Launch of Collected Works of Dr. H.S. Tsien
2011年11月18日
During the 24th China University Press Ordering Meeting held in Ningbo, Shanghai Jiaotong University Press held a grand launching ceremony for Collected Works of Dr. H.S. Tsien (1938~1956 overseas literature)(Chinese and English Versions) in the morning of Nov 18, 2011 in memory of Qian Xuesen’s centennial birthday. Wu Shulin, Vice President of General Administration of Press and Publication, Qian Xuesen’s son Qian Yonggang, Xu Weifan, Vice Director of Social Sciences Department of Ministry of Education, and Dai Shiqiang, one of the translators of this book as well as lifetime professor of Shanghai University attended the launching ceremony.
The ceremony was presided by Han Jianmin, President of Shanghai Jiaotong University Press. Chief editor Zhang Tianwei made an introduction to the editing work of Collected Works of Dr. H.S. Tsien.
Wu Shulin, Vice President of General Administration of Press and Publication, and Qian Xuesen’s son Qian Yonggang unveiled the Collected Works of Dr. H.S. Tsien.
Wu Shulin delivered a speech on the ceremony. He said that it was his honor to attend the unveiling ceremony of Collected Works of Dr. H.S. Tsien and he was very happy to see that after four years of hard work, Shanghai Jiaotong University Press could publish this academic masterpiece. On behalf of General Administration of Press and Publication, he would like to express his sincere thanks to all those who have made contribution to the book, including Qian Xuesen’s family members, friends, students and staff of Shanghai Jiaotong University Press. Wu Shulin spoke highly of the achievements that Shanghai Jiaotong University Press and other Presses have made over the past two years to publish Qian Xuesen’s achievements and affirmed the value of Collected Works of Dr. H.S. Tsien, hoping that the publishing department could carry out good promotion and distribution, thus give full play to the value and function of the book.
Qian Xuesen’s son Qian Yonggang said affectionately that Collected Works of Dr. H.S. Tsien was like his child, because he also spent a lot of efforts to publish the book. In 2007, Qian Yonggang had made the plan with Shanghai Jiaotong University Press to publish the collection at Qian Xuesen’s centennial birthday. It was so exciting that after four years of hard work, this book finally came out and met the readers. He hoped that in the future, he could continue to work together with Shanghai Jiaotong University to publish more of Qian Xuesen’s works.
Xu Weifan, Vice Director of Social Sciences Department of Ministry of Education, said on the unveiling ceremony that it was of significant academic and educational importance to publish the collection at Qian Xuesen’s centennial birthday. Qian Xuesen’s works and academic thinking are great treasure that we should further explore. Reading this collection can not only benefit us in professional fields, but also in writing academic paper. His great spirit could lead us to better inherit his academic and spiritual treasure. Under the blundering academic atmosphere, it worths praising that Shanghai Jiaotong University Press could spend so much time and energy to publish the book. All university presses in China should learn from Shanghai Jiaotong University Press. We hope that Shanghai Jiaotong University Press could publish more classic cultural works in the future.
Collected Works of Dr. H.S. Tsien is one of the 400 excellent publishing programs of the “12th Five-Year Plan” published by the General Administration of Press and Publication in 2011 as well as a program supported by national publishing fund. This collection includes 51 of Qian Xuesen’s papers published during his study and work in the US (1938-1956), including his most famous work The Two-Dimensional Subsonic Flow of Compressible Fluid in which he first proposed and demonstrated the “Kármán-Qian Approximation” formula at the age of 38. The collection also includes his doctoral dissertation Motion of Compressible Fluid and Reaction Propulsion, which has become a model of academic papers for its rigorous reasoning and adept use of numbers. Some of the papers included in the collection were written during the period when aerospace industry was experiencing speed increase and aerospace technology was growing out of nothing. At that time, Qian Xuesen solved a lot of key problems, including aerodynamics, shell stability, rocket trajectory, engine analysis, etc. Since 1946, Qian Xuesen published several groundbreaking papers at strategic level, including jet propulsion, engineering cybernetics, physical mechanics, engineering science, etc., indicating that the 20th century was a great time to turn the basic rules of natural science into scientific theories which could solve complicated engineering problems. This would help people realize their aerospace dream and come into a new age of informatization.
In recent years, Shanghai Jiaotong University Press has devoted itself to arranging, researching and publishing Qian Xuesen’s books, trying to build itself into a publishing base of Qian Xuesen’s books. Many famous books has been published, such as Engineering Cybernetics, Physical Mechanics Handouts, Approaching Qian Xuesen, etc. A lot of Qian Xuesen’s objects and materials will be exhibited in Qian Xuesen Library which is located in Shanghai Jiaotong University. Taking this opportunity, Shanghai Jiaotong University Press is ready to publish more excellent books for readers. Han Jianmin said on the launching ceremony that they will build Shanghai Jiaotong University Press into a publishing base of Qian Xuesen’s books and other academic books.
