中国理论物理学家与生物学家结合的典范——回顾汤佩松和王竹溪先生对植物细胞水分关系研究的历史性贡献(上)

Chinese scientists were the first to introduce the water potential concept into plant physiology

文章介绍了我国生物学家汤佩松先生和理论物理学家王竹溪先生 4 2年前在植物生理学方面作出的一项具有重要历史意义的贡献 .他们于 194 1年先于西方科学家二十多年提出解释植物细胞水分关系的热力学理论 ,首先引入了水势概念 .然而这项贡献一直被埋没四十多年才得到承认 .文章分析了汤佩松和王竹溪先生工作的内容、历史地位及其产生的背景 ,讨论了其在国内外的遭遇的原因及今日应当从中记取的教训 .

The great contribution to plant physiology made by two Chinese scientists P.S. Tang and J.S. Wang in 1941 is recalled. Their pioneering paper ' Thermodynamic formulation of water relation in an isolated living cell' was the first in the world to propose the water potential concept more than 20 years earlier than wes- tern scientists, but this contribution was ignored and forgotten for over 40 years. The main ideas of their paper, the historical background under which it was written, its subsequent neglect and the lessons we should draw from its fate are analyzed.