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

Just as Haier thought, after the publication of this paper on the rotation of the Milky Way, it attracted a lot of attention.

Not only the scientific community, but ordinary people are also very concerned, because although the specific content cannot be understood, the result is too clear.

Especially when major newspapers published Li Yu's hand-drawn structure diagram of the Milky Way's spiral arm, and roughly marked the position of the solar system, it turned out to be just a "wild suburb" of the Milky Way, which shocked the public even more.

Just like the graph in the butterfly effect paper that the reporter copied back then, it actually looks like an attractor of a chaotic system. As a result, the reporter called it the "butterfly effect", which aroused continuous attention.

In fact, the "butterfly" in the paper is completely different from the perception of the general public, and it is pure mathematics.

However, journalism has always paid attention to the effect of communication, and does not fully pay attention to the academic content itself.

But the dissemination effect is really terrible, such as this paper by Li Yu.The public is almost watching the Star Wars series while discussing this astronomy professional paper, and the scene is also spectacular.

"It turns out that we are just in a small corner of the Milky Way, so far away from the center! What is 3 light years, how far is it?"

"I don't know, but from Li Yu's description, it's far beyond imagination, anyway, it's much farther than the sun."

"It's so far away! Then don't we become God's illegitimate children again?"

"What kind of illegitimate child, I don't think it's even an abandoned child! If you have an illegitimate child in New York, will you throw him to far away South Africa or Australia?"

For Americans, the most geographically distant place is about that kind of place.

"My God! Does God really not remember us?"

……

Li Yu doesn't know whether God remembers them or not, but now the Holy See in Rome really remembers Li Yu.

Due to the particularity of its content, this article was submitted to the Pope for viewing.

Holy See Vatican, St. Petersburg Cathedral, St. Peter's Basilica.

The cardinal (the position second only to the pope in Catholicism, also known as the cardinal) Mariano gave the latest "science" to Pope Pius X who had just been in office for a year.

In fact, as the former Secretary of State of the Holy See, Mariano was the most hopeful to be elected as the Pope, but at this time the Holy See of Rome was far worse than before, and the affairs of the Holy See were frequently interfered by European monarchs.

Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I (the husband of Princess Sissi, known as the most beautiful princess in Europe) publicly opposed and exercised a veto.

Then France, which was at odds with Austria, was also unwilling.

Anyway, it was a mess, and after a final compromise, Pius X was successfully in place.

Pius X could not understand scientific papers, but he could understand the central argument "the Milky Way rotates and the solar system is located at the edge of the Milky Way".

Pius X felt a headache.

In fact, by the beginning of the [-]th century, the status of the Holy See had been severely impacted by science, and many people's beliefs were about to be shaken.

Because what the Holy See said was slapped in the face by science again and again, it is really embarrassing.

About 30 years ago, the Holy See decided to compromise with science, and then seek common development with science.

Among the three major religions in the world, Christianity may have the strongest desire for survival.

Buddhism belongs to the category of indifference from birth, it doesn’t care about anything, it only pays attention to the spiritual world.

Now Christianity is going to take a two-pronged approach, not only abandoning part of the creation claim, but also preparing to learn from Buddhism's practice of only focusing on the spiritual world.

Because in the material world, there is no way to face-to-face with science.

Then in the 1880s, the Holy See even endorsed Darwin's theory of evolution, but still stubbornly used the theological point of view.In any case, it also accepts the theory of evolution.

Even this can be admitted, so you can see how strong the Catholicism is at this time.

Pius X couldn't stand it after seeing the dense numbers behind, and said to Cardinal Mariano: "Are all the contents correct?"

Mariano said: "I don't know either, but judging by Li Yu's status in the scientific community, he should not be wrong. Most of the European scientific community agrees with his argument."

Although Pius X robbed Mariano of the pope, Mariano was not angry at all, and even persuaded Pius X to take the throne. The two had a good relationship.

Pius X sighed: "It's really a retreat. What else can we do? Is the best way to deal with it is not to ask?"

Mariano thought for a while and said, "If the major European observatories confirm this news, I think we should at least do something."

Pius X said helplessly: "What can we do? Do you know astronomy? If you don't, I'm afraid it will only make more mistakes."

"We have things to do, such as..." Mariano paused, and continued, "For example, rehabilitating Copernicus and Bruno who proposed the heliocentric theory, and Galileo who made the telescope, at least expressed our attitude, and……"

Pius X interrupted him: "No, I just took office, so I can't use this method to show jokes to the congregation all over the world, can I? What is the majesty of the Holy See at that time?"

Mariano said: "However, the field of astronomy is a subject that is easier to popularize than mathematics and physics. If what Li Yu said is true, we will lose our dignity even more."

Pius X felt that what Mariano said was reasonable. Mariano was also the Secretary of State of the Holy See, responsible for foreign affairs, and knew how to deal with others. It should be right to listen to his advice, so he continued to ask: "Bishop, what do you think? What should we do?"

Mariano paced back and forth in the hall, saying: "First of all, we must voluntarily withdraw from the territory of natural science, and we must achieve a division of labor with natural science. Only in this way can we coexist with it."

Pius X nodded, and then asked: "How to divide the work?"

Mariano sorted out his thoughts, and soon came up with the "three strategies of top, middle and bottom". He said:
"I have three strategies. The best strategy is that our Holy See completely surrenders the material world to science, and then only cares about the spiritual world, just like the Buddhism in the Qing Dynasty where Li Yu lived;
A lesser strategy is to leave the now known to the natural sciences, but leave the unknown to theology;
The third strategy is to retain the core conclusion that God created the world and human beings, and leave how the world evolves and develops to natural science to explain and study. "

This view is generally the thinking of many people in the religious circles in the early twentieth century.

Pius X knew that, as pope, his task was not to come up with proposals, but to decide which one to adopt.

Hey, I hate multiple choice questions the most.

After 100 years, the Holy See finally chose the best policy.

But at this time, Pius X, who had been influenced by the sacraments of the Bible for many years, did not want to completely give up all positions, and he still did not believe that science could solve all the problems of the material world.

Who knows how big the universe is?Who knows how the universe came about?Who knows why the universe is the way it is?

After all, this kind of quality triple question can ask any astronomer in Mongolia at this time.

So in his cognition, these should belong to the philosophical level. How can science solve such problems! ?

joke!

In other words, it seems understandable for him to think so. Even before Li Yu traveled through time, many people had similar thoughts.Think about how Ji Wuming died...

After experiencing the fierce battle between heaven and man, Pius X finally said: "I choose the last option."

A mixture of joy and annoyance flashed across Mariano's face.

The joy is that Pius X at least did not have indecision, no matter which decision it was, it was a decision;

Annoyed because Pius X still did not dare to take a bigger step.

But in the end, a decision has been made, so let's do it.

Mariano said: "If His Excellency the Pope does not want to give up the material realm, then we should ask some quality questions in order to maintain the majesty of the Holy See."

Pius X: "But the other party is a professional astronomer, who can ask him a question?"

Mariano said: "It's very simple. Whether in Europe or in the United States, there are students who enter seminaries from natural sciences. We can send some bishops with natural science backgrounds to confront him."

After Pius X heard this, he had some bad premonitions in his heart, but there was no other way, so he agreed to Mariano's proposal: "I hope not to go on a business trip."

-

The American Holy See came to find Li Yu, an Archbishop Jason. He and Martin had very similar educational backgrounds. They both completed science and engineering majors in comprehensive universities, and then entered Presbyterian seminaries to continue studying theology.

I don't know if this is a tradition anymore?Why does it feel a bit like the route of the great god Newton, first engage in natural science, and then engage in theology?
And then psychologically create the illusion of higher theology?

Of course, these are just Li Yu's guesses.

"Academician Li Yu, hello." After meeting, Bishop Jason was very polite.

Li Yu's laboratory is getting better and better, and there is a special reception area. Li Yu invites him to come in and sit down, and then asks Lu Bicheng to bring out the high-quality Biluochun hospitality brought from the St. Louis World Expo.

Jason was a little intoxicated when he smelled the fragrant tea: "I heard that your country is keen on Sakyamuni and monks like to drink tea. There is indeed one, one..."

Li Yu answered him, "Zen?"

Jason said: "That's right, it's Zen. It turns out that Mr. Academician also has faith?"

"If you mean religious beliefs, unfortunately, I don't have any, but I respect other people's beliefs." Li Yu spoke with precision.

Jason nodded and said, "Today I am here to meet Mr. Academician. It was specified by Pope Pius X of the Holy See (that is, the Vatican). We want to discuss the issues of science and religion with the best scientists in the world today."

Li Yu was somewhat surprised. Although most of the knowledge about the Pope was in "Saint Seiya", the real world also knew that the Pope was a big man.

Moreover, science and religion are antagonistic in the final analysis. Li Yu really didn't know how to deal with this kind of topic.

Li Yu said cautiously: "I don't know what aspect of science and religion the Bishop wants to talk about?"

Jason has been trained in science and engineering, and his speech is also more organized: "Mr. Academician, I knew that you are a very smart person from the first time I saw you when I walked in the door, so I don't have to go around with you. What the Holy See wants to talk about is that religion should coexist with science."

Li Yu is not stupid. Knowing that it is a matter of principle on the other side, he immediately said, "I agree with this opinion."

Jason put the "Bible" in his hand on the table: "As for why they can coexist, because God can solve many problems in nature that science cannot explain. This is also a complementary relationship to science."

Li Yu said: "If it is a problem in nature, in fact, with development, science will solve all problems."

Jason shook his head again: "I studied in the university's Faculty of Science for four years. It is precisely because there are many problems that science cannot explain, so I turned to God."

Li Yu was afraid that he would say that, because it sounded like he didn't understand mathematics...

Li Yu said, "So, the bishop thinks God can explain everything?"

Jason said: "Yes, at least I think science should admit that the world was created by God, because only the omniscient and omnipotent God can create such a complex world."

Li Yu said: "If I remember correctly, Kant denied the possibility of using reason to prove the existence of God more than 100 years ago."

Jason said: "That's a one-sided statement, and it's not accurate."

Li Yu asked again: "Then how does the Lord think that the solar system is just a small corner of the Milky Way, even as small as an ant's nest on the entire earth? Is there human beings or civilizations in other parts of the Milky Way? Millions of light years away. The Andromeda galaxy is bigger than the Milky Way, do they have civilization, do they have God? Or, does God know Buddha?"

Li Yu's series of questions directly stopped Jason. He muttered a few times, but didn't say anything.

Li Yu sighed, this person's level is not as good as Yan Sheng Gong Kong Lingyi.

It seems that it is indeed a science and engineering did not understand.

Jason could only change the subject: "Of course I can't answer these questions, because only God knows."

But he also knew that it was a bit far-fetched for him to say so, so he flipped through a small notebook he carried with him and said, "Newton, the greatest scientist in history, once proved the existence of God."

Well, he was talking about history.

In 1691, Boyle, Newton’s good friend and the famous chemist who was the president of the Royal Society, passed away. He left a will, hoping to establish a lecture, “The purpose is to use science and scientific discoveries to serve God and God. Christianity offers the best evidence and the truest justification".

That is, using science to prove God.

Then Newton really helped to do this, and claimed to prove the existence of God.

Newton's reasoning was that he thought the universe was infinite rather than finite.Because if the universe is finite, then due to gravity, all matter will end up forming a giant sphere in the center, which is not the case, so the universe can only be infinite.

In addition, Newton believed that the movement of stars is orderly and without conflicts, which cannot be fully explained by natural causes.In order to make this cosmic system and all its motions, it is necessary to conceive of an underlying being who knows and compares the masses of the various celestial bodies, such as the sun, planets, and satellites, and the gravitational forces determined from them; and also knows and compares the planets and sun The distance between each satellite of Saturn and Saturn, the distance between Jupiter and the Earth.

So Newton realized that to compare and reconcile all this between celestial bodies so different, then this thing must not be blind and accidental, but must be well versed in mechanics and geometry.Perhaps, only God can do this.

There are many other quotes from Newton's original book, but these are the key ones.

In fact, his doubts cannot be explained by the science at the time, because it is necessary to know that the universe is expanding, and to know more advanced things such as dark matter and dark energy.

Jason brought up Newton's doubts, which are still very useful in the early twentieth century.

Because at this point in time, humans only know two of the four major forces (gravity and electromagnetic force), and the building of classical physics is crumbling because of the two great gods of Planck and Einstein. window period.

Could it be that he also understands the truth that "only magic can defeat magic"?