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

Chapter 391 Nobel Prize Letter
Li Yu stayed in Amsterdam for several days, and often discussed various physics issues with the Dutch Nobel Prize Three Musketeers.

The level of the Three Musketeers is indeed still very high.

Needless to say, Lorenz is a big boss that even Einstein is convinced.

His theory not only appears in the Lorentz transformation of the theory of relativity, in fact, many methods used by you in high school physics are derived from Lorentz.

For example, the most classic method in electromagnetism is to draw a charge, then draw the distribution of electric field lines, and calculate the force of the charge in multiple electric fields. These problem-solving methods were all created by Lorentz.

Van der Waals not only has the famous van der Waals force handed down, he also calculated the size of the carbon dioxide molecule very early, of course, for his equation.

Van der Waals calculated that the molecular size of carbon dioxide is 4.4×10-8 cm, and today’s value is 2.33, which is very, very close, after all, it is on the same order of magnitude.

That was the 1880s!There are no methods like the oil film method, but it can be done, which is very scary.

Van der Waals studied Maxwell's theories with a high level of mathematics.

Onnes used experiments to make the last highlight of thermodynamics and the entire classical physics-superconductivity.

But things are self-denying. If you want to study superconductivity at a deeper level, you have to rely on quantum mechanics.

The research fields of the Three Musketeers are slightly different, but they all get along well with Li Yu.

Even a person like Lorenz, who has learned the whole of physics, was a little surprised: "It's unbelievable that your excellency has such a clear understanding of the whole of physics. It's really long... long waves, uh, Mr. van der Waals , how did you say that sentence?"

Van der Waals said: "The waves behind the Yangtze River drive the waves ahead."

"Yes!" Lorenz said, "but you should do as the Romans do, and the waves behind the Rhine drive the waves ahead!"

The Rhine River runs through Germany and enters the sea from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which is an important reason why the Port of Rotterdam has become the largest port in Europe.

Li Yu was amused. Although the idioms these people spoke were very strange, speaking Chinese idioms in front of them was a sign of respect for themselves, and at least it could let them know some Chinese culture, and then influence other people.

Li Yu said with a smile: "The back wave will definitely not slap the front wave to death on the beach."

Several people were also amused after hearing this, especially Van der Waals, who was the oldest, said: "I'm really scared!"

Thinking of Van der Waals' experience, Li Yu asked, "Professor, can you introduce some teachers to teach in China?"

"Teachers?" asked van der Waals. "Elementary and secondary school teachers?"

"Yes," Li Yu said, "Professor, don't worry, the salary will definitely not disappoint the teachers, at least it will be 7000 Dutch guilders a year."

That's roughly the equivalent of $3000.

Van der Waals pondered for a moment: "This income is almost close to that of a university professor. It is really attractive. I can help you contact the teachers' union."

Van der Waals was a teacher in his early years, and he has a strong learning ability, and he has obtained the teacher qualification certificate for all subjects.

The reason why Li Yu wanted to find primary and secondary school teachers in the Netherlands was because the Dutch teacher qualification certificate is very special.

In the Netherlands at the beginning of the [-]th century, primary and secondary school teachers worked very hard, because there was only one teacher in a class, and one teacher had to teach all subjects.

Auxiliary staff will not be provided unless the number of students is large.

If a teacher leads more than 70 students, he can bring an "apprentice"; if there are more than 100 students, he can bring an "assistant"; if there are more than 150 students, he can bring an apprentice and an assistant.

Since a teacher needs to teach all subjects, the Dutch teaching qualification naturally covers all subjects and has many levels.

You even need to take a test one by one.

This has led to the fact that the level of primary and secondary school teachers in the Netherlands is quite good, and they can speak many languages, which is quite suitable.

There must be a brave man under a lot of money, and Van der Waals brought good news to Li Yu two days later.

"The treatment you gave is very attractive. I just informed a teacher's union in Amsterdam, and I received more than a dozen letters of introduction. If I spread it further, the number of people will be even more. Also, I forgot to ask you how many people you need. teacher."

Li Yu said: "If the number is sufficient, maybe 20. The main requirement is to know all the regular subjects, Latin and the like are not mandatory."

Li Yu's school in China will start soon, and it is necessary to recruit a group of teachers, and this money does not need to be paid by Li Yu, and the education fund provided by Carnegie can just come in handy.

In less than a week, Van der Waals gathered 20 people, and he even carefully helped to select: "The rest are almost all university graduates, 10 are from Leiden University, 6 are from Utre The remaining four graduated from the University of Groningen."

College students in this era are very powerful, and Li Yu is very grateful: "I will definitely not disappoint the dedication of the professors, and I will not let them lose an iota of salary."

Van der Waals said: "As long as the salary is paid in full, you can have as much as you want. Nowadays, an assistant at Leiden University can earn only 2000 Dutch guilders a year, and some only have more than 1000 Dutch guilders. Give 7000, how can many people not be tempted!"

Li Yu said: "Going to teach in China is a supporting education for them, and they have crossed the entire Eurasian continent. Naturally, they should earn a little more. Besides, at that time, they will need to learn Chinese, a very complicated subject."

Van der Waals said confidently: "You don't have to worry about learning. These people can even speak Latin and Greek. How difficult is it to learn Chinese?"

Li Yu was too embarrassed to hit them, so he could only say, "Anyway, thank you so much!"

With these teachers, Li Yu was somewhat relieved.

If we wait for enough outstanding teacher graduates in China to be diverted to primary and secondary schools, it will take at least ten more years.

In several newly established colleges and universities in China, most of the graduates in the first few years went to government positions or taught in higher-level schools.

Li Yu quickly booked the boat tickets for them, and they were first picked up by the Capital University in China, where they happened to learn Chinese for a while.

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The current Nobel Prize judging committee has to consider political factors, so as to make some helpless balances. For example, the awards must carefully consider the country, and must take into account the balance of several major countries, especially the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. None of the three royal families in Europe can afford to offend them. In addition, the Netherlands is super rich and needs to be taken care of.

So if you look at the awarding of Nobel Prizes in the past few years, it is basically evenly distributed, and there is not much favoritism.

Now that Li Yu was born, and has successively won the titles of foreign academician of the Royal Society, academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, academician of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences, etc., the Nobel Prize jury is also sure about awarding him the Nobel Prize, at least not offended.

Besides, these achievements of Li Yu are indeed too powerful, and there are several nominations from big names, which is justified.

When Li Yu returned to Berlin, he just received a letter from Stockholm.

Naturally, the letter was sent by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Nobel Prize Committee for Physics. Li Yu opened the letter:

"Dear Mr. Li Yu:

"At the meeting on November 11, the Swedish Academy of Sciences decided to award you this year's Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of your outstanding achievements in thermodynamics and rays.

"This decision will be officially announced on December 12, and the news will be blocked beforehand. On that day, bonuses and gold medals will be awarded at the same time...

"On December 12, we will hold an award ceremony in the name of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, and we sincerely invite you to come!
"According to Article [-] of the Statutes of the Nobel Foundation Committee, you must give a public speech entitled "The Work of Winning the Prize" in Stockholm within six months after the award. If you can come on the specified date , suggesting that this task be carried out within a few days of the meeting.

"The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences wishes you to visit Stockholm, please accept our highest respect!"

Li Yu's hands still trembled somewhat, this was the highest honor in the scientific community.

After a short period of calm, Li Yu cheered loudly, then picked up Lu Bicheng next to him and spun around three or four times, put down the letter and said incoherently: "Nobel Prize, Nobel Prize!"

Li Yu ran around the laboratory five or six times excitedly with the letter in his hand.

Lu Bicheng had heard about the Nobel Prize before, and knew its importance. Seeing Li Yu's happy childlike appearance, his eyes were drawn into a line of laughter.

When Konoe Zhaoxue heard the word "Nobel Prize", she also understood it instantly. Konoe Zhaoxue stretched out her hand and wanted to hug her, but Li Yu had already rushed out, just in time to bump into Planck.

"No... Nuo..." Li Yu wanted to tell him, but suddenly remembered that the last sentence in the letter had to be kept secret, so Li Yu quickly stopped talking.

But Planck has never seen such a big storm, and Li Yu's expression like eating bee poo couldn't hide it from him. Planck smiled and said, "Are you planning to go to Stockholm?"

Li Yu nodded vigorously, but said, "You pretend not to know."

Plank was dumbfounded: "Well, I don't know."

Planck took out another flyer: "Since it is such a good thing, why not celebrate it. I saw a tourism project, first go to Athens, and then go to Cairo to visit the Egyptian pyramids."

This is one of the hottest tourist routes in Europe right now.

Li Yu remembered that when Einstein won the Nobel Prize, he was also traveling around. It seemed that there was nothing wrong with it, and there was still a month before the award, so he readily agreed.

Li Yu happily drove the Daimler sedan to the door with the flyer and headed for the travel agency.

The owner of the travel agency naturally wanted to treat him well, because Li Yu chose the most expensive luxury cruise ship on the leaflet, which was big and had few people, and then bought two first-class tickets.

The owner of the travel agency said to Li Yu, "Sir must be traveling with the girl."

Li Yu asked in surprise, "How do you know?"

The owner of the travel agency said: "Even a fool can see it. If you look at this list again, we have customized high-end services."

Li Yu's eyes lit up, a little interesting.

(End of this chapter)