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

Chapter 456

Towards the end of the book signing, a 24-year-old young man said excitedly: "I'm so excited to see my idol. It's not worth spending a month's salary! Oh, it turns out this is Chinese! Mr. Li Yu, can you I can’t ask you to put another seal. I heard that the Chinese seal art is extremely beautiful and is a standard feature for upper-class Chinese.”

Li Yu said: "It's possible, but I'm afraid I won't have enough ink pads."

"I have them!" the young man said and actually took out a box. "Because of you, I specially purchased the Four Treasures of Chinese Writing."

"They are the Four Treasures of the Study," Li Yu found that it was indeed a little difficult to translate these words.

Li Yu took out a "Li Yu's Seal" carved in Qi Baishi and put it to use again.

But when the people in front saw it, they immediately gathered around and asked for their seals...

Fortunately, this kind of thing did not require Li Yu to do it himself. After just covering it up for the young man, he asked Collins Publishing House to find a staff member to do it for him.

Li Yu smiled and said, "You have added a lot of workload to us, and I haven't even asked you what your name is yet."

The other party replied: "My name is Hugo Gernsback, and I am a big fan of your books."

Well, the biggest award in the science fiction field, the Hugo Award, is named after him.

It is said that the Western custom should be to use surnames to name people, because there are very, very many surnames in the West, and very, very few first names. There are a lot of people with the same name, but not many people with the same surname.

But at that time, considering that the great French writer Victor Hugo was very famous, the name Hugo Gernsback was used.

He said that he is a die-hard science fiction fan and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Li Yu said: "It's an honor to meet you."

Gernsback said: "I just wrote a science fiction novel "Tracing My Ancestors" this year, and I also want to start a special science fiction magazine."

Li Yu still has a lot of science fiction stories in his mind, which would be better as short stories, so he smiled and said, "I will submit them to you in the future."

To be honest, Hugo Gernsback is relatively average in the field of science fiction creation. His contribution is mainly reflected in the founding of science fiction magazine. He is the earliest science fiction magazine in the United States. In a sense, he can also be regarded as the pioneer of American science fiction novels.

Hugo Gernsback was greatly encouraged: "In addition to science fiction creation, I also learn from you in many aspects."

Li Yu was surprised: "Multi-dimensional learning?"

Hugo Gernsback said: "In the field of invention, I found that people's attention span is extremely short, so I am going to develop a tool to improve people's concentration."

"Cure procrastination and prevent addiction? Is it a time management tool?" Li Yu is too familiar with similar inventions. In later generations, there are many software designed specifically for the duration of mobile game use.

Hugo Gernsback said: "It's like this. I find that when I am working, I am often disturbed by noise, such as the sound of insects, noisy people, or the crowd of carriages passing by outside the house, etc."

Noise-cancelling headphones immediately flashed in Li Yu's mind, but Hugo took out a drawing from his arms and continued: "I call it an isolator, which can isolate external sounds."

After seeing the drawing, Li Yu's eyes almost flew out of his head. On the drawing was a huge thing that looked like a diving helmet, "Here, what is this!"

Hugo Gernsback explained to Li Yu eloquently: "It is made of wood, with only two small holes dug for the eyes, and the interior is made of skin-friendly felt material. It is extremely comfortable to wear and can isolate at least [-]% to [-]% sound.”

Li Yuguang felt a headache when he thought about putting this thing on his head, and he was embarrassed to discourage Hugo's enthusiasm, so he pointed to the drawing and said: "There is no hole in the nose, so I'm afraid there will be a lack of oxygen; and once the brain is deprived of oxygen, it will It reduces concentration and is counterproductive.”

Hugo Gernsback slapped his thigh: "Academician Li Yu is indeed a top inventor, and his vision is so broad. I will improve it according to what you said!"

Li Yu has a black hair, he really loves inventions...

Later, Hugo Gernsback actually applied for this patent and put a tube through the nose and connected an oxygen cylinder.

But it looks even weirder, just like the image in a horror movie.

As for market feedback, it couldn't be worse. Users are complaining about it, and they are all negative reviews:
"When I put it on, it feels like my cervical spine is going to break."

"In just 15 minutes, my face was covered in sweat."

"Suffocation warning, feel like a fool!"

-

After the autograph session, Li Yu was about to go back to his room to take a rest. Unexpectedly, Bell suddenly arrived late. Seeing that there was no Star Wars set left, he was extremely disappointed: "Why am I always late!"

Li Yu asked him to sit down and said, "Isn't Mr. Bell busy with the development of aircraft?"

Bell said: "We already have some ideas. I have been promoting the construction of the wind tunnel recently. I have to say that the Wright brothers' idea is indeed groundbreaking."

Mark Twain, who was in the venue, also saw Bell and walked over and said, "We haven't seen him for many years. Mr. Bell is already a well-known big shot."

Bell exchanged business boasts with him: "Mr. Mark Twain, your name is spread throughout America."

Many years ago, when Bell first invented the telephone, he approached Mark Twain for venture capital and showed him on the spot, stating that he only needed a sponsorship of four to five hundred dollars to carry out the first wave of promotion.

But Mark Twain saw that Bell only had two cups with a rope in the middle, which was too simple, so he rejected Bell.

It has to be said that no matter how successful Mark Twain was in literature, he failed in the field of venture capital...

Li Yu then chatted with Bell about the recent progress in aircraft development.

Bell said: "I heard that the International Aviation Federation has been established in Europe, which is a great encouragement to our aircraft development work."

Li Yu said: "I read in the newspaper that the Olympic Games held in Belgium will set up an association to supervise the aviation sports industry."

That's right, the authoritative organization in the aviation industry in later generations also had the initial idea of ​​applying aircraft to the field of sports.

It's a bit like cars, but the development of racing cars was really important to early cars.

Bell said: "If it is a comparison of speed, I think the increase in engine power will be crucial. The Belgians invented a technology called turbocharging, which must be very promising in the field of aircraft engines."

Li Yu said: "The development of a jet will be a lot of trouble. Faced with such huge power, the entire aircraft design must be changed."

"Jet is a great name," Bell said. "How long do you think it will take before it can be implemented?"

"It will take at least more than 20 years." Li Yu predicted. "That was too long!" Bell regretted, "It's hard to say whether I can survive until that day!"

Li Yu said: "Let's not mention this for now, we should still focus on the present. I have recently designed several patents, which are of practical value in aviation and navigation."

Bell knew that every patent Li Yu came up with was a good thing, so he couldn't wait to say: "Hurry up and let me see!"

Li Yu took a suitcase, took out some drawings and said: "The name of the product is a gyroscope, and this one is called a gyro direction meter, which is specially used to adjust the stability of the aircraft."

Bell has been immersed in the field of aircraft for many years and understood the importance of this invention at a glance. He said excitedly: "Last year, I heard that someone was making a gyroscope. I didn't expect that you were the first to make it! With this thing, complex things in the sky Under the airflow, the aircraft can adjust its flight attitude by itself and continue to fly smoothly!"

The principle of a gyroscope is very simple. It has a rotor that rotates around an axis at a very high angular speed and is installed in an inner ring frame. Then an outer ring frame is added to the inner ring frame to form a complete space gyroscope.

The rotor can move freely around three mutually perpendicular axes.

Those who have studied high school physics must know that the core of physics used is the conservation of angular momentum.

Later generations of mobile phones, stabilizers, aircraft, and ships are all inseparable from it.

However, what Li Yu has made now is relatively simple compared to later generations, because the manufacturing of the gyroscope itself is not complicated. The key is how to miniaturize it while ensuring extremely high accuracy, and it can also form linkages with other equipment; it involves a lot of Theories of mechanics, control, and signaling.

But now, Li Yu has only made a rudimentary form of gyroscope.

This thing was discovered by Foucault five or sixty years ago when he was studying the Foucault Pendulum. He was studying the rotation of the earth at the time, and accidentally discovered that the rotation axis of a rotor rotating at high speed always points in a fixed direction due to inertia.

However, if you want to make it more practical in industry, you need an electric motor.

It wasn't until last year that an inventor was able to make a gyroscope's rotor spin at 20000 rpm.Li Yu further improved its stability, making it truly usable in aircraft and navigation.

Li Yu took out another drawing: "This kind of gyro stabilizer is oriented to the navigation field and is fixed to the hull with a frame. When the hull rolls sideways, the torque of the gyro will force the frame to carry the rotor to precess relative to the hull. This creates another gyroscopic moment, which has a stabilizing effect on the hull.”

Li Yu's design was only one or two years ahead of historical designs. Of course, Li Yu's design concepts were advanced and cannot be ignored, so both patent applications and social acceptance were very high.

Bell leaned down and looked at the design on the drawing carefully. He was a big shot in the world of inventions. He quickly sketched out the finished product in his mind and praised it over and over again: "Exquisite! Exquisite!"

Mark Twain and Hugo Gernsback, two "two knives" whose main business was literature and whose side business was invention, also came over to look at Li Yu's drawings.

Hugo withdrew his eyes and looked at the drawing of the "focus device" in his hand. The difference between a primary school student and a doctoral student was like nothing.

Mark Twain didn't take it seriously. After all, making inventions was just a hobby, and thinking about the bra he invented would make it more literary and artistic!
After leaving the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, Bell and Li Yu came to the laboratory for trial production.

The drawings are very clear, the principles are not complicated, and there are many years of preparation by predecessors, so it was completed quickly.

The subsequent patent application went smoothly and was approved soon.

Bell laughed loudly: "It won't be long before I believe airplanes will be able to fly higher and farther in the sky!"

After trials on U.S. Navy ships, the gyrobalancer was a success and soon almost every ship in the world was purchasing it.

Originally, according to history, Germany should be the first to use it and then spread it to the world a year later. Li Yu was equivalent to bringing it forward by nearly a year.

-

The ticket to England was in Li Yu's hands, and he was going to Scotland first.

Lord Kelvin's recent illness has continued to relapse, affecting the entire British scientific community.

Most of Britain's famous scientists came to Glasgow, and even some outstanding doctors from the European continent volunteered to come for treatment.

Although Mr. Kelvin seems to be most famous in history for raising two dark clouds, he was definitely a leading figure in the scientific community during his lifetime.

At this moment, Lord Kelvin in the room was sneezing from time to time and coughing constantly. There was a lot of blood on the handkerchief he wiped, and his body looked very weak.

What he had was just a cold, but for a man approaching 80 years old, a severe cold can sometimes be life-threatening.

Several top doctors gathered around him, constantly examining his body.

Thomson, the director of the Cavendish Laboratory, saw Li Yu and knew that he had great respect for Lord Kelvin and regarded him as a bole, so he said to him: "Wait a moment, the Lord is in a very bad state at the moment."

About ten minutes later, a doctor walked out of the room, took off his hat, and shook his head.

Thomson said in surprise: "Professor Landsteiner, is it possible that there is no way to even transfuse blood?"

Li Yu looked at the doctor. Landsteiner was famous in the medical and physiological circles. He proposed the ABO blood type and later won the Nobel Prize in Physiology.

Blood transfusion has a long history, but death from coagulation often occurs. After a long period of research, Landsteiner discovered that there are differences in human blood types.

As for why it is A, B and O, it is said that it is because he was not sure if there were other blood types, so he changed the ABC to ABO at the beginning and reserved some letters just in case.

This year, there was the first completely safe scientific blood transfusion in human history.

Landsteiner took off his gloves and said: "Blood transfusion is the most cutting-edge technology, and it may indeed slightly extend your life. But it is a coincidence that your Lord is the very rare AB type. Waiting for us to find the corresponding blood type will be delayed." A lot of time.”

"No matter what, try our best," Thomson said.

Landsteiner nodded: "I have ordered the students to conduct blood tests on all willing guests to look for AB blood type."

In 1900, Landsteiner discovered blood types A, B, and O. However, the proportion of AB blood type in the population is very small, only about four or five percent, so he did not discover AB type until 1906.

Li Yu said: "Stop looking for me, I am type AB."

Landsteiner was surprised: "How do you know what blood type you have!?"

Li Yu had no choice but to explain casually: "I read your paper, so I tested it myself."

Landsteiner had no time to doubt and said to him: "Please come with me, I still need to do a blood test."

(End of this chapter)