| 像加州理工学院这样的学校，光是为中国就培养出许多著名科学家。钱伟长、谈家桢、郭永怀等等，都是加州理工学院出来的。郭永怀是很了不起的，但他去世得早，很多人不了解他。在加州理工学院，他也是冯·卡门的学生，很优秀。我们在一个办公室工作，常常在一起讨论问题。我发现他聪明极了。你若跟他谈些一般性的问题，他不满意，总要追问一些深刻的概念。他毕业以后到康奈尔大学当教授。因为卡门的另一位高才生西尔斯在康奈尔大学组建航空研究院，他了解郭永怀，邀请他去那里工作。郭永怀回国后开始在力学所担任副所长，我们一起开创中国的力学事业。后来搞核武器的钱三强找我，说搞原子弹、氢弹需要一位搞力学的人参加，解决复杂的力学计算问题，开始他想请我去。我说现在中央已委托我搞导弹，事情很多，我没精力参加核武器的事了。但我可以推荐一个人，郭永怀。郭永怀后来担任九院副院长，专门负责爆炸力学等方面的计算问题。在我国原子弹、氢弹问题上他是立了大功的，可惜在一次出差中因飞机失事牺牲了。那个时候，就是这样一批有创新精神的人把中国的原子弹、氢弹、导弹、卫星搞起来的。 |
Universities like Caltech have cultivated many famous scientists for China. Qian Weichang, Tan Jiazhen and Guo Yonghuai were all produced by Caltech. Guo Yonghuai was very great, but few knew of him because he died very early. He was also an excellent student of von Karman at Caltech. We worked at the same office and often discussed problems together. I found that he was extremely brilliant. When discussing common questions with him, he would keep asking a lot of profound concepts until his curiosity was satisfied. Later, Qian Sanqiang, working on nuclear arms, came to visit me and said that he needed someone majoring in mechanics to solve complicated mechanics calculation problems for the atomic and hydrogen bombs projects, and he wanted to invite me to join his group. I said that the central government had assigned me to work on guided missiles, and I had a lot of work to do, so I had no extra energy to work for his nuclear arms research. But, I could recommend someone for him: Guo Yonghuai. Guo later served as the vice director of the Beijing Ninth Research Institute of the Second Ministry of Industry and was in charge of calculation problems in the mechanics of explosion. He made great contributions to China’s atomic and hydrogen bomb projects. Unfortunately, he died in a plane crash during a business trip. At that time, it was group of innovative and creative people such as him who pioneered China’s research on atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, guided missiles and satellites. |
| 今天我们办学，一定要有加州理工学院的那种科技创新精神，培养会动脑筋、具有非凡创造能力的人才。我回国这么多年，感到中国还没有一所这样的学校，都是些一般的，别人说过的才说，没说过的就不敢说，这样是培养不出顶尖帅才的。我们国家应该解决这个问题。你是不是真正的创新，就看是不是敢于研究别人没有研究过的科学前沿问题，而不是别人已经说过的东西我们知道，没有说过的东西，我们就不知道。所谓优秀学生就是要有创新。没有创新，死记硬背，考试成绩再好也不是优秀学生。 |
We should run our universities with the spirit of scientific and technological innovations present at Caltech and cultivate talents with the ability to think and nurture extraordinary creativity. In all the years since I came back to our motherland, I still don’t think there is such a university in China. Our universities are usually ordinary and say what has been said by others, while not daring not to say what hasn’t been said. In this way, universities will not be able to produce top talents. Our nation should solve this problem. Whether you are really innovative or not depends on whether you dare to do research on frontier scientific problems that have never been studied by others. It is not as if we only know what has been said by others and do not know of what hasn’t been said. Excellent students should be innovative. Those with no innovation and obtain high grades through memorizing are not excellent students. |
| 我在加州理工学院接受的就是这样的教育，这是我感受最深的。回国以后，我觉得国家对我很重视，但是社会主义建设需要更多的钱学森，国家才会有大的发展。 |
This is the education I received at Caltech, which impressed me the most. Since I returned home, I found that I have been highly valued by the nation. But the socialist constitution needs more Qian Xuesens so that our nation will have better development. |
| 我说了这么多，就是想告诉大家，我们要向加州理工学院学习，学习它的科学创新精神。我们中国学生到加州理工学院学习的，回国以后都发挥了很好的作用。所有在那学习过的人都受它创新精神的熏陶，知道不创新不行。我们不能人云亦云，这不是科学精神，科学精神最重要的就是创新。 |
I said so much to tell you that we should learn from Caltech and their spirit of scientific innovation. Chinese students who studied at Caltech all played a positive role after coming back to China. Anyone who studies there will be influenced by its innovative spirit and knows that it will not act without innovation. We cannot just echo the words of others without thinking. This is not the scientific spirit. The most important aspect of the scientific spirit is innovation. |
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我今年已90多岁了，想到中国长远发展的事情，忧虑的就是这一点。
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I am in my 90s this year, and I am worried about this issue when thinking about the long-term development of China.
(China.org.cn translated by Zhang Ming'ai)
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