Qiu Chengtong, the world's most renowned Chinese mathematician, yesterday opened the Center of Mathematical Sciences in East China's Zhejiang University.
The center in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, is the third mathematical center set up by Qiu, following those in Hong Kong and Beijing. The university campus is located near Hangzhou's West Lake.
Qiu, the new center's president, will lead research at the center.
Lu Yongxiang, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said Monday that mathematics is the basis of all sciences.
In the last century or so, great achievements have been made in mathematics but there are still problems left for scientists to solve, such as finding the right mathematical way of expressing the formation of DNA, said Lu.
"China is progressing quickly in the development of mathematical science. I hope that research centers like this will not only contribute to the course of China's mathematical science but also to that of the whole world," said Lu.
Lu spoke highly of 53-year-old Qiu, who has devoted his life to the development of mathematics in China and spent more than 10 years in preparing to set up the center in Zhejiang University.
Qiu, a world expert on differential geometry, is the first Chinese to have won the Fields Prize, known as the highest award in mathematics.
He teaches in Harvard University in the United States and is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
At the center opening yesterday, he said: "I do love the West Lake for it has offered the best tranquil environment for study."
But the beautiful scenery of the campus is not the only reason for his establishing the center at Zhejiang University.
"It is in the past few decades that China has produced some of the world's best mathematicians, such as Hua Luogeng, Su Buqing," said Qiu.
Qiu said that he was hopeful of the prospects of Zhejiang University, whose mathematical department was first set up by the great Chinese mathematician Su Buqing in the 1920s.
"By setting up the center, I hope that more talented young people will focus their study on mathematics, a basic science," said Qiu.
In China, more young people choose to study information technology, finance or other applied sciences as their majors, rather than the basic sciences.
"No country's economy, finance and industry can be developed without the help of mathematics," said Qiu.
(People's Daily August 13, 2002)
