Xuesen Qian

The life, and contributions of Xuesen Qian Work by Shizhe Chen on 12/3/2015

Personal Life

Qian Xuesen was born in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. He left Hangzhou at the age of three, when his father obtained a post in the Ministry of Education in Beijing. Qian graduated from jiaotongUniversity in Shanghai in 1934 and received a degree in mechanical engineering, with an emphasis on railroad administration; he then spent an internship at Nanchang Air Force Base. In August 1935 Qian left China on a Boxer Rebellion Indemnity Scholarship to study mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a Master of Science degree from MIT a year later.

Career in the United States

In 1943, Qian and two others in the Caltech rocketry group drafted the first document to use the name Jet Propulsion Laboratory; it was a proposal to the Army for developing missiles in response to Germany‘s V-2 rocket. This led to the Private A, which flew in 1944, and later the Corporal, the WAC Corporal, and other designs.

Scientific Contributions

U.S. long-range rocket research program

The focus of the MIT program on practical applications was ill-suited to Qian, and in 1936 he left for the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to study under research engineer Theodore von Kármán. In an age before computers, Qian’s ability to quickly perform complex calculations flawlessly was an invaluable asset to von Kármán and a nascent group of rocket scientists at Caltech, where Qian became a recognized expert in the study of aerodynamics and jet propulsion. He received his doctorate in aeronautics from Caltech in 1939. In 1943, during World War II, Qian helped prepare an analysis of the German rocket program for the U.S. Army, and at the war’s end he traveled to Germany as a U.S. Army colonel to debrief captured German rocket scientists, including Wernher von Braun. He helped create and organize the U.S. long-range rocket research program and directed research on the country’s first successful solid-fueled missile, the Private A.

Worm Holes

Wormholes (often referred to as the Einstein-Rosen Bridge) are hypothetical passages between far off points across the universe. Though the Theory of Relativity predicts the existence of wormholes, one has yet to be discovered. The wormhole concept of a shortcut across the universe has engaged prospects of teleportation, though there are a number of issue ranging from size to stability that prevent the survival of anything travelling through a wormhole.

Other

Fun Facts

Einstein was offered the position of President of Israel, but refused stating his lack of "natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people"

Einstein enjoyed sailing, playing violin, and smoking pipes.

"Albert Einstein is an anagram of 'Ten elite brains'"

Myths Debunked

Despite popular belief, Albert Einstein did not work on the Manhattan Project. The US Army refused to provide him the necessary security clearance, likely due to his liberal political ideology. Nevertheless, Einstein had written President Franklin D. Roosevelt a letter outlining the development of a fission uranium bomb, a decision he is said to have later regretted. Einstein's letter helped spur the development of nuclear weaponry.

The rumor that Einstein failed at mathematics in primary school is incorrect. By twelve, Einstein had already begun studying calculus and developing his own mathematical proofs!

See also

Further reading

Einstein, His Life and Universe by Walter Issacson, 2007

The World as I See It by Albert Einstein, 1949

External links

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1921/einstein-bio.html

http://www.biography.com/people/albert-einstein-9285408

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/physics/einstein-on-newton.html