Qian Sanqiang (; October 16, 1913 – June 28, 1992), also known as Tsien San-Tsiang, was a Chinese

nuclear physicist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

and among the leading scientists of the Two Bombs, One Satellite program. Due to his central role in the development of China's nuclear industry and nuclear weapons program, he is referred to as the "father of China's atomic bomb". Coincidentally, China's first atomic bomb test was conducted on Qian's 51st birthday.

Biography

1936 Graduation Class in Physics at Tsinghua University

A native of

Huzhou Huzhou (, ; Huzhounese: ''ghou² cieu¹'') is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province (Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou Plain, China). Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzhou to the south, and the provin ...

Zhejiang Province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, Qian was born in

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitant ...

, the son of the scholar

Qian Xuantong Qian Xuantong (1887—January 17, 1939) was a Chinese linguist and writer. He was a professor of literature at National Peking University, and along with Gu Jiegang, one of the leaders of the Doubting Antiquity School. Biography Born in Huzhou ...

. Qian attended

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...

and

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

, graduating in 1936 in the same class as his future wife He Zehui. Qian went to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1937. He studied in the

Collège de Sorbonne The College of Sorbonne (french: Collège de Sorbonne) was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1253 (confirmed in 1257) by Robert de Sorbon (1201–1274), after whom it was named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, ...

and

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

, doing research under

Frédéric Joliot-Curie Jean Frédéric Joliot-Curie (; ; 19 March 1900 – 14 August 1958) was a French physicist and husband of Irène Joliot-Curie, with whom he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of Induced radioactivity. T ...

and

Irène Joliot-Curie Irène Joliot-Curie (; ; 12 September 1897 – 17 March 1956) was a French chemist, physicist and politician, the elder daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie, and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Jointly with her husband, Joliot-Curie was awar ...

. He obtained the French doctorate in 1940. Qian returned to China in 1948 with his wife, the nuclear physicist He Zehui, where he took up a professorship at the Tsinghua University and in 1950 founded the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), today known as the

China Institute of Atomic Energy The China Institute of Atomic Energy or CIAE (), formerly the Institute of Atomic Energy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the main research institute of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). Founded in 1950, it conducts research in th ...

. In 1954 he joined the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Ci ...

. He served successively as Director of the Institute of Modern Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vice-Minister of the No. 2 Ministry of the Machine-building Industry, Vice-President of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

and honorary Chairman of the

China Association for Science and Technology The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST; ) is a mass organization of Chinese scientists and engineers, which is composed of multiple national professional societies and hundreds of branches at various local and international level ...

. Qian made outstanding contributions to the establishment of nuclear science in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

and to the development of the PRC's atomic and hydrogen bombs. During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

, Qian was deported to the countryside for "socialist re-education," due to suspicion aroused by his participation in the Nationalist Government's delegation to a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

conference in 1946. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, Qian was appointed to become a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was also permitted to resume his work in the atomic energy industry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qian, Sanqiang 1913 births 1992 deaths Chinese nuclear physicists Educators from Shaoxing Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Physicists from Zhejiang Presidents of Zhejiang University Scientists from Shaoxing Tsinghua University alumni University of Paris alumni