Sabendong studied in Fuzhou as a teenager. 192 1 graduated from Tsinghua University with honors. From 65438 to 0922, Sabendong went to Stanford University in the United States to study mechanical engineering, and obtained a bachelor's degree in engineering from 65438 to 0924. 1924 entered Worcester Institute of Technology, Massachusetts, and obtained a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering the following year. He immediately switched to physics, and 1927 received a doctor of science degree, becoming one of the best international students in China. From 1927 to 1928, Sabendong was employed as a research assistant of Worcester Institute of Technology and an engineer of Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Company. During this period, Sabendong wrote in the Journal of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (Trans. AIEE), Research on Sparks in the Air, Unbalanced Factors of Three-phase Systems, etc., have already become famous in academic circles by the age of 25 or 6.
From 65438 to 0928, Sabendong returned to China as a professor of physics at the invitation of Ye, head of the Department of Physics of Tsinghua University, and taught general physics, electromagnetism, radio physics and vector and circuit theory courses in graduate schools, engaged in scientific research on circuits and radios. He carefully taught and edited textbooks, and spent several years compiling General Physics and General Physics Experiment, which were published in 1933 and 1936 respectively. These two books are the first officially published college physics textbooks in China. This book was selected by universities as soon as it came out, and was widely appreciated by the higher education circles in China. 1940 This book was officially awarded as a university textbook by the Ministry of Education and has been popular in China for many years. Many contemporary science and technology experts in China have studied this set of textbooks when they were young, and they have benefited a lot so far, which shows its far-reaching influence on college physics teaching in China.
During his nine years as a teacher in Tsinghua University, Sabendong has also made fruitful achievements in the research of circuits, electrical engineering and the performance of vacuum tubes. He creatively applied dyadic method and complex vector in mathematics to solve the problem of three-phase circuit, and wrote many papers 10, which won the respect of the predecessors in physics and was selected as the reviewer by Professor Tsinghua University.
1September, 935, Sabendong was invited as a visiting professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering of Ohio University. At that time, China's science and technology education was backward and discriminated by the west. It was really hard to get Sabendong to be hired as a visiting professor of science and engineering by American universities. 1August, 936, he summarized the calculation and analysis of using dyadic method to solve circuits, and published a paper "Dyadic Algebra Applied to Three-phase Circuits" in Journal of American Institute of Electrical Engineers, which aroused strong response from the international electrical theory circle and was considered as opening up a new research field of electrical engineering. The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE) immediately listed this paper as the discussion topic at the winter meeting (1937 65438+1October 25-27). After the meeting, this article won the "1937 best article honor award in theory and research" from the United States. On this basis, he collected the research experience of other similar problems, systematically sorted them out, and wrote a monograph "Parallel Circuit Analysis" in English. This is a masterpiece of new theory, a new work of "Mathematics, Physics and Motor Triangle", and its theory belongs to the forefront of the new development of electrotechnics research. Therefore, as soon as the book was published, it was immediately selected into the international electrician series and won the first honorary medal of China Institute of Electrical Engineers. Because of his outstanding achievements in electrical engineering, Sabendong was accepted as a foreign member by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.
Strive to build Xiamen University in the mountainous area of western Fujian
1in March, 937, Sabendong returned from the United States to give lectures, gained a great reputation, and returned to Tsinghua University to teach. At that time, Mr. Chen Jiageng, the leader of patriotic overseas Chinese, lost everything because of his failure in rubber business, and dedicated Xiamen University to the country. 1 937 July1Xiamen University changed from private to national. 1937 On July 6th, Sabendong was appointed as the first president of Xiamen University. Sabendong, who has profound attainments and outstanding achievements in electrical engineering and enjoys a high reputation in the field of electrical engineering at home and abroad, also thought twice when he was appointed president of Xiamen University. He has been engaged in teaching and scientific research for many years, and is going to continue his in-depth research in order to achieve greater achievements. However, in order to carry forward the great spirit of Mr. Chen Jiageng, to make Xiamen University a famous institution with characteristics, and to cultivate elite talents in his hometown of Fujian, he made sacrifices and resolutely took up his post.
The day after Sabendong was appointed, the Lugouqiao Incident happened. Arrived in Xiamen under the fire of the all-round anti-Japanese war and officially took office on July 26. Soon, the war burned to the southeast coast of the motherland. On August 24th, overseas Chinese living in Xiamen began to retreat. On September 3rd, the shells and bombs of the Japanese invaders landed in Xiamen. Xiamen University, which is at the forefront of Xiamen, has been seriously threatened. For the safety of teachers and students, the next day the school temporarily moved to Gulangyu, the then concession, and borrowed some school buildings from Huaying Middle School and Minnan Vocational School to attend classes. Important books, instruments, specimens, etc. They are also trying to move to Gulangyu Island. During June+10 in 5438, Sabendong thought that the higher education in the southeast half of the motherland still needed to be maintained, so he decided to move Xiamen University to Changting, a mountain city at the junction of Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi, and began to move in early February 5438. At that time, Fujian's traffic was extremely inconvenient, and it was blocked from Xiamen to Changting. Sabendong carefully planned, properly arranged, seized the opportunity and decided to command. In less than a month, all the teachers and students were delivered safely, and classes resumed in Changting on June 65438+June 65438+1October 7. Before the fall of Xiamen in 1938, all books, instruments and equipment were also removed. Most of them went to Changting, and the rest were temporarily stored in Gulangyu, Zhangzhou and Longyan, which fully demonstrated his organizational and leadership skills.
Moving from Xiamen, which has all kinds of buildings and facilities, to Changting, a remote mountain city with nothing, has encountered great difficulties in teaching and life. Sabendong accepted the challenge. He first rented Changting Hotel and nearby houses as staff quarters; Borrow the Commissioner's office to transform the Confucian Temple ancestral hall into a library and laboratory; Then build a new school building and dig a bomb shelter at the foot of Beishan Mountain. He is extremely serious and responsible, and often says, "Now is not the time to shirk responsibility. I have to do it myself, or I will be told." Remote mountainous area, no electricity. In the rebuilt and newly built school buildings, the light is ok during the day, but it is dark at night, and only the blue oil lamp flashes yellow like a bean. This has brought many inconveniences to the life, work and study of teachers and students. Sabendong is an expert in electrical engineering. He immediately tried to solve this problem. He led several science and engineering teaching assistants and instrument administrators, removed the engine of the special car assigned to him by the school, converted it into a lighting generator, personally directed the installation of circuits and lights, and fought for several days and nights, finally making the whole school shine. The students are full of joy.
At that time, Sabendong was the head of the Department of Mathematics and Science. 1938, there are only 1 professor, associate professor and full-time lecturer in the Department of Mathematics and Physics, and there are 3 teaching assistants. In order to strengthen the teaching staff, Professor Xie, the former head of the Department of Physics of yenching university, was hired to teach in our school on 1939. Later, Xie served as the head of the Department of Mathematics and Science, the dean of the Faculty of Science, and the provost, helping Sabendong run Xiamen University well.
Due to the successful relocation of Xiamen University, the physical experimental instruments were transported to Changting in nine cases out of ten, and the physical experiments were set up normally from beginning to end. At the beginning, the laboratory was very crowded, with only general physics and radio laboratories and darkrooms for optical experiments. 1940 was expanded into general physics laboratory, optical laboratory, darkroom, instrument room, advanced physics laboratory and workshop (instrument repair room) at the beginning.
There was no loss in moving books in, and a large number of Chinese and foreign books were ordered for teachers and students to read later. At that time, the academic atmosphere of the school was strong, and the Mathematical Society often held academic reports. Sabendong once gave a report on the application of a square (rectangular) array in circuits. The school publishes various publications 10, Science edited by Xie, Journal of Xiamen University, etc. Later, the western version of the science and technology series was published.
At that time, the country needed a large number of talents in civil engineering, machinery, electrical machinery and aviation. However, there is no engineering college in Fujian Province and even Xiamen University lacks the necessary equipment and teachers to manage the engineering department. In order to meet the needs of the Anti-Japanese War, Sabendong worked hard. He ran around and raised money from all sides. 1937 Established the Department of Civil Engineering (under the Faculty of Science) and temporarily served as the head of the department. By 1938, there were 45 students in the department of civil engineering, which was the department with the largest number of middle school students (mathematics 15, chemistry 28, biology 19). 1940, the department of mechanical and electrical engineering was added in Sabendong, and the school of science was expanded into the institute of technology. 1944 also prepared for the department of aviation engineering, which made great contributions to the establishment of engineering college of Xiamen university. From 194 1 to 1949, the number of engineering graduates of Xiamen University reached 452, which were distributed all over the country. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, many graduates applied to work in Taiwan Province Province, making great contributions to the construction of Taiwan Province Province, which has just returned to the motherland from Japanese occupation.
When I was in the mountainous area of western Fujian, teachers were scarce. Especially when 1940 established the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, many important courses, such as electrical principles, AC circuits, AC motors and radio engineering, were taught by Sabendong himself. He studies rigorously and prepares lessons carefully. When teaching complicated and boring AC circuits, he was clear-cut, lively, interesting and simple. He analyzed all kinds of physics and electromagnetic phenomena as examples, so that everyone could master them, let the students' thoughts be integrated with him, further explore step by step, and gradually enter the core of the problem, so that students felt that every minute was full and fruitful. During the period of moving to Changting, Sabendong suffered from severe stomach trouble and was sometimes bedridden. In order not to delay students' homework, he asked mechanical and electrical students to listen to his bed. When you have a stomachache, pause for a while, and then continue talking. He also suffers from rheumatism, which is very serious at the time of attack. He used to go to class with crutches, and even his crutches fell to the ground and he couldn't bend down to pick them up. His spirit of self-sacrifice and loyalty to his career touched many students.
Sabendong attaches great importance to the education of basic subjects, especially Chinese. He believes that to engage in academic research, in addition to mastering professional knowledge and skills, you must also have extensive basic knowledge. He requires students to master not only their own language but also more than one foreign language. At the initiative of Sabendong, a special Chinese experiment (today's exam) was held for students, which was divided into two subjects: Chinese and English. Those who fail cannot graduate. He asked liberal arts students to have a certain knowledge of natural science, and science students could not do without social science knowledge. He advocates that famous professors teach basic theory courses and personally teach calculus to freshmen. Practical Calculus, written by him for the teaching of basic courses of science and engineering, has been widely welcomed by teachers and students in our school and adopted by all schools. Under the guidance and demonstration of Sabendong, a large number of famous professors stepped onto the platform of first-year basic courses, which played a very good role in improving the teaching quality of Xiamen University.
Sabendong is knowledgeable and hardworking. During the Anti-Japanese War, there was a shortage of teachers in some courses, so he went to the front line to "rescue" tirelessly. Substitute courses include general physics, general cartography, mechanical drawing and so on. In those hard years, he was also known as the "O-type" substitute teacher, and his weekly class hours once reached about 20 hours, exceeding the class hours of full-time professors. It is unbelievable that a university president who is extremely busy with school affairs has so many classes.
Sabendong not only "takes the lead" in work and teaching, but also is a model in honesty and integrity. When 1937 was just changed into a national university, "the funds of the national and provincial libraries have not been received", and the salaries of faculty and staff could not be paid as usual. In order to overcome the difficulties, Sabendong issued a notice and stipulated the advance standard: "(1) 35% of the principal's salary; (2) professors and senior staff whose salaries are above 200 yuan are paid at 60%; (three) associate professors, full-time lecturers, teaching assistants and other personnel salary in 10 1 yuan to 200 yuan by 75%; In 5 1 yuan to 100 yuan, according to 90%; Full payment below 50 yuan. " Its spirit of self-denial and dedication to public service deeply touched all the faculty and staff. Sabendong's wife, Huang Shushen, graduated from Beijing Normal University and was once called a javelin master. Although there was a great demand for female sports instructors in Xiamen University at that time, because the school department stipulated that leaders or professors could not engage in nepotism and could not arrange relatives to work in the school, Huang Shushen could only be a voluntary instructor instead of a regular teacher, without salary or any allowance. Nevertheless, she went to physical education class very seriously and has been concerned about the girl's health and life for many years. Sabendong's cousin, Sa Shixuan, once wrote: "He was the president of Xiamen University for seven years, and he never quoted a relative of our family except when he went there for the first time as a secretary. In terms of enrollment, he also adheres to principles and is not selfish. There are several cousins in our family who have applied for Xiamen University many times, but they were not admitted because of insufficient scores. " Sabendong's daily life is simple, and he eats and dresses. He often runs around the school in a Chinese tunic suit and double-money sneakers. Newcomers often think that he is a janitor. Because Sabendong is strict with self-discipline, incorruptible in politics, daring to adhere to principles, and upright. At that time, a commander of the Kuomintang army stationed in Changting personally visited the house and asked his son to be exempted from the test. Sabendong sternly refused, and welcomed his son to go to Xiamen University to study after he was admitted. The commander of a certain unit of the Kuomintang navy also wrote to him, willing to send the machinery and equipment of its shipyard to Xiamen University on condition that his son can go to school. Pointing to this "generous" general letter, Sabendong told other school leaders and teachers that the school's rules and regulations must not be traded.
After Sabendong's example and dismal management, Xiamen University formed a good atmosphere of diligence, simplicity, preciseness and harmony during Changting period, and its school affairs flourished and its students' academic performance improved significantly. Xiamen University has not only become the only institution of higher learning in southeast China, but also one of the most complete universities in China. The number of foreign tourists visiting our school is increasing. For example, J. Needham, a member of the Royal Society, a professor of biochemistry at Cambridge University and director of the Sino-British Science Cooperation Museum, also visited the Xiamen University Building in Changting. After an American geologist visited, he was praised. These achievements are inseparable from the hard work and dedication of the principal, Sabendong. When he first arrived at Xiamen University, he was still a young scholar and tennis player, radiant and energetic. Only seven years later, at 1944, Sabendong, who was only 42 years old, hunched over from overwork and looked unusually old. To commemorate Sabendong's great achievements in the past eight years as president, Xiamen University set up the "Scholarship for the Building" in 1946, which he just transferred to, to encourage students to learn from the dedication of the former president, study hard and master excellent skills to serve the motherland. 1In May, 944, due to his outstanding achievements in running a school, Sabendong was awarded the third-class star medal by the National Government together with three famous domestic scholars: Luo Lun Jia, Zhu Kezhen and Yan Jici.
Scientific and technological achievements are well-known overseas
1June, 944, Sabendong accepted the State Council's invitation and went to the United States to give lectures again. Also invited were Professor Yang Zhensheng from Peking University, Professor Chen from Nankai University, Professor Chen Yuguang from Jinling University, Professor Rong Qidong from Lingnan University and Professor Wang Jingxi from Academia Sinica. During this year, Sabendong gave many lectures at MIT, University of Michigan, Harvard University and University of Illinois, among which the lecture on AC electrical engineering was the most distinctive. First of all, he proposed to use the unit value system to analyze AC motors, which aroused strong response from the engineering community. Then, based on the information accumulated in teaching electrical engineering at Xiamen University and the new materials taught at Stanford University, he wrote a monograph "The Basis of Alternating Current Machines" in English, and put forward many new arguments and arguments, which were "not mentioned by predecessors". The book was published in the United States on 1946, and was highly praised by the scientific circles in Britain and the United States, and was hailed as a masterpiece of physics and electrical engineering. In Sabendong's own modest statement, "Although the title of this book is similar to that of most university textbooks, the writing is quite different from that of the textbooks of the same name." There are many chapters, and if they are separated separately, they can also be divided into several short articles, because the methods used in these chapters have inspired many places that have not been taught before. This may be the reason why this book can be praised by British and American counterparts after publication! ""There are many schools, such as the University of California and Carnegie Institute of Technology, which are used as teaching materials. "This situation has created a precedent for natural science monographs written by Chinese scientists to be adopted by foreigners as teaching materials.
Sabendong's achievements in electrical engineering and his characteristics of giving lectures in the United States have not only won the appreciation of American scientific and technological circles, but also attracted British scientific and technological circles. When he was still giving lectures in the United States, British academic circles invited him to Britain three times. 1945 In May, after completing the lecture task in the United States, Sabendong went to the United Kingdom to give a short lecture, which was highly praised by the British scientific and technological circles.
However, Sabendong was not happy when he gave lectures in the United States and Britain. He is seriously ill and still works hard. At that time, the domestic war situation was critical, Hunan and Guangxi fell one after another, and international public opinion despised China. Sabendong felt everywhere that "in such an environment, mental unhappiness far exceeds the pain caused by poor health." Therefore, he gave up the good opportunity to recuperate and treat diseases in the United States, seized the time, gritted his teeth and overcame many difficulties. While doing a good job in lectures, he wrote that good textbook that won glory for his country, which showed his lofty patriotism.
Due to health and other reasons, during his lecture in the United States, Sabendong wrote three times to resign as president of Xiamen University. Although it was retained by Xiamen University and the Ministry of Education, it was finally passed with firm words. 1945 After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in September, he returned to Chongqing from London and was appointed as the president of Academia Sinica by Zhu Jiahua, president of Academia Sinica. He led the Academia Sinica to move back to Nanjing; Then, in order to establish a center for mathematics and physics in Nanjing, he ran around and raised money everywhere. He also built a house for the Institute of Physics and the newly-built Institute of Mathematics near Jiuhua Mountain in Nanjing. He also held multiple positions from 1940 to 1948. For example, the ex officio member of Academia Sinica (1940- 1948), the chairman of the personnel management committee of the board of directors, the chairman of the design review committee (1940- 1948), and the director of the Institute of Physics (1945-/kloc) Because of his outstanding work and achievements, he was elected as the director of China Institute of Electrical Engineers in February 1943. 1948 was elected as an academician of academia sinica.
Sabendong is a famous physicist, an outstanding electrical engineering expert and educator. He is not only admired by the world for his extraordinary knowledge and intelligence, but also his excellent quality, noble cultivation and service spirit of "bowing down as a willing ox" are even more unforgettable. His greatest achievement in science and technology is to take the lead in applying dyadic method to electrical engineering; The greatest contribution to education is to develop Xiamen University in the difficult period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, and to carry forward Chen Jiageng's patriotism in running a school.
Sabendong has also made great contributions to the Chinese Physical Society. He is one of the founders of the Society, and served as an accountant and secretary as soon as the Society was established (1932-1937). 1932, he published the glossary of physical terms, which made an important contribution to the work of physical terms after 1932. After 1942, he served as a member of the journal Committee and vice chairman of the society (1945— 1947). 1947 10, the annual meeting of Chinese Physical Society 14 held in Shanghai was presided over by Sabendong.
During the hard years in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Sabendong was overworked for Xiamen University, which seriously affected his health and delayed the diagnosis and treatment of his illness. At the end of 1948, due to the deterioration of his condition, he rushed to the United States for treatment and went to the cancer ward of the University of California, San Francisco. Before he died, he also told the doctor about his vision for the development of science and technology in the motherland, and his mood of serving the motherland was touching. He also made a will: "Autopsy after death. In order to study gastric cancer, arthritis and all other symptoms, organs and tissues on the body can be taken out as needed. " His dedication is really admirable. 1949 65438+1October 3 1, Sabendong died in California hospital. At that time, he was less than 47 years old. His two sons, Sazhihan and Chih-TangSah, later became mathematicians and physicists respectively.
As for the disposal of his ashes, Sabendong pointed out in his will that he hoped to dedicate them to Tsinghua University, National Xiamen University or Nanjing Academia Sinica. Later, Xiamen University expressed its strong desire to receive all Sabendong ashes. With the consent of his wife Huang Shushen, Sabentong's ashes were all buried in the campus of Xiamen University. Zheng Chaozong wrote an epitaph, summarizing Sabendong's eight-year school-running achievements during the Anti-Japanese War into five items: 1. "Lead all teachers and students to move to Changting, a mountainous area in western Fujian, which is a long way away. Books, instruments, documents and specimens necessary for starting school should be safely transferred and classes should be resumed quickly." 2. "I personally planned and supervised the construction of a new school, and carried out a large-scale transformation of old houses, offices, Confucius temples and abandoned gardens, expanding the scale of the school and doubling the number of students." 3. "I spare no effort to shoulder the burden of teaching, teaching more courses than ordinary professors, and in order to meet the needs of the country, I have added three departments of civil engineering, electromechanical and aviation, recruiting well-known domestic scholars to train talents, work hard and promote their growth." 4. "Pay attention to students' moral education and ensure the stability and order of the school. ..... It is absolutely forbidden to set up fellow villagers' associations on campus and treat people from all countries equally. " . 5. "Be cautious in running a school, be strict with self-discipline, and be diligent in self-discipline, followed by technicians ... During the Anti-Japanese War, people's lives were extremely difficult, and the public, like ordinary people, ate less complicated things and became ill from overwork." Carved on a tombstone as a permanent memorial.