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

Chapter 677 Another German named Feng

Li Yu specially took Einstein and Bohr to visit his small island in Sweden, which has been well maintained.
Einstein was surprised and said: "You have hidden such a good place privately. It is like a fairyland, no, it is a paradise in Chinese legend!"

Li Yu said: "It hasn't been put to use yet, but it definitely has its place."

Bohr said: "It's good, but it's a little out of the way. As a holiday resort, it's not bad."

Several people then took a ship back to Germany.

Li Yu received an invitation letter to the World Mechanics Congress, signed by von Karman.

Einstein smiled and said: "They must be studying engineering mechanics, material mechanics or some other field of mechanics. Otherwise, why didn't Mr. Bohr receive the invitation letter? He studies quantum mechanics, which is also mechanics."

Li Yu looked at the content of the letter. The topic was fluid dynamics and aerodynamics.

"Perhaps Professor von Kármán felt that I had been involved in automobile and aircraft manufacturing and sent an invitation out of courtesy."

"They absolutely want Mr. Li Yu to come over," Einstein said.

"Why?" Li Yu asked.

"Because there is a lack of funds for various activities today, you are the richest person in the scientific community!" Einstein said. "In addition, inflation is too serious. The tuition fees paid by students at the beginning of the semester are often not enough when paid to lecturers at the end of the semester." There are not many left, and the lecturers are not very interested in teaching, so they might as well do some research activities, so it’s very understandable that I ask you to go.”

It sounds worse than the salary arrears of several domestic universities.

Anyway, the venue was not that far away, so Li Yu decided to take a train to Aachen, where von Karmen was located.

He bought a "Physical Yearbook" and a "Mathematical Yearbook" on the platform, which are the top authoritative journals in the two fields of mathematics and physics in Germany. The price has increased from 64 marks when he came to Germany to 400 marks. He will pay them back at the end of next year. It will soar to 28000 marks.

Aachen is located on Germany's westernmost border, next to Belgium.

The train passed through Dortmund and a few French people got on. It's quite normal, because Dortmund is one of the core cities in the Ruhr Industrial Area. After World War I, France has been keeping an eye on Germany's Ruhr Industrial Area and wants to occupy it to prevent the possibility of Germany rising again.

There were two French brothers sitting opposite Li Yu. They looked at Li Yu, whispered a few words, and asked, "Are you Mr. Li Yu?"

Li Yu replied: "That's right, are you?"

"My name is Andre Michelin, and this is my brother Edward Michelin."

It turned out to be the founder of Michelin.

"Hello." Li Yu said.

Andre Michelin said: "We have met Mr. on some occasions, but we have never been able to officially know him."

Li Yu said: "Many cars in Germany use your tires. Unfortunately, I rarely attend supply meetings."

Edouard Michelin said: "With how busy you are, there is really no need to attend."

Li Yu smiled and said, "Thank you for your understanding."

Andre Michelin suddenly took out a brochure from his bag: "We are recruiting or inviting some high-ranking people to be reviewers of our Michelin Guide. We think you are very suitable. Of course, we won't waste much of your time. Just write us some praiseworthy dishes and restaurant reviews after your meal. ”

"Ah?" Li Yu asked in surprise, "Michelin Guide?"

Andre Michelin put the booklet in front of him: "This is the first edition. Please read it first."

"But I... am not good at evaluating food and beverages." Li Yu said.

"No, you are very suitable!" Andre Michelin said categorically. "First of all, you are from mysterious China. China has a set of excellent cooking skills since ancient times. Moreover, you have traveled to many countries and are one of the few people who has tasted all kinds of food. person, so your evaluation must be of great reference value.”

Edward Michelin said: "We know that Mr. Academician also served as an emperor's teacher in China, so he must be able to eat the best food; and in Europe, you are a person who all kinds of upper-class people try to make friends with, and it is easy to eat palace state banquets. . There are not many diners in the world who blend the East and the West like you!"

Li Yu didn't expect that they would entrust him with such a strange thing, but it seemed to make sense.

The brothers started working on the Michelin Guide many years ago. At that time, the car was just a few years old. They believed that only by increasing car sales could they increase their tire sales.

So they made a booklet that included all kinds of practical information, such as how to change a tire, where to refuel, where to rest and eat, and even where to stay overnight.

At first, the pamphlet was distributed for free to encourage people to travel far and thereby increase the demand for cars. It was a marketing tool.

This is free for twenty years, but the effect is not very good. So in 1920, the brothers suddenly realized: people will only respect things bought with real money.

So they started selling the Michelin Guide for 7 francs.

In an era when maps are a scarce commodity, the Michelin Guide is of great value to drivers.

It is said that it helped the Allied troops land in Normandy in the late World War II. At that time, all road signs in France were destroyed, and the Michelin Guide contains hundreds of detailed and up-to-date city street maps.

Andre Michelin said: "No matter where you go to a restaurant, as long as you think it is valuable, you can send us a review."

"I really can't write." Li Yu said.

This is not as simple as booking a package on a group buying platform and writing a review.

"It's not difficult!" Andre Michelin said, "You only need to make a reasonable decision from five aspects: the quality of the ingredients, the taste and cooking skills, the personality revealed in the cuisine, value for money, and the consistency of the catering standards. It’s okay to make an evaluation even if it’s a little subjective.”

It’s really hard for Li Yu.

Although Li Yu lived a very comfortable life after time travel, he had never been to a Michelin restaurant before time travel...

"I can only try my best." Li Yu said.

"We believe in you!" Andre Michelin said, "Your taste buds are the most diverse in the world."

They praised Li Yu so much that he couldn't refuse, and said with a smile: "I really hope that you can go to China and eat for a month in person, so that you will know how terrible the development of cooking has been, and it will increase your understanding a lot."

-

After arriving in Aachen, the Michelin brothers wanted to continue their journey to France, so they said goodbye.

And von Karmen was already waiting for Li Yu at the station.

"Welcome, Academician Li Yu!" Fon Kamen shook hands with Li Yu, "You look younger than I thought." I don't know if it's because of time travel, but Li Yu's age seems to be growing slower, or maybe it's because of time travel. It's because he has a really good physique.

Li Yu said: "It was the first time we met, but it seemed like we had already met before."

"It's such an honor for you to say that!" Von Karman said happily, "Please come to my office. Professor Hilbert has also rushed over from Göttingen."

Von Karman is currently the dean of the School of Aeronautics at RWTH Aachen University. He studied for a PhD in Göttingen in his early years and is an old acquaintance of Hilbert.

When he came to the teaching and research office, Li Yu discovered that there were not only Hilbert, but also Bohr's brother mathematician Harold Bohr and the British mathematician Hardy. Needless to say, the two of them must have come with Hilbert. .

Li Yu smiled and said: "Professor Hilbert, you should still be doing research on physical axiomatics, otherwise why would you attend a conference of mechanics."

"You guessed very accurately," Hilbert said. "Fluid mechanics and engineering mechanics have more axiomatic needs, and they are quite dependent on mathematics."

Hardy said: "There is another reason. Göttingen is now suffering from inflation, and many students are not even willing to go back to school. The school's scientific research activities cannot be organized, and the Wolfskehl Prize, worth 100,000 marks, is From the bonus, the interest could be used to invite scholars to give lectures in Göttingen every year. The person they want to invite this year is Mr. Li Yu, but now the money can only be used to buy a few blank pieces of paper. I happened to hear that you will come to Aachen. So just ask in person.”

The Wolfskehl Prize he mentioned is awarded to those who prove Fermat's Last Theorem.

Many years ago, a young German tycoon Wolfskehl was given the good guy card because he failed to confess his love.

There is one more young man in the world with a broken heart...

Classmate Wolfskehl felt that he had received a critical hit of 10,000 points, and decided to commit suicide angrily.

He set the time of suicide at midnight. After writing his will, he found that there were still a few hours left. While doing nothing, he happened to see a mathematics magazine, which happened to have an article introducing Fermat's last theorem.

Wolfskehl usually liked math and science, and he was fascinated by it. He even started doing calculations, and before he knew it, it was past twelve o'clock.

He felt that his life should not be taken, so why not commit suicide! Lived for many more years.

After his death, he specifically specified in his will that 10 marks would be awarded to the person who proved Fermat's last theorem.

These 10 marks are managed by Göttingen, and the annual interest can be freely used.

Hilbert said: "The situation in Göttingen is even worse than what Hardy said. One of our professors at the School of Mathematics and Physics was so bored that he actually made a manual calculator specifically used to calculate the inflation of the mark."

"Göttingen has a wide range of interests. Maybe economists will also come to learn from you in the future." Li Yu said with a smile.

"I think it is very possible!" said Hardy. "When I return to England, I will tell Keynes about it."

Harold Bohr said: "How is your research on the Riemann Hypothesis going? Every time I receive a postcard from you, you claim to have proved it."

Hardy laughed and said: "This is a prank I play every time before I go to sea. If God lets me die, then I will have left behind words that prove the Riemann Hypothesis; God will definitely not want me to die with such honor, so I to reach the European continent safely.”

"How cunning!" said Harnard Bohr.

"Both Fermat's Hypothesis and Riemann's Hypothesis are far away," Hilbert said. "The only result that Göttingen has achieved in recent years is from the female mathematician Jimmy Noether."

Hardy, holding his pipe in his mouth, joked: "In a patriarchal society like Germany, it's very visual when you think about it."

Hilbert sighed: "I am even a little lucky now that the school has recruited Max Born. Maybe Göttingen can make a breakthrough in quantum aspects."

Born would soon have two right-hand men, Pauli and Heisenberg, but unfortunately neither stayed long and only studied mathematics in Göttingen.

Heisenberg originally wanted to study the theory of relativity, but was stopped by his "eldest brother" Pauli, because Pauli felt that there was nothing left to explore in the theory of relativity.

"God-defying" Pauli's eyes were quite vicious.

This time in Aachen, von Karman was only conducting preparatory work for the mechanics conference. Li Yu quite recognized von Karman's work: "The design of aircraft in the past was very confusing, and as the weight continues to increase, it is necessary to standardize it."

Von Karman said: "I want to set up a wind tunnel laboratory to get more complete data."

Li Yu immediately supported: "I can provide part of the funds."

He had to start quickly, otherwise the wind tunnel would become a research direction that attracted great attention from the military department in the future.

"Sure enough, sir, you also have excellent vision in the field of engineering." Von Karman admired him.

Li Yu smiled and said, "My biggest goal is to help train a few Chinese students in the future."

At the subsequent preparatory meeting, Li Yu, Hilbert and others attended as representatives and did not speak much because everyone had already tacitly agreed to hold the mechanics conference.

The formal conference will take another two or three years.

After the preparatory meeting, Li Yu followed Hilbert to the University of Göttingen to give a public lecture - Göttingen really couldn't afford the money.

After finishing speaking, Hilbert and Li Yu went to Göttingen's De Loenz restaurant for dinner.

During the dinner, Hilbert commented on the recent speeches in Göttingen: "Fortunately, Mr. Li Yu is here! The speeches in Göttingen in recent years are really far worse than before the war. In the previous speeches, everyone was Paying attention to the art of speech, whether it is humor or rigor, speakers think a lot about what they want to say and how to say it well. Young people nowadays do not do this, especially in Göttingen. I think it is the worst in the world. I'm afraid the speech was given in Göttingen. This year the situation was even worse. I didn't hear a good speech at all!

"Especially a few days ago, Wiener, an American mathematician known as a 'child prodigy,' came to Göttingen to give a speech. I am convinced that it was the worst I have ever heard!"

Li Yu was a little ashamed. Wiener was the founder of cybernetics and a master of mathematics.

However, Weiner himself did not dare to say anything after hearing Hilbert's evaluation. He could only look for more reasons from himself.

Li Yu thought of what the Michelin brothers had said before, so he changed the topic: "I think today's sausages are not particularly strong. The flavor is much worse than what I had in Berlin, and the frying temperature is not enough."

Hilbert said as usual: "Don't expect to eat any delicious food here!"

Hilbert was still obsessed with physics recently. It was almost next year when he stopped being obsessed with the axiomatics of physics and handed over the physics seminar in Göttingen to Born.

Born's performance in physics was obviously much better than Hilbert's. He successively attracted many celebrities to participate in seminars. In addition to Pauli and Heisenberg, there were also Oppenheimer, Compton, Dirac, etc. Lots of big names.

Later, the great mathematician Weyl commented on Hilbert's achievements in physics in recent years: very unsatisfactory, incomparable with his mathematical achievements at any period in his life.

There are many differences between mathematics and physics, and it is difficult to apply axiomatic methods to physics, which places great emphasis on experiments.

In addition, it is a pity that I did not meet Born himself. He went to Frankfurt to attend an event, which seemed to be about soliciting sponsorship...

(End of this chapter)