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

Chapter 640 Observation
Cambridge was slowly returning to its teaching rhythm, and there were not many people on campus. Li Yu met mathematician Hardy not long after wandering around.

"Hello, Mr. Hardy, where are you going in a hurry?" Li Yu asked.

"Academician Li Yu," Hardy said, holding an umbrella in his hand, "I am going to visit Ramanujan in the sanatorium. You have met him, the Indian mathematician."

"The condition is very serious? Why did you go to the nursing home?" Li Yu asked again.

"There is no way," Hardy said with some helplessness. "He originally had tuberculosis, which is difficult to treat. Ramanujan's faith prevented him from eating many things. The shortage of supplies in the past four years has greatly aggravated the condition."

"Where is the sanatorium? I will also go and visit." Li Yu said.

"It's not far. He has just been transferred to Colinnet Nursing Home in the southeastern suburbs of London. It can be reached by taxi in an hour," Hardy said.

"Okay, I'll buy something." Li Yu said.

"No need," Hardy said. "There's everything in the sanatorium, and you never know what he wants to eat."

The two immediately came outside the campus and hailed a taxi.

On the way, Li Yu asked about the Institute of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge: "I visited Professor Rutherford, and the Cavendish Laboratory has not yet recovered. I heard that many mathematicians also went to the front line during the war. How was the situation?"

"Fortunately, the military has always found us useful. We can help design better artillery trajectories or do detailed surveying and mapping work. There is not much danger in staying in the logistics department," Hardy said. "But not everyone likes the military. Professor Russell was dismissed from his teaching position because of his opposition to the war."

"Um, you can't even object?" Li Yu said.

“They claimed that they had shaken their determination to fight the war, and the fine they imposed, Mr. Russell, had to sell his books,” Hardy said. “What is even more unacceptable to us is that a few months ago, Mr. Russell was arrested again for his anti-war words and deeds. Went to jail and got a six month sentence.”

"You were sentenced just because of some anti-war words and deeds?" Li Yu was stunned.

Hardy nodded and said angrily: "The key point is that his anti-war words and deeds are aimed at the United States, not his own country. In order to please the United States, which is making a lot of money on the other side of the ocean, the British government really does everything possible."

"That means Mr. Russell is still in prison?" Li Yu said.

"Yes," Hardy said. "Fortunately, after our protest, the prison improved Mr. Russell's treatment and he can continue to do academic research in prison."

It was in prison that Russell finally completed his book "Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy".

The taxi drove for an hour and arrived at the sanatorium on the south bank of the Thames River. The environment inside was relatively elegant, but for a young man in his early thirties, it was obvious that he would not be happy living in such a place.

Ramanujan was obviously sick in bed, but after seeing him, Hardy actually said: "You look much better than when you were in the previous sanatorium."

"Yes, at least I can move around like a normal person," Ramanujan was obviously satisfied with his current physical condition. "I should be able to return to India soon."

Hardy felt a little regretful: "I know I can't save you anymore."

Li Yu said: "The influenza in India has not completely subsided. Mr. Ramanujan must pay more attention to it. The influenza is most likely to infect people who are weak."

——India has now reached the third wave of influenza. The most serious second wave of influenza has not spared even young adults. The reason may be clear to you. It is the legendary immune cytokine storm, that is, excessive immunity is connected to the body. The normal cells of the body are attacked together.

Ramanujan was not aware of the influenza situation in India and said: "Thank you, Mr. Academician, for your concern. I did not catch the flu in Europe, and I will not catch it after I return to India, where the gods have blessed me."

In fact, India was the country with the largest number of deaths during the Spanish Flu pandemic, with a conservative estimate of around 1800 million deaths.

This number is extremely shocking. More than three million people have died in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India.

The reason why India was hit so hard was that the medical conditions were so backward that it was impossible for the British gentlemen to treat all the people in the colonies as human beings.

On the other hand, there is the burial habit of Indians - water burial. They sink the body directly into the holy river Ganges.

Indians believe that the holy river can wash away the sins of the deceased and allow the soul to enter heaven. Then it directly brought countless people downstream into heaven. Because residents downstream are still collecting water for drinking, washing clothes and bathing.

Ramanujan said to Hardy: "Has the Navasa, the ship that took me to England, started carrying passengers again?"

"Yes, but the war paint still hasn't come off," Hardy said.

This ship was drafted as a hospital ship during the war. Later, when the United States entered the war, it was urgently deployed as a troop transport ship, continuously transporting American soldiers to the French front line.

Ramanujan read a lot of newspapers during this period and said: "The war does not seem to be a bad thing for India. It even gave many people hope for independence."

Li Yu said: "When you go back, you will find that a man named Gandhi is organizing the non-resistance movement."

Ramanujan said: "I have heard of him. He is also an outstanding Indian elite. He once led some movements in South Africa. After returning to India, he also received support from some British people."

The First World War was an opportunity for many places. Britain was forced to transfer a large number of troops stationed in India, leaving only 1.5 soldiers. At the same time, they recruited millions of local volunteers, many of whom came from the lowest untouchable castes.

As a veteran power, many of Britain's tricks have to be said to be insidious and clever. When they colonized India, they took advantage of the caste system to facilitate their control of India; now that their military strength is empty and their national power is weakened, they deliberately use low-caste people to make them grateful to them. How else to control such a large number of Indian troops from rebelling.

The British promised low-caste people when recruiting: "As long as you wear the uniform of the God King, you can walk around the Brahmin areas and spit wherever you like."

When Gandhiji first returned to India, he also expressed support for the war of the suzerain country, Britain, in exchange for their mercy and granted India autonomy.

But how could the British give up their most important colony.

Various actions of the colonial authorities finally transformed Gandhi into a non-cooperator.

Hardy took out a telegram from his bag and said to Ramnujan: "The University of Madras in India once again invites you to be a professor of mathematics and provides an additional research grant of 250 pounds per year for six years. Plus With Trinity College’s funding, you can still come to the UK regularly in the future.”

"It's great," Ramanujan said. "The attitude of Cambridge University since they made me a professor and a member of the Royal Society has been incredible."

These two titles are indeed powerful and have made Ramanujan a household name in India. The Madras authorities, who had ignored Ramnujan at that time, continued to court him and kept in touch with him through Hardy.

As usual, Hardy talked about the number that Ramanujan was most interested in: "The taxi number that Mr. Li Yu and I took today was 1729. After thinking about it, I think it must be a meaningless number." Just after he finished speaking, Added another sentence: "Hope it's not a bad omen."

Ramanujan immediately said: "No, it is a very meaningful number! Among all the numbers that can be expressed as the sum of two cubes in two different ways, 1729 is the smallest."

Hardy was surprised: "Is this really true?"

Ramnujan said with certainty: "It can never go wrong."

It is easy to find a number that can be expressed as the sum of two cubes. For example, 2 cubed + 3 cubed = 35. But 35 cannot be expressed as another form of the sum of two cubic numbers.

一直到1729，才可以用12与1的立方数之和，以及10与9的立方数之和来表示。

Li Yu had heard this story a long time ago and asked curiously: "How did you see it at a glance?"

Ramnujan said casually: "I've discovered that before."

"I almost forgot that combinatorial mathematics has always been your best," Li Yu said. "No wonder Professor Littlewood said that every positive integer is your friend."

Ramanujan would take a ship back to India in two months, and in another year, he would die of worsening tuberculosis.

He made many achievements in the last year of his life, and added 650 magical formulas to his notebook.

In the past, many people said that tuberculosis patients would have a comeback. Ramanujan may be an example.

The medical conditions in India are really poor. It would be better in places like Mumbai where there were many British colonists, but Ramanujan's hometown was much simpler.

A year later in the spring, Ramanujan passed away at the age of 33 after suffering from tuberculosis for a long time. When he died, he was surrounded by his wife, parents, two younger brothers and several friends.

Later that day, they held a funeral for Ramanujan, but none of Ramanujan's orthodox Brahmin relatives came because Ramanujan had traveled across the ocean and after returning to India, he was ill and did not undergo the so-called funeral. Purification rituals, in their view, Ramanujan was tainted.

-

After the visiting time, Li Yu and Hardy returned to Cambridge, and the next day they were invited to give a lecture.

The number of students in Cambridge is far less than that of four years ago, but Li Yu's lectures were still full of people.

The content is biased toward astrophysics, including some new results in astronomy and Einstein's field equations of general relativity.

After finishing his lecture, Eddington specifically approached Li Yu to talk about his recent plans: "There will be a solar eclipse in May this year, and I will personally lead the team to observe it. I firmly believe that this is a historic moment to verify the theory of relativity."

Li Yu said: "Fortunately, the war is over, otherwise the British government and the military might be dissatisfied because you want to verify a German's scientific point of view."

Eddington said: "They have been dissatisfied, but it is of no use. The Royal Astronomical Society has long interceded for me."

Like Russell, he was an anti-war opponent and had faced prison for refusing to perform military service (he was still drafted in 1918 at the age of 35). Dyson, later of the Royal Observatory, persuaded the Admiralty that Eddington could Serve your country better in this way by leading an expedition to test the theory of relativity during the next total solar eclipse.

So Eddington was destined to observe the solar eclipse.

Of course, this is almost the most important scientific research achievement in his life.

Compared with quantum mechanics, the verification of general relativity has always been a big problem in the scientific community. Proving the deflection of light through a solar eclipse is the best verification test.

There are many things in the general theory of relativity that need to be verified, but the phenomenon of light deflection caused by gravity can at least prove the correctness of general relativity in the real field. After all, the most important thing in physics is experimentation. All theories of theoretical physicists must ultimately provide direct experimental evidence.

Li Yu said: "Solar eclipse observation seems to have to go to the equator."

Eddington said: "Yes, in order to prevent the same mistake as in 1914, I plan to organize two expedition teams this time. One team will go to the Amazon jungle in northern Brazil; while I will go to the Portuguese colony of Principe in the Gulf of Guinea. Once the camera is set up on the island, we won’t have to wait for the next total solar eclipse.”

Li Yu said: "I also firmly believe that the theory of relativity is correct. It is perfect in both mathematics and physics."

Eddington said: "It is because Mr. Academician understands the theory of relativity that I am willing to mention this to you. There are still few people in the world who understand this profound and mysterious theory."

Eddington's final observations were not bad.

The eclipse lasted about five minutes, and Eddington took 16 photos on Principe Island in the Gulf of Guinea.

The weather in Brazil is better, and the Brazilian expedition team has set up two sets of cameras.

But the results couldn't be seen on the spot, and the negatives needed to be shipped back to England for development, measurement, and comparison.

We have to wait until September to find out the answer, but scientists are already eager to find out.

In the eyes of many people, Eddington's trip had a certain political overtone, reflecting the post-war contest between Britain and Germany: Britain's Newtonian theory predicted a deflection of about 0.85 arc seconds, while Germany's Einsteinian theory predicted a deflection of about 1.7 arc seconds. A deflection of arc seconds.

A high-quality set of photos taken in Brazil showed a deflection of 1.98 arc seconds; another set of photos taken with a slightly blurry lens showed a deflection of 0.86 arc seconds.

Then there are the films taken by Eddington on Principe Island in the Gulf of Guinea. Since there are relatively few stars, complex calculations and data analysis are required. In the end, they show a deflection of approximately 1.6 arc seconds.

As mentioned before, Eddington was a mathematical perfectionist and was obsessed with the elegant mathematical expression of general relativity. He ignored the smaller set of values ​​in Brazil, after all, there was something wrong with the equipment. Eddington preferred his own somewhat vague results in Africa, which averaged a little over 1.7 arc seconds.

This result is very consistent with Einstein's prediction.

Li Yu said to Eddington: "I can sponsor your observation trip. My cruise ship has advanced facilities and is much more comfortable than most ships you can find."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Academician!" Eddington was very happy with Li Yu's suggestion. "All the ships now look like warships, which is very annoying! They certainly can't be compared with a serious cruise ship. The Royal Society's funding is also relatively low. We are nervous and cannot provide the same observation conditions as before the war.”

Li Yu smiled and said, "I wish you all the best."