Recollections of a Chinese Physicist

This is the autobiography of a physicist who has participated in some of the century's major scientific, political, & social developments in the U.S. & China. From a Confucian upbringing in a remote Chinese village, Jen became an experimentalist & a theorist at Harvard in the 1920's, & was among the first to prove the existence of the ionosphere & to determine the electron affinity spectrum of hydrogen. He returned to China in 1933, & later helped establish a wartime "refugee university" in southwest China where - despite constant Japanese bombardment - he & other university professors continued research & trained students who have become the nucleus of present-day Chinese intelligentsia. Afterwards, Jen settled in the U. S. & made pioneering contributions in microwave spectroscopy. In 1972 Jen led the historic first delegation of Chinese-American scientists to the People's Republic of China, & since then has been a leader in improving scientific relations between the two countries. Recollections provides a personal account of a fascinating historical period; records Jen's interactions with outstanding scientists of his time, including P. A. M. Dirac, Norbert Wiener, & John Van Vleck; & tells the story of an individual who, against all odds, went from the Chinese countryside to a scientific career that has brought prominence in several international arenas.Jen, C. K. is the author of 'Recollections of a Chinese Physicist' with ISBN 9780962758102 and ISBN 0962758108.