Just Six Variables Personal View of Computer Education in China
CHEN Daoxu (陈道蓄)
Dept. CST, Nanjing University
May 23, Beijing
Thinking in a Simple Way
A impossible task for me
Give a briefing on Education and Research of
Computer Science in China as a whole
A simple approach to think about it (limited in
universities)
Learn from Sir Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal at
Cambridge
Just Six Numbers
Rees told us: Our whole
Universe is governed by
just six numbers, set at
the time of the Big Bang.
=0.7
Alter any one of them at
your peril, for stars,
Q = 1/100,000
planets and humans
would then not exist.
D=3
The first crucial number is the number of spatial dimensions: we live in a threedimensional Universe. Life couldn't exist if D were two or four. Time is a fourth
dimension, but distinctively different from the others in that it has a built-in
arrow: we 'move' only towards the future.
Measuring the sixth number, lambda, was the biggest scientific news of 1998, though its precise value is
still uncertain. An unsuspected new force - a cosmic 'antigravity' - controls the expansion of our Universe.
Fortunately for us, lambda is very small. Otherwise its effect would have stopped galaxies and stars from
forming, and cosmic evolution would have been stifled before it could even begin.
= 0.007
=1
The seeds for all cosmic structures - stars, galaxies and clusters of galaxies - were all imprinted in the Big
Bang. The fabric - or texture - of our Universe depends on a number that represents the ratio of two
fundamental energies. If Q were even smaller, the Universe would be inert and structureless; if Q were
much larger, it would be a violent place, dominated by giant black holes.
Another number, epsilon, defines how firmly atomic nuclei bind together and how all
the atoms on Earth were made. The value of epsilon controls the power from the Sun
and, more sensitively, how stars transmute hydrogen into all the atoms of the
periodic table. Carbon and oxygen are common, and gold and uranium are rare,
because of what happens in the stars. If epsilon were 0.006 or 0.008, we could not
exist.
The cosmic number omega measures the amount of material in our Universe - galaxies,
diffuse gas, and 'dark matter'. Omega tells us the relative importance of gravity and
expansion energy in the Universe. A universe within which omega was too high would
have collapsed long ago; had omega been too low, no galaxies would have formed. The
inflationary theory of the Big Bang says omega should be one; astronomers have yet to
measure its exact value.
N = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
The cosmos is so vast because there is one crucially important huge number in
nature. N measures the strength of the electrical forces that hold atoms together,
divided by the force of gravity between them. If it had a few less zeros, only a
short-lived and miniature universe could exist. No creatures would be larger
than insects, and there would be no time for evolution to lead to intelligent life.
Our Small Cosmos
We look at the community of computer
education in Chinese universities as a small
cosmos.
What are the critical factors deciding its status
and influencing its future development?
(However, it is only a analogy in some sense, NOT an attemp to use results
of physics in OUR field.)
Two Variables on Basic Force -1
The ratio of the strength of the force to putting
things together to that of pulling them away - N
In phisical universe, being lucky, the value is extremely large (1036)
In our cosmos:
Putting together: core of THE discipline
Pulling away: rapidly expanded applications
Two Variables on Basic Force - 2
Force resisting the expansion of the cosmos - 
In physical universe(called antigravity), being lucky, the value is
small and stable (0.7, guessed)
In our cosmos:
More than 700 universities and colleges
have bechelor program in this field(in a
narrow sense) with total enrollments of
more than 400,000; and more than 50%
past
years
withfew
a history
less than 10 years.
Rapid expansion in
Decreasing popularity, due to real and virtual
“antigravity”
National Key Discipline Units:
Architecture: 2
Software and Theory: 5
Application Technology: 8
Two Variables on Texture - 1
Ratio of energy emitting during mass
transmuting - 
In phisical universe, being lucky, the value is small (0.007)
National lab for information science
In our cosmos
and technology (under construction at
Tsinghua
Univ.) results on
Ratio of high-level
researches
National key labs: CAD(Zhejiang Univ.;
educational activities
Novel Software techniques(Nanjing Univ.);
Software
Engineering(Wuhan
Univ.);
Hierarchical research
structure
in universities:
SDE(BUAA); A&V Information
national lab – national
key lab – national key
Processing(Beijing Univ.); Intelligent
programs
Technology and Systems(Tsinghua Univ.)
etc.
Two Variables on Texture - 2
Relative importance of smooth development
and turmoil - 
In phisical universe, a unknown value wanting grasp of the
relative importance of gravity and expansion energy
In our cosmos
Exploring research – for publication
Working for national goals
One Variable on Identity
How does one look different from others – G
In phisical universe, a ratio not easy to be explained, with a
value of 10-5
In our cosmos
Similar goal, at least in simple view (different in
level, not in contents)
What’s our “dark mass”?
The Last Variable
Dimension – the character we feel directly
about our universe - D
In phisical universe, no explanation needed, the value is 3
In our cosmos
Science, Engineering and Service
Computer science, in broad or narrow sense? The
problem is more important for educators than for
researchers
pseudo-Conclusion
Only as one of the possibilitie:
The answer depends on the values
we set for the six variables.
CHEN, Daoxu
Nanjing University
cdx@nju.edu.cn