錢學(xué)森系統(tǒng)談話：國家要培養(yǎng)會(huì)動(dòng)腦子的科技創(chuàng)新人才（上）
Qiang Xuesen talks: The nation should cultivate talents engaging in scientific and technological innovations (I)
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| 我是在上個(gè)世紀(jì)30年代去美國的，開始在麻省理工學(xué)院學(xué)習(xí)。麻省理工學(xué)院在當(dāng)時(shí)也算是鼎鼎大名了，但我覺得沒什么，一年就把碩士學(xué)位拿下了，成績(jī)還拔尖。其實(shí)這一年并沒學(xué)到什么創(chuàng)新的東西，很一般化。后來我轉(zhuǎn)到加州理工學(xué)院，一下子就感覺到它和麻省理工學(xué)院很不一樣，創(chuàng)新的學(xué)風(fēng)彌漫在整個(gè)校園，可以說，整個(gè)學(xué)校的一個(gè)精神就是創(chuàng)新。在這里，你必須想別人沒有想到的東西，說別人沒有說過的話。拔尖的人才很多，我得和他們競(jìng)賽，才能跑在前沿。這里的創(chuàng)新還不能是一般的，邁小步可不行，你很快就會(huì)被別人超過。你所想的、做的，要比別人高出一大截才行。那里的學(xué)術(shù)氣氛非常濃厚，學(xué)術(shù)討論會(huì)十分活躍，互相啟發(fā)，互相促進(jìn)。我們現(xiàn)在倒好，一些技術(shù)和學(xué)術(shù)討論會(huì)還互相保密，互相封鎖，這不是發(fā)展科學(xué)的學(xué)風(fēng)。你真的有本事，就不怕別人趕上來。我記得在一次學(xué)術(shù)討論會(huì)上，我的老師馮·卡門講了一個(gè)非常好的學(xué)術(shù)思想，美國人叫“good idea”，這在科學(xué)工作中是很重要的。有沒有創(chuàng)新，首先就取決于你有沒有一個(gè)“good idea”。所以馬上就有人說：“卡門教授，你把這么好的思想都講出來了，就不怕別人超過你？”卡門說：“我不怕，等他趕上我這個(gè)想法，我又跑到前面老遠(yuǎn)去了。”所以我到加州理工學(xué)院，一下子腦子就開了竅，以前從來沒想到的事，這里全講到了，講的內(nèi)容都是科學(xué)發(fā)展最前沿的東西，讓我大開眼界。 |
I went to the United States in the 1930s and first studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT is a very famous university in the United States. But I did not feel anything special about it, and I obtained my master’s degree in one year with top grades. Actually, I learned nothing innovative during that year. Later, I transferred to Caltech and immediately felt that it was different from MIT. The innovative study atmosphere permeated the entire campus. One can say that the one word to describe the spirit of the university is “innovation.” Here, you have to think of something that has never crossed other people’s minds and say things other people have never mentioned before. There were many top talents here and I had to compete with them in order to be the best. And at Caltech, innovation could not be normal. A small step forward was not enough, and you would soon be surpassed by others. What you thought and did had to be much better than others. Caltech had a strong atmosphere of learning, and active academic symposiums helped the students to inspire and encourage each other. Now, some technological and academic symposiums keep secrets from each other. This is not the style of learning in order to develop science. If you are truly talented, you are not afraid of being others catching up to you. I recall that at an academic symposium, my professor, Theodore von Karman, gave us a very good academic idea. The Americans called it a “good idea.” And this “good idea” was very important for scientific research. Whether you are innovative or not depends on you having a “good idea.” Immediately, some one asked, “Professor Karman, you have disclosed such a good idea. Aren’t you afraid of being overtaken by others?” Karman said, “I am not afraid. When some one catches up with me on this idea, I already have much better ideas.” That’s why I sharpened my mind once entering Caltech. They taught a lot of things that I had never expected. They were all the most advanced scientific developments, which largely broadened my vision. |
| 我本來是航空系的研究生，我的老師鼓勵(lì)我學(xué)習(xí)各種有用的知識(shí)。我到物理系去聽課，講的是物理學(xué)的前沿，原子、原子核理論、核技術(shù)，連原子彈都提到了。生物系有摩根這個(gè)大權(quán)威，講遺傳學(xué)，我們中國的遺傳學(xué)家談家楨就是摩根的學(xué)生?；瘜W(xué)系的課我也去聽，化學(xué)系主任L·鮑林講結(jié)構(gòu)化學(xué)，也是化學(xué)的前沿。他在結(jié)構(gòu)化學(xué)上的工作還獲得諾貝爾化學(xué)獎(jiǎng)。以前我們科學(xué)院的院長(zhǎng)盧嘉錫就在加州理工學(xué)院化學(xué)系進(jìn)修過。L·鮑林對(duì)于我這個(gè)航空系的研究生去聽他的課、參加化學(xué)系的學(xué)術(shù)討論會(huì)，一點(diǎn)也不排斥。他比我大十幾歲，我們后來成為好朋友。他晚年主張服用大劑量維生素的思想遭到生物醫(yī)學(xué)界的普遍反對(duì)，但他仍堅(jiān)持自己的觀點(diǎn)，甚至和整個(gè)醫(yī)學(xué)界辯論不止。他自己就每天服用大劑量維生素，活到93歲。加州理工學(xué)院就有許多這樣的大師、這樣的怪人，決不隨大流，敢于想別人不敢想的，做別人不敢做的。大家都說好的東西，在他看來很一般，沒什么。沒有這種精神，怎么會(huì)有創(chuàng)新！ |
I was a graduate student from the department of aeronautics, and my teachers encouraged me to learn various kinds of useful knowledge. I went to attend lectures in the department of physics. They taught the most advanced developments of physics, such as atomic theory, theory of atomic nucleus, nuclear technology and even the theory of atom bombs. The department of biology had an authority, Thomas Hunt Morgan, who taught genetics. Chinese geneticist Tan Jiazhen was once Morgan’s student. I also went to attend classes in the department of chemistry where Linus Pauling was the head of the department. He taught structural chemistry, which was also the frontier of chemistry. He also won the Nobel Prize for his research in structural chemistry. Our former President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Lu Jiaxi once studied in the department of chemistry at Caltech. As I was a graduate student from the department of aeronautics, Linus Pauling had no objection to my attending his course and taking part in the academic symposiums of the department of chemistry. He was ten years older than I, and we later became good friends. In his later years, he insisted on taking large doses of vitamins. This idea was universally opposed by the biomedical circle, but he stuck to his view and held constant debates with the entire chemical circle. He took large doses of vitamins daily until he died at the age of 93. Caltech had many such masters, such strange creatures who went against the grain and dared to think about and do things others would not. Things everybody else said were good were as nothing to him. Without such spirit, how could innovations be possible?
(China.org.cn translated by Zhang Ming'ai)
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