In Nankai, Mr. Chen Shengshen made his first choice, majoring in mathematics. On the one hand, it is because his math ability has always been good, and on the other hand, he was at a loss when he blew the glass tube in the first chemistry experiment class, and the teaching assistant was famous in a strict sense, nicknamed "Zhao Tiger". From then on, he was full of fear of physics and chemistry. It seems that he "must be a trump card" in every math exam, and he is prepared for math.
Chen Shengshen 19 was admitted to Tsinghua University to study for a master's degree. When he was in Tsinghua, Chen Shengshen was full of yearning for differential geometry, but he didn't get started. "At that time, I looked at a beautiful mountain in the distance and didn't know how to climb it."
Chen Shengshen listened to W. blaschke, a mathematician from Hamburg University, and decided to study in Hamburg. At that time, the United States returned the balance of Yu Zi's compensation, and the students funded by this money were going to study in the United States. At that time, many international students were generally willing to go to the United States, but Chen Shengshen thought that studying mathematics must go to Germany. This is his active choice again. With his persistence and the help of his predecessors, he finally got his wish.
The choice of the road to Hamburg gave him the privilege of getting in touch with the thoughts and academics of the greatest mathematicians in the world, such as blaschke, E. Keller and E. Cartwright.
At the beginning of the seminar on Tang Jia-Keller Theorem in Hamburg University, almost everyone came, but because it was difficult to understand, only Chen Sheng was left behind, and later he realized the charm of Tang Jia.
1936, after the expiration of public expenses, Chen Sheng received an employment contract from Tsinghua, but he decided to go to Paris to work with Mr. Gadang for one year. "This is indeed a decisive year for my research and development in mathematics."
A decisive year
After the outbreak of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Chen Sheng returned to China on 1937. War will affect and change the fate of almost everyone, but it does not affect Chen Shengshen's mathematical direction.
Chen Shengshen moved south with the National Southwest Associated University. "There is nothing on the equipment ledger, the conditions are poor, and there is no house. I remember I was in a room with Mr. Hua and Mr. Wang Xinzhong. I don't even want to open the books in the box because of the small space. But even in such an environment, achievements can be achieved. "
Two articles written by Chen Shengshen under the kerosene lamp in Kunming were published in the Journal of Mathematics jointly published by Princeton University and the Institute of Advanced Studies. Mathematicians H. Weil and A. Ye Wei think that Chen Shengshen's research work has reached "excellent mathematical level". So Chen Sheng is strongly encouraged to come to Princeton. They think that Chen Shengshen is "by far the most promising mathematician in China".
Although the United States was involved in the war, Princeton was blessed by it. Persecuted scientists such as Einstein, von Neumann and E. Nott joined in, making Princeton replace Europe and become the center of mathematics in the world.
Chen Shengshen decided to go from Kunming to Princeton in the United States. At that time, there was a great war all over the world. The way to go to America is to fly from Kunming to India and then take a boat across the Atlantic Ocean. But "considering the activity of German submarines, this road is naturally quite dangerous, but I am determined to go to the United States regardless of all difficulties." This time, Chen Shengshen couldn't even go back to Shanghai to say goodbye to his wife and children. Chen Shengshen chose to take the military plane of the American Flying Tigers and take the western route to the United States. Even taking a military plane is a very difficult journey. Every time a military plane goes to the air base, passengers have to stay in the house of the base.
Then read the notice with a note, have your own name, and continue to fly for a while. In this way, it reached the United States through India, Central Africa, the South Atlantic and Brazil. It took a week before and after, and Chen Shengshen finally arrived in the United States.
1943 is undoubtedly a blockbuster year for Bobby Chen. This year, 32-year-old Chen Shengshen completed the simple proof of Gauss-bonet formula at Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies. This paper is regarded as an epoch-making paper in the history of mathematics and the most important mathematical work in Chen Shengshen's life. Therefore, he was later honored as "the father of differential geometry" by the international mathematics community.
I was inspired by two Chinese idioms, namely, the spirit of' growing day by day' and the pursuit of reaching the peak. "Said Chen Shengshen.
The World of Silence
Chen Shengshen wrote a story in an article: once he and his wife visited the Luohan Pagoda, and when they looked at it, they suddenly felt, "No matter how good your math is, you can only be a Luohan. Everyone knows the name of the Bodhisattva, but no one knows who that person is. So don't take fame and fortune too seriously. " He thinks that the bodhisattva of mathematics is riemann sum Poincare. Riemann has continuously opened up the space of mathematics, and Poincare has expanded the plane and space of mathematics to N dimensions, because with these two, the work of others can only be "arhat".
Fame and fortune have never been Chen Shengshen's pursuit. "I have no ambition to study mathematics. I just want to know math. If a person's purpose is fame and fortune, mathematics is not a shortcut. " Chen Shengshen said that he never catches up with the latest fashions or catches hot spots. He doesn't like the story of mathematician Nash told in the Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind. He said he was familiar with Nash, but he was completely different from Nash. "He is a freak. He is good at math, but he always has to do difficult problems. He wants to be famous for doing difficult problems and finally makes a mess."
"It is a blessing not to have the Nobel Prize in Mathematics." Chen Shengshen said that there are many simple and difficult problems in mathematics. These problems make people forget to eat and sleep for years or years. Once they find the light, their happiness is indescribable. "This is a quiet world, there is no grand prize, and it is also an equal world."
From 65438 to 0984, Chen Shengshen became the director of the Institute of Mathematics of Nankai University. In his letter to Hu Guohua, vice president of Nankai University, he described the mathematics hall in his heart as follows: there is a room where people can sit up and discuss at will; The three walls of the research room should be high-quality blackboards on which people can calculate at will; There should be a library.
"Establish a base in China to cultivate first-class mathematics talents. That base needs first-class equipment and friendly air. Make people work and feel happy. "
The beauty of mathematics
Chen Shengshen said that he can only do one thing in his life, and that is mathematics. There are not many wonderful events in the world, and mathematics is one of them.
When Bobby Chen was 92 years old, he made some calendars at his own expense to popularize mathematics knowledge. The name of this calendar is "the beauty of mathematics".
1975, Yang Zhenning, a Nobel Prize winner in physics, was "very shocked" when he read Chen Shengshen-Ye Wei theorem. Besides, there is more. "There is a deeper place that touches the depths of the soul: at last, I suddenly realized that the objective mystery of the universe is completely consistent with the mathematical concept developed purely from the values of beauty, which is really creepy. This feeling is probably the same as the highest religious feeling. "
To Yang Zhenning's surprise, he and Chen Shengshen have studied in different fields for more than 20 years, and finally "the world is unified". Yang immediately drove to Chen's apartment. "We talked for a long time about friends, relatives and China" and asked him a question that puzzled him: Why do mathematicians dream about these concepts out of thin air?
Chen Shengshen replied: "No,no.. These concepts are not dreams, they are natural and real. "
His math and life are inseparable. "Someone asked me how many hours do I work every day? I can't tell, I've been thinking. "
Perhaps because he deeply realized the beauty of mathematics, Chen Shengshen had a nearly perfect life. From his twenties to his death at the age of 93, his brain worked as a machine for mathematics for more than 70 years.