Exhibition on life of Chinese nuclear pioneer
An exhibition on nuclear physicist Zhu Guangya at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.
Items used by Zhu are on display.
An exhibition paying tribute to renowned nuclear physicist Zhu Guangya has opened at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.
Zhu (1924-2011) was one of the leading scientists engaged in developing China’s first atomic and hydrogen bombs in the 1960s. He also helped found the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
The exhibition, open until December 30, introduces his personal life, including his childhood in Hubei Province and overseas study experience in the US. It displays his textbooks, academic papers and other personal belongings, many of which are being shown to the public for the first time.
Precious artifacts include his letters with Lee Tsung-Dao, the Chinese-American physicist and Nobel Prize winner. They, together with renowned physicist and Nobel winner Yang Zhenning, spent time together when studying nuclear physics at the University of Michigan in the late 1940s.
In 1950, Zhu obtained the doctoral degree at the university at the age of 25. His papers were released in leading scientific journals, which made him a rising star in the US science community. However, he returned home after the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
In 1959, he was designated deputy director of the country’s nuclear weapon research institute, in charge of the research and development of the first atomic bomb.
Zhu obtained a doctoral degree at the University of Michigan in 1950.
A scaled-down model of China's first atomic bomb is on display.
In 1964, China’s first atomic bomb was detonated. China became the fifth country in the world to have nuclear weapons. In 1967, the country’s first hydrogen bomb exploded.
Two scaled-down models of the bombs are displayed in the exhibition.
An old desk, lamp, teacup, telephone, brush pen and other items used by him are used to recreate the scene of his office.
Zhu’s son Zhu Mingyuan said the exhibition allows the public to have better understanding of his father’s achievements and provoke visitors to think about the importance of scientific progress.
Zhu's handwriting from his university studies
