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

Li Yu soon understood why Hilbert was not a good student.

As long as it is a question he asks, it must be repeated many times until he can repeat it.

But Hilbert retells it in a very systematic, concise and mathematical way.

Faintly, Hilbert seems to have mastered the famous "Feynman Learning Method" in later generations: using his own language to explain something clearly to others in the simplest words, so that even laymen can understand it. In this way, I naturally have a very firm and thorough grasp.

This learning method is worth learning from.

It's just that instead of just repeating it, sometimes Hilbert will ask again a topic that Li Yu has finished talking about a few minutes later, which is very consistent with Hilbert's style.

Helping Hilbert study physics was not only Li Yu, but also Peter Debye, who had just arrived in Göttingen.

This old man is a Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, although he has been studying physics (the same experience as kindergarten director Rutherford)...

In addition, Debye also attended the 1927 Solvay Conference.

Debye was the one who came to replace Ehrwald as Hilbert's physics teacher.

In the discussion class that day, Hilbert suddenly asked Li Yu and Debye a question: "Now please tell me, what exactly is an atom?"

Li Yu asked: "Professor is going to study quantum theory again?"

"I just think atoms are more important," Hilbert said.

Debye said: "It is indeed important, but it seems to be a difficult question to answer."

"It's difficult to answer?" Hilbert asked doubtfully. "Physics has really not touched the essence of the problem. It really requires the participation of mathematicians."

Li Yu smiled and said: "This world is like a girl in a boudoir. It's not easy to see her face clearly."

"That's because you haven't found the key to open your heart," Hilbert said confidently. "If there had been someone who had done in-depth research on mathematical axiomatics earlier, perhaps the atomic problem would have been studied clearly."

Debye said: "Has the professor mastered Maxwell's theory to a very high level? He actually wants to study quantum theory?"

"In fact, what I was first interested in was Maxwell's equations, a mathematically elegant and rigorous physical theory," Hilbert said. "But I think Maxwell's equations did not touch the essence of the problem of material structure. It is even more worrying. Unfortunately, after the birth of the electron, physicists had no equations that could derive the existence of these particles."

Li Yu smiled again: "Professor really makes all the physicists in the world feel ashamed."

Hilbert said: "Einstein said the same thing."

"I met Einstein, who was also a young and promising physicist," Debye said.

"He," Hilbert said, "every kid on the street in Göttingen knows more about four-dimensional geometry than Einstein."

This is quite conceited.

"Mr. Einstein may not agree now," Debye said.

"Of course," Hilbert finally said something nice, "it was Einstein who invented the theory of relativity, not a mathematician."

Li Yu suddenly understood what Einstein once said: "The people in Göttingen sometimes give me a deep impression, as if they are not trying to help others explain certain things, but just want to prove that they are better than others." We physicists are much smarter."

Li Yu knew quantum theory best among these people, so he gave Hilbert several lectures.

Being limited to existing theories made it difficult for him to exert his full potential. Even so, Hilbert still gave Li Yu high praise: "Mr. Li Yu's understanding of quantum has been very deep. I have benefited a lot, and overall It feels more organized than Mr. Bohr’s lecture a few weeks ago.”

"Mr. Bohr is also an outstanding scholar in quantum fields." Li Yu said.

"But Bohr suffered too many constraints," Hilbert commented. "He was Rutherford's assistant after all. The starting point of many theories was still based on other people's experimental results. He was not as liberal as you."

Debye said: "In my impression, Easterners are very restrained, but Mr. Li Yu seems to be extremely bold."

Li Yu could only smile and say, "You should be cautious in your assumptions and bold in verification."

After the lecture, Klein came to join in the fun with great interest: "Let me see what Professor Hilbert learned."

Hilbert pointed to the chair next to him: "If you could attend class with me, you would know what I am learning."

Klein waved his hand and said, "I don't have that much time."

Hilbert asked: "Has the academy commissioned you to write a book on the history of mathematics in the 19th century? Have you already started?"

Li Yu pricked up his ears. He was more interested in this topic. He had been busy introducing the history of science and technology.

Unexpectedly, Klein said: "It will definitely not be possible because I am too old. It will take a young man several years to prepare. What I can do now is to give a few speeches and talk about what happened in this century." a major event; but now I am too busy to prepare even such a speech."

Klein was thirteen years older than Hilbert and was actually basically semi-retired.

Hilbert said: "I am just worried that I will have nothing to do in the future, so I am working hard to learn physics now."

Klein said: "It's really enviable that you can find an outstanding young scholar like Li Yu as your teacher. And Easterners have an incredible patience, otherwise others would not be able to stand you."

Hilbert smiled and said: "Orientals do have patience, but I'm not that scary."

"Speaking of Orientals," Klein said, "The Japanese in the medical school was also very patient. Without him, Ehrlich might not have found the drug to treat syphilis so early."

"Treating syphilis? Japanese?" Li Yu asked.

Klein said: "I don't remember the specific name of the Japanese man. Mr. Ehrlich's research room is next to the college. You can visit it when you have time."

Ehrlich was the winner of the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physiology and a disciple of the famous Koch.

Li Yu came to his laboratory in admiration, and the person who opened the door was indeed a Japanese.

The name of this Japanese is Qin Sahachiro.

Ehrlich in the room recognized Li Yu. He put down his glasses and said, "Mr. Li Yu, right?"

Li Yu said respectfully: "Professor Ehrlich."

Ehrlich said: "I originally wanted to contact you. Bayer has long ago said that it would build a factory in Shanghai, China, and hopes to introduce arsenophenamine to treat syphilis at the same time. However, the injection of arsenophenamine is very delicate. I don’t know the level of medical staff in your country, and I haven’t been able to make a decision.”

Li Yu said: "Chinese doctors and nurses will definitely have the richest clinical experience in the world."

In the era before Li Yu traveled through time, many past "public knowledge" remarks had been slowly debunked in the context of the Internet. For example, the foreign medical treatment advocated by many public figures is not what they say.

Domestic medical research may not be as good as that of the West, but the level of medical care in domestic hospitals is definitely not worse than that of Western hospitals, and may even be much better.

Because Chinese hospitals receive too many patients, I don’t know how rich their clinical experience is.

That's why Li Yu dared to say this confidently.

At present, there are very few hospitals in China, and there is basically no doubt about their quality.

Ehrlich said: "I feel relieved, but I still have to separately tell Bayer Pharmaceuticals that the factory instructions for this drug must state how difficult it is to inject."

Ehrlich's caution was justified. As almost the only way to deal with syphilis before the birth of antibiotics, arsenophenamine was very effective, but it was an arsenic-containing compound after all. Any slight mistake would be very scary.

Arsenic is arsenic!

If accidentally injected into a muscle, even a small dose may cause severe pain or even amputation.

There is currently no good way to deal with the pain. If you inject morphine to relieve the pain, it will really kill you. As for amputation, well, with the current medical level, there is nothing to say, and you will probably lose your life.

In short, there are not many doctors in Europe who can inject arsenophenamine, and they are highly respected, including Fleming.

Because the requirements for doctors are extremely high, this drug is not fully prescribed in Europe; and in any case, the side effects of arsenic cannot be ignored, so doctors are often cautious when prescribing this drug.

Li Yu said to Ehrlich: "The professor's ability to conquer syphilis is good news to millions of patients."

Ehrlich said: "Without the help of Qin Sahachiro-kun, it would not have been so fast."

Qin Zuobalang bowed and said: "I am just doing the experiment according to the professor's instructions."

The development of arsenophenamine took many years, and Ehrlich had hired several assistants before Qin Sahachiro.

They tried thousands of derivatives and finally found that code-named "606", the sixth of the sixth group of candidate drugs, worked on the syphilis virus.

This method of systematically modifying a certain lead compound to improve its biological activity through teamwork can be regarded as the first of modern medicinal chemistry research.

Ehrlich is definitely a master in the field of modern biomedicine and is very worthy of respect.

As for the Japanese Qin Sahachiro, Li Yu didn't have a good impression.

——It should be said that Li Yu has no favorable impression of anyone in Japan who studies bacterial biochemistry.

Because historically, this drug was shamelessly abused by the Japanese.

Although it sounds a bit discriminatory, it has to be said that the Japanese are a nation with truly "bad roots".

And there is also a kind of "obscenity" that goes deep into the bone marrow!

In order to expand frantically, Japan used Bushido to propagate militaristic ideas and "arm" the minds of soldiers; on the other hand, it also used military prostitutes, that is, comfort women, to let soldiers indulge.

Even before the Sino-Japanese War, Japan organized tens of thousands of women to work as prostitutes abroad.

The price of this was a syphilis epidemic.

The Japanese initially adopted the practice of changing a group of women after they became infected. As a result, syphilis in the country began to become uncontrollable.

Later, comfort women began to be recruited in China and North Korea.

Japan does not treat these women as human beings at all. They inject arsenophenamine at will. If it fails, it fails and is discarded at will; if it succeeds, it is marked with a safety mark.

Women who were marked for safety would be tortured even more because Japanese soldiers knew that they would not contract syphilis if they showed their bestiality to them.

This vicious practice is too numerous to mention and makes people toothache from anger!

Japanese military doctors will never treat Chinese or Korean people.

Qin Zuohachiro still respected Li Yu and said cautiously: "Mr. Kitasato once said that Dr. Wu Liande and Mr. Li Yu once controlled the plague in the Northeast. This is something that makes us Japanese very gratified."

Yes, when I heard this, I got excited: Is it none of your business, the Japanese, that we control the plague in Northeast China?

Why, is it true that Tohoku belongs to Japan by default?

If you can't speak, don't speak!

Li Yu snorted and said, "The Northeast is our territory, and we should help our own people."

Qin Sahachiro chuckled: "Mr. Academician, you have great righteousness in your heart, which is admirable. After I return to China, I will also work in Professor Kitasato's research institute, and I may go to your country to jointly prevent the epidemic in the future."

Li Yu said: "That is your own business."

Qin Sahachiro said: "Greater East Asia will be one family in the future. Your business is our business. We, the Great Japanese Empire, have the obligation to ensure the security of the entire East Asia."

Li Yu sneered and said: "The countries in East Asia are in charge of their own affairs. Don't let dogs and mice meddle in their own business."

Qin Sahachiro said: "Mr. Li Yu is proficient in mathematics. Although mathematics is important, its role is indirect. Medicine is a direct salvation. Our Empire of Japan is better than your country in this regard, and we are more willing to help your country than Europe. "

Li Yu didn't know what this guy was thinking, but even if he didn't have evil intentions, there was a high probability that he wouldn't have good intentions, and the possibility of evil intentions was even greater.

Li Yu sneered and said, "We have our own way."

Qin Zuohachiro will return to China in a few months and has almost disappeared since then.

At this time, most of Japan's biochemical and bacteriological research institutes were controlled by the government or the military. What good things could the Japanese military do?

Unfortunately, the Japanese were too sinister. They burned a large amount of materials on the eve of their defeat and then refused to admit their defeat.

Li Yu knew that even if he could find a way to get rid of people like Hideki Tojo, there would still be Hideki Saijou and Hideki Nanjo, but it was not easy to train people in the scientific research field.

I must find an opportunity to kill Shiro Ishii of Unit 731 in the future!

This bastard was protected from punishment by the US military after the war, and argued that "Unit 731 was created to defend Japan, and research on germ warfare was for self-defense"!

It simply stinks!

Bastard Ishii handed over all the data obtained from countless human experiments to the United States in order to exempt all its personnel from war responsibility.

I really can't bear it!

Li Yu suddenly thought that he might be able to find Shiro Ishii using Qin Sahachiro in front of him, and then look for opportunities to strike.

So he softened his tone a little and said to Qin Zuohachiro: "If I go to Japan in the future, I might go to see Qin Zuojun."

Qin Zuobalang bowed and said: "Academician Li Yu is a first-class scholar in the world. I am sincerely frightened!"

Li Yu smiled strangely, nodded at him, and said nothing more.

It is right for you to be sincere and fearful. There will be times when you are sincere and fearful.