Since 1917, when he was studying at Harvard University, Zhu Kezhen developed the habit of keeping diaries, which mainly recorded various data on meteorological research. Due to the war, only the period from 1936 to February 1974 was preserved. The diary on the 6th covers 38 years and 37 days, during which time there was not even a single day off! The pages of these diaries are written in fine regular script, with a total of more than 8 million words, which is breathtaking. Until the day before his death, he still wrote With a trembling pen, he wrote down the temperature, wind strength and other data of the day in the diary.
As a well-known scientist, Zhu Kezhen lived a frugal life. In the most difficult years of the Anti-Japanese War, as a Zhu Kezhen, the president of the university and the director of the Central Meteorological Institute, actually ate moldy rice for the New Year’s Eve dinner one year, but evenly divided the several thousand yuan in relief money that the director deserved among his colleagues. In early 1974, Zhu Kezhen, who was critically ill, decided: A sum of money deposited in the name of his daughter Zhu Xin was handed over to the organization as party dues. It turned out that since 1966, Zhu Kezhen had deposited one-third of his monthly salary in the bank in the name of his daughter, and the deposit had reached 10,000 yuan in seven years. The huge party dues show this meteorology master's infinite love for the party and the people.
Zhu Kezhen not only loves to study, but also loves to use his brain to think about problems. There is a lot of rain in my hometown, and water is always dripping from the eaves, making a "tick-tick" sound when it falls on the stone slabs. Zhu Kezhen stood aside and counted the ticking water drops. As he counted, he seemed to have discovered a miracle. He stared at the stone slabs in trance. He wondered in his heart: Hey, why are there puddles one after another on these stone slabs? The water droplets are dripping just right. In a small pit. Looking at the other stone slab, it is the same situation. He immediately ran to ask his father for advice.
Zhu Jiaxiang was sincerely happy after hearing his son's question, and patiently explained to him: "Little Bear, this is called 'water drops piercing the stone'! Don't look at the rain drop by drop, there is nothing serious about it. However, as time goes by, small holes will appear in the slate. The same principle applies to studying and doing things. Only by perseverance can you achieve something."
Zhu Kezhen (1890.3.7-1974.2.7), The courtesy name was Oufang, a native of Dongguan Town, Shaoxing County, Zhejiang Province (now part of Shangyu District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province). Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the Communist Party of China, meteorologist, geographer and educator in modern China. The founder of modern Chinese geography and meteorology.
In 1909, Zhu Kezhen was admitted to Tangshan Road and Mine School (now Southwest Jiaotong University) to study civil engineering. In 1910, Zhu Kezhen studied in the United States at public expense. In 1918, he received a doctorate from Harvard University. In the autumn of 1920, he applied for Nanjing Normal University. In 1934, Zhu Kezhen, Weng Wenhao and Zhang Qiyun jointly founded the Chinese Geographical Society. In April 1936, he served as the president of Zhejiang University, which lasted for 13 years.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he successively served as vice chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, chairman and honorary chairman of the Chinese Meteorological Society, and chairman of the Chinese Geographical Society. He has conducted in-depth research on the formation, characteristics, divisions and changes of China's climate, as well as geography and the history of natural sciences. Zhu Kezhen is the founder of Chinese phenology.
The founder of historical climatology
Zhu Kezhen is the founder and founder of historical climatology. Among them, historical climate change is the field in which he has exerted the most effort and achieved the greatest success, and is well-known in international science. boundary. Another major contribution Zhu Kezhen made to historical climatology was historical phenology. Zhu Kezhen once established the China Meteorological Observation Network with more than 40 weather stations and more than 100 rainfall measurement stations in China.
On the one hand, he attached great importance to the observation and recording of phenology. From the second day after returning from studying abroad in 1921 until the day before his death in 1974, he observed and recorded phenology and weather every day; on the other hand, he extensively collected historical phenology data. , the book "Phenology" co-authored by him and Wan Minwei collects rich historical phenology data and research results, which is rare in phenology works from other countries. ?
Contribution of modern meteorological science
As the founder of modern meteorological science in China, Mr. Zhu Kezhen has always paid attention to and "dedicated his life" to climate change research. His research on climate change A series of foundational studies have basic scientific significance for people's understanding of this major global issue today.
Contributions to historical seismology
Zhu Kezhen’s contribution to historical seismology is mainly reflected in the preparation of the Earthquake Working Committee of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which he and Li Siguang co-led. "China Earthquake Data Chronology" and related research work.
Contributions to the study of the history of natural science
Zhu Kezhen led the discovery of ancient Chinese scientific and technological achievements throughout his life, with the purpose of elucidating the outstanding contributions of the Chinese nation in the development of world science and technology, so as to inspire the nation Self-esteem and self-confidence; study historical scientific and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, and promote friendly relations between China and people from all over the world. He himself also conducted research in the history of astronomy, meteorology, geography, general history of science, etc., and published many papers.
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Ideological contribution of "sustainable development"
As a pioneer of "sustainable development" thinking, Zhu Kezhen has always paid attention to China's population, resources and environmental issues from a scientific perspective. Not only did he pay great attention to theoretical issues related to sustainable development in academic terms, but he also integrated knowledge and action, and devoted himself to the practice of economic and social development. From the perspective of the historical process of the formation of the world's sustainable development thoughts, the proposal of his thoughts marked a Chinese scientists paid early and independent attention to and studied population, resources and environmental issues, which was a forward-looking early exploration of the concept of "sustainable development" by the Chinese scientific community.
Zhu Kezhen clearly stated that universities should cultivate leaders who take the world as their own responsibility.
During the 13 years that Zhu Kezhen served as the president of Zhejiang University, Zhejiang University has grown from the original 16 departments in three colleges: liberal arts, science, engineering, and agriculture to now include liberal arts, science, engineering, agriculture, teachers, law, and medicine. There are 25 departments in seven colleges (up to 30 departments at most) and 10 research institutes. The number of professors has also increased from more than 70 to more than 200, and the number of students on campus has also increased from more than 500 to more than 2,000. There are more than 3,500 Zhejiang University students (such as Qian Renyuan, Cheng Kaijia, Hu Jimin, Ye Duzheng, Gu Chaohao, etc.) who have become national senior professionals. In other words, almost all of these talents later became the backbone of New China’s scientific education.
In memory of President Zhu Kezhen, descendants established Zhejiang University Zhu Kezhen College in May 2000. ?
Zhu Kezhen developed the habit of keeping a diary when he was studying at Harvard University in 1917, which mainly recorded various materials on meteorological research. Due to the war, only the diary from 1936 to February 6, 1974 has been preserved, covering 38 years and 37 days and about 8 million words. This is of great significance to the study of the history of modern Chinese science, especially the history of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. value.
Zhu Kezhen wrote many works in his life. If his diary is not included, his writings in his life are about 3 million words. Since 1966, he has published almost no specialized academic papers. In eight years, his writings were almost only letters. This is its main literary work.
The famous meteorological and geographical scientist and educator Zhu Kezhen was born in 1890 and died in 1974 at the age of 84. He was very old, but in his early years he was not good at maintaining health. He wrote in his diary three months before his death: "I have been in poor health since I was a child, and now I have lived to 83 years old. What more can I ask for?" It turned out that in his early years, he studied at Shanghai Chengzhong Middle School, and because of studying too hard, he became seriously ill. He was in poor health. At that time, one of his classmates named Hu Siruo, also known as Hu Shi, once made a bet behind his back that Zhu Kezhen would not live to be 20 years old. When Zhu Kezhen overheard these words, he broke into a cold sweat and vowed to exercise from then on. Later, he and classmate Hu went to the United States to study in the same boat.
In 1912, the two met and started a bet. Zhu Kezhen asked: "What if I live to be 60 years old?" Hu Shi replied cheerfully: "If you live to be 60 years old, I will kowtow to you three times at your 60th birthday party in front of all your relatives and friends. If you are better than me, If you live long, you can kick my corpse in the ass." "Okay, you have to remember what you said today!" Zhu Kezhen said.
Later, Zhu Kezhen lived until 1974, at the age of 84, and died suddenly in Beijing. Until the eve of his death, he continued to keep a diary. Hu Shi only lived until 1962, at the age of 71. But because he had two friends, one in mainland China and one in Taiwan, Hu Shi had no chance to kowtow to Zhu Kezhen three times on his 60th birthday. When Hu Shi died, Zhu Kezhen did not kick him in the butt.
Zhu Kezhen lamented in his diary: Hu Shi, a "smart man", once predicted his early death, but it turned out to be a lie. Since then, Zhu Kezhen attached great importance to physical health and fell in love with sports.