On the morning of September 24th, the famous theoretical physicist Gerard 't Hooft, Professor at University of Utrecht, and the honorary doctor of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), was invited to visit our university. He shared the 1999 Nobel Prize in Physics with his thesis advisor Martinus J. G. Veltman "for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions". Vice president CHEN Chusheng had a meeting with him, and they reviewed Prof. Hooft's first visit to USTC in 2004.

Vice President CHEN Chusheng introduced the development trend and academic achievements of USTC in recent years to Prof. Gerard't Hooft. Afterwards, USTC press invited Prof. Gerard't Hooft to write a preface for the Chinese version of his popular publication Playing with Planets, which will be published by USTC press.

In this book, Prof. Gerard 't Hooft confidently dissects fact from fiction and shows us what our future might really hold. Prof. Gerard 't Hooft takes the reader firmly by the hand and, within the boundaries of solid physics and proven laws of nature, takes us on a ride into the world of the future, which holds remarkable surprises for us all. We meet robots with a sense of irony, ride elevators into space, and build floating cities; let us just say that Playing with Planet which is translated from the original Dutch edition by Prof. Gerard 't Hooft’s daughter Saskia, supports the old adage that truth is indeed stranger than fiction.