This is an old book with slightly yellow pages and wrinkled corners. The copyright page reads: May 1963 Beijing No.65438 +0 Edition 65438+February 0978 Beijing 2nd Edition 65438+February 0978 Beijing Sixth Printing.
This is an "out-of-garden gardener" who has crossed a long road and sowed the seeds of mathematics. In the coming of "scientific spring" and the following years, he walked through three families and raised seven children.
This is a record full of sincere feelings and the flavor of the times. It embodies the ideal, interest and pursuit of an old popular science writer, and also casts his difficulties and bitterness on the road of popular science creation.
I am one of those seven children. I didn't expect it at first. After more than 20 years, I will meet it again. I have formed an indissoluble bond with its author and the editors of the old and new editions! ?
Knowledge relay
Let's start with two years ago.
In February 2002, I went back to my hometown Liuzhou for the New Year. When I was a guest at my aunt's house, I accidentally found my long-lost friend Calculate Fast in my cousin's bookcase, and I couldn't help crying out in surprise: "Wow, my first math extracurricular book!"
After leaving for 20 years, this little yellow book in front of me smells very old and dirty. But I hold it page by page, but I feel very kind and warm. In a blink of an eye, the four little heroes in the book, Li, Du, who are good at quick calculation and distinctive personality, came alive in my memory again. ...
You see, there are two surnames, five children's names and a seal on the cover of this book. What happened?
The one who knows the reason best is my father Yin Yuanyuan. I mentioned "Quick Calculation" to him, and he remembered that the cover of the book had a yellow background with the big head of a little math fan (Shang Gao) printed on it. Two days ago, I called my father again and asked about the origin of this book. After he said a few words, he said with emotion, "This is the knowledge relay between your children!"
1978 About the end, my father learned from the newspaper that China Children's Publishing House had published a new popular math book, Fast Calculation, which was very popular and received rave reviews. My father, who has always been incompetent and eager for success, immediately ran to several bookstores in the city to find it, but found nothing. So he wrote to his relatives in Beijing for help.
My cousin Zhao sent the book soon, but it was not new-in the upper left corner of the book, I also wrote my cousin's and cousin's names (Zhao Ping,). It turned out that Jiukuai became a "quick grab" and a "quick sell" as soon as it came out, and it was even out of stock in Beijing-it was later heard that Jiukuai in the early years was snapped up within two or three days every time it was released.
This book was "moved" from Beijing to Liuzhou. It was an enlightening reading of mathematics and once became my inseparable "baby" after class. It was in the process of reading Fast Calculation that I became interested in mathematics. Peter said that my elder sister and I have a bad relationship and always want to "eat alone", so I only wrote my name on the cover; I also copied my cousin's pinyin and stamped it myself. The name of the eldest sister (Yin Chuanjian) was obviously added by the father who presided over justice. I still remember, because my elder sister drew on the illustrations in the book with a red pen, I scolded her angrily, and our relationship became more "tense" ...
Later, when my little sister grew up, she wrote her name (Yin Chuanzhi) in pencil under her sister's name on the cover-I really don't understand why she was so "modest" at that time.
Later, this book was passed on to my two cousins, Huang Jing and Huang Rui. However, they didn't leave "Mo Bao" on the cover. By the way, the two brothers are very interested in mathematics, and both of them have been admitted to famous universities. Boss also won the first place in the Guangxi Division of the National Middle School Mathematics Competition, and now he works in Germany. ...
be surprised
The quick calculation reminds me of the author's name "Liu Houyi".
In my imagination, he must be a knowledgeable grandfather with glasses, and maybe he is still working with Chen Jingrun in the Institute of Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. But it didn't take long for me to be confused, because my father bought several extra-curricular books one after another: The Story of Beijingers, The Story of Cavemen and The Story of Banpo People, all written by Liu Houyi, but none of them had anything to do with mathematics.
My intuition tells me that these books are all written by the same Liu Houyi, because they have some common characteristics: they all popularize scientific knowledge in story genre; The characters in the story have distinct personality characteristics; Then the language is vivid, popular, fluent and very easy to read.
More than ten years have passed. After graduating from college, I came to Beijing and worked as an editor in Science and Technology Daily. 1993 One summer day, a colleague pointed to a quiet lady sitting by the window and whispered to me, "Do you know? Her name is Liu Bima, and her father is Liu Houyi who wrote "Calculate Fast". " This really surprised me. I said I was a loyal reader of Liu's father. A few days ago, I read an article written by zhou wenbin in the newspaper ("Liu Houyi and Children's Popular Science", published in Guangming Daily 1993 on May 29th). I didn't think I would work with his daughter!
Bima is very easy to get along with, and gradually we have become familiar friends with each other. She told me many stories about her father. My guess more than 20 years ago was finally confirmed.
Fate doesn't stop there. I didn't expect to meet Zheng, the editor-in-chief of the old version (1978 version), Xue Xiaozhe, the editor-in-chief of the new version of planning, and the reporter who reported Liu Houyi's popular science achievements as early as the end of the 1970s. Life is really wonderful. How can we meet all these "coincidences" related to fast computing?
Since then, my desire to visit Mr. Liu has become stronger and stronger.
Leave regrets
1996 During the summer and autumn, I heard that Mr. Liu Houyi was ill, and asked Bi Ma to visit his old man's house again. The next day, the old man asked his daughter to say, thank you for your kindness. He is very willing to see me. It's just that he has been ill in bed for some time, and his home is in a mess. Let's talk about it later.
However, in less than half a year, the bad news came: when the old man participated in an activity organized by the Association for Science and Technology, he left in a hurry because of a sudden cerebral hemorrhage. This day is1997 65438+1October 24th.
I regret not meeting the "living" Mr. Hou Yi. I think I'll give him a ride to make up for it. Unexpectedly, when 65438+1October 3 1 Sunday morning, 10: 20 rushed to Babaoshan from the suburbs, the memorial service was held more than half an hour in advance for some reason, which did not let me catch up. In this way, I mistakenly thought that I would never see his old man again!
However, on the occasion of the first anniversary of Mr. Hou Yi's death, I planned and sorted out most pages of commemorative articles about him and published them in Science and Technology Daily 1998 on June 27th, which made me feel a little relieved. It is also in the process of doing this work that I have a further understanding of Mr. Hou Yi's personality, knowledge and self-restraint, as well as his hard work and price for popular science creation for many years, and the difficulties and pressures he has suffered.
Ms. Zheng told me that in the early 1970s, when she took over the editing work of Computational Fast, which needed to be revised and reprinted, she went to Liu's home several times and found that he was in an awkward position as a researcher at the Institute of vertebrate paleontology and Paleoanthropology of Chinese Academy of Sciences. At that time, his family of five was squeezed into two houses of about 8 square meters. "In addition to the bed, it is difficult to find other space. He often can only write in the office until late at night, and then sleep in the office ... The whole family lives on his meager salary. " Who would have thought that Kuaisuan, a best-selling book with a cumulative sales volume of more than 6.5438+million copies and translated into many languages, and the story of Beijingers, which is also well-known, were written in such an environment?
In the eyes of her daughter Liu Bima, her father Liu Houyi is an ambitious, studious and very "orthodox" person. His parents died young and his family was poor. Sometimes he couldn't afford textbooks and exercise books. As soon as the winter and summer vacations arrived, he went to work as a shop apprentice, a road builder, an umbrella worker and a tutor. Living a life of work-study program ... The reason why he gained profound knowledge and later wrote a lot of popular science works was mostly due to hard self-study. "Father is not' perfect'. Although he is comfortable in the world of popular science creation, he is not smart in real interpersonal relationships and lacks smooth adaptability, which makes him miss many good things such as joining the party and promotion. "
Mr. zhou wenbin, who has been in contact with Liu Houyi for many years, highly praised his old friend for his "indifference to fame and fortune" and "an indisputable detachment", but at the same time he bluntly pointed out: "I think the other side of these advantages is his weakness, that is, he dare not compromise, dare not strive for perfection, and dare not do his duty. After decades of scientific research, I was a periodical editor and editor-in-chief of Fossil. I wrote dozens of books with more than 2 million words, but I was an assistant editor until I retired. At this point, I feel unfair, and so do his other friends, but Liu Houyi endured it himself. I deeply regret this. "
In zhou wenbin's view, there is a bigger regret behind this regret, that is, the creation of popular science is despised. In the scientific and technological circles, although some people don't know where to start writing popular science works, let alone the hardships of popular science creation, they show arrogance of dismissing popular science writers. They regard the creation of popular science as "pediatrics" and know little about the significance of popular science, but they are self-reliant and self-righteous. This is the sorrow of our popular science cause! "I really hope that there will be more' deputy editors' like Liu Houyi in our science community, and I really hope that there will be no more' deputy editors' like Liu Houyi in our science community."
Garden gardener
"You wrote such a bestseller. If we have one, you can eat it for a lifetime. " In the mid-1980s, a visiting foreign friend once said this to Liu Houyi. When he got home, he told his daughter about it with a wry smile, but he didn't say how to answer. Does he really care about his loss?
The daughter said that in his long-term spare time, his father spent a lot of energy on popular science creation, but the remuneration was not much, even "disproportionate". Nevertheless, he often gives books to teenagers who are eager for knowledge, and also helps eight "Project Hope" pupils to carry schoolbags to school, and all the remuneration for reprinting books such as Calculation Kuai is donated to the large-scale series "Hope Stack" edited and published by China Youth Foundation.
He is actually an open-minded person. In his mind, things outside are far less important than his favorite popular science creation. Therefore, in the face of all kinds of unfair treatment and even difficulties, he can accept it calmly, instead of haggling and suffering. He once wrote: "Some people are willing to wander around in poverty and get' 100%', but they don't like others to write for their children in their spare time ... Some people think that you write some popular science works just to be famous and to get the manuscript fee. Even spread rumors and slander, and crack down on framing. In my opinion, it is also my proper thing to go to normal school, study pedagogy and write for my children, so that they can become the pillars of the country and the successors of capitalism. As a national cadre and a gardener outside the park, why not? What's wrong? "
In this article entitled "Gardener Outside the Garden", he also joked that his office that burned the midnight oil was his "Peach Blossom Garden". There is also a cheerful tone between the lines: "Calculate Fast" was published, and many primary school students came to the bookstore to buy this book. In the park, some children are absorbed in reading this book. I began to feel a kind of happiness I had never felt before, because although I left my post as a teacher, I could still serve the children. Not a gardener, but also a gardener. Is it the gardener outside the garden? I asked myself this question. "At that time, it was after learning that some children were struggling with arithmetic that he decided to write a book on learning fast arithmetic to arouse children's interest in arithmetic. This has nothing to do with his biology major.
His character is really respectable, that is, "Xiu De, a gentleman, does not change his teaching for embarrassment." He said to his daughter: We paleontologists should be broad-minded and open-minded, because the universe is infinite and a person's life is too small. Why worry about your heart, everything, but what you can't do! (To this effect. )
Once upon a time, there was an argument in society that talents were "hidden" and "obvious". The contribution of "potential talents" to society is far greater than the return from society, while "outstanding talents" are just the opposite. All objective and fair people will admit that Liu Houyi's title of "potential talent" is well deserved!
In February 2003, 65438+, when the seventh anniversary of Mr. Liu Houyi was approaching, China Children's Publishing House published the latest edition of Calculate Fast, with the first printing of 15000 copies. Less than half a year later, when I was writing this article, I was glad to hear that the new edition of Quick Calculation was selling well, with 1 1000 copies printed. ...
Mr. Hou Yi, I don't think you have anything to regret!
Simplicity is perfection/galaxy.
Not long ago, Xue Xiaozhe, editor of China Children's Publishing House, sent me a new edition of Calculation Fast, which reminded me of the past.
As a science fiction writer, I have always been fascinated by mathematics. In high school, I spent the whole night solving some difficult math problems, and my energy even exceeded the spirit of playing computer games all night now; And when the veil of those questions faded, my joy and excitement were really hard to describe in words. Although I am not a real math major, I have read many professional and semi-professional math books. Whenever I stand in front of the math section of the library, I have an impulse to abandon everything I have and study math again.
Everything has a source, so check my library. Fast Calculation is almost one of the earliest popular mathematics books I read. To be fair, I was too young to say that this book set me on the road of loving mathematics, because when I read it, I probably only learned arithmetic skills; But it did become a key to open the door to mathematics in front of my eyes. I still believe that it has a noticeable influence on my later mathematical complex and amazing memory.
It's natural for young readers to get into the story quickly at first, but while reading the story, those subtle quick calculation methods are subtly injected into my mind: in The Salesman's Story, I know that you can selectively add some numbers to the addition formula first. In the story of Gauss, I learned for the first time that the hero who increased from 1 to 100 turned out to be this mathematician (this is probably the first foreign mathematician I know). In the story of processing boards, I understand that the design should be strictly followed before construction. In the story of the ancients calculating the multiplication of two digits, I was surprised to witness the Arab's "brocade" and the Indian's "cross multiplication" ... but there are also many things that are unclear, unclear and inaccurate, so I read, learn and calculate ... It is reasonable to say that children often contradict the exercises attached to the text when reading, but because the book is fascinating, I actually follow the characters in the book step by step.
The significance of quick calculation seems to have no more function in the information age. We have many computing machines and memory machines, and we take care of our brains with various devices. My fast computing ability and exquisite memory ability can only be tied with those battery-powered devices ... Someone once told me that technological progress often makes some skills that originally belonged to people lose or even become useless-this sentence left a deep impression on me. At present, my quick calculation ability is not bad. It seems that most of them are used to quickly check right and wrong when checking out in the store or paying in the restaurant, although I often surprise my friends at this point. Here, I don't want to assume that I am trapped in the mountains, far from civilization, and I don't have a calculator at hand and need to get some data urgently ... This assumption is meaningless, because this is an unconventional situation in our life after all.