A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 318 In-depth Communication

The former Rong Mansion was really big, so Uncle Wang brought his son back to celebrate the New Year.

Xiao Wang, who was almost sent to the operating room of Xiaodao Liu Jingshen back then, has now been studying in Martin's Chongshi School in Beijing for more than a year.

According to the school's plan, he must study for at least three years before considering where to go next.

Uncle Wang admired Li Yu very much, and kept telling Xiao Wang to study Western learning hard.

It just so happens that there are students and people like Yu Heqin in the house now, and they can help Xiao Wang make up homework at night when he has nothing to do.

Xiao Wang is very interested in modern science and is happy to learn it.

Just like later generations, many businesses will stop during the Chinese New Year.

The major departments of the imperial court even "sealed" to prevent people from secretly infiltrating and working overtime (some people did do this before, so they sealed the department's big seal, so that workaholics have nowhere to use).

But some things cannot be stopped, so the postal service has not been suspended. To be precise, the international postal service has not stopped, because there are still some foreigners who need to post letters.

Einstein's letter traveled across the ocean and finally reached Li Yu's hands.

It was relatively convenient for Li Yu to be in the capital, otherwise this letter would have been delayed for nearly a month.

Zhao Qian would go to the Daqing Post Office every day. This was a small daily task given to him by Li Yu. There was no other way. Now this was the fastest way.

Postman Cui saw Zhao Qian and immediately said to him, "There is a letter from your master, sent from Switzerland."

Zhao Qian knew that there must be a bunch of strange foreign characters in the letters from foreign countries, let alone foreign languages, he couldn't even recognize Chinese, so he asked, "Is it really from the master?"

The postman Cui said: "It's not wrong. You are the only one who sent someone from abroad to find a Chinese by name. Wait a minute, I'll look for it."

There are many mailboxes in the post office, and international mail will be sorted into boxes of different countries. Most of them are Britain, France, Russia, Japan, etc. There are really few countries like Switzerland.

While looking for the letter, postman Cui chatted with Zhao Qian, "It's only been a while since I last saw you, and you've put on such a nice padded jacket."

Ordinary cotton padded clothes cost half a tael of silver, but Zhao Qian's quality is at least one tael of silver.

Zhao Qianliang took the shot and said proudly: "Not only are there cotton jackets, but our master also gave us gloves!"

"Gloves?" Postman Cui raised his head, and sure enough, he saw Zhao Qian wearing a pair of strange things.

Although China has long had gloves, they are not popular.

In the Qing Dynasty, the way to protect the hands from the cold is generally to put the hands in the sleeves on both sides, or in special "hands".

In addition, some clothing in the Qing Dynasty had a design called horseshoe sleeves, which was also designed to keep hands warm.

Usually, the horseshoe sleeves are pulled up to the wrists; when going out in winter, they are put down to keep the palms warm and keep out the cold without affecting the flexibility of the fingers. From this function, it can be seen that the original design has combat needs.

Later, this design was applied to daily clothing. In the social life of the Qing Dynasty, it was always an important part to shake off the horseshoe sleeves when saluting the elders.

You must have seen the palace drama of the Qing Dynasty. Before bowing to the emperor, officials often slap the sleeves on both sides respectively, which is actually to shake off the horseshoe sleeves.

Beginning with Emperor Taizong of the Qing Dynasty, Huang Taiji, this action was defined as a regulation for officials to worship, and it was called "putting wahha". "Waha" is the name for horseshoe sleeves in Manchu.

It was not until the late Qing Dynasty that gloves came into the public eye again with the arrival of foreigners.

It is found that Europeans, whether they are priests or military officers, like to wear gloves.

This is not the same as the living habits of the wealthy people in the late Qing Dynasty. The rich people in the late Qing Dynasty liked to wear various finger rings or jade rings to show their status.

Perhaps this is why we have not paid attention to gloves.

But now everyone sees that all Westerners like to wear gloves, so they follow suit.

Anyway, gloves are definitely a rare foreign item at this time.

Postman Cui was really envious when he saw it. It was a cold day at this time, and he stretched out his hand to find the letter for a while, and then it was terribly frozen.

Postman Cui clapped his hands and said, "In the future, I will also talk to my superiors and give us gloves."

After a few minutes, he finally found a rather thick letter.The letter was wrapped in an exquisite envelope, and the seal was covered with thick wax, which looked like a typical Western letter.

"It should be this one, it's quite thick, let me look at the stamp, 70... francs?"

Zhao Qian asked, "What is a franc?"

Postman Cui said: "I don't know what it is specifically, but a letter sent from the UK is generally close to 3 pounds, and I think Switzerland may be about the same."

Postman Cui had contact with many western letters and had a preliminary understanding of European geography.

"The British pound is amazing!" Zhao Qian was also very proud of his master, and felt that he had a good face. "Our master can have high-level exchanges with foreigners."

Postman Cui said with a smile: "That's not true, after all, Mr. Li is the imperial teacher of the dynasty."

Zhao Qian received the letter, and then asked: "Do you need to pay more money?"

Postman Cui said: "No, this Swiss called Short, Short Stan has already paid for the stamp of 70 francs."

"Short Stan?" Zhao Qian wondered.

Postman Cui said: "Don't you know, there are many people in foreign countries called Stan."

Zhao Qian said: "It's really strange for a foreigner to name you, short man? How can there be such a name!"

It's not something he can understand now, Zhao Qian collected the letter and returned to the mansion.

As soon as he left, a boy came out, it turned out to be Xiao Zuoxiang brought by Jinwei Zhaoxue.

Xiao Zuoxiang and Postman Cui exchanged glances, and Postman Cui leaned out to look outside, and then said, "Go inside and talk."

When he came to the back room, Xiao Zuoxiang asked, "The Empire of Japan values ​​you very much, and I hope you will not let us down."

Postman Cui said: "Look at what you said, the young ones definitely wouldn't dare."

Xiao Zuo Xiang continued to ask, "How do you think about the matter we entrusted you with?"

Postman Cui muttered, "I'm not the head of the post office. Some things are really inconvenient to operate."

Little Zuo Xiang raised his voice and said, "What's so difficult about it?"

"I..." Postman Cui said, "I have no enmity with Master Li after all..."

Little Zuo Xiang said: "Of course you have no grievances with him, but we can be kind to you."

Postman Cui said: "I..."

Little Zuo Xiang snorted: "How much money can you earn as a poor postman? As long as we do a small thing that is easy for you, there will be a lot of money."

Postman Cui asked, "Are you really doing what you say?"

Little Zuo Xiang glanced at the direction where Zhao Qian was going, and said, "Not only money, but do you want to have gloves and a cotton jacket like that? He's just a little servant, and he's better than you. Can you see it?"

Postman Cui swallowed and finally said, "I want it."

Xiao Zuoxiang laughed and said, "Is that right! He who knows current affairs is a hero! I will come to you again after a while."

Postman Cui sighed: "I know now."

Xiao Zuoxiang patted him on the shoulder: "Do things for the Great Japanese Empire, the Emperor will not forget your benefits."

-

In Li Yu's mansion, when he got Einstein's letter, he didn't expect it to be so thick. When he opened it, he found two papers.

The first one is relatively thin, and the name is "New Determination of Molecular Size".This paper may be less famous, but it is also one of Einstein's miracle years. This paper actually analyzes and proves the existence of molecules.

Yes, at this time, the scientific community still cannot fully believe in the existence of molecules; or some people believe it, but they cannot prove it.

The second is thicker, titled "A Heuristic Perspective on the Generation and Transformation of Light".That is, an article about using the light quantum hypothesis to explain the photoelectric effect.The only time Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics was for this paper.

Einstein added another letter:

"Respected and dear Mr. Li Yu,
"There is a sacred silence between us thousands of miles away. This is the absolute distance under time and space. If it is broken with insignificant words, I think it will be a kind of blasphemy.

"In view of our previous communication full of whimsy and insight into the truth of the universe, I wrote the following papers - of course, not only that.

"The first paper was about a recent thought experiment of mine. I had read the paper in which Mr. Jacobs van Torff won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1901, and he mentioned that particles in solution are similar to those in gases. .

"So I thought the same would be true in liquids, wouldn't it be like a marvelous sugar cube dissolved in coffee, with water molecules surrounding the glucose molecule, separating it from the sugar crystals.

"And with more sugar, the coffee gets sweeter and sweeter.

"Then it occurred to me that if we could calculate the osmotic pressure, we could calculate the exact Avogadro's constant, and thus prove that the molecule is real."

After reading this, Li Yu understands why Einstein is truly the greatest physicist of the twentieth century. His thought experiments are simply ridiculously strong. The starting point is so simple, but the reason is so profound!
Even after drinking coffee, I thought of how to prove the existence of molecules.

Li Yu immediately guessed that he should have encountered some difficulties in mathematics and experiments.

Avogadro's constant can be calculated by trying, but this paper involves the field of thermodynamics, so it must be obtained through experiments to be convincing.

It is not easy for most experimental physicists to measure such a super-super astronomical number of 10 to the 23rd power level.

Li Yu had no choice but to pin his hopes on Jean Perrin of the University of Paris in France to speed up the progress.

After all, this constant is indeed critical and useful.

In mathematics, Li Yu has a way.

Li Yu unfolded the letter and continued to read:

"Mr. Li Yu, as you know, there are not many people who believe in the molecular or atomic hypothesis. I have contacted many university professors, but none of them are willing to accept or review my paper. And I remember you have used Bohr many times. Professor Zeman's theory, so I know you believe in the existence of atoms and molecules. And your achievements in mathematics are as tall as a thousand-year-old tree, so I hope you can help me correct some mathematical errors.

"With your name, the journal of physics will be happy to publish my paper.

"And this thesis is about whether I can get a doctorate at the University of Zurich."

Einstein's Ph.D. was indeed based on this paper, and Li Yu did not expect to be able to help with this.

Einstein's thesis is actually very complete, but there are still some small omissions in mathematics.

Fortunately, the mathematical content involved is within Li Yu's ability.

Li Yu turned to the second page of Einstein's letter:

"The second paper is about a demonstration of the photoelectric effect. The most critical part is Mr. Planck's quantum theory. I know that this is contradictory to the 'hypothesis of infinite divisibility of energy' in physical systems in the academic world, but I found that It can best explain the results of Mr. Leonard's photoelectric experiments.

"You must understand that how to explain the mysterious Planck constant proposed by Mr. Planck is the key to the problem, because my formula just uses it. But Mr. Planck thinks that this constant is just a method used in mathematics , has no physical meaning. But I think I have discovered the truth behind it.

"You have perfectly demonstrated Mr. Planck's theory with profound mathematics, so I think you can also be the most suitable reviewer.

"...

"Einstein, written in Bern, Switzerland."

Li Yu closed the letter, and then opened two papers.

The first article about proving the existence of molecules is actually not difficult to deal with. Although the exact value of Avogadro’s constant cannot be obtained through experiments, it can temporarily use mathematical methods to estimate the approximate value.

——In fact, Li Yu knew the specific value in his heart.

Einstein was a bit rusty in mathematics because he had been a patent officer for two years, but his physical talent was really unreasonable.

The errors in the paper are not particularly serious, and a slight revision is fine.

As for the paper on the photoelectric effect, it is necessary to answer a letter.

Li Yu spent a whole day carefully reading and revising the paper, and then wrote a telegram and sent it first:
"Dear Mr. Einstein,

"Thank you for your trust! I have finished the revision of the thesis, and they will be boarding the passenger ship bound for Europe soon.

"As for the Planck constant you mentioned, I think it can be understood in this way.

"Just as any periodic function in mathematics can be decomposed into a sine wave using the Fourier series, the frequency of the sine wave can only take discrete values ​​such as ω, 2ω, 3ω (ω is related to the period T),
"Planck's constant is very similar to this in meaning. After expanding Professor Planck's black body radiation formula, the energy of frequency v can only take discrete values ​​such as hv, 2hv, 3hv, h (h is Planck's constant) It can be regarded as the expansion coefficient after expanding the blackbody radiation function.

"So it can indeed be used as a unit of quantity, even for physical thought, its specific amount is not important, as long as it is a very small positive number is enough.

"Because it doesn't affect your interpretation of the photoelectric effect.

"..."

What Li Yu said was very basic, but for Einstein, physical thought was more important, so what he said was enough.

With a brain of Einstein's level, there is no need to talk a lot of nonsense. He is just too ahead of the times, and he inevitably hesitates, and the times are also resisting his thoughts.

(End of this chapter)