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

Chapter 362
After listening to the play with Carnegie in Chicago, Li Yu was going to return to New York first.

But Kang Youwei was still very unconvinced. When he saw Li Yu leaving voluntarily, he thought he was being cowardly. He published an article in the newspaper, slandering Li Yu as "a low-level scholar, farmer, businessman", "artisan, rubble technician", and "an enemy who dare not argue directly. ".

I have to say that Mr. Nanhai's spiritual victory method is still very strong.It's a pity that the second half of his life was really a waste of the first half of his life.

Li Yu didn't want to talk to him for the time being, but when he returned to Fifth Avenue, Lu Bicheng angrily showed Li Yu the newspaper: "Mr. Nanhai is really too much!"

Li Yu only glanced at it and said, "It's just nonsense."

Lu Bicheng was furious: "You can't let him say that about you!"

Li Yu said with a smile: "Why are you angry, he is a dignified Kang Nanhai."

"Then...then you can't slander people casually!" Lu Bicheng said.

Li Yu smiled knowingly, and said, "Actually, it's very easy to refute him, because Mr. Kang's ideas are completely wrong."

"You mean the Royal Society?" Lu Bicheng asked.

Li Yu nodded: "Do you still remember the question about the pirates' distribution of gold coins? And what Han Feizi said about the three concubines' distribution of gold, they all explain the same truth."

Li Yu wrote on the paper, "According to the logical chain backwards, the first person who puts forward the distribution plan can get most of the gold coins, and the second person usually gets the least benefit. The first person we can Think of it as the leader, the second person as the middle management, and the bottom after that.”

Lu Bicheng is also very smart, so it makes sense: "You mean, leaders tend to win over the bottom layer and suppress the middle management?"

Li Yu smiled and said: "Clever Girl! To some extent, it can explain why the emperor kills meritorious ministers, because they can stabilize their position as long as they win over the vast bottom. The hero is a threat, but the vast bottom does not. That's game theory."

Lu Bicheng was hooked: "I always thought that game theory was just a mathematical work. It turns out that there are game theory in every aspect."

Li Yu said: "Mr. Nanhai has not been able to turn this corner until now. Back in the Reform Movement of [-], he naively thought that as long as he captured the emperor and issued a few imperial edicts, he could change the reform. The methods are really like a child. But now , He still thinks that only the emperor needs to be in power to revive the world. On the other hand, the revolutionaries, they are all propagandizing among the masses, and they have captured the groups that should really be captured."

Lu Bicheng said: "You still say you don't understand politics."

Li Yu put down his pen: "I'm just talking on paper, the specific situation is too complicated to operate, and people's hearts will never be clear with numbers."

-

London, Royal Society.

Chairman Huggins is discussing with Lord Kelvin the few astronomy papers that Li Yu just published.

"It's unbelievable! My lord, you know, I've been doing astronomical research all my life, and I don't even have as many achievements as a new foreign academician, Li Yu, in one year." President Huggins said.

Lord Kelvin changed his pipe today and said with a smile: "Science is progressing, why is it so strange to have a genius?"

President Huggins pointed to Li Yu's paper and said: "In astronomy, although the mathematical requirements are not as high as those of pure mathematicians, the difficulty of calculation is actually extremely difficult."

Lord Kelvin said: "I understand that many observatories spend all day fiddling with numbers. The reason why I prefer to study physics is because it is difficult to cope with such a large amount of calculation."

President Huggins said: "We have employed thousands of calculators before, specializing in numerical calculations, but I feel that the power of thousands of people seems to be unable to catch up with Li Yu alone. His calculation ability is too amazing."

The name Computer has been lost to history and is a profession that no longer exists.

The so-called calculators are people who specialize in calculations, and most of them are employed in fields such as observatories and surveys.

Speaking of which, the group of female employees hired by Director Pickering of the Harvard Observatory also belong to this category.However, the work they do is more advanced and detailed, not only calculating, but also classifying and summarizing.

Meteorological calculations are equally terrifying. Later, a British meteorologist hired 64000 calculation staff!They specialize in numerical solutions of differential equations, or finite difference simulations.

And much like the Harvard Observatory, the vast majority of calculators are made up of women.

During the Second World War, the calculation work of many major projects of the century, including the "Manhattan Project", was completed by these calculators.

It belongs to the "battlefield without gunpowder smoke".

You can think of them as purpose-built "artificial computers" before the advent of computers.

But it is really hard to imagine what it would be like to manually calculate the numerical solution of a differential equation...

It takes tens of thousands of people to complete the numerical simulation in an instant by the computers of later generations, and I have to lament the horror of the integrated circuits of later generations.

But it can also be understood that when a technology is immature, human work that appears in an auxiliary posture will almost disappear with the improvement of the technology.

Similar situations include the sketcher in the design institute and the pager in the BB machine era (this was a super enviable job back then).

In addition, according to the research on chaos in later generations, meteorology belongs to the most typical chaotic system, and it is really not that meaningful to find a numerical solution.

These calculators were later recruited by the early computer research team and helped to develop the earliest computers, which can be regarded as completing the evolution of the boring work of computing from human brains to computers.

Lord Kelvin was unable to answer Chairman Huggins' question, and could only say: "It can be seen from many meetings that he is a person with a very profound comprehensive knowledge of mathematics and science, which is deeper than almost anyone I have ever met. Perhaps We are old and out of step with the times."

President Huggins said with a smile: "Your Majesty is also obedient."

"I can't accept it." Lord Kelvin laughed.

At this time, Jorsen, the editor of the Journal of Natural Sciences, knocked on the door and entered the office with a letter: "President and Lord, Li Yu is writing from New York."

"Bring it here!" Lord Kelvin immediately put down his pipe and opened the envelope.

The article is not long, Lord Kelvin read it quickly, and said in surprise: "What a concise and elegant experiment."

"Physical experiments?" President Huggins asked.

Lord Kelvin said: "Yes, it is so simple that any laboratory can do it, but why didn't I think of it before."

President Huggins asked, "Is it so easy that I can do it too?"

Lord Kelvin said: "Of course, let's go, we just happened to go to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge."

Cavendish Laboratory was founded by the great god Maxwell, and he himself served as the first director.

Maxwell died young. Originally, Cambridge wanted to invite Lord Calvin to be the second director, but he refused.

The position then fell to Lord Rayleigh.

And Lord Rayleigh wanted to retire early, so Cambridge invited Lord Kelvin to be the director, but he refused again...

In the end, Lord Rayleigh decided to let Thomson, a young boy who was only 28 years old, be the third director.

After the decision was made, even Thomson himself was confused, why me?

Relying on Lord Rayleigh's strong guarantee, Thomson took the position of director.As it turned out, he did not disappoint Lord Rayleigh.

The discovery of electrons shocked the world and completely opened the fast lane of Cavendish Laboratory.

Lord Kelvin is an old acquaintance in Cambridge. No one dared to stop him. He came to the laboratory swaggeringly, found Director Thomson and said loudly: "Give me a laboratory, I will do experiments!"

Thomson adjusted his glasses: "My lord, I heard you right, do you want to do an experiment?"

Lord Kelvin photographed Li Yu's letter: "I'm going to do this experiment!"

Thomson looked at it carefully and said with a smile: "Mr. Lord, the requirements for the experiment include requirements for eyesight. Is your eyesight okay?"

Lord Kelvin said to himself: "Surely no problem!"

Not daring to disobey the rock star of physics, Thomson said, "Well, I'll have one of my assistants help you."

Lord Kelvin said: "I don't need an assistant, I can do such a simple experiment myself!"

"Just let him make a move," Thomson coughed, "Rutherford, you must help the lord!"

Only the 30-year-old Rutherford flashed out, "I understand!"

Thomson gave him a wink, and Rutherford understood, and said to Lord Calvin: "My lord, you come with me. I have been in the laboratory for a long time, and the steps are clear. I can help you complete the experiment smoothly."

The legacy of the Cavendish Laboratory is magical.

Rutherford was single-handedly selected and trained by Thomson, and he has been Thomson's graduate student for many years.

Rutherford is a good experimenter. After reading Li Yu's paper, he immediately understood the essence of the experiment, and he was also amazed in his heart: "Li Yu is really good, and his ability to experiment is so strong. It's incredible. I suddenly have a question that I want to ask. he……"

"Where is the measuring cup?" Lord Kelvin's words interrupted Rutherford's thoughts.

"Here, my lord, and the dropper, I have prepared it for you!" Rutherford's hands and feet were quick.

With his help, Lord Kelvin succeeded in doing it. He was very happy: "I knew that molecules must exist! Only 10-10 power meters, it turned out to be such a small particle."

Rutherford reminded: "In my impression, Professor van der Wasl from the Netherlands also calculated that the size of the carbon dioxide molecule is about 4.4×10-10 meters, and the two data can be consistent."

Van der Waals is the proponent of van der Waals force, he later won the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics.Although he is the tenth Nobel Prize winner, he is the earliest born among the Nobel Prize winners.

Lord Kelvin said: "I remember him, after the article was published, he wanted to send a copy."

Rutherford said: "There is now more and more evidence for the molecular theory, which seems to indicate that there is something bigger going on."

Lord Kelvin said: "That had better come quickly!"

After the Royal Society of Science published the paper on the oil film method, many people cheered.

Especially Boltzmann, Li Yu’s long-term friend and die-hard supporter, he even told all the students about this experiment in his class that day: “Now there are countless evidences that prove the existence of molecules, and atoms will go far !"

Even the previous opponents, Ostwald and Mach, had to be convinced after quietly completing the experiment, so they chose to remain silent for the time being.

Let the bullet fly first for a while.

But they didn't expect that the bullets would turn into cannonballs after flying for a while.

Another happy one was Einstein, whose first major paper analyzed the existence of molecules.Li Yu's method is obviously easier to understand and everyone can operate, even a bit simple and rude.

But it also indirectly strengthened his confidence in publishing papers.

Van der Waals in the Netherlands compared his own research results after seeing it.

Van der Waals not only has the well-known achievement of intermolecular van der Waals force, he won the Nobel Prize by promoting the ideal state gas equation from the gas state to the liquid state.

The van der Waals equation has a great impact on the industry, because it can be used to obtain the isotherm of any gas, which provides a very strong theoretical support for liquefaction.

Van der Waals immediately went to Leiden University to find Lorenz.

"Professor, have you seen Li Yu's new paper?" Van der Waals asked.

Lorenz said: "Sorry, I have done a lot of research work during this period, and I haven't had time to read the latest journals."

"Never mind, I just happened to tell you," said van der Waals.

After talking about it, Lorenz heard the clue: "It's an interesting idea. The experiment doesn't sound difficult. It's actually possible to demonstrate the existence and size of molecules in this way."

There is a more famous similar experiment in later generations.

It is graphene.

The carbon atoms in diamond form a three-dimensional structure, so it is relatively hard.Graphite is a layer of atoms, and the layers are connected by van der Waals force, so it is very soft.

Graphene is graphite with only one layer of atomic structure.

This thing has many benefits, and it is an important potential category of material science in later generations.

It is very interesting how graphene was first made: it turned out to be repeatedly sticking graphite with tape!Sticky layer by layer, the more sticky, the thinner, and finally under the electron microscope, there is only one layer of carbon atoms!It's done!
Of course the process is not as simple as it sounds.

Van der Waals said: "The next time Li Yu comes to Europe, can we invite him over? There are many issues we can discuss with him."

Lorenz said: "I agree with you, in fact I would very much like to have a detailed chat with him as well."

Van der Waals said with a smile: "You have a great reputation, an invitation letter will definitely be able to invite you."

Lorenz said: "Mr. Professor's reputation is not low."

Van der Waals no longer refuses: "We co-sign!"

-

After receiving letters from these big bosses, Li Yu didn't dare to be negligent. If he was in the capital, it was okay because the distance was far away. Now that everyone is on the east coast of the United States, so many invitations have been sent, and he will definitely go to the appointment.

Konoe Zhaoxue was responsible for receiving the telegrams, but it seemed to be a very professional academic communication, and I felt a little powerless.

They are all top scientists, and they study relatively new theories.Although Konoe Zhaoxue studied very hard and was relatively extensive, they were all relatively classical physics. Compared with the big guys, the rhythm was quite a bit behind.

(End of this chapter)