1、Unit 1 Great scientists 教材背景链接Early life and education of Great Scientist Qian XuesenQian Xuesen was born in Hangzhou， the capital of Zhejiang Province,180 km southwest of Shanghai.He left Hangzhou at the age of three， when his father obtained a post in the Ministry of Education in Beijing.Qian grad
2、uated from ChiaoTung University (now spelled Jiao Tong) 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 t
3、o study mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a Master of Science degree from MIT a year later.While at MIT he was influenced by the methods of American engineering education， and its focus on experimentation.Qians experiments included the plotting of plot pr
4、essures，using mercury filled manometers.(By contrast， most engineers in China at this time were not the “hands on” type; instead， theoretical studies were preferred.) Qian sought a school where hismathematical skills would be appreciated， and went to the California Institute of Technology to pursue
5、his studies under Theodore von Krmn.Qian earned his doctorate from Caltech in 1939 with a thesis on slender body theory at high speeds.He would remain on the Caltech faculty until his departurefor China in 1955， becoming the Robert H Goddard Professor of Jet Propulsion in 1949,and establishing a reputation as one of the leading rocket scientists in the United States.新课导入自古以来，许多著名的科学家为推动中国乃至全世界的前进和发展做出了巨大的贡献。他们在追寻科学真理的道路上，不畏艰难，甘于奉献，呕心沥血，苦苦追求。他们这种献身科学，求是求准，刻苦钻研，淡泊名利的精神值得我们学习并发扬光大。
