristics of Bohr School and Landau School in the Soviet Union.
Yan Lu said that Professor Dai Wensai's concern and care for the younger generation reminded him of Bohr's style.
Dai Wensai's home is frequented by his students and astronomy enthusiasts. The young man wrote a paper and asked him to read it. He is happiest: "Good! All right! The results have come out! " As he spoke, he spread the manuscript on the table and stroked it carefully. His joy is beyond words. He writes his own things, often showing them to students and discussing with them. If his students help him with his homework and look up information, he will put the students' names together when the article is published. In his notebook, I still remember all the names and mailing addresses of astronomy graduates. Someone asked him what's the use. He said, "To help them at any time." He has always advocated that as a teacher, we should not only care about students when they are studying at school, but also be responsible for them after they set foot on the job. During the Cultural Revolution, many astronomy graduates were randomly assigned to factories and rural areas and forced to change careers. He keeps in touch with many of them and often sends them academic reports and other materials. These comrades were later able to return to the team and be transferred to appropriate posts, and he also made a lot of efforts. A student was assigned to work in a weather station after graduation. He continued his scientific research under pressure and wrote two books. Dai Wensai has always cared about him. After his illness, he heard that the student wanted to take the postgraduate exam, but he hesitated because he was worried about the financial difficulties of his family. He said in his hospital bed:
"I am in financial difficulties, I can help him!" For young people, he is really like a caring wet nurse, raising a big child.
Come to Dai Wensai's home, there are many unknown astronomy enthusiasts. Because he is a popular science writer. He wrote 800 thousand words of popular science works in his life, so there were many letters from all over the country and some people came to visit him. In addition to answering their questions enthusiastically, he also entertained them for dinner and even subsidized their travel expenses. The questions raised by these astronomy enthusiasts also prompted him to consider the problems more carefully and demonstrate them more fully when establishing his own theory. He made friends with many astronomy enthusiasts and explored talents among them. Under his enthusiastic care, many comrades took up their jobs in astronomy. Some people say that Dai Wensai is a willing heart and a Bole, which is by no means a grandiose compliment. Sun guigeng? 4.6 billion years old! How long is a person's life span? But for decades! It takes decades to study the history of billions of years. What a disparity! How precious every minute of an astronomer is!
Dai Wensai is in a race against time. He wants to finish the research on the new theory of solar system evolution.
Evolutionary chemistry of the solar system; Then, he wants to use the viewpoint of dialectics of nature to explain the evolution of galaxies by attracting and repelling these contradictions. This will be a very thick book. He is the deputy editor-in-chief and writer of the astronomy sub-volume of Encyclopedia of China, and has a lot of administrative and organizational work to do. Organizationally, he is equipped with several right-hand men, such as Hu Zhongwei. However, just as the winter in Wan Muchun was over and the eagle was spreading its wings, he suddenly fell ill and suffered from colon cancer. After the operation, the cancer cells spread to the lungs again.
He coughed again and again, and still worked tirelessly at his desk. The illness took away his time step by step, forcing him to retreat step by step, from working five hours to four hours, three hours and half an hour every day ... He still found his assistant in front of his bed and had an academic discussion so that his family could write down his thoughts for further study in the future. He probably didn't even have time to think about what he was born with. Seeing that he was getting worse and worse, his wife invited his brother from Shanghai, implying that he had said his last words to him, but he said, "Don't worry, brother, I will write to you if there is anything. ……"
During the one year and nine months from surgery to dying, he wrote a manuscript of more than 100,000 words and completed the proofreading of the manuscript of Evolutionary Chemistry of the Solar System (Volume I). He wrote an outline of the report at the National Science Conference and a draft academic report at the celebration of Nantah. 1977 10 year 10 when the national natural science planning conference was held in Huangshan, he was already in the hospital. However, he said that he could still be an "exchange academician" and wrote four long letters to the conference in succession, putting forward many suggestions on the formulation of the eight-year plan. During his illness, he began preparations for publishing the Astrophysics Series ... It is hard to imagine that the year and a few months before his death was almost the season of his academic harvest.
From the window of his ward, you can see a sun tower built in Xiaolingwei from a distance. This is the first new equipment to study the physics of solar active region in China. In order to build this solar tower, he also ran around and spent a lot of effort. The sun tower was built, but he went to the hospital himself. He has always wanted to visit the construction site, but that's impossible. He stands at the window of the ward every day, watching with a telescope.
One day, he was standing by the window when he suddenly found a group of children coming downstairs in the yard. He was wondering when the door of the ward was gently pushed open. The nurse led the children in. It turns out that they are students in Grade Three of Nanjing No.10 Middle School, and they are a group of science lovers. They came specially to express their condolences to the sick Uncle Dai.
"Hello, Uncle Dai!" The children gave a cry of respect.
Dai Wensai smiled.
A little guest opened a roll of rice paper in his hand and read him a poem they wrote:
The mysterious universe, boundless,
The stars in the sky are dotted.
Is the sun a fireball or a star?
How many galaxies are there in the sky?
The universe has countless secrets.
You, the people's astronomer,
Put every effort you make,
These secrets,
How many sleepless nights have passed,
Ushered in a brilliant dawn!
The light in your study,
Connected to the twinkling stars,
…………………………
Dai Wensai listened to the recitation, her eyes moist. It's a pity that he doesn't have the energy to tell distant stories to the children now, which makes the room laugh like a bell.
Off the child, he lay down on the bed and whispered to accompany beside SAN mei said:
"Third sister, do you remember?"
"Ah?"
"When we lived in Beijing, children often came to visit us."
"Why don't you remember! Once, I cooked for them. "
"Some of them have strengthened their wings and become excellent astronomers. Well, do you remember? "
Saint-May held up her fingers and counted their names one by one.
He closed his eyes slowly with a serene smile on his face. He fell asleep. He had a beautiful dream that the cute little face he just saw turned into a flower. Yes! The flower of science will surely decorate the land of our motherland with flowers. The flowers of the earth and the stars in the sky complement each other, with thousands of scenery and brilliant stars.