Xia Peisu was an immortal woman that appears in Chinese history books all the time. She was a computer scientist and educator who is famous for her pioneering research in computer science and technology. As the main developer of China’s first indigenously designed general-purpose electronic computer, Model 107, she is known as “Mother of Computer Science in China”. In 1991, she and her husband, Yang Liming, were elected members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2010, she was awarded the first-lifetime achievement award by China Computer Federation.
Source: wikipedia
She was born in Chongqing, China in 1923. At that time, Chinese women who could receive education were relatively lucky, but Xia Peisu did not give up pursuing her academic ideal because of better family conditions. She has been doing very well in mathematics, literature and so on. In 1947, Xia went to the Electrical Engineering Department of Edinburgh University in the UK. A graphic method for solving nonlinear ordinary differential equations is proposed, and the variable parameter oscillation of electronic circuits is studied by using nonlinear theory. After her doctorate in the UK, she stayed in as a postdoctoral student. In 1951, she returned to China as an assistant researcher in the Electrical Engineering Department of Tsinghua University. During this period, she successfully developed an electrolyte solution calculation disk, which is a kind of analog computing device, which can be used to solve the steady-state and transient solutions of the telecommunication network, as well as to find the roots of high-order algebraic equations. Her solid academic background enabled her and her team to develop China’s first electronic computer in 1960, which was a milestone in the development of China’s Electronic Science and technology.
Today, China is a global leader in computer production. Of course, this does not only mean making computers, but also a new computer industry and a new field of computer science supporting this industry. Here, Xia Peisu is also essential. In the war and political turmoil, it is not easy to insist on doing research. Xia’s influence resonates in today’s Chinese computer world.
References:
Leila McNeill, BBC, “The computer pioneer who built modern China“, 2020, online resource:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200219-xia-peisu-the-computer-pioneer-who-built-modern-china
Josephine Nettey, msn news, “The computer pioneer who built modern China“, 2020, online resource:
The University of Edinburgh, 2019, online academic resource:
