Hua Loo-Keng. A biography. Transl. from the Chinese by Peter Shiu (Q4243486)

Hua Loo-Keng (1910.11.12 -- 1985.11.12) was one of China's leading mathematicians. He was essentially self-taught. His biographer compares Hua's early educational experiences to those of I. M. Gelfand. Hua's life, spent mostly in China, spanned a particularly turbulent period of Chinese history. It included, for example, the so-called ``Cultural Revolution'' and the ``Great Leap Forward''. In addition to his scientific work, Hua also did much to popularize and explain mathematics, its usefulness, and applications to his fellow citizens. Each of the ten chapters in this biography concludes with a list of references. Some of these are works by Hua, literary, political, as well as scientific. A particularly valuable addition to the Biography would have been a complete bibliography of Hua's works -- perhaps organized by subject matter. As published, a reader must search the various list of references at the end of each chapter. It is not likely that these ten lists comprise a complete bibliography of Hua's contributions. The ten chapters are: 1. Tokyo; 2. Jintan; 3. Qing Hua University; 4. Cambridge University; 5. South-West Associated University; 6. Visiting the United States; 7. Constructive Work; 8. Twists and Turns; 9. Calamity; 10. The Return of Spring. Also included are indices of provinces and cities, Pinyin names, Other (i.e. non-Chinese) names. The first two indices give the entries both in Chinese as well as in the Latin alphabet.