Into Unscientific

How many people have been summoned?

I heard this question from Xiao Yang.

Li Jingjun subconsciously glanced at Chen Shengshen, who was sitting beside him.

After realizing that the math master's face also had some curiosity at this time, he paused and said:

"To tell you the truth, the number of compatriots who have been summoned so far means that they have agreed to return to China is not very large. There are only nine of them including me."

"Nine people?"

Chen Shengshen blinked and asked:

"Who are they?"

Li Jingjun didn't intend to hide it, so he immediately started counting with his fingers:

"In addition to me, there are Cui Qi from the University of Chicago, Professor Lin Gang from the University of Berkeley, and Fang Zhitong and Wang Mengyun from the California Institute of Technology."

Li Jingjun mentioned eight names sporadically. Except for a few of them, Chen Shengshen and Xiao Yang had basically never heard of the rest of the names.

Then Chen Shengshen tapped his index finger on the table and asked:

"Brother Jingjun, who are you still considering? Who are they?"

"It's under consideration."

Li Jingjun repeated the question, with a hint of helplessness or satisfaction at the corner of his mouth:

"There are many, such as Professor Qian Xueju, Professor Li Yaozi, Professor Lin Jiaqiao, etc."

This time.

The weight of the characters' names spoken by Li Jingjun is much greater than before.

For example, Qian Xueju.

This name may sound a bit awkward to pronounce, but this person's background is extraordinary - he is Qian Wushi's cousin and the father of future Nobel Prize winner Qian Yongjian.

Qian Xueju also studied in the Department of Aeronautics at MIT when he was studying in the United States, and later became a senior engineering consultant for Boeing Company.

Although there is a big gap between his ability and Master Qian's, he is still a rare top talent.

Of course.

Speaking of Qian Xueju, there is one more thing that obviously has to be mentioned.

That was what his son Qian Yongjian said when he won the Nobel Prize.

Qian Yongjian won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008. At that time, the rabbits were in the Olympic year, and many media hyped up Qian Yongjian's Chinese ancestry.

However, when a Chinese female reporter asked him if he was going to return to China after winning the award, Qian Yongjian replied:

[I was born and raised across the sea. I am an American scientist. Which country do you want me to return to? 】

[Although I have Chinese ancestry in my body, I am still an American scientist, and my ancestry does not determine my identity. 】

This sentence caused Qian Yongjian to receive a lot of criticism from public opinion. People were dissing him all over the Internet, and many people wanted to make him a villain.

But how to say this is actually a confusing matter in itself.

Because Qian Yongjian was born across the sea from the very beginning. He received an American education since he was a child. He ate steaks and salads and never returned to China until his death.

He had never even met Qian Wushi and Qian Wushi's son Qian Yonggang, and had only called each other a few times.

In this case, it is a bit problematic in itself for you to argue with him about blood identity and his identity as the nephew of the fifth master.

The real regret in the whole incident is not the so-called Qian Yongjian's behavior of "forgetting his ancestors", but that many people, or the media, have not had a long memory since then, and they always like to stick to others' cold butts.

Of course.

Qian Yongjian is only nine years old now. If Qian Xueju can bring him back to China, some things may be different.

Except Qian Xueju.

The remaining Li Yaozi and Lin Jiaqiao are also rare top Chinese scientists.

Li Yaozi is a well-known fluid mechanics expert. His reputation was once comparable to that of Lao Guo. He later served as the president of the National Chinese Association.

While studying in the United States, Li Yaozi also created the "myth" of obtaining a master's degree and a Ph.D. within two years:

He received a master's degree from MIT in 1938 and a doctorate in just nine months the following year.

It is a pity that after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he hesitated and worried about the so-called "originality" issue. Li Yaozi wanted to return to China many times but in the end he never made up his mind.

But even so, he still did not go to 4V to work for logistics, and continued to promote the great cause of unification for the rest of his life.

Now that there is such a letter from the capital in front of him, it is normal for Li Yaozi to be hesitant.

Then Chen Shengshen thought for a while and named a few more names:

"Brother Jingjun, where are Li Zhuohao, Jianxiong, Zhaozhong and Zhengdao?"

Li Jingjun shook his head:

"The first three have made it clear that they will not return to China. As for politics, he has not given me any reply."

To be precise, I heard Li Jingjun's words when I heard the name "Zhengdao".

Xiao Yang couldn't help but snorted coldly.

There is an idiom in China, which is called brothers fighting against each other.

In the world of physics, when it comes to which pair of scientists best fits this idiom, Xiao Yang and Xiao Li are obviously strong contenders for the championship.

They won the Nobel Prize together, but they parted ways after winning the prize, and they did not reconcile even in 2023.

And interestingly enough.

The two people disagreed on the reasons for their falling out. The descriptions of the incident in their autobiographies were contradictory, and the evidence from others was also contradictory. Even in later generations, it remained an unsolved mystery.

The only thing that can be determined at present is that the direct flash point of the conflict between the two is the issue of the order of signatures of the papers.

Xiao Li wanted to write his name at the front because international practice is to sort things alphabetically.

Xiao Yang believes that his contribution is relatively large and his signature should be ranked first - because Xiao Yang's mathematical skills are indeed much better than Xiao Li's.

The specific time nodes are roughly as follows:

The two sides had some quarrels over the signatures of the three papers in 1952. In 1955, the two sides wrote the paper on parity non-conservation. When the paper was released, the two sides had a fierce quarrel over the signatures.

In 1957, the two won the Nobel Prize.

In 1962, "The New Yorker" magazine published an article that talked about some of Yang and Li's experiences from cooperation to winning awards.

Xiao Li said something in the article:

"The breakthrough in parity non-conservation theory was my own work and had nothing to do with Yang."

From then on, the two completely broke up.

Then in 1970.

Xiao Li delivered a speech titled "The History of Weak Interaction", which was later compiled into a transcript.

In this article, Xiao Li proposed that he himself was the biggest contributor to "parity non-conservation", but he hardly mentioned Xiao Yang's role, and repeatedly hinted that Xiao Yang was insignificant in the invention process.

In 1983.

In order to clarify the facts and refute Xiao Li's statement, Xiao Yang mentioned Xiao Li's 1970 article in his commentary in "Selected Essays".

He pointed out that Xiao Li avoided the fact that the two of them collaborated and co-created, and took all the credit.

Later, in order to fight back, Xiao Li collaborated with his friend Ji Cheng, the son of Ji Xianlin, to complete a "The Biography of Xiao Li".

It was also this biography that made the contradiction between Yang and Li fully known to the world.

Nowadays, the contradiction between Yang and Li is not a big secret in the Chinese physics circle across the sea, so after hearing Xiao Li's name, Xiao Yang couldn't help but express his dissatisfaction with a cold snort.

"."

Li Jingjun and Chen Shengshen had known about the conflicts between Yang and Li for a long time, but it was not easy for outsiders to get involved in such academic matters, so the two just looked at each other, pulled out a wry smile from the corners of their mouths, and stopped talking.

Then Chen Shengshen paused and changed the topic again:

"Jing Jun, except for Xiao Li, what reasons did the other three give for rejecting?"

Chen Shengshen asked four names just now. Apart from Li Zhengdao, the three others were Li Zhuohao, Wu Jianxiong and Ting Zhaozhong. All three of them were also leaders among Chinese scientists.

Among them, Li Zhuohao is a biochemist who discovered and synthesized human growth hormone for the first time in the world and is known as the "Father of Hormones".

There is no need to say more about Wu Jianxiong and Ting Zhaozhong. The former is one of the most outstanding women in the history of human scientific research, and the latter is a well-known theoretical physics boss.

"Three of them"

Li Jingjun smiled bitterly and shook his head:

"Their relationship is relatively close to the other side. They are either visiting professors of the other side's universities or honorary academicians of the other side's research institutes."

"So their stance is relatively inconsistent with the country. In addition, they have already been naturalized across the sea, so they can't shirk it."

Then Li Jingjun was silent for a few seconds and then added:

"Other scientists or international students who do not want to return to China basically have similar reasons, but some people do have such concerns, while others are just looking for excuses because they are greedy for life across the sea."

Chen Shengshen nodded somewhat heavily.

Mentioned earlier.

Nowadays, the Chinese talents staying across the sea are basically Geng Geng scholarship students. This is a project managed by the logistics group alone.

Not to mention that most of those who are qualified to be selected as international students also received education from "XX University", and many of their relatives and friends also evacuated to the other side along with them.

In this case, they may not be as "heartless" as Qian Yongjian, but it's hard to say how close they are to the Chinese mainland.

At the same time, some of the demonizing methods used by foreign media these days have really affected the perception of these talents. Many people are worried that they will be arrested and sent to the northwest to feed donkeys when they return to China.

Therefore, it is not surprising that naturalized Chinese-American scientists like Wu Jianxiong and Ting Zhaozhong chose to refuse.

Actually.

If Li Jingjun comes to see Chen Shengshen half a year, no, three months at night, Chen Shengshen, who has already been naturalized across the sea, may not be as relaxed as he is now.

"Brother Jingjun."

After a while, Xiao Yang, who had been silent until now, spoke again:

"Brother Jing Jun, if the country can really provide suitable scientific research positions for compatriots who return to China for most reasons, as you said, I believe there will be many people interested."

"But... as the saying goes, words are not backed up. I'm afraid not many people will believe just such a verbal promise, right?"

"After all, Guangya's slogan when they returned to China ten years ago was to endure hardships for the motherland and the people. Now ten years later, there will be a professional environment for everyone. At least I think we should come up with something more convincing, right? "

Hear this.

Chen Shengshen also had a look of approval on his face.

After the return craze ten years ago.

The Chinese scientists who are still across the sea are basically divided into three situations:

The first category is international students who were still studying ten years ago and are unable to return even if they want to return.

There are still some international students in this group, but basically their status in the physics community is not high for the time being - after all, they have just graduated a few years ago.

The nine international students Li Jingjun first mentioned who were willing to return to China basically fell into this situation.

The second category is the scientists who are determined to stay across the sea. Some of them are natives of the other side of the sea, and some have immigrated by signing naturalization agreements very early.

The third category is the Chinese scholars who had various concerns and therefore did not make up their mind at first.

Some of them care about the country but are concerned about their stance, such as Li Yaozi mentioned earlier.

Others are worried that they will have to transfer to an unfamiliar work field. The vast majority of these people are scholars of theoretical physics.

After all, everyone knows that China currently lacks the soil for theoretical physics. It is normal for these scholars to have such concerns.

It was true ten years ago and it will be true ten years from now.

Not to mention that the return of international students ten years ago was much more popular than it is now. Zhu Guangya, Hua Luogeng and many other well-known international students have written passionate "open letters" on their platforms.

Now only Li Jingjun has come forward. Admittedly, this has something to do with the current international situation, but at least it is still somewhat lacking in persuasiveness.

At least

Do you want to show them some evidence?

To put it bluntly, if just listening to Li Jingjun's words made them willing to return to China, many scientists would not be stranded until now.

And opposite Xiao Yang.

Hearing his question, Li Jingjun touched his chin with the same serious expression:

"Xiao Yang, to be honest, if you asked me to produce evidence to prove it, I definitely wouldn't be able to produce it now - without this handwritten letter, I would probably be doubting it at this time."

"But when I received this letter, the sender also slipped me a small note."

"note?"

Chen Shengshen suddenly became interested:

"What does it say?"

Li Jingjun glanced at him:

"Those who have difficulty making up their minds can read the next issue of Physical Review Letters."

"Physical Review Letters?"

Chen Shengshen blinked and turned to look at Xiao Yang beside him:

"Xiao Yang, if I remember correctly, this should be a journal in your physics community?"

As a top physicist, Xiao Yang is very familiar with the major journals across the sea, and casually gave the corresponding information:

"Yes, it is a journal that has just been established for two and a half years and is affiliated with APS. However, the sales volume and number of papers since its establishment are not very high."

"The editor-in-chief of the paper is called Guzmit. He participated in the Manhattan Project back then, and I have a personal acquaintance with him."

Say it.

Xiao Yang made Chen Shengshen look at each other again, and both of them saw a little confusion on each other's faces.

What does the evidence used by mainland China to persuade scientists studying in the United States have to do with "Physical Review Letters"?

Then Chen Shengshen touched his chin and guessed:

"Could it be that in the next issue of Physical Review Letters, there will be papers from China published?"

"But even if a paper is published, what does it have to do with whether we can return to the country or not?"

"Could it be."

Chen Shengshen did not finish what he said, but both Xiao Yang and Li Jingjun understood what he wanted to express:

Could it be that China hopes to use the results of a paper to prove that China can now make the best use of every scientist?

be honest.

This explanation is not difficult to guess, and it can even be said to be the only explanation.

But the possibility of it being true is too low.

A single paper can make at least dozens of talented people studying in the United States who have hesitated once but never returned home make up their minds to return to their homeland. How ridiculously high does its quality have to be?

Objectively speaking, there have never been papers on this kind of series in the history of physics.

For example, "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" is the paper in which Maverick proposed the law of universal gravitation and the law of motion in 1687, laying the foundation for modern classical physics.

Einstein also proposed the theory of special relativity, including his papers on the principle of the constant speed of light and the principle of mass-energy equivalence, which promoted the development of modern physics.

And Heisenberg's paper that proposed the basic concepts and principles of quantum mechanics started the development of quantum mechanics.

There is also the 1972 article [more is different], which is recognized as the pioneering work of condensed matter physics.

but

Although such papers exist, they are not common.

In the history of modern physics for more than three hundred years, there are at most ten papers with such series influence.

The time span between some papers is longer than the life span of an average person.

Under such circumstances, the impoverished Huaxia actually hinted that it could produce a paper on this kind of series. How could this not surprise Chen Shengshen and others?

Think of this.

Chen Shengshen realized something again, turned to Xiao Yang and asked:

"Xiao Yang, how often is the journal "Physical Review Letters" published? Monthly or bimonthly?"

Not to mention the concept of monthly magazine, bimonthly refers to publication once every two months, which is also a relatively common publishing method in this era.

However, Xiao Yang shook his head when he heard this and explained:

"No, this kind of journal is a relatively new kind of 'express', so its publication time is weekly, that is, once a week."

"At that time, they will distribute and ship the journal to subscribing units in advance - although the sales of "Physical Review Letters" are bleak, after all, it is affiliated with APS, so the logistics resources are still sufficient."

"Weekly?"

Chen Shengshen's eyes flashed and he continued to ask:

"When is it published next week?"

Xiao Yang was silent for a few seconds, and then reported a number:

"Next Wednesday."