报告题目：From Mo Zi to the Mo Zi satellite (从墨子到“墨子星”)

报 告 人：吴令安，中国科学院物理研究所研究员

报告时间：2017年4月6日16：00

报告地点：郑裕彤讲堂

报告摘要：Unknown to many people, the earliest extant record of optics was written by Mo Zi, who was born in China around 470 BCE [1, 2]. In the Mo Jing (墨经), he not only expounded upon logic, geometry and mechanics, but also described basic concepts of linear optics such as reflection by plane and curved mirrors, refraction, and the camera obscura, all based on actual experiments. Later, Liu An (179-122 BCE) wrote about various optical devices including “burning glasses” made of ice and the earliest surveillance periscope. However, this was followed by a long period during which scientific thought stagnated, and it is only over the last half century that China has begun to catch up with the west. A brief overview will be presented of the history of optics in China, up to the development of quantum optics research which led to the landmark launch of the Quantum Experiments at Space Scale Satellite (QUESS, nicknamed the Mo Zi satellite) in 2016.

[1] J. Needham, Science and Civilization in China, v.4, Part 1, Physics (Cambridge University Press, 1962).

[2] Ling-An Wu, Guilu Long, Qihuang Gong and Guang-Can Guo, “Optics in Ancient China”, AAPPS Bulletin, 25, No. 4, 6 (Aug 2015).