Hu spent his childhood in this tireless and kind family that inspired people's wisdom, and developed a straightforward and resolute character from an early age. He entered the primary school affiliated to Shanghai Nanyang Public School at the age of 5, and was admitted to Nanyang Public School (middle school) at the age of 10 because of his excellent academic performance in jump class. However, because he was too young and naive, he rode the stair handrail and skated downstairs in the first grade, and was sent back to primary school because of a conflict with the principal. After graduating from high school with honors, he joined the Wuxi Physical and Chemical Research Association and merged into the preparatory course of Shanghai Aurora University. 1909, Hu was admitted as the first batch of students studying in the United States. In the same year, he entered the physics department of Harvard University. During his college years, he loved sports and became a member of the football team of Harvard University.
19 13 graduated from university, was awarded a scholarship from Harvard Research Institute, worked on radium purification under the guidance of Professor W Duane, and worked on clinical treatment of cancer radiation in Huntington Cancer Hospital.
19 14 received a master's degree, studied X-ray spectroscopy under the guidance of Professor Duane, and 19 18 received a doctorate in philosophy, and then returned to China. During his return to the United States, Hu Gang carefully chose which subject to study, mathematics or physics. He also loves math, physics and chemistry.
Out of the ambition of saving the country by science and technology and saving the country by industry, he believes that physics is not only a model of solemn science, but also has the closest relationship with engineering production industry, so he is determined to study physics.
He engaged in radium purification and clinical radiotherapy in1913-1914, and practiced the belief that science should ultimately serve human happiness.
19 14 Hu transferred to the frontier field of physics at that time for experimental research. He cooperated with Professor Duane to study the relationship between X-ray K-line system and atomic number of chemical elements.
Its important academic achievements are as follows: 1. The critical absorption wavelength of element K with atomic number 25 ~ 34 was accurately measured by Bragg method. He plotted the electron velocity and atomic number, improved the accuracy of Mosley's law, and verified that the critical absorption frequency of X-rays, the critical ionization frequency in the absorber, the critical X-ray frequency determined by the excited electron energy in the X-ray tube and the highest characteristic emission frequency were all equal. 2. The velocity distribution of photoelectrons in different directions, the spatial distribution of X-ray scattering and its spectral characteristics are measured for the first time in the X-ray frequency range. The existence of selective photoelectric effect and selective scattering is clarified, and the maximum emission velocity of X-ray photoelectrons is determined. These results are of great significance for determining the structure of X-ray spectral terms, revealing the mechanism of X-ray emission by atoms and understanding the electronic structure of the inner layer of atoms.
After Hu finished his doctoral thesis on 19 18, Duane had hoped that he could stay and continue the cooperative research. In order to serve his motherland, he resolutely left Harvard University. 1965438+ Hu Gang returned to China in autumn 2008. He understands that China's science education is still in the primary stage, and he has no conditions to continue his experimental research in order to give full play to his talents. However, in order to save the country, science and science education must take root, sprout and bear fruit in the land of the motherland, so he devoted himself to running schools, teaching and educating people.
From 19 18, the earliest physics laboratory in China was established. Physics, as an experimental science, must have experiments to cultivate a real physicist, which is his unshakable belief. According to old alumni, Southeast University and his part-time Shanghai Datong University have a good student physics laboratory at 1920.
19231February 12, the physics and chemistry building of southeast university caught fire and the experimental instruments were set on fire. On the same day, Hu arrived in Shanghai by train, borrowed physical and chemical instruments from Datong University, and immediately took them back to Nanjing by car, so that the students' experiments would not be delayed. When he first came to Nanjing Normal University as a professor, he was the only professor in the department and the only one who taught and experimented. He also teaches in Shanghai, so he teaches in Nanjing and Shanghai three days a week. His family has been living in Shanghai. During his stay in Nanjing, he lived alone in the library of the Chinese Science Society (he is a director and librarian of the Chinese Science Society). Among his students, there are a large number of famous scientists who have made outstanding contributions to China's science and science education, such as Wu, Liu Gang, Shi, Gu Jinghui and Qian. As early as 19 16, Hu participated in the establishment of the Science Society of China in the United States, and published many papers such as "Earth Electric Image" and "Potential Naming Scheme" in the Science magazine run by the Science Society of China, which was his earliest efforts to advocate and publicize science.
19 18 years after returning to China, he was the main member of the Terminology Review Committee of the Chinese Science Society, focusing on the naming of a large number of nouns such as potential and entropy, and the municipal units of measurement (such as time seconds, 1 city ruler = 1 3m,1city gold =/) Was he still with Hu in the early 1930s? Feng edited junior high school physics textbook. 1926 served as the dean of the Faculty of Science of Xiamen University, and hired Jiang Lifu (Mathematics), Zhang (Chemistry) and (Biology) to take charge of the departments of the Faculty of Science, which made the Faculty of Science enter a formal stage. In the same year, Mr. Lu Xun was also employed by the College of Literature. These famous scholars made Xiamen University famous immediately.
From 65438 to 0928, he assisted Ding in establishing the first Institute of Physics in China, the Institute of Physics of Academia Sinica, and served as a full-time researcher in the Institute. After attending the annual meeting of Chinese Science Society from 65438 to 0936, Hu Gang recovered from typhoid fever and was in a coma for a whole month, and was admitted to the intensive care unit of Shanghai Red Cross Hospital. At that time, his best friend Zhu Kezhen (a classmate of Harvard University, a colleague of Science Society and a colleague of Southeast University) was appointed as the president of Zhejiang University. He went to the hospital many times and urged Hu, who had just come to his senses, to run a school with him. If Hu doesn't go, he will never accept Zhu Kezhen's appointment. After the Kuomintang promised not to interfere in party affairs and running schools, Hu decided to accept the appointment of the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences of Zhejiang University and make every effort to run Zhejiang University well.
From 65438 to 0936, after Hu Gang was reinstated as the dean of the Faculty of Science of Zhejiang University, he recruited talents and greatly strengthened the faculty of the Faculty of Science. The following year, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out and Zhejiang University moved in. Even in the extremely difficult situation in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Zhejiang University has developed rapidly and entered its heyday, especially the School of Science of Zhejiang University. Thanks to his hard work, he is hands-on, serious and responsible, and makes the school of science very distinctive. At that time, each department not only had excellent teaching work, but also carried out vigorous scientific research work, and each department had a scientific report meeting every week. In order to advocate the spirit of seeking truth from serious study and the spirit of scientists' dedication to science, he personally gave a report to the teachers and students of the whole school, telling the scientific thoughts and contributions of scientists such as Galileo, Newton, Faraday and Maxwell, the spirit of seeking truth from facts and great personality, and instilling in students their great spirit of not being afraid of violence and persisting in scientific truth. He believes that a university has the obligation to spread science and culture to the surrounding communities, so it sows scientific seeds and popularizes scientific knowledge to the local people, encourages all departments to popularize scientific research achievements, and requires all departments to open their laboratories to the public during the celebration of the university, arrange various scientific experiments, enrich intuitive natural phenomena, and make people understand and apply science with serious explanations. Today, people in Zunyi and Meitan are still talking about the seeds sown by Zhejiang University in science education, and now they have taken root, blossomed and borne fruit. During his stay in Zhejiang University, he specially opened a course of "Advanced Physics" for science students, which deepened their understanding of physics and cultivated their interest in marginal science.
Hu's successful practice of running a school has always been to hire excellent professors with high level and care for students first. In the six years since Zhejiang University moved to Zunyi and Meitan, Guizhou, the former professors have been at ease in teaching and scientific research. Jiang Shuomin and Xu Ruiyun from the Department of Mathematics, Ding from the Department of Physics, Wang Baoren from the Department of Chemistry, Luo Zongluo, Zhong Chongxin and Jiang from the Department of Biology were also hired, and the lineup was greatly enhanced. Secondly, he thinks that to invite a good professor, you need good books and good instruments and equipment. At that time, Wang Baoren resigned as the dean of the School of Science of Tongji University and became the head of the Department of Chemistry of Zhejiang University, because the scientific research conditions of the Department of Chemistry of Zhejiang University were good and the books and equipment of all departments of the School of Science were also very good. Hu's scientific education thought emphasizes basic theoretical and experimental training on the basis of generalist education, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, and requires basic courses and courses that reflect the frontier of science. He has always stressed that engineering teachers and students should have a strong foundation in science. On the one hand, strengthen experimental research equipment, on the other hand, make devices for teaching and scientific research. There are good workshops for metalworking, glass blowing, glass grinding and radio electronics, and senior technicians and young teaching assistants are invited to participate in workshop practice and experimental technology education. He asked the students to sign with him when choosing the course. In this way, he guides students to make the best choice according to their personal interests, specialties, advantages and disadvantages, so as to improve the learning effect or conduct interdisciplinary research. This kind of interview with every student in the school of science often lasts for more than half an hour or even half a day. Under his careful guidance, the Department of Physics has not only trained a large number of physicists such as Cheng, Li, Li, and Li, but also trained a number of senior talents engaged in biophysical research such as Mei Zhenan. Under the tung oil lamp, a group of teachers have been created.
During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, Hu served as the leader of the school relocation committee. Every time he moved to school, he always found the school site, borrowed a house, arranged the school building, arranged the transportation of books and instruments, and arranged transportation to evacuate the crowd. With his physical strength and perseverance, he actually did what others seemed impossible. Zhejiang University moved several times without delaying the start of classes, and none of the books and instruments were lost, which are two cases. He ignores personal interests and is fearless of evil. He overcame all kinds of difficulties and obstacles such as kidnapping by bandits and framing by Kuomintang party sticks, so that the school was relocated several times and the Meitan Physics Building was built.
When the school moved to Taihe, Jiangxi Province, he led the migrant workers to build a levee with a length of 10 km before the flood in the Ganjiang River, and he was seen patrolling the construction site every day. When the Ganjiang River flooded the next year, Zhejiang University had moved to Yishan, Guangxi, and the levee protected a large area of farmland in Taihe. The local people call the levee Zhejiang University or the steel dike. When the school moved to Zunyi, Meitan and Yongxing, he and his son used their son's height as a ruler to measure the water level difference of Meijiang River around Meitan, trying to build a small hydropower station on Meijiang River to generate electricity and control water, but gave up after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. From 65438 to 0946, Hu was appointed to lead students to study radar technology in Britain, and trained the first batch of radar high-tech talents for China.
During his stay in England, he went to Cambridge to attend lectures every week, listening to microwave principles, quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, statistical mechanics and other courses that he had not formally studied before. His sequela of typhoid fever (deafness in both ears) was even worse in Britain, where there was no heating in the winter after the war, so that he could hardly hear it every time he sat in the front row of the class.
From 65438 to 0948, he visited the post-war scientific research in the United States, especially the progress of nuclear physics and high-energy physics. 1948165438+1return to Hangzhou in October. Soon, he and Zhu Kezhen arrived in Shanghai together and resolutely resisted the arrangement that the authorities asked them to evacuate to Taiwan Province Province and stay in the mainland. 1950 After the disintegration of Shanghai Datong University, he resigned as the president of Datong University and the Academic Affairs Office of Zhejiang University. At the invitation of Mao Yisheng, he went to Tangshan Jiaotong University (now Southwest Jiaotong University) and Beiyang University to teach.
1952, department adjustment, he was hired as a professor of physics department of Nankai University. During his stay at Beiyang University and Nankai University, he taught many courses such as optics, modern physics and X-ray metallography. In order to teach unfamiliar metallurgy well, he once came to Beijing by train from Tianjin every week to listen to metallurgical courses taught by domestic metal physicists.
1963, he visited the northeast and gave a report called "Scientific Experiment" in Harbin Institute of Military Engineering, which was the last report he made in his life. From 65438 to 0966, he suffered from severe kidney disease. Nephritis recurred after kidney calculi was taken out, and he died in Tianjin General Hospital on February 1966. At the age of 74. During his illness, he wrote a piece of paper with four big characters "Proud Body" and kept it in the desk drawer until his death. These four words are patriotic intellectuals with backbone and pioneers of science education in China.