That Cui Qi received the 1998 Nobel Prize did not come as a surprise to physicists, but I was still elated by the news. I am sure this is exactly how ethnic Chinese all over the world feel.
In 1982, Cui Qi and two other colleagues discovered FQHE, an unexpected and major discovery in quantum physics. Our understanding of the quantum effect of electric current in a magnetic field has been pushed to new frontiers. Thus, for a long time, physicists have been expecting Cui Qi to bag the Nobel Prize.
Cui Qi had studied in Hong Kong's Pui Ching Middle School. Pui Ching produced many talented people in the Fifties and the Sixties. Just how a secondary school could achieve such a success despite dire economic circumstances is a good question for us to ponder over. There were many reasons for this, but I believe an important factor was the explicit and implicit oppression of the Hong Kong people by British colonial policies, which angered the parents who, in turn, sent their children to the Chinese schools. Therefore, the best Chinese schools then had the cream of the crop among Hong Kong's secondary school students.
With Steven Chu and Cui Qi receiving the Nobel Prize in the last two years, there has been much discussion in the newspapers and magazines on why there hasn't been any prize-winning work done on Chinese soil. This is an important issue to be discussed, but in discussing this issue, we must not be emotional or rake up any other irrelevant points. We must deal with this issue on its own merits and take the long historical view in our discussions.
1. Scientific research requires tradition, experiment and economic foundations. Such prerequisites were absent on Chinese soil before the Fifties. This is a historical fact of the past 500 years.
2. Most people view China's development in science and technology as a failure. This view is entirely wrong. In the beginning of this century, China can be considered as having no knowledge of modern science and technology at all. It was literally “starting from scratch”。 By the Sixties, it has detonated two nuclear devices and sent a satellite to space. The speed of the development was nothing short of a miracle. Historically, only Japan since the 1868 Meiji Reformation could match this pace of modernisation.
3. In the basic sciences, Chinese scientists succeeded in synthesising insulin between 1958 and 1964. This is a world pioneering effort that fully deserved a Nobel Prize. However, China then was isolated from the rest of the world, thus it did not receive the Nobel Prize for this feat. In truth, this feat not only led the world academically, but in the history of academic development, it was also a real miracle. The scientists began with extreme difficulties, having to import even the amino acids for their work. Thus, their success had really “started from scratch”。 Such a speedy breakthrough is rare in the history of science.
4. Recently, many people have posed another question：Why aren't there any Chinese Nobel Prize Laureates in biology or medicine？ I am of the view that this is only a matter of time. I believe that there will be a Chinese Nobel Prize winner in biology and medicine within the next decade.
Modern biology and medicine are vast fields of knowledge with many avenues to explore. It is not easy to break into these fields. In the Fifties, the world saw many contributions made by ethnic Chinese in mathematics, physics and engineering, whereas Chinese names were seldom seen in biological and medical journals in the West. But this situation has changed since the Eighties. Ethnic Chinese have forged ahead to the forefront of world biological and medical research. I believe that Prof Y W Kan, Prof L C Hsu, Prof David Ho and other biological and medical researchers have been nominated to the Nobel Prize Committee many times. In the near future, I believe we would be elated by the news of an ethnic Chinese scientist being awarded a biology or medical Nobel Prize.
5. Back to the aforementioned question： Why hasn't there been any prize-winning work done on Chinese soil？ I am of the view that this is also a matter of time. Development in the basic sciences is extremely rapid, but to catch up with and surpass the world-class research institutes is a difficult task. However, from the history of the development of modern science on Chinese soil in the 20th Century, we can see that this development has been achieved in a very short period of time. With such rapid pace of development, I believe that there will be a Nobel Prize-winning work on Chinese soil within the next 20 years. I hope I will live to see that day.
（The writer is a world-renowned Nobel Prize Laureate）
（ Translated by Wee Kek Koon ）
中國人何時(shí)能榮獲諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)？
崔琦獲得1998年諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的消息,雖然不出乎物理學(xué)界的意料,仍然給我?guī)砹藰O大的歡欣。我相信這是所有華裔人士的共同感受。
1982年崔琦和兩合作者發(fā)現(xiàn)了FQHE,這是近年來量子物理學(xué)中完全出乎意料的重大發(fā)現(xiàn),將電流在磁場中的量子現(xiàn)象引入了新的領(lǐng)域。因此對物理學(xué)界來說,崔琦會(huì)得諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)早已是意料中事。
崔琦是香港培正中學(xué)畢業(yè)的。培正在1950、1960年代培養(yǎng)了極多人才。為什么一所中學(xué)在那樣困苦的經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境中能那樣成功,是值得我們深思的。這里面原因很多,但是我想一個(gè)重要原因是當(dāng)時(shí)英國殖民政策有形無形地壓迫港人,激起家長們的憤恨,紛紛將子女送入華文學(xué)校,所以的幾所華文中學(xué)擁有當(dāng)時(shí)的香港中學(xué)生。
這兩年朱棣文與崔琦連獲諾貝爾獎(jiǎng),引起報(bào)章雜志上許多討論：為什么還沒有能獲獎(jiǎng)的作業(yè)在中國人的土地上出現(xiàn)？這是很值得討論的問題,是一個(gè)重要的問題。可是討論時(shí)不能意氣用事,不能扯進(jìn)其他問題,要就事論事,要從長遠(yuǎn)歷史觀點(diǎn)來討論：
一、科學(xué)研究要有傳統(tǒng),要有實(shí)驗(yàn),要有經(jīng)濟(jì)基礎(chǔ)。在中國人的土地上,這些條件在1950年代以前都沒有。這是近五百年來歷史所遺留下來的史實(shí)。
二、中國的科技發(fā)展,一般人常以為是不成功的,其實(shí)這是十分錯(cuò)誤的結(jié)論：本世紀(jì)初,中國可以說完全沒有近代科技知識(shí),真正“從零開始”。到了1960年代竟造出“兩彈一星”,這個(gè)發(fā)展速度是真正的奇跡。歷只有日本自1868年明治維新開始的高速現(xiàn)代化可以媲美。
三、講到基礎(chǔ)科學(xué),1958年到1964年間中國科學(xué)家成功合成胰島素,世界,是完全可以得到諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的成就?？墒且?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)中國與世界隔絕,所以此成就未獲獎(jiǎng)。事實(shí)上此成就不只在學(xué)術(shù)上世界,從學(xué)術(shù)發(fā)展歷看也是一個(gè)真正的奇跡；他們開始時(shí)萬分困難,連氣基酸（Amino Acid）都要進(jìn)口,所以他們的成功確實(shí)是“從零開始”,是科學(xué)罕見的快速突破。
四、近年來許多人曾討論的另一個(gè)問題是：為什么在生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)界至今仍然沒有華裔獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸课业目捶ㄊ沁@只是時(shí)間問題。相信十年內(nèi)會(huì)有華裔科學(xué)家獲生物醫(yī)學(xué)獎(jiǎng)。
近代生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)是十分廣泛的學(xué)問,發(fā)展方向極多,一時(shí)不容易打進(jìn)去。1950年代在數(shù)學(xué)、物理學(xué)與工程方面華裔的貢獻(xiàn)已經(jīng)很多了,很受到國際的注意,而在生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)的西方雜志中,華人的名字出現(xiàn)還不太多?？墒?970、1980年代以來,情形已經(jīng)完全不同了,華人已經(jīng)打入世界生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)界的前沿；簡悅盛、徐立之、何大一和好幾位其他生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)研究者,我想已經(jīng)被提名到諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)金委員會(huì)多次了。華裔科學(xué)家獲生物醫(yī)學(xué)諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)應(yīng)該是不久以后會(huì)再度引起我們極大歡欣的新聞。
五、回到剛才所提到的一個(gè)問題：為什么還沒有獲獎(jiǎng)的作業(yè)在中國人的土地上出現(xiàn)？我的看法是：這也只是時(shí)間的問題。基礎(chǔ)科學(xué)前沿發(fā)展極快,要趕上去,而且要超越的研究中心,不是容易的事?？墒强v觀二十世紀(jì)近代科學(xué)在中國人的土地上發(fā)展的歷史,就會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)到這個(gè)發(fā)展非常快速,以此速度趕超,在中國人的土地上發(fā)展出可獲得諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的作業(yè)我想應(yīng)該是20年之內(nèi)的事。希望我能看到這一天。
（作者是國際知名的諾貝爾物理學(xué)獎(jiǎng)得獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?BR> 本文在本報(bào)首次發(fā)表后,將收錄在由新加坡世界科技出版社即將出版的《旁人眼中的 崔琦——諾貝爾獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)叩墓适隆芬粫铩?BR>
In 1982, Cui Qi and two other colleagues discovered FQHE, an unexpected and major discovery in quantum physics. Our understanding of the quantum effect of electric current in a magnetic field has been pushed to new frontiers. Thus, for a long time, physicists have been expecting Cui Qi to bag the Nobel Prize.
Cui Qi had studied in Hong Kong's Pui Ching Middle School. Pui Ching produced many talented people in the Fifties and the Sixties. Just how a secondary school could achieve such a success despite dire economic circumstances is a good question for us to ponder over. There were many reasons for this, but I believe an important factor was the explicit and implicit oppression of the Hong Kong people by British colonial policies, which angered the parents who, in turn, sent their children to the Chinese schools. Therefore, the best Chinese schools then had the cream of the crop among Hong Kong's secondary school students.
With Steven Chu and Cui Qi receiving the Nobel Prize in the last two years, there has been much discussion in the newspapers and magazines on why there hasn't been any prize-winning work done on Chinese soil. This is an important issue to be discussed, but in discussing this issue, we must not be emotional or rake up any other irrelevant points. We must deal with this issue on its own merits and take the long historical view in our discussions.
1. Scientific research requires tradition, experiment and economic foundations. Such prerequisites were absent on Chinese soil before the Fifties. This is a historical fact of the past 500 years.
2. Most people view China's development in science and technology as a failure. This view is entirely wrong. In the beginning of this century, China can be considered as having no knowledge of modern science and technology at all. It was literally “starting from scratch”。 By the Sixties, it has detonated two nuclear devices and sent a satellite to space. The speed of the development was nothing short of a miracle. Historically, only Japan since the 1868 Meiji Reformation could match this pace of modernisation.
3. In the basic sciences, Chinese scientists succeeded in synthesising insulin between 1958 and 1964. This is a world pioneering effort that fully deserved a Nobel Prize. However, China then was isolated from the rest of the world, thus it did not receive the Nobel Prize for this feat. In truth, this feat not only led the world academically, but in the history of academic development, it was also a real miracle. The scientists began with extreme difficulties, having to import even the amino acids for their work. Thus, their success had really “started from scratch”。 Such a speedy breakthrough is rare in the history of science.
4. Recently, many people have posed another question：Why aren't there any Chinese Nobel Prize Laureates in biology or medicine？ I am of the view that this is only a matter of time. I believe that there will be a Chinese Nobel Prize winner in biology and medicine within the next decade.
Modern biology and medicine are vast fields of knowledge with many avenues to explore. It is not easy to break into these fields. In the Fifties, the world saw many contributions made by ethnic Chinese in mathematics, physics and engineering, whereas Chinese names were seldom seen in biological and medical journals in the West. But this situation has changed since the Eighties. Ethnic Chinese have forged ahead to the forefront of world biological and medical research. I believe that Prof Y W Kan, Prof L C Hsu, Prof David Ho and other biological and medical researchers have been nominated to the Nobel Prize Committee many times. In the near future, I believe we would be elated by the news of an ethnic Chinese scientist being awarded a biology or medical Nobel Prize.
5. Back to the aforementioned question： Why hasn't there been any prize-winning work done on Chinese soil？ I am of the view that this is also a matter of time. Development in the basic sciences is extremely rapid, but to catch up with and surpass the world-class research institutes is a difficult task. However, from the history of the development of modern science on Chinese soil in the 20th Century, we can see that this development has been achieved in a very short period of time. With such rapid pace of development, I believe that there will be a Nobel Prize-winning work on Chinese soil within the next 20 years. I hope I will live to see that day.
（The writer is a world-renowned Nobel Prize Laureate）
（ Translated by Wee Kek Koon ）
中國人何時(shí)能榮獲諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)？
崔琦獲得1998年諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的消息,雖然不出乎物理學(xué)界的意料,仍然給我?guī)砹藰O大的歡欣。我相信這是所有華裔人士的共同感受。
1982年崔琦和兩合作者發(fā)現(xiàn)了FQHE,這是近年來量子物理學(xué)中完全出乎意料的重大發(fā)現(xiàn),將電流在磁場中的量子現(xiàn)象引入了新的領(lǐng)域。因此對物理學(xué)界來說,崔琦會(huì)得諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)早已是意料中事。
崔琦是香港培正中學(xué)畢業(yè)的。培正在1950、1960年代培養(yǎng)了極多人才。為什么一所中學(xué)在那樣困苦的經(jīng)濟(jì)環(huán)境中能那樣成功,是值得我們深思的。這里面原因很多,但是我想一個(gè)重要原因是當(dāng)時(shí)英國殖民政策有形無形地壓迫港人,激起家長們的憤恨,紛紛將子女送入華文學(xué)校,所以的幾所華文中學(xué)擁有當(dāng)時(shí)的香港中學(xué)生。
這兩年朱棣文與崔琦連獲諾貝爾獎(jiǎng),引起報(bào)章雜志上許多討論：為什么還沒有能獲獎(jiǎng)的作業(yè)在中國人的土地上出現(xiàn)？這是很值得討論的問題,是一個(gè)重要的問題。可是討論時(shí)不能意氣用事,不能扯進(jìn)其他問題,要就事論事,要從長遠(yuǎn)歷史觀點(diǎn)來討論：
一、科學(xué)研究要有傳統(tǒng),要有實(shí)驗(yàn),要有經(jīng)濟(jì)基礎(chǔ)。在中國人的土地上,這些條件在1950年代以前都沒有。這是近五百年來歷史所遺留下來的史實(shí)。
二、中國的科技發(fā)展,一般人常以為是不成功的,其實(shí)這是十分錯(cuò)誤的結(jié)論：本世紀(jì)初,中國可以說完全沒有近代科技知識(shí),真正“從零開始”。到了1960年代竟造出“兩彈一星”,這個(gè)發(fā)展速度是真正的奇跡。歷只有日本自1868年明治維新開始的高速現(xiàn)代化可以媲美。
三、講到基礎(chǔ)科學(xué),1958年到1964年間中國科學(xué)家成功合成胰島素,世界,是完全可以得到諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的成就?？墒且?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)中國與世界隔絕,所以此成就未獲獎(jiǎng)。事實(shí)上此成就不只在學(xué)術(shù)上世界,從學(xué)術(shù)發(fā)展歷看也是一個(gè)真正的奇跡；他們開始時(shí)萬分困難,連氣基酸（Amino Acid）都要進(jìn)口,所以他們的成功確實(shí)是“從零開始”,是科學(xué)罕見的快速突破。
四、近年來許多人曾討論的另一個(gè)問題是：為什么在生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)界至今仍然沒有華裔獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸课业目捶ㄊ沁@只是時(shí)間問題。相信十年內(nèi)會(huì)有華裔科學(xué)家獲生物醫(yī)學(xué)獎(jiǎng)。
近代生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)是十分廣泛的學(xué)問,發(fā)展方向極多,一時(shí)不容易打進(jìn)去。1950年代在數(shù)學(xué)、物理學(xué)與工程方面華裔的貢獻(xiàn)已經(jīng)很多了,很受到國際的注意,而在生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)的西方雜志中,華人的名字出現(xiàn)還不太多?？墒?970、1980年代以來,情形已經(jīng)完全不同了,華人已經(jīng)打入世界生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)界的前沿；簡悅盛、徐立之、何大一和好幾位其他生物學(xué)與醫(yī)學(xué)研究者,我想已經(jīng)被提名到諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)金委員會(huì)多次了。華裔科學(xué)家獲生物醫(yī)學(xué)諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)應(yīng)該是不久以后會(huì)再度引起我們極大歡欣的新聞。
五、回到剛才所提到的一個(gè)問題：為什么還沒有獲獎(jiǎng)的作業(yè)在中國人的土地上出現(xiàn)？我的看法是：這也只是時(shí)間的問題。基礎(chǔ)科學(xué)前沿發(fā)展極快,要趕上去,而且要超越的研究中心,不是容易的事?？墒强v觀二十世紀(jì)近代科學(xué)在中國人的土地上發(fā)展的歷史,就會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)到這個(gè)發(fā)展非常快速,以此速度趕超,在中國人的土地上發(fā)展出可獲得諾貝爾獎(jiǎng)的作業(yè)我想應(yīng)該是20年之內(nèi)的事。希望我能看到這一天。
（作者是國際知名的諾貝爾物理學(xué)獎(jiǎng)得獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?BR> 本文在本報(bào)首次發(fā)表后,將收錄在由新加坡世界科技出版社即將出版的《旁人眼中的 崔琦——諾貝爾獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)叩墓适隆芬粫铩?BR>