Wu Zhongchao

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Wu Zhongchao
吳忠超
Born1946
NationalityChinese
EducationUniversity of Science and Technology of China
University of Cambridge
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical physics
ThesisCosmological models and the inflationary universe
Doctoral advisorStephen Hawking

Wu Zhongchao (Chinese: 吳忠超; pinyin: Wú Zhōngchāo, [ǔ ʈʂʊ́ŋ ʈʂʰáʊ], born 1946) is a Chinese theoretical physicist and professor at Zhejiang University of Technology.

Career[edit]

In 1963, Wu Zhongchao enrolled in the University of Science and Technology of China. In 1968, as part of a Cultural Revolution program, he was sent to work in a factory for five years.[1] In 1971, he returned to the university as a teacher. In 1979, recommended by physicist Qian Linzhao, he went to Cambridge University in the United Kingdom to study theoretical physics with theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. He mainly studied the very early universe.[2][3] He received a doctorate from Cambridge University in 1984, and his doctoral thesis was titled "Cosmological models and the inflationary universe".

Wu's dissertation on the dimensionality of space and time won the third prize in the 1985 Gravity Research Foundation dissertation competition.[4]

In 2002, Wu established the Institute of Astrophysics at Zhejiang University of Technology.

Wu has translated Hawking's books into Chinese. In 2001, he translated A Brief History of Time[5] and in 2011 he released a Chinese translation of The Grand Design.[citation needed] When Hawking visited China in 1985, 2002 and 2006 Wu served as his interpreter.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Jiang Yan (August 17, 2006). "Hawking student Wu Zhongchao talks about Hawking: scientists and ordinary people" (in Chinese). Sina Corp.
  2. ^ Fan Dainian; Robert S. Cohen (2013). Chinese Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology. Springer Science+Business Media. p. 101. ISBN 978-9401587174.
  3. ^ Heller, Michael (2009). Ultimate Explanations of the Universe. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 6. ISBN 978-3642021039.
  4. ^ "Abstracts of Award Winning and Honorable Mention Essays (1985)" (PDF). Gravity Research Foundation.
  5. ^ Wenyu Xie; Zhihe Wang; George E. Derfer (2005). Whitehead and China. Walter de Gruyter. p. 200. ISBN 3110328224.