Wang Zeshan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and expert on explosives
Blindly relying on tracking and imitating foreign theories and achievements will inevitably lag behind, especially in some key fields, and we must not allow ourselves to seize the commanding heights
Each student has their own unique personality and endowment, and to build a good teacher-student relationship, the teacher should be academically taught, respected personally, and spiritually inspired
The need for the country has always been what motivates me to keep moving forward. I often encourage young scientists to combine the values and career directions they pursue with the needs of the progress of the country and the nation, and aim at the needs of the country, the nation and society to find real problems and do valuable research
"Lookout" Newsweek reporter Ling Junhui and Wang Juejun
Gunpowder is one of the "Four Great Inventions" of ancient China. Why has this technology, which has long been a source of pride for the mainland, failed to keep up with the pace of modern science and the industrial revolution? -- The "difficult problem" raised by Joseph Needham, the answer to which Chinese scientists spent their whole lives struggling.
"If you want not to fall behind, you must have your own ideas and take the road of independent and self-reliant research and development." After winning the 2017 National Science and Technology Award, 89-year-old explosives academician Wang Zeshan still maintains an average of nearly half of the annual business trip record, eating and living in remote shooting ranges, and constantly attacking new technical problems.
In the eyes of outsiders, Wang Zeshan, known as the "King of Chinese Explosives", was full of tension in his life: he had excellent grades when he was young, but he chose a thankless and unpopular gunpowder major; Retirement honors came one after another, and in the second half of his life, he continued to exert his efforts, and as the first person to complete it, he won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Award three times; Scientific research and teaching are done by themselves, and they only seek to concentrate on doing things and reduce all distractions.
Recently, "Lookout" Newsweek talked to this legendary academician who revived the glory of ancient Chinese explosives in modern times, talked with him about his lifelong scientific research path, and discussed the inspiration of old scientists' choice and perseverance to young scientific research workers.
Study the true essence and delve into the real problem
Lookout: Why did you choose the "unpopular" major of fire explosives? What is the level of Chinese explosives in the world?
Wang Zeshan: I was born in 1935 in Jilin City, Jilin Province. At that time, the three northeastern provinces were not peaceful, and I lived in the shadow of the puppet Manchukuo in my childhood. In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, hundreds of thousands of volunteers won the war with backward equipment and at a huge cost. When I was a child, the deepest belief engraved in my memory was "not to be a slave to the country", and my father often risked his life to quietly tell me to remember that "you are Chinese, and your country is China". In 1954, I did not hesitate to apply for the Military Engineering College of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (Kazakhstan Military Industry), because I always firmly believed that without a strong national defense, it is equivalent to not having my own country, and the cause I am engaged in must meet the needs of the country and the nation!
At that time, the Air Force and Navy were indeed more popular majors, and I was the only student in the class who took the initiative to choose explosives. For so many years, people have been asking me why I chose fire explosives because they are basic, boring, and dangerous. My idea is naïve: fire explosives are the "food" of modern warfare, and weapons and equipment cannot do without it.
During my university studies, it was the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. At that time, the mainland had a weak foundation for explosives, and gradually established its own factories, research institutes, and specialized colleges for explosives. The explosives I learned were mainly Soviet theories and techniques, and I basically accepted them in their entirety. With the development of the explosives industry, research institutes and talent training institutions, we have introduced more countries to fire explosives equipment and technology. Before the reform and opening up, the dominant trend in the production and scientific research and development of fire explosives on the mainland was imitation and follow-up research.
Since the reform and opening up, especially after entering the 90s of the 20th century, on the basis of the accumulation in the early stage, the mainland's equipment research and development personnel have firmly embarked on the road of independent innovation and broken through a series of technical problems that have never been solved in the world before. At present, the variety, quantity, and level of explosives on the mainland have generally entered the international advanced ranks, and new breakthroughs have been made in research and production. It can be confidently said that the mainland has taken the ranks of the world's fire explosives powers.
My choice also shows that as long as you concentrate on it and focus on it, no matter how "unpopular" the major is, it can shine.
Lookout: In the academic field, some experts like to "chase hot spots" and are accustomed to doing follow-up research. What do you think should be done to achieve original innovation and achieve self-reliance in science and technology?
Wang Zeshan: It is very important to swing at will on the road of scientific research and academics. It is necessary to emphasize seeking truth from facts, honestly study the true essence, delve into the real problems, and turn to study what is not hot.
To study the true essence is to insist on innovation. Blindly relying on tracking and imitating foreign theories and achievements will inevitably lag behind, especially in some key fields, and we must not allow ourselves to seize the commanding heights. Our team has put forward many new theories and methods, such as the creation and research of ballistic theories and equipment with high energy utilization, which have greatly improved the performance of weapons. To sum up, it is not to take a detour when encountering problems, to think about one more step in everything, and to insist on taking your own path.
To delve into real problems is to proceed from reality in everything. Some of my important research results are aimed at the most urgent and urgent problems in the industry. The key core technology of "resource utilization of fire explosives" realizes the safe reuse of waste fire explosives. The "low-temperature sensitivity firing charge technology" enables the mainland's main battle weapons to operate in all areas around the clock. The "technology of launching charges from long-range and other modules" has enabled the ballistic performance of the continental artillery to comprehensively surpass similar weapons in the world. It is necessary to have the spirit of seeking truth from facts, perseverance, and seeking solutions to the most difficult and deepest problems, so as to make real results.
Inheritance of knowledge, independence of personality, and spiritual inspiration
Lookout: In addition to scientific research, many of your students have also become leaders in the field of explosives. How do you teach and educate people?
Wang Zeshan: In my life, there are two identities that I recognize the most: one is a researcher and the other is a people's teacher. As soon as I graduated from Kazakhstan's military industry, I stayed in school as a teacher of explosives, and since then I have been focusing on both scientific research and teaching.
From the perspective of the needs of major national and discipline projects, breakthroughs are made by the collective, and no country or work can succeed alone. This requires me to do a good job of preaching and teaching, teaching and passing on the knowledge I have learned, the experience and results of research. I have been engaged in teaching for decades, and I have trained hundreds of undergraduates, masters, and doctors. Many of them have already played key roles in important positions, and I am happy from the bottom of my heart, even more excited than I am to achieve results myself.
For myself, teaching is also a window for me to constantly get in touch with new people and new things, and students are the source of new knowledge and inspiration. Ever since I was young, I was a person who loved to study and figure out new things. Ballistics research used to be all by hand, but since the 60s of the last century, I began to delve into programming, using computers to convert complex functional relationships into simple models and diagrams, so as to establish the theory of gunpowder charge design. The communication and contact with groups of students allowed me to learn to operate various digital products, do PPT and experiment demonstration animations, and develop design models and simulation design software. Research gives me a sense of accomplishment in research, and students give me the joy of sharing and learning.
Lookout: As a veteran teacher, how do you think we should establish a teacher-student relationship that is mutually beneficial and interactive in teaching?
Wang Zeshan: Each student has their own unique personality and endowment, and to build a good teacher-student relationship, the teacher should teach academically, respect the personality, and inspire spiritually.
I am very strict with my students when it comes to imparting knowledge. There was a student who was experimenting at the Tohoku shooting range in the winter, and I planned to test two or three data to complete it, but I asked to expand the data to dozens of data, which increased the workload tenfold. At the shooting range in winter, the high-speed cameras were so cold that they couldn't be turned on, so I stood in the field with the students until the experiment was completed. If you choose scientific research, you have to endure this hardship, and academic norms must not be sloppy.
In terms of personality, students are not subordinates, and everyone's achievements and ideas should be respected. Over the years, people have been accustomed to thinking that the results of the projects I lead are mine, but this is not the case. There are some technologies and inventions, I ask questions, but in the end the answer is my students, so the results belong to my students, and in the end they are recorded in their names. I am very willing to do some cooperation work behind young people, and I can't take everything because I am famous and affect the development of young people.
Ideologically, I try my best to do a good job and give students a good influence and example. I don't like "VIP treatment" and don't like to eat and socialize with people, so I take myself as an example and want to tell students not to worry about everything and not to waste too much energy on irrelevant matters.
Academician Wang Zeshan does experiments with students in the school laboratory (file photo) Courtesy of Nanjing University of Science and Technology
Dedicating one's life to the country and the nation is a greater happiness
"Lookout": At the age of 58, you won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Award for the first time, how did you make repeated efforts after retirement and become the "triple crown" of three first prizes?
Wang Zeshan: Every important scientific breakthrough and discovery needs to go through countless painstaking research and verification. I have been engaged in explosives research for more than 60 years, and my honorable achievements are concentrated in the last 30 years, but in the first 30 years, our entire research team has studied the theory and innovative research methods of explosives science, and has done a lot of basic work.
First, success requires perseverance. Many of my achievements have a long time span. From 1996 to 2016, I won the first prize of the National Technological Invention Award twice, and after 20 years in between, I have been doing scientific research. According to the calculation of retirement at the age of 60, I have worked for nearly 30 years more than today, which is equivalent to working for most of my life and an academic career more than others. Only by persevering in the work can we have the opportunity to achieve results.
Second, dare to focus. I rarely get involved in anything other than academics, and I give up all the "chores". Even eating, walking, and sleeping, I am often thinking about the scientific research problems at hand. Once, when the younger members complained about the stress and couldn't sleep, I said, "It's great if you want me to talk about that, and I have a lot of time to think," which made everyone laugh. Once you have chosen a direction, you must continue to study without wavering.
"Lookout": After more than 60 years of insisting on studying explosives, how did you do one thing without distraction?
Wang Zeshan: "Focus on doing one thing all your life", which has a strong personal factor. I'm a stubborn person, I don't know how to coordinate, and I can't do many other things. My colleagues all comment on me, and I rarely have hobbies; Some familiar members of the research group also joked with me that I was too engrossed in thinking about problems, and I often went in the front door when I went to do errands, and then went out through the back door before I could finish anything.
I don't have any requirements for life, I feel good when I squat at the shooting range and eat a boxed lunch, and it's okay to be busy for a while without eating or sleeping. My life has become inseparable from research, and once I withdraw from research, it is like losing my focus. My experience is not a standard answer, but doing scientific research does require a bit of "stupidity" and "stupidity", and you must always work honestly and steadfastly, thinking less about other things and caring about others.
Lookout: The current scientific research environment has undergone great changes, how should the younger generation of scientific researchers follow their own path?
Wang Zeshan: Scholars of different eras have different growth environments and different contact with things, and my scientific research experience cannot be directly copied and copied to young people today. However, the spirit and energy of fighting for one thing are the same, no matter how the times change.
National rejuvenation is everyone's responsibility. It is important for young scholars to find a career field that they are willing to devote themselves to and strive for for a long time. Personally, since I was in my twenties, I've been thinking, what does the country need? What can I do? No matter how difficult and difficult the road of research is, the needs of the country have always been the driving force that motivates me to keep moving forward. I often encourage young scientists to combine the values and career directions they pursue with the needs of the progress of the country and the nation, and aim at the needs of the country, the nation and society to find real problems and do valuable research.
The road of scientific research may be very difficult, and it is inevitable to sit on a cold bench, so we must have full preparation and expectation for this process, so as to have a firm heart and not be defeated by difficulties. The process is arduous, but dedicating a lifetime to the country and the nation is a greater happiness, which can guide us through all difficulties, down-to-earth, step by step. ■