Bulletin Number Two 1987

C i t a t i ons Professor Samuel Chao Chung Ting, Nobel Laureate in Physics Fifteen years ago, a research group sought permission from the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, New York to use the famous Brookhaven accelerator for experiments in elementary particle physics. The facilities at the large particle accelerator at Brookhaven were much sought after and the group won the permission against a strong field o f com­ petitors. This group was headed by a young scientist, Professor Samuel Chao Chung Ting, then Professor o f Physics at the Massachusetts Institute o f Technology and, at the age o f thirty-six, a rising star in the field o f particle physics. The faith o f Brookhaven National Laboratory in Professor Ting and his team o f research scientists was not misplaced for, two and a half years later, on 1st November, 1974 ， the group made history w ith the discovery o f a new elementary particle. Elementary particles are very small, smaller than molecules and smaller than atoms, smaller even than the nuclei o f most atoms, but they hold the key to the understanding o f the basic structure o f the material world. The first elementary particle man discovered is of course the electron; its impact on our lives has been far-reaching and needs no elaboration. News o f Professor Ting's discovery quickly spread in the scientific world. Some scientists called it the most important advance in physics in many a year. The Times o f London carried the news on its front page. It fell to Professor Ting as leader o f the research group to name the new particle discovered, and he decided to call it the 'J' particle, some say after the shape o f the Chinese character T(Ting) which is his surname. This scientific discovery was crowned two years later w ith the award on Professor Ting o f the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1976 which he shared w ith Professor Burton Richter who, working independently, had also made the same discovery and had called it the ψ particle, hence the name J/ ψ which Chinese physicists sometimes jokingly refer to as 丁/ 中. The significance o f Professor Ting's discovery is best summed up in the citation which accompanied the award o f the Nobel Prize. In this, it was unequivo cally stated that ‘This discovery has opened new vistas and given rise to great activities in all laboratories around the world where resources are available. It brings w ith it the promise o f a deeper understanding o f all matter and o f several o f its fundamental forces'. The citation went on to say that ‘the physics o f ele­ mentary particles after November 1974 is recognized to be different from what it was before'. The man whose discovery has made such a significant impact on the world o f science was born Ting Chao Chung, son o f a professor o f engineering and a professor o f psychology, both alumni o f the University o f Michigan. A native o f Shandong Pro­ vince where, it was said, the people were so straight­ forward that even highwaymen tied bells to their horses to give warning to victims o f their approach, Ting Chao Chung shows that same straightforward character as his fellow Shandongese. When asked about what his maxim was in life andwork, he replied, 'Do it well. Do it early.' I was not surprised, therefore, to find in Professor Ting's Nobel Prize autobiography that he had been bom prematurely when his parents were visiting at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He arrived early and in very good shape. How well endowed he has been intellectually is best seen in this comment o f his father, Professor Ting Kuan Hai. He said o f his son, ‘Chao Chung has always taken a keen interest in mathematics and the sciences. My boy adapts particu­ larly well when the competition is particularly keen. When he was little , he did well in all subjects, except singing.' Mr. Chancellor, we are glad that Ting Chao 2 NEWS