On August 13, the final of the 8th "Qiu Chengtong University Mathematics Competition" came to an end in Tsinghua University. The 7-month competition attracted nearly 1,000 students from 270 universities in China, fully demonstrating the influence of Qiu Chengtong.
As one of the most outstanding mathematicians in the world, Qiu Chengtong conquered the world mathematical problem "Calabi conjecture" at the age of 27; At the age of 34, he won the Nobel Prize in Mathematics-Fields Prize; At the age of 46, he won the Crawford Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Mathematics. At the age of 6 1, he won the Wolf Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Mathematics. Only two people in the world have won these three awards at the same time, and Qiu Chengtong is one of them.
Today, Qiu Chengtong is not only a professor in the Department of Physics and Mathematics at Harvard University, but also the director of the Mathematical Science Center in Qiu Chengtong, Tsinghua University. He is very concerned about the education reform in China and the training of mathematical talents in China. Recently, a reporter from Guangzhou Daily talked with this "big brother" in the mathematics field in Beijing.
China's undergraduate education has been greatly improved.
Guangzhou Daily: You have been teaching at Harvard for 30 years. What's the difference between their teaching mode and that in China?
Qiu Chengtong: Famous American universities accept students. Mathematics and English are the two most important courses. On the contrary, mathematics is not so valued in China. In China, some students with good grades failed at Harvard. Later, I found that some students in China are not interested in mathematics, and parents don't want their children to learn mathematics, because they think mathematics is boring and the "money way" is not very good.
Guangzhou Daily: Is advanced mathematics really useless in life?
Qiu Chengtong: I think the media didn't publicize it well. Social science and natural science in 2 1 century have a great relationship with mathematics, and artificial intelligence, quantum physics and communication science are all related to mathematics.
For example, to do artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, the only way to ensure that the car does not make mistakes is to deduce a mathematical model through logical reasoning. Otherwise, the problem will be big. To become a powerful country in science and technology, China must first become a powerful country in mathematics, which is the foundation of many industries.
Guangzhou Daily: Has Harvard Mathematics Department enrolled China students in the past two years?
Qiu Chengtong: Yes, once or twice a year. In recent years, the scores of students in China have improved a lot compared with the past, which is closely related to the math competition between middle school students and college students. In recent years, undergraduate education in China has been greatly improved. In the past, the full score of China students admitted to Harvard was 1.80, while China students could only get 90 points, while American students could get 1.50 points. Now students in China can get a score of 150, but there is still a gap in the top part. American students are more creative than us. Because we don't have enough mathematical culture, there are too few creative mathematicians in China.
Guangzhou Daily: What is the level of mathematicians in China in the world?
Qiu Chengtong: It's not as influential as you think. In mathematics, we still have a big gap with Europe and America. This may break many people's hearts, but we have to admit the gap.
I can't do some Olympic math problems either.
Guangzhou Daily: Did the "Qiu Chengtong Mathematics Competition" and "Qiu Chengtong Science Prize" you set up achieve the expected results?
Qiu Chengtong: Middle schools and universities all over the country hold math competitions. It should be said that the mathematics level of China students has been greatly improved. As for the science prize, it is to encourage research-based learning and emulate the "Westinghouse Prize" in the United States. Both my children have won the Westinghouse Award, which has a great influence on them. They are interested in scientific research. This award has trained many first-class talents for the United States, and I think children in China should also cultivate such creativity.
Guangzhou Daily: The Olympic Games have been very popular in recent years. Do you think it is necessary to cool down?
Qiu Chengtong: The Olympiad artificially increased the burden on children. The examination was conducted on some deviant and tricky topics, which only covered a small part of mathematics. Many mathematical problems could not be reflected in the Olympiad.
There are some problems in the Olympic Mathematics, even I can't. It doesn't matter, and it's not shameful. There are so many problems in mathematics that it doesn't matter if you don't understand one or two. If you only learn the Olympics and don't understand other math problems, it will not pay off. Mathematical olympiad is a snack. Eating too many snacks and not eating dinner will definitely lead to malnutrition, which will do great harm to children. Children keep training, like machines, and gradually lose interest in mathematics and learning, which is very harmful.
If you don't develop basic science, you will make a big mistake.
Guangzhou Daily: How do parents find out if their children are math material?
Qiu Chengtong: Mathematics is to train people's reasoning ability. I think before middle school, we must keep enough interest in mathematics and let ourselves enter the temple of mathematics. In the future, you can be interested in many natural subjects.
Guangzhou Daily: You also suggested that China should pay more attention to pure mathematics than applied mathematics?
Qiu Chengtong: Over the years, the level of pure mathematics has not kept up, which has been restricting the development of mathematics in China. For example, the concept of imaginary number was not accepted by academic circles in China before, that is, i2=- 1. It was not until19th century that the concept of imaginary number was introduced, while Europe began to study imaginary number as early as the Renaissance, hundreds of years before us. On this basis, a set of scientific research methods has been developed. Imaginary numbers can be used to explain probability, wave and quantum mechanics. Why do China people always reject imaginary numbers? Because I don't think it has practical value.
Instead of developing basic science, we try to leapfrog the past and directly develop applied science, which will make us make a big mistake. Can't say that this thing is not good for society, just ignore it. For example, the study of gravitational waves has made great progress in recent years, and the successful detection of gravitational waves provides a brand-new window for human beings to observe the universe. The fundamental reason for the discovery of gravitational waves is the combination of physics, engineering, basic mathematics and computational mathematics.
Curiosity is the basic driving force of human development, but it is scarce now. Everyone is utilitarian, some for money, some for fame. Good learning may not make a country strong soon, but a strong country must have a large number of truly learned scholars. In learning, sometimes we can't emphasize "applying what we have learned". When everyone is thinking about how to realize mathematical knowledge and generate value, there must be something wrong.
Mathematics and literature have something in common.
Guangzhou Daily: If you can become a famous mathematician, does it have anything to do with your growing environment?
Qiu Chengtong: I thank my parents for giving me the right to choose when I was growing up. I followed my father, who studied philosophy, on the road to mathematics. When he discussed with the students, he said that Greek philosophy was greatly influenced by mathematics, so I became interested in mathematics.
My father made me read a lot of books since I was a child. I think mathematics and literature are interlinked. When I was twelve or thirteen years old, my father not only taught me a lot of China's poems, but also read many books by Lu Xun, Guo Moruo and Hu Shi. I didn't understand it at first, but I gradually understood it. Learning is also such a process. At that time, I also read Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and also read Jin Yong's martial arts novels. These books seem to have nothing to do with mathematics, but they can make you draw inferences and inspire you.
Guangzhou Daily: Is it a pity that neither of your sons has studied mathematics?
Qiu Chengtong: No regrets. Their interest in mathematics is not as great as mine, and their interest is not there. If you force him to do it, it is unlikely to have a good result.
Guangzhou Daily: Have you made any mistakes in your study? What if it's wrong?
Qiu Chengtong: All explorations will go wrong unless you follow other people's ass. If you learn well, you must be wrong by 90%. If you succeed the first time, it is only superficial knowledge. It is not impossible for a scholar to make mistakes. Just as Columbus discovered the New World, how did he know what America was like after the vast sea? A person may have explored 99 roads, all of which are wrong, and the last one is right.
Guangzhou Daily: If you spend a lot of time detouring, isn't it a waste of life?
Qiu Chengtong: As long as you spend time, you will gain something. It's like walking into a big forest and thinking that you can find apples, but you can't find them, but you find many other things. For example, if you go to the moon, it's a place where no one has been. No matter what you can find on the moon, it is a harvest. I won't know if I have gained anything until I go there. Many important discoveries in history were discovered by mistake on the basis of long-term accumulation.
"I don't care about winning or losing."
Guangzhou Daily: What has supported you to study mathematics for so many years?
Qiu Chengtong: Everything is for fun. It's like some people like to write articles, and they still like to write when they are 90 years old, because they can express their feelings. At my age, I am lucky to be able to do some interesting things and keep up with my ability. Just like Beethoven lost his glasses and ears in his later years, he could still compose music. Many great mathematicians can learn even if they are blind, just because they are interested.
Guangzhou Daily: In the field of mathematics, you have won all the awards you deserve. Will there be a feeling of "putting all your eggs in one basket"?
Qiu Chengtong: People in China are always driven by competition and winning prizes. I've never been motivated by this. Since I was a scholar, I never thought about winning any prize. If you are motivated by winning the prize, even if you win the Nobel Prize, you may not become a great scientist. Some scholars' knowledge was forgotten after three or five years. This is a primary school student's problem. If a knowledge is still remembered and used after 50 years, it is an important knowledge. Einstein was a great scientist. I don't think he is studying for the Nobel Prize. If I had learned to win the Fields Medal, I wouldn't do it now.
I don't have the problem of winning or losing, mainly depending on how deep I know about nature and knowledge.
I know exactly how much I weigh.
Guangzhou Daily: Do you feel that you are at the top of Mount Everest?
Qiu Chengtong: One should know oneself correctly. Many people have become academicians and won grand prizes. It feels great, but you have to think about it. Who will give you this award? Someone gave it to you. Are others more knowledgeable than you? Many times, only God knows whether to study well or not. Science has its own standards.
I never felt like I was standing on the top of Mount Everest. My knowledge is about a few pounds. I know in my heart that it is not necessarily worse than others, but there are still many problems I don't understand, and I may not understand them in my life. Am I satisfied? I don't think so.
For example, if you look at Li Bai and Du Fu's poems, they all know exactly where they are. Su Dongpo later said that Tao Yuanming's article was better than his. You know what you can do.
Guangzhou Daily: Have you ever thought about your position in mathematics?
Qiu Chengtong: Of course, I am a very important mathematician in the international mathematics field, but if you want to say whether I am great or not, I am afraid I am not. But if you want to say that mathematicians in China can match me now, I don't think anyone can. There was a mathematician in the field of mathematics named Riemann who died after only studying 15 years of mathematics. He was only 40 when he died. But what he did was much greater than me. Gauss is a great mathematician, and his influence can still be reflected after 200 years. There are only a few hundred great mathematicians throughout the ages, and you will feel ashamed to stand in front of them.
I don't mind not being offended.
Guangzhou Daily: It seems that you like telling the truth very much, but it seems easy to offend people?
Qiu Chengtong: I'm not used to lying. At first, I was very practical in writing letters of introduction to students, but at first, it was a little difficult for students to find jobs. I began to realize that letters of introduction would be exaggerated. I can only "do as the Romans do", but I also try to be realistic. I'm telling the truth, and I don't care if I don't offend. I have been doing academic work in China for so many years, and I have never taken any money from any school. I would like to spend time with young people in China, because I believe that through my own efforts, I can bring about changes.
Guangzhou Daily: Have you ever thought about quitting math research when you are old?
Qiu Chengtong: Scholars will definitely decline when they reach a certain age. When this happens, I will quit.
Guangzhou Daily: What would you choose to do?
Qiu Chengtong: If you can study in a good university, that's a good thing. But many people study abroad for the sake of studying abroad, and they go to second-and third-rate universities, which is meaningless. There are also many excellent universities in China. Now the family in China is relatively rich, and parents treat their children as little princesses, so the pressure on their livelihood is much less. However, a person's life is very long, and the most important thing is to teach children how to face failure. It is very important for parents to teach their children these things.
Guangzhou Daily: Some people say that you are one of the smartest people in the world. what do you think?
Qiu Chengtong: I am definitely not the smartest person. I didn't even win a math prize when I was in middle school. At present, in the discussion class I chair, there are often some postdoctoral or graduate students who have better views than me when discussing some articles. But I am willing to spend more time thinking, and I will get in-depth results over time. As for the sense of superiority, it is far from it. But one thing, I can't accept some people who don't know how to pretend to be experts. They may think I'm superior.
Source: Dayang.com.