Qian Xuesen Qian Xuesen, the Chinese rocket scientist, teaches a class at the California Institute of Technology in 1955, shortly before his deportation back to China. Students who worked with him were “awe-struck” by his brilliance. They recalled that he generously mentored those whose mental powers matched his, but was impatient and harsh toward those he deemed intellectually incapable. © Bettmann/Corbis.