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Given as following is an interview sought with Shiing-Shen Chern, the 92-year-old Chinese-American math professor now with his presence at the 24th International Mathematics Conference, a conference he had early advocated to be held in China.
Reporter: As everybody knows that the conference could be held in China, you have done a lot of backstage work. From 1993, you began to plan for the conference together with Professor Shing-Tung Yau of Harvard University, you must be very happy for tomorrow, the conference will be finally inaugurated in China.
Chern: Yeap, I'm very happy, the international mathematics conference will be held tomorrow here, firstly it indicates that China has got acknowledgement in international circle. We did some work, but if China does not reach a certain level in math, it would not attract a whole world's mathematicians coming here.
International mathematics conference has had a history of more than 100 years, in the past 100 years, this conference was almost monopolized by European countries and America. How nice it would be if the conference could be held in China.
Reporter: In the early 1980s, you ever predicated that China will be a big mathematics country. Would you please give some comments on China's position in international mathematics.
Chern: I'm full of confidence in China's mathematics. In recent years, China keeps a fast pace in mathematics development. Many Chinese mathematicians are working in the cut-edging field. Math is a kind of knowledge, expenditure is not a main problem, it is easier to get development. So far, China has a good environment for math development.
In international math circle, many things are to the glory of Chinese. Now, many young people have come back to homeland, domestic math field will have many talents.
Reporter: In 1950, you ever made a speech at the 11th math conference held at Harvard University. Some reports said that you have made great contributions in China's math that you made China to the world's most leading edge in the first half century.
Math is too difficult for me, but how do you feel that math is so beautiful just like a poem?
Chern: We need to cultivate feelings for it, at the beginning, you would feel dull, but I feel it is beautiful because it is full of logical things, it is a thing that I go after for a whole life.
In addition, math is finally employed in our life, it needs a long time to study.
Reporter: Math has long played a predictor's role in the field of nature science. What about future advances of math? What field will math make breakthrough in the 21st century?
Chern: It may make breakthrough in any field. It's subtlety lies in that it is unpredictable. It may extend to any field that we could not imagine. But there is one thing that we are sure, that is geometer will be one of the forefronts in match study in the 21st century.
Reporter: Although math is a kind of profound knowledge for a majority of people, but domestic media and common people become more interested, how do you comment on this?
Chern: I'm glad that this conference could attract great attention both from domestic and international circles, this shows that China is paying more attention to science and scientists.
Professor Chern finally said that mathematics is a career for the young generation. He wishes that China could introduce its latest achievement to the outside world by this opportunity and build China into a big mathematics country.
( August 21, 2002)
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