Introduction to Prague

Prague (Czech: Praha, Esperanto: Prag, German: Prague, English: Prague) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic, located in Bohemia and vltava river Valley in the central part of the country. Located in the center of the European continent, this city has always played an important role in transportation and has close ties with neighboring countries (especially Berlin and Vienna, the capitals of two German-speaking countries). In March 2006, Prague had an area of 496 square kilometers and a population of 1 183000. Located in the center of Eurasia, on both sides of vltava river. It covers an area of 496 square kilometers. The population is about 12 10000. The terrain is undulating, with the lowest elevation 190 meters and the highest elevation of 380 meters. The climate is typical of the central continental type. The average temperature in July is 65438 0.5℃, and the average temperature in 10 month is 65438 0.5℃. The annual precipitation is about 500 mm, and people lived in Prague in the Neolithic Age. For thousands of years, the vltava river section where Prague is located has been an important trade route between North and South Europe. The oldest settlements began in the second half of the 9th century. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV established his capital in Prague. Combining castles and palaces built by kings of past dynasties, it was called fort bragg, and a new city was built south of the old city, which once became one of the largest political, economic and cultural centers in Europe. /kloc-in the middle of the 0/7th century, it was occupied by foreigners and its economy declined. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, the situation in Central Europe was stable and the economy developed again. 1845 railway, 19 tram appeared in the 1990s. 19 18 became the capital of Czechoslovakia. Urban functions expand and industry develops rapidly. 1920, the surrounding suburbs merged to form Prague. During World War II, it was occupied by Germany. 1945 liberation and reconstruction, and at the same time do a good job in planning the protection and restoration of historical sites. The whole city is divided into 10 administrative districts. 1 99365438+1October1,the Czech Republic and Slovakia became independent. Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic. Prague is the largest economic center in China. Machinery manufacturing is the main industry, and its products include transportation machinery (automobiles, locomotives and vehicles), machine tools, motors, mining machinery, construction machinery and agricultural machinery. There are also chemicals, textiles, leather, printing, food processing and so on. Industry is mainly distributed in the southwest and southeast suburbs of the city. Public transportation is mainly cars and trams, as well as subways. There are passenger ships on vltava river. There is an international airport nearby. There are institutions of higher learning such as Charles University (also known as Prague University), Institute of Technology and Conservatory of Music, and scientific research institutions such as National Academy of Sciences and Academy of Agricultural Sciences. There are many theaters, museums and art galleries. There are various styles of ancient buildings, including Prague Castle, Palace and Church. Music has a long reputation, and the annual Prague Spring Concert is an important music event in the world. There are many parks and green spaces in the city. As a European tourist city, it is known as the Golden Prague. Prague is a historic city in Europe. This castle was built in the 9th century. From 1345 to 1378, during the reign of Charles IV, Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire and the Bohemian Kingdom, and reached its heyday, establishing the first university in Central Europe, Northern Europe and Eastern Europe-Charles University. 15th century and17th century, two window-smashing incidents occurred in Prague for religious reasons, which respectively triggered the Hus War and the far-reaching Thirty Years' War in Europe (16 18-1648). From the Industrial Revolution to World War II, Prague once belonged to one of the more developed cities in Europe and occupied a pivotal position in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At that time, Prague used to be a multi-ethnic city, and its distinctive feature was multiculturalism. However, after two world wars, Prague has basically become a city with a single Czech nationality. During the Cold War, there were several events that shocked the world in Prague: 1948 * * * Production Party came to power, 1968 Prague Spring, 1989 Velvet Revolution. Prague is a famous tourist city, with numerous buildings of various historical periods and styles, ranging from Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassicism and Art Nouveau to Cubism and Ultra-Modernism, among which Baroque and Gothic architecture are more dominant. Generally speaking, Prague architecture gives people the impression that the top of the building is particularly varied and the colors are extremely dazzling (red tiles and yellow walls), so it has the reputation of "the city of a thousand towers" and "the city of gold" and is known as one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. 1992, historic centre of prague was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List. Prague is also one of the European cultural centers. In history, many outstanding figures have emerged in many fields such as music and literature, such as composers Mozart, Bedrich Smetana and dvorak, writers Franz Kafka, Javier and Milan Kundera. Today, the city still maintains a rich cultural atmosphere, with many cultural institutions, such as opera houses, concert halls, museums, art galleries, libraries and cinemas.

[Edit this paragraph] Traffic

public transportation

The public transportation facilities in Prague are a complete transportation system, including subway, tram, bus and a pet? The cableway of the Temple Mount and the aerial cable car of Prague Zoo. The city's subway was put into use on 1974, with a total length of more than 20 kilometers and 54 stations. Trams were opened in1920s, including the famous 9 1 "nostalgic tram". All these services use the * * * ticketing system and are operated by the capital, Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy)。

railway

1842, the first railway was built in Prague. Prague is the hub of Czech railway network, from which you can reach every place in Czech Republic and China, as well as many places in neighboring countries. Prague has two international railway stations and many smaller suburban stations.

aviation

Ruzzine International Airport in Prague is the headquarters of Czech Airlines, the Czech national airline, and it is a large international airport with an annual passenger volume of 5 million passengers. There are some cheap flights to and from Britain and other countries every day. Rujin International Airport is considered as one of the most modern airports in Europe.

[Edit this paragraph] History

[Edit this paragraph] Early history

People have lived in Prague since the Paleolithic. Around 500 BC, the Boii tribe of the Celts lived in this area. They called this area Bohemia. Later, the Germans drove the Celts away and moved to this area. By the 6th century AD, most Germanic tribes had moved to the Danube Valley, and a Slavic tribe took the opportunity to invade from the west and settled in Bohemia. They are the ancestors of the Czech nation. According to legend, the founders of Prague were Princess Libs and her husband, a farmer named Pemisisol, who founded the Hosmiso Dynasty (P? Emyslid). Legend has it that the princess made many predictions in her Ribsin Castle in central Bohemia (archaeological discoveries before the 7th century confirmed this). One of them predicted that she foresaw the glory of Prague. One day, in a vision, she "saw a big city whose glory could reach the stars in the sky!" " I saw it on a steep cliff near vltava river in the forest. A man is chiseling a threshold for a house to build a castle called Pula. The prince and duke had to bend over at the threshold. They must bow to the castle and the cities around it. It will be respected by people and praised by the whole world. "Whether this legend is true or not, Prague is really a tall castle (Vy? Ehrad) as the core, gradually formed. Later, another castle was built across the river, which is today's Prague Castle. Prague soon became the capital of Bohemia and an important trade center on the North-South trade route in Europe, attracting many Jews. In 973, the city became the parish center. In the13rd century, three settlements around Prague Castle gained the privileges of the town. 1257, a new town (Malá Strana) was built in the south of Prague Castle, which was inhabited by Germans and had autonomy. Prague Castle District (Hrad? Any) gained autonomy in 1320. The old town of Prague (Staré Mesto) opposite vltava river was granted autonomy as early as 1230.

[Edit this paragraph] During the period of Charles IV

/kloc-In the 4th century, Prague reached its peak under the rule of Charles IV, the Luxemburg Dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles IV, the eldest son of a Czech princess and John of Luxembourg, was born in Prague in 13 16, and became the king of Bohemia after his father died in 1346. Due to his struggle, the diocese of Prague was upgraded to the general diocese in 1344. 1355, Charles was crowned in Rome and became the holy Roman emperor. Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Charlie wants Prague to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. He built Prague into the most splendid city in the empire. The most prominent building in the city is St. Vitus's Cathedral, which first adopted the magnificent Gothic style of Central Europe, and its interior decoration adopted an independent artistic style, so it was called Bohemian School. 1348 On April 7th, the first university in Central Europe, Northern Europe and Eastern Europe was established. Today it is called Charles University, the oldest university in Czech Republic and the first university in Germany. In the same year, he also established Nové Mě sto next to the old city, and set up Charles Bridge between the new city and the town. He also built many new churches. At that time, Prague was the third largest city in Europe, with a mint where German and Italian businessmen and bankers gathered. /kloc-since 0/402, Hus, a professor of theology at Charles University, preached in Czech in Bethlehem Chapel, allowing laity to share the holy blood with clergy, which was ruled as heresy by the church. 14 15 On July 6th, Hus was burned to death at the stake in konstanz. Four years later, the first incident of throwing a window occurred in Prague, which triggered the Hus War.

[Edit this paragraph] Habsburg period

Bohemia has been under the rule of Habsburg dynasty since 1526. During the reign of Rudolf II (1576- 16 12), Prague once again became the capital of the holy Roman Empire. In addition to being keen on astrology and magic, he also loves art, making Prague the cultural capital of Europe and gathering a group of astronomers and painters such as Kepler. In 16 17, the fanatical Catholic emperor Ferdinand II ascended the throne, determined not to tolerate Protestants any more. 16 18, another window-throwing incident occurred in Prague, which triggered a cruel thirty-year war. 162 1 year, the Czech army was defeated and 27 Protestant nobles were executed in the old town square. 1648, the Swedish army captured and looted Prague, and the Holy Roman Emperor moved the court to Vienna. Since then, Prague has entered a period of depression, and the urban population has also dropped from 60,000 before the war to 20,000. Prague was destroyed by a fire in 1689, and then the city was rebuilt. /kloc-in the 0/8th century, the urban economy continued to rise. By 177 1, there were 80,000 residents, including many nobles and wealthy businessmen. Many palaces, churches and gardens have been built in this city, which generally adopt the gorgeous Baroque style and have won a reputation all over the world. 1784, the original four autonomous towns-Castle District (Hrad? Any, located in the west and north of the castle), the small town (Malá Strana, located in the south of the castle), the old town (starém sto, also located in the east of the castle, across the river from the castle area) and the new town (novém sto, located in the southeast) were formally merged into one city. 1806, according to Napoleon's order, the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, and Emperor Francis II gave up the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and changed his name to Emperor Francis I of Austria. 1848 The revolution shocked Europe and Prague, but it was violently suppressed. In the second year, the Czech nationalist movement (opposing another nationalist party, United Germanic) began to rise until 186 1 won a majority in the city council. In the19th century, the city of Prague continued to expand. 1850, the Jewish settlement (Josefov) was merged into Prague. 1883, the city of Prague added Gaobao (Vy? Ehrad) region. The industrial revolution had a great influence on Prague, because there were coal mines and steel mills nearby, which was very beneficial to the opening of factories. Bohemia became the richest region in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Karlín, the first suburb, was formed in 18 17. After 20 years, the population will reach 654.38+10,000. 1842, the first railway was built in Prague.

[Edit this paragraph] 20th century

After World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated, Prague became the capital of the newly established Czechoslovakia, and Prague Castle became the presidential palace. During this period, Prague was still famous for its developed industry in Europe. At the beginning of 1922, 37 surrounding autonomous towns were assigned to Prague, and the population suddenly increased to 676,000. 1930 Population reached 850,000. By 1938, the population of Prague had increased to1million. 1939, 10 In March, Hitler ordered the Germans to occupy Prague and set up a protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. 1On May 5, 945, Czechs in Prague launched the Prague Uprising against Nazi occupation. On the same day, American troops captured Bilsen, only one hour away from Prague (Soviet troops were still on the Moravian border). General Patton tried to liberate Prague, but was stopped by General Eisenhower. According to the secret agreement reached at Yalta Conference, Bohemia will be liberated by the Red Army. 1945 On May 9th (the day after Germany formally surrendered), Soviet tanks entered Prague. After the war, Prague became the capital of Czechoslovakia again. Many Czechs sincerely thanked the Soviet soldiers. A few months after the end of the war, the Soviet army left Czechoslovakia, but the Soviet Union maintained a strong political influence on the Czech Republic. 1February, 948 * * * The production party took over the Prague regime. At this time, Prague's long-term active intellectual group could not adapt to the high-pressure control after the war. 1967, at the fourth meeting of the Czechoslovak Writers Association held in the city, Milan Kundera and other writers began to criticize the * * * production party. 196865438+1On October 5th, the new Czech leader alexander dubcek launched the political democratization movement, namely the Prague Spring. On August 20th of the same year, the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact member countries invaded the Czech Republic and put out the movement. 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the streets of Prague were crowded with people, and the velvet revolution began. Czechoslovakia got rid of the influence of the * * * production party and the former Soviet Union. From 65438 to 0993, after the partition of Czechoslovakia, Prague became the capital of the Czech Republic. Since then, Prague has been more and more influenced by globalization. In 2000, 15000 people participated in anti-globalization protests. In August, 2002, Prague was severely flooded and many places in the city were destroyed. Fortunately, major landscapes, such as Charles Bridge, are intact. Other events: On August 24th, 2006, Pluto was expelled from the planet at the 26th International Astronomical Union in Prague, Czech Republic. This time, the Astronomical Union held in Prague played an important role in Czech astronomy and the world's understanding of planets. During the Prague Spring Incident 1968, dubcek, the first secretary of the Czech Central Committee, initiated the Prague Spring reform, which tended to break away from the control of the Soviet Union. The Soviets decided to intervene by force. In late June, Kazuki Watanabe musician held a military exercise in the Czech Republic, but it was postponed after the exercise. After July, the situation eased. On the evening of August 3, the Warsaw Pact signed a joint statement in the Czech Republic, and the crisis seemed to have passed. On the evening of August 20th, 1 1, Prague Airport received a signal of "mechanical accident, requiring forced landing", and there was no reason to disagree. As soon as the passenger plane landed, dozens of Soviet commandos rushed out of the cabin and quickly occupied the airport. A few minutes later, the Soviet Union's 24th Air Force Group Army giant transport planes began to land, one per minute. 1 hour later, a car from the Soviet embassy led the way, and the Soviet airborne division went straight to Prague. At the same time, General pavlovsky, commander-in-chief of the Soviet Union, commanded four Soviet armored divisions, 1 Airborne Division and 1 East German Division to attack Prague from Poland. The four Soviet divisions stationed in Germany and the 1 East German division cut off the western border of Germany. (West to the Second Army) Eight Soviet divisions stationed in Hungary, two Hungarian divisions and one Bulgarian army attacked from the south. (Southwest First Army) Four divisions of Su-Bo Synthetic Army attacked the north. At the same time, the Soviet Union began a comprehensive electronic suppression of NATO and Czech troops. At dawn on 2 1 day, the Soviets occupied Prague and arrested dubcek. Six hours after the attack, the Soviets took control of the whole Czech Republic. Hundreds of thousands of Czech troops were all disarmed, and NATO had no time to respond. This is a typical Soviet offensive in Front Armygroup. With the west as the main attack and the southwest as the cooperation, * * * mobilized four front armies, 1 tank army, four joint army armies of various services and arms, and 26 divisions, with about 300,000 people. However, due to the rapid attack, the reserve tank army groups in both strategic directions were not dispatched, and only more than 9,000 tanks directly under the army, division and regiment were used.

[Edit this paragraph] 2. scientist

William Henry Bragg and his son william lawrence bragg are famous British physicists. By studying the X-ray spectrum, they put forward the theory of crystal diffraction, established the Bragg formula (Bragg law) and improved the X-ray spectrometer. 19 15 the nobel prize in physics was awarded to henry bragg of the university of London and his son lawrence bragg of the Victoria university in Manchester, England, in recognition of their contribution to the analysis of crystal structure by x-rays. The name Prague is almost synonymous with modern crystallography. William Henry Bragg William Henry Bragg (1862— 1942) is a British physicist and one of the founders of modern solid state physics. He studied mathematics at Trinity College in Cambridge in his early years. He was a professor at the University of Adelaide in Australia, the University of Leeds in England and the University of London, and became the president of the Royal Society from 65438 to 0940. He shared the 19 15 Nobel Prize in Physics with his son, W.L. Prague, in recognition of his pioneering contribution to the study of crystal atomic and molecular structures by X-ray diffraction. It is unique in history that father and son won the Nobel Prize together. At the same time, as an outstanding social activist, he was a man of the hour in British public affairs in the 1920s and 1930s. 1895 After the discovery of X-rays, many physicists thought that this is a special kind of light-you can shoot nails in wood or bones in the palm of your hand with X-rays-and its properties should be consistent with waves. But no one can be sure, because no one can clearly prove that X-rays have diffraction and other properties. The key problem is that the grating gap should be equal to the wavelength of the test object when diffraction test is carried out. A grating with 20,000 lines per inch is suitable for visible light. But the energy of X-ray is much greater than that of visible light, which means that according to the interpretation of classical physics, its wavelength is much shorter-maybe only one thousandth of the wavelength of visible light. It is absolutely impossible to make such a fine grating. German physicist von Laue believes that if such gratings cannot be made by hand, natural creation may work. Crystals in nature are thought to be made up of atoms arranged according to certain rules, and each layer is only a few atoms thick. Laue thinks that the gap between these atomic layers may be appropriate and can be used as an X-ray diffraction grating. However, because the atom is a solid composed of atomic layers, the pattern formed at the other end will be very complicated, just like stacking several gratings together. Arnold sommerfeld, the boss of Laue and a professor at Munich University, thought the idea was ridiculous and advised him not to waste time on it. But in 19 12, two students confirmed Laue's prediction. They shot a beam of X-rays at the zinc sulfide crystal and captured the scattering phenomenon on the photosensitive plate, which was later called Laue's photo. After the photosensitive plate was developed, they found the circular arrangement of bright spots and dark spots-diffraction pattern. Laue proved that X-rays have the property of waves. Nature magazine called this discovery "the greatest and most profound discovery of our time". Two years later, this discovery won Laue the Nobel Prize. This discovery has two major meanings. First, it shows that X-rays are waves, so that scientists can determine their wavelengths and make instruments to distinguish different wavelengths. Like visible light, X-rays have different wavelengths. But the second field advocated by Laue has produced more fruitful results. Once a certain wavelength beam is obtained, researchers can use X-rays to study the spatial arrangement of crystal gratings: X-ray crystallography has become the first detector to study the three-dimensional material structure at the atomic level. Humphry davy, one of the founders of modern chemistry, said a century before Pauling entered California Institute of Technology: "In the process of acquiring knowledge, the use of new tools is very important. The key factor for people of different times to achieve different achievements is not their natural intelligence level, but the various means and artificial resources they have mastered. " X-ray crystallography will become a powerful artificial resource. The theory behind it is simple. Researchers are faced with three factors: X-ray with a certain wavelength, crystal grating with a certain structure and diffraction pattern-there is a simple mathematical relationship between them. Knowing the map and another factor, we can deduce the third factor. Many of the original mathematical and practical skills were developed by Prague and his son. Their laboratories in Cambridge and Manchester have become the most famous X-ray crystallography research centers in the world. 19 12, Laue's paper on X-rays was published, which attracted the attention of the Prague father and son. At that time, henry bragg was a professor of physics at Leeds University, and lawrence bragg had just graduated from Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University, stayed in the laboratory and started to engage in scientific research. It is not complicated in theory, but in practice, because the diffraction pattern is quite complicated, it takes a lot of time and energy to piece together the crystal structure. The early instruments were all made by ourselves, and the quality was very unstable. Crystals are usually very large and need to be carefully refined, cut at a certain angle and placed accurately to obtain satisfactory diffraction patterns. If Laue photos are successfully obtained, the position and distribution of each point should be carefully measured. Then there is the mathematical calculation. Even simple crystals, in the era without computers, need several months to calculate the structure of each crystal. If the crystal is too complex and the number of atoms in the unit cell of the basic crystal structure exceeds ten, then the diffraction pattern of X-ray will be extremely complex and difficult to crack. The whole process is a bit like shooting wrought iron for decoration with a homemade shotgun, and then inferring the shape of wrought iron by analyzing the trajectory of ricochet. For these reasons, the research object can only be limited to very simple crystals. However, the study of these simple crystals produced surprising results. For the first time, researchers can use tools to understand the arrangement of individual atoms in crystals and accurately measure the distance and angle between atoms. The first crystal structure solved by Bragg and his son was rock salt, and the result was unexpected. The whole crystal forms a huge grid, each sodium ion is surrounded by six equidistant chloride ions, and each chloride ion is surrounded by six equidistant sodium ions. There is no single sodium chloride "molecule". This discovery shocked the field of theoretical chemistry and immediately triggered new thinking on the behavior of salt in solution. Another early success of the Prague laboratory was the discovery of the structure of diamonds, which confirmed the theory of early chemists. It is purely a tetrahedron composed of carbon atoms. Prague and his son went on to solve the structure of several other crystals, and they shared the Nobel Prize a year after Laue. When it comes to the contribution of Bragg and his son to science, we can't help but mention the key role of X-ray diffraction technology in the development of modern molecular biology. The so-called "X-ray diffraction technology" is to accurately determine the spatial position of atoms in the crystal through the mutual transformation relationship (mutual Fourier transform) between the X-ray diffraction pattern of the crystal and the arrangement of crystal atoms. In the early 1950s, Watson and Crick of Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University proposed the double helix model of DNA with the help of this technology. So far, this technology is still the main means to study the structure of biological macromolecules. Old Prague is a scientist. On the one hand, he insists on the "value neutrality" of science, on the other hand, he firmly believes that science will benefit mankind. Not only that, as a social activist, "how science benefits society" is the theme of his life. Due to the negative effects of science and technology, his belief may be doubted by some people, but this humanistic tradition has its eternal value, especially the science-technology-business alliance will still dominate human life, at least in the foreseeable future. In life, he treats the world well, agrees to get along, and then goes his own way independently. Perhaps out of shyness, he doesn't seem to pursue close friendship. From 1904 to 1907, in his close correspondence with Rutherford (some of them were as long as 34 pages), we only saw discussions about scientific research. He often reads the diary of his predecessor Faraday, just like reading a letter from a friend, and he has great respect and admiration for it. This is a kind of "spiritual intimacy". His humility and fraternity are especially manifested in his attitude towards children. His basic view is: "Children must be free, absolutely free!" Whenever the children ask him for advice on important issues, he will appear very uneasy. "Walk back and forth in the chair, murmur sympathetically, then get up from the chair and try to change the conversation until he finally feels exhausted." He will say "let me think about it", and then in a day or two, he will send a detailed proposal letter, in which "all the objections have been carefully considered"; Sometimes even in order to show his neutrality, he puts forward some bizarre suggestions, trying to make children "judge for themselves" and "not be bound by his views". Perhaps the most legendary thing is that old Prague is a scientist who started his research activities in middle age. In his early years, he worked conscientiously as a teacher in an unknown university in Australia until he was 42 years old. After returning to Britain, he became a scientific spokesman in just a few years. What the hell is going on here? The answer is memorable: "The answer may lie in the long and happy wandering life." "Perhaps the busy and happy 20 years spent in Australia are as precious to a prophet as the years in the desert, giving him time to prepare calmly." "He has time to discover the principles guiding his life and organize his thoughts", and once "there are clear principles, his life is as thoughtful as his manuscript, with almost no deletion"! His "practical religious view" is very interesting: "You have a good idea, and you work hard to realize it; If the result confirms your idea, then you can take this conclusion as further basis. In the laboratory, in any training in education, literature and cooking, and in religion. " For him, religious belief makes him willing to risk his life to assume that Christ is right and test it through lifelong fraternity experiments. William lawrence bragg william lawrence bragg (1890— 197 1) is a British physicist. Lawrence bragg was born in Adelaide. He and his father are both famous scientists. Lawrence bragg1954-1966 was appointed professor and director of the royal institute, and was elected honorary member of the Chinese Physical Society. He is the fifth director of Cavendish Laboratory after Rutherford. He has made great contributions to the integration and organization of scientific research in different disciplines. 19 15, Prague and his son won the nobel prize in physics for their outstanding achievements in x-rays. Lawrence bragg attaches great importance to science education, and has trained nearly 100 scholars from various countries (including China scholars) and cooperated with them.