[Technology Observer]
◎ Yu Huiyou
Three years ago today, Academician Yuan Longping died in the deep regret of the world. Since then, on May 22 every year, all sectors of society have spontaneously remembered Yuan Longping in various forms.
What makes him so deeply missed?
Yuan Longping had two dreams. One is the dream of enjoying the cool under the grass. This is not literally "It's better to enjoy the cool under the grass", but it means that he always puts "high yield and higher yield of grain" first in scientific research, hoping to cultivate new tall rice with higher yield and efficiency than the existing dwarf varieties. The other is the dream of hybrid rice covering the world. He hopes to promote hybrid rice to the world and benefit all mankind.
From this, we can easily see Yuan Longping's mind and responsibility. He not only cares about the motherland and people, but also has compassion for the world.
Behind his dream is his powerful spiritual power. Although these two dreams have not been fully realized until now, they are just like Goldbach's conjecture to the mathematical world, which has a special appeal and inspires the latecomers to be ambitious and practice their predecessors' wishes.
In 1966, Yuan Longping published the paper "Male Sterility of Rice" on the Science Bulletin. In this paper, which challenges the classical theory and is regarded as "shocking the world", he asserted that rice, a self pollinating crop, has heterosis based on his scientific research and practice results. This pioneering work led to the rapid development of hybrid rice breeding and rice industry in China, and ultimately made China far ahead in this field.
It is the spirit of scientists required to engage in original innovative work that they are not bound by authority and adhere to seeking truth from facts. Yuan Longping's spirit has set an example for scientific researchers and provided guidance.
Yuan Longping is also stubborn and not afraid of losing. His original two-line hybrid rice technology encountered widespread failure in seed production at the beginning of research and development, which was once "bad news" by the scientific research community and abandoned by most researchers. However, Yuan Longping withstood the huge pressure and led the team to finally solve the problem of unsafe two-line hybrid rice seed production, once again achieving a major technological breakthrough in the history of crop breeding in the world.
Having a dream in mind, daring to challenge authority and not afraid of failure are all necessary qualities for carrying out scientific research.
After Mr. Yuan left, on May 22 every year, many scientific research workers will affectionately "chat" with the old man: "Mr. Yuan, we have come to report to you." They pay tribute to and comfort the old man with their achievements and progress.
The best memorial is inheritance. Yuan Longping left, but his spirit is always there.
