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

Chapter 580 The big trouble caused by not having reverse gear

Now the research focus of Russell and Wittgenstein is on philosophy, and it is also very logical philosophy. After all, both of them had backgrounds in science and engineering.

Li Yu was not good at this field, but starting in 1905, physics suddenly gave birth to several almost philosophical questions that hit the depths of the soul, such as "Why is the speed of light 30 kilometers per second?" which Li Yu still could not answer before traveling through time. , "Why does the speed of light remain unchanged?", what is the essential meaning of wave-particle duality, what exactly constitutes matter, etc.

They are all questions that seem simple at first glance, but cannot be answered at all if you think about it carefully.

Although Russell and Wittgenstein have not dabbled in physics, the theory of relativity and quantum theory have been very shocking in recent years, so they must have heard about it to some extent.

Wittgenstein said: "When I was reading an article introducing the theory of relativity written by Mr. Eddington, I saw that Einstein raised a very philosophical question, 'What is time', and said that it is related to the theory of relativity. core."

Russell said: "I also read it. The content is quite profound. Einstein believed that time is an illusion of human beings. This sentence is really incomprehensible."

Fortunately, they asked questions that Li Yu was better at.

Li Yu said: "It can be understood that in the past, mechanics first studied motion, and motion has speed. Time must be used to solve the speed, so if time cannot be defined, speed is meaningless. In other words, time is more basic Something that we have always ignored.”

Wittgenstein said: "Isn't time the most ordinary?"

Li Yu said: "Perhaps we can ask another question, that is, does time exist?"

Li Yu said: "Being able to reach the speed of light is eternity."

The concept of high-dimensional space and time is obviously too advanced. Russell said: "Wouldn't that make him God?"

Li Yu said: "According to the theory of relativity, if you move at the speed of light, time does not exist, or you cannot feel time."

Li Yu admitted: "At present, it does only exist in mathematics."

Wittgenstein was very excited after hearing this, "What a profound angle!"

Russell nodded: "So I understand. It turns out they are called mythical beasts."

It took half a century before the International Conference on Weights and Measures defined the duration of 133 9 192 631 cycles of radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine energy levels of the ground state of the cesium-770 atom as one second.

It is indeed a question asked by a philosopher.

At the beginning of the 20th century, not to mention experimental accuracy, even the theoretical foundation had not yet been established.

"Unfortunately, there is currently no particularly accurate one." Li Yu said.

Li Yu laughed and said: "And it's a big loophole, because time is a measure of change. When we measure time, we can only use a certain period of change as a benchmark, and then pray that this period will never change."

Li Yu smiled and said: "You have seen the clues. We perceive time through some kind of event. If time belongs to other dimensions, as three-dimensional creatures we cannot feel time and can only feel movement. In fact, we have always regarded things as The movement is likened to the passage of time.”

Russell thought for a while and said: "From a mathematical point of view, high dimensions do exist. Professor Klein of Göttingen has made many similar assumptions, but they only exist in mathematics."

Li Yu said: "Maybe God only exists in three-dimensional space."

Wittgenstein suddenly asked: "If time does not exist, then does eternity exist?"

This way of defining it already puts ordinary people to shame.

Wittgenstein said: "I remember that there was a prototype of the weight unit kilogram at the headquarters of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris, France. I really didn't hear of anything as a measurement standard at that time."

This was the first time Russell and Wittgenstein had heard this statement, and they found it quite incredible: "How can it be inaccurate? The watch industry has a history of at least two to three hundred years. Even if a watch becomes inaccurate due to mechanical reasons, it still cannot be accurate." You can’t tell the time without knowing it accurately.”

Russell was naturally fond of finding faults. He took two puffs on his pipe and said slowly: "If the clock is accurate enough, wouldn't it be possible to measure it accurately?"

Russell asked in confusion: "What's so special?"

Wittgenstein was surprised: "Doesn't time exist?"

Li Yu said: "Unlike other units of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures such as length and weight, time is the only one that may be inaccurately measured."

Wittgenstein asked: "Is there such a cycle?"

Wittgenstein said: "Didn't you just say that if time cannot be defined, motion cannot be defined."

Russell was stunned: "Mythical beast?"

Li Yu continued: "Time is not only basic, but also very special."

The more we talked today, the more profound it became.

(The original French kilogram was used until 2018.)

"Measuring weight is because there is a standard object that can be compared and then the weight of other objects can be given; length can also be measured with a standard ruler," Li Yu said, "but time is constantly passing, and you cannot take out the weight of other objects." A certain minute is used as a fixed standard because it is already in the past; you cannot know whether the time interval between the previous minute and the next minute is equal. You cannot take the previous minute back and compare it."

"Of course we can perceive time, isn't it just about birth, old age, illness and death?" Wittgenstein just finished speaking and immediately discovered the problem, "No! These are all indirect feelings of time, they are just the embodiment of time!"

"It's just because it's so common that it's the most basic." Li Yu said.

Li Yu said: "Yes, but if we can see the entire four-dimensional space and time, maybe nothing there has passed and everything is still there. Of course, this is just a hypothesis."

"I don't know," Li Yu said, "but if we apply epistemology in philosophy, we cannot directly recognize time."

"Reaching the speed of light means eternity?" Wittgenstein asked.

Li Yu said: "You must know Zeno's tortoise, which is also a classic paradox; Laplace's beast and Maxwell's demon are all classic cases that appear in thought experiments."

Russell and Wittgenstein specialized in logic and philosophy, and they quickly reacted: "There is indeed a loophole!"

Li Yu said: "The uncertainty I am referring to is a more basic uncertainty, because there is no reference for time."

Russell nodded: "That makes sense."

Li Yu said: "Now, I also assume that there is such a magical elf who is responsible for controlling time. If one day, it suddenly becomes naughty and makes everyone in the world lose two seconds in a certain minute, and then it will disappear again. Set all the clocks in the world so that you never notice that one minute is two seconds less than the next. Right?"

Wittgenstein asked: “If time is an illusion, then where did our last second go?”

This is just a common error problem, so Li Yu was not in a hurry to answer, but asked: "Mr. Russell, have you ever heard of the mythical beast in physics?"

"It's kind of hard to imagine," Russell said.

Li Yu said: "To use the simplest analogy, if you can move at the speed of light, there will be no difference between one hundred million years and one second to you. From the birth of the world to this moment, you will feel that there is only one moment."

"It must have been an amazing feeling," Russell said.

Li Yu smiled and said: "It's a pity that no object with mass can reach the speed of light."

Wittgenstein said: "It is such a pleasure to communicate with great physicists!"

It seems that not only is he communicating with the great soul, but the great soul also thinks he is communicating with the great soul.

Russell happily invited Li Yu to have dinner with him at his apartment, but the food at Russell's house was quite British-style, too unpalatable...

——The time in Europe was almost over. Li Yu took advantage of the stable situation and returned to New York by ship.

Li Yu went directly to the factory to arrange the factory progress for David Buick and Zou Zhou.

"Starting from today, production will be at full capacity every day, and the new factory will be put into operation immediately."

David Buick said: "Orders from Ford, Cadillac and other companies have not yet come in."

"It doesn't matter, they will all be sold," Li Yu said firmly, "Don't let the warehouse sit idle, it will be full."

Zou Zhou didn't quite understand Li Yu's intention, so he asked, "Is the boss worried about the stock market and wants to boost confidence?"

This kid is growing up really fast and already understands economics and finance.

This year, the Dow Jones Index in the United States has fallen by about 20%. The newly established Federal Reserve was in dire straits. Opposition voices were everywhere in the market. They believed that government intervention had disrupted the market and demanded that the Federal Reserve be shut down as soon as possible. The Federal Reserve could only call in Little Morgan Town to calm the situation.

On the contrary, Li Yu has nothing to care about the stock market, not only because his automobile industry has not been listed, but even if it is listed, he is an intellectual property company like Bosch and will not be affected much.

As for the U.S. stock market, it was closed after the outbreak of World War I and remained closed for half a year.

The London Stock Exchange closed on July 7 for the first time in history.

Prior to this, European stock exchanges such as Berlin had been closed. If the New York Stock Exchange insists on trading, it will become the only open exchange in the world. It is conceivable that all the selling will be concentrated here, leading to disastrous consequences.

So on the day the London Stock Exchange closed, the New York Stock Exchange also announced its closure.

Speaking of which, when trading opened for the first time in half a year, the New York Stock Exchange still fell sharply, but it soon ushered in a terrifying growth.

It was then that the United States was surprised to discover that not only would it not be affected by a war in Europe, it would also be able to make a lot of money.

Later, some popular books claimed that World War I was caused by the Federal Reserve and that they caused it.

-Obviously just a conspiracy theory.

I won’t go into details, as there are too many loopholes to withstand scrutiny.

Just a basic truth: The economy is indeed very, very important, but never overestimate the impact of economic forces on the current situation.

Furthermore, don’t think that only Americans are smart. Are people from other countries all fools?

Americans had no idea before the war that a war would be so beneficial to them.

The mainstream view in the United States at that time was that the European countries participating in the war would realize their investments in the United States and use them to purchase arms, which would be a disaster for the American economy.

And in the days before the market closed, the New York Stock Exchange fell beyond hope.

Li Yu can only temporarily say to Zou Zhou: "There is no need to worry too much about the stock market, just do our own thing."

Zou Zhou said: "I understand, boss."

"If all the new plants come online, it's going to be a lot of hiring," said David Buick.

Li Yu said: "Worker training has not stopped for so many years. There will be no shortage of manpower. We will pay as much as we deserve."

Zou Zhou said: "I will contact Mr. Situ Meitang to speed up the training progress."

He was very happy with his boss's decision, because by recruiting more Chinese workers, America's Chinatowns would become more prosperous.

Li Yu did this because he knew the future development.

In the future, European industries will be shut down on a large scale, and they will all rely on overseas imports. The United States is the closest, and first-come-first-served is the one closest to the water.

Britain and France borrowed money on a large scale in the United States again, and the debt was not borrowed in their own currencies. The debts were all in U.S. dollars.

——If you borrow money in local currency, you can offset the debt by issuing more currency.

Wall Street is a thief, and it requires that the money borrowed by Britain and France can only be used in the United States.

(Does this trick sound familiar?)

Anyway, during the years of World War I, the United States greatly stimulated the domestic economy by borrowing public debt from Britain and France, and exported like crazy.

European countries use weapons produced in the United States to kill each other, rely on food exported by the United States to survive, and rely on public debt issued by the United States to survive.

America's victory is engraved on tombstones across Europe.

The United States was experiencing unprecedented wartime prosperity, and all factories across the country were smoking.

Before the war, a daily wage of five dollars was already the highest level in the industry, and only a few factories such as Li Yu and Ford could achieve it; but by around 1917, a daily wage of ten dollars could only hire a child laborer.

That’s why the United States became a “country on wheels” so early, accounting for almost 60 to 70% of global car sales.

This is all Europe’s hard-earned money!

The United States is borrowing money to overdraw its future!

It's just that this future is the future of the Allies, so the United States doesn't care at all.

Americans don't care, and Li Yu is even less likely to care.

In addition to factory matters, Li Yu submitted several patents by the way, still in the automotive and radio fields.

In terms of automobiles, there is a patent for an improved gearbox. Li Yu slightly simplified the car's gear-shifting logic, but it is definitely much more complicated than later generations of cars.

After all, Li Yu slowly released his patents, so driving a good car in this era is still a technical job.

The European side did not adopt Li Yu's shifting patent.

Not to mention Li Yu's relatively optimized patents, European car companies did not even adopt the gearbox design of the earlier Ford Model T.

Ford's Model T transmission has three gears, two forward gears and one reverse gear.

The key is in reverse gear.

If Europe were willing to adopt such patents, history might be rewritten.

Because during the Sarajevo incident, the car in which Archduke Ferdinand was riding did not have reverse gear.

The driver took the wrong road, which happened to be the path where Princip was. The driver had no choice but to go around from the front.

The result... was that Princip, a little unknown figure, created a major turning point in history.

It was the lack of reverse gear that caused the trouble!

(End of this chapter)