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

Nagaoka Hantaro prepared another speech in Tokyo, and sent Kimura Sakae to invite Li Yu again.

Kimura Sakae is an astronomer in Japan who also went to study in the UK and later won the medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.

After arriving at Tokyo Imperial University, Li Yu discovered that Nagaoka Hantaro had given himself the title of "visiting professor".

Li Yu didn't refuse too much, he just took it as a matter of course, otherwise it would have a great impact on the Japanese physics academic community and make them make more detours.

There were more people sitting under today's speech, and the principal even sat next to him, leaving the C seat to a 70-year-old man.

Nagaoka Hantaro made an introduction: "This is the dean of the Imperial Academy, Mr. Kato Hiroyuki."

The Imperial Academy was later the Japanese Academy, equivalent to the highest domestic academic institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of England, the Prussian Academy of Sciences, and the French Academy of Sciences.

The founder is the famous Yukichi Fukuzawa.Later, Nagaoka Hantaro also served as the dean during the war of aggression against China.

The back was crowded with students from the Faculty of Science, Tokyo Imperial University, as well as students from the Faculty of Medicine and Engineering.

Li Yu still started with the second law of thermodynamics, and then slowly extended to aerodynamics and mechanics. He also mentioned the application of differential equations in physics many times. Finally, he mentioned airships many times, intentionally or unintentionally.

Few of these things are understood in Japan, especially the profound differential equations, which combine profound mathematics and high-end physics. At present, only top European scientists are doing it.

Li Yu spoke for three hours. Although he only touched on some superficial topics, the audience still burst into prolonged applause.

Kato Hiroyuki, President of the Imperial Academy, praised: "You are indeed the best scientific giant in East Asia, and you deserve it! Today, Tokyo Imperial University has awarded you the position of visiting professor. I think it is not enough. On behalf of the Imperial Academy, I will give you the title of Duke of Edinburgh." Also given to Mr. Academician.”

The Duke of Edinburgh is an honorary member of the Japanese Academy.Isn't Japan always learning from Europe now, so it uses this very British title.

The Japanese Academy is different from institutions such as the Royal Society or the Prussian Academy of Sciences. The Japanese Academy mainly evaluates and summarizes research results. As a research institution, it is not particularly strong, so the work is easy and the research pressure is not high. Thesis Naturally less stress.

But the reputation is still quite high, one level higher than a visiting professor.After all, for Japanese scholars, becoming a member of the Japanese Academy of Sciences (a member of the Japanese Academy of Sciences) is an honor second only to those who have won the Japanese Cultural Medal or Japanese Cultural Merit.

Physics professors like Nagaoka Hantaro later won the Japanese Cultural Medal, but this honor is basically only for the Japanese.

The only exception should be Li Mei.

Very surprising!The "Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun", the highest level of the Japanese Order of Culture, was actually awarded to Li Mei after the war, which is really surprising!
This Li Mei is the one who launched Li Mei's fire attack during World War II. The fire attack led by him caused more damage to the Japanese mainland than the atomic bomb.

The United States has bombed Japan many times, but the effect is very poor.After Li Mei was transferred to the Pacific theater, she had a whim: Japanese buildings are all made of wood, so they can be attacked with fire!
Just do it!Li Mei replaced all the bombs on the B29 with napalm bombs, that is, high-heat incendiary bombs.

The effect is outstanding!As soon as the napalm bomb appeared, it almost "boiled" the rivers in Tokyo. A large number of Japanese residents were roasted into charcoal. About a quarter of Tokyo's urban area was razed to the ground. Nearly 10 people were burned to death, and hundreds of people were burned to death. Thousands of people are homeless.

Two days later, Li Mei sent more than 300 B-29 bombers to continue to "fire" Nagoya, followed by Osaka, Kobe... All industrial cities in Japan during World War II were bombed by Li Mei's incendiary bombs. Unprecedented losses.

On May 1945, 5, in order to celebrate the surrender of Germany on the European battlefield, Li Mei dropped more than 9 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo again, burning 2000 square kilometers of land. .

The flames above Tokyo can be seen even hundreds of kilometers away in the Pacific Ocean.

Half a month later, 500 B-29s bombed Tokyo for the last time. Since then, Li Mei has not bombed Tokyo again, because Tokyo has no targets to bomb.

So far, Tokyo has been bombed by more than 10 tons of bombs, and nearly 60% of the urban area has been reduced to scorched earth, making it one of the cities with the heaviest losses in World War II.

Overall, more than 50 people in Japan were burned to death and more than 800 million people were left homeless because of the Li Mei fire attack. This kind of lethality is already more powerful than the two atomic bombs that followed.

If the fire can be attacked for another three or four months, it is almost time for Japan to surrender.

Li Mei knew it well, and went to the Pentagon to propose that he could make Japan surrender, but at that time the United States was already preparing to use the atomic bomb, so she didn't care too much about Li Mei's words.

Even the former Japanese Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro once pointed out that the bombing of Tokyo by the US military made Japan consider an armistice.

As for LeMay himself, he once said frankly: "Killing Japanese does not disturb me. What disturbs me is the end of the war, so I don't care how many Japanese are killed in our operations."

But the attitude of the Japanese towards him is quite messed up: in 1964, the Japanese Diet passed a resolution, deciding to award Li Mei the highest order of honor in Japan, the "Grand Ribbon of the Rising Sun, First Class".

Little days are really bullying!

What's even more funny is that Li Mei doesn't even bother to receive this fascist medal, and prefers to wear the Soviet Union's Patriotic Medal.

Since Li Mei can win the Japanese Order, Li Yu has no psychological burden, let alone the Japanese Academy.Although Li Yu may not make any contribution to Japan in the future, it will set them back a bit.

Li Yu said to Hiroyuki Kato: "If there is something that is not done enough, Mr. Kato needs to correct it."

Kato Hiroyuki, already 70 years old, said: "We should learn from you!"

Several people came to an auditorium and performed a ceremony to confer Li Yu with the title of Duke of Edinburgh.

At the same time, Tanakadate Ai Tachibana, who was also honored as a member of the Imperial Academy of Japan, is also a physicist of the older generation in Japan, who is engaged in geophysical surveying.

Kato Hiroyuki said: "This position cannot be compared with the Fellowship of the Royal Society and the Nobel Prize you have won. I hope you will not be offended."

Li Yu said with a smile: "There is no distinction between high and low academic positions, the key is the academic itself."

Tanakakan Aiju praised: "Mr. Academician has such a status, but he can still be so humble. He really learned the essence of Confucian culture." Anyway, Li Yu replied casually, "Mr.

Ai Tachibana Tanakadate said: "I was studying at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, under the tutelage of Lord Kelvin. I read some news in the newspapers recently. Lord Kelvin's evaluation of you is outrageous."

Li Yu thought to himself, that's not true. He was the one who saw his first paper. Lord Kelvin had almost witnessed Li Yu's growth in the past few years.

The key point is that Lord Kelvin's status in the physics world is nothing to say, not to mention the British, even the entire European scientific community wants to sell him.Even France and Germany on the European continent, which are at odds with the United Kingdom, are now advancing by leaps and bounds in science, and they still have to respect Mr. Kelvin.

Now the respect attitude of the little Japanese towards him shows that they recognize the British guys very much.

Accepting the position of Imperial Academy of Japan and the position of visiting professor at Tokyo Imperial University, Li Yu wants to give more lectures at Tokyo Imperial University.

Li Yu still focused his main energy on physics and engineering applications. On the one hand, this was his expertise, and on the other hand, this could play a role in skewing Japan's technological tree.

Li Yu even talked a lot about the Navier-Stokes equation in class—this is absolutely true, after all, this equation was also a major research direction at the beginning of the [-]th century, whether it is thermodynamics or engineering. There are many people.

Even Einstein often had to cite this equation in his papers.

"Water flowing through a pipe, air blowing over an airplane wing, or smoke from a cigar, any fluid you can think of can be solved with the Navier-Stokes equations. It's not just a mathematical problem, it's a fluid The gap that cannot be crossed in mechanics, if you can solve it one day, I dare say that the honor you get will be higher than mine!" Li Yu said on the podium.

Immediately, some students asked: "Taller than you? Could it be that you can win the Nobel Prize in Physics and the Swedish Mathematics Prize at the same time?"

Li Yu nodded: "Without a doubt."

"But the mathematics involved in this equation is really maddening. I don't think even Amaterasu can solve it." Some students said.

Li Yu said with a smile: "If you study a lot, and at the same time offer more sacrifices to God Amaterasu, maybe God Amaterasu will give you some wonderful whims."

Encouragement is definitely needed.

However, Li Yu's mere mention that solving it would lead to the highest award was enough to drive these students crazy.Even Japan’s highest cultural award cannot be compared with the Nobel Prize.

"Is this simple equation really so magical?" The students were still a little puzzled.

Li Yu explained: "Any modern ships, warships, submarines, as well as cars that are now considered luxury goods, and higher-end aircraft are all inseparable from this equation. Even in medicine, its value is incomparable."

"Does medicine have anything to do with it?"

"Of course," Li Yu continued, "the medical research on venous and arterial blood flow is still essentially the category of fluid mechanics."

"My God!" Many students were completely convinced. They had never been exposed to such high-end knowledge before. Warships, submarines, and car airships simply opened a door.

But they certainly don't know that burying their heads in this research direction is almost locking up the possibility of future breakthroughs.

It’s like asking a student to solve Fermat’s Last Theorem and Poincaré’s conjecture at this time, or suddenly realize that there are quarks in the nucleus, and there are two other forces in physics—it’s impossible at all, this is a scientific development limits.

In other words, Li Yu just set a trap for them, a trap that they really wanted to get into by themselves, and once they got into it, there was almost no possibility of getting out.

It's not a question of whether a genius is a genius or not. Everyone who can do mathematics is a genius, because the science of mathematics depends entirely on IQ.No matter how hard a student works, if he does not have a strong talent, he will not have any real breakthrough in mathematics, and at most he will have to switch to another direction.

Over the past 100 years, are there still few geniuses born in the mathematics world?
The Navier-Stokes equation could not be solved, and Li Yu couldn't comment rashly, because before he traveled, this thing was also one of the seven major problems of the millennium, and it was unresolved.

But it can be compared to the solved Poincaré conjecture, or Fermat's last theorem, and Goldbach's conjecture, which has only "the last small step" left.

To borrow the words of a great mathematician: These difficult problems require the emergence of other new mathematical tools, otherwise there is no possibility of solving them.

Li Yu now poses big problems like the Navier-Stokes equation to these students, and these students will have some small breakthroughs. For example, in the process of solving Fermat's last theorem, Japanese mathematicians also played some roles. But in the end, I still make wedding dresses for others.

Now when it comes to Fermat's last theorem, everyone only remembers Wiles. How many people know that the Japanese Toyo Taniyama and Shimura Goro contributed to his process?How many people know the significance of the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture to Fermat's last theorem?
It can be said that most of the students who have listened to Li Yu's lecture will move forward on an absolutely correct and extremely broad road, but they will never see hope.

For Li Yu, this is also a kind of screening. It is inevitable that some people will jump out, and then they will continue to guide the airship.

It's double insurance.

Li Yu's reputation is now too great in the entire East Asian academic circle, and his classes are full of people every day, even several professors from the Faculty of Science at Tokyo Imperial University, Hantaro Nagaoka, Ai Tachibana Tanaka, and Ei Kimura all come to listen , and Kotaro Honda, a great metallurgist in Japan.

Li Yu is not good at giving lectures to primary and secondary schools, and the lectures in universities are also very general, but he just treats university lectures as a kind of TED talk.

This thing can be played freely, some are not, and you can brag a little bit. Anyway, I know the future better than everyone else. Li Yu also made some predictions:
"In the future, the two dark clouds of science will dissipate, and what will appear behind will be a broader world. What you will see the fastest will be the theory of relativity illuminating half of the sky of physics."

Tanakadate Aiju said: "Academician is referring to the two dark clouds mentioned by Lord Kelvin? That is a big problem that has shrouded the entire physics for ten years and still has no clue."

Li Yu said: "It's the dark cloud about ether and the constant speed of light. It's a pity that the German magazine has not been translated, otherwise I can explain it to you on the spot."

Li Yu's understanding of the theory of relativity is definitely second only to Einstein in this era, and he is not bragging at all.Maybe in the future, when Edinburgh says that there are only three people in the world who understand the theory of relativity, Li Yu should be considered, and there will be four people.

And the theory of relativity Li Yu is not afraid of the Japanese to study it, because the theory of relativity is definitely a nightmare for experimental physicists, and it is almost impossible to conduct experimental measurements.The nickname of the theory of relativity is "the paradise of theoretical physicists, the nightmare of experimental physicists".