Cheng Kaijia
| Cheng Kaijia | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 3, 1918 Suzhou, China |
| Residence | China |
| Fields | Nuclear physics |
| Alma mater |
Zhejiang University University of Edinburgh |
| Doctoral advisor | Max Born |
Cheng Kaijia (simplified Chinese: 程开甲; traditional Chinese: 程開甲; pinyin: Chéng Kāijiǎ; born August 3, 1918), also known as Cheng Kai-jia or Cheng Kai Jia, is a Chinese nuclear physicist and engineer. He is a pioneer and key figure in Chinese nuclear weapon development.
Cheng was born in Wujiang County, Jiangsu Province in 1918. He graduated from the Department of Physics, of Zhejiang University in 1941. In 1946, he went to Britain and studied at the University of Edinburgh, and obtained a PhD in 1948 (advisor: Max Born). He then became a researcher in the UK.
Cheng returned to China in 1950. He was an associate professor at Zhejiang University, he then went to Nanjing in 1952, where he became an associate professor in Nanjing University, and was later promoted to full professorship.
Cheng was a pioneer of Chinese nuclear technology and played an important role in the development of the first Chinese atomic bomb. He first calculated out the inner temperature and pressure for an atomic bomb blast in China. His calculation was an extremely heavy task and nearly manual, because during that time China did not have any computer or even calculator. He also solved the mechanism of the inner explosion, which could support the design of the bomb. He was the chief director for many nuclear weapon test fields/bases and their explosion processes.
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