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

Chapter 7

Martin Wai-liang was an American. From 1869 to 1894, he served as the chief instructor of the Jingshi Tongwen Academy, which lasted for 25 years. It can be said that he had a great influence on the Jingshi Tongwen Academy.

As the chief professor of the best national top university in the Qing Dynasty at that time, you must think that Martin was a very important figure in academics, but in fact, he was just a missionary.

Martin graduated from Indiana State University. The highest ranking of this university in the United States is about 300 or [-], and it should be more than [-] in the world.And it is not a research university, it is mainly employment-oriented.People who often watch the NBA may have heard of it. Indiana University is one of the five cradles of the NBA.

Martin received an orthodox Western-style education in the United States, but later entered a seminary to study theology.

In terms of academic ability, he is really not outstanding, but as a missionary in a foreign country, his communication skills are very strong, and his Chinese is also very good, so he became the chief teacher of Tongwenguan.

It is conceivable how far behind the Qing Dynasty was in science.

Although I don't want to admit it, but to be honest: the scientific level of the Qing Dynasty is really much worse than that of India.

It's so exciting!

Now Martin has stepped down as the chief professor of Tongwenguan, but in a few months he will be hired again as the chief professor of Western Studies in the Imperial University.

After all, Tongwenguan is an institution directly under the prime minister's national affairs office, and the two are so close, and the prime minister who has real power can look up and down, so the relationship is always in place.

Another foreigner who performed calculations with Martin was Shi Deming, a physics teacher at Tongwenguan.

Fan Xiren didn't dare to disturb them, and watched from the window with Li Yu.

They calculated very seriously, the blackboard was full of mathematical calculations, and they were discussing intensely.

Fan Xiren couldn't understand these mathematical symbols, and murmured: "Western science is really complicated and profound. I can recognize these letters, but I don't know the meaning at all."

At this time, Fan Xiren was definitely a fan of western learning, but his level was not enough.

Li Yu read the formula on the blackboard completely, and soon realized that it was a question about mathematical analysis. It was necessary to prove that a binary continuous function is in a plane domain, which is equal to a repeated integral. This question is indeed difficult. , which is roughly equivalent to the medium difficulty of the postgraduate entrance examination in the Department of Mathematics.

Shi Deming was a physics teacher, but his mathematics level was not high. At that time, almost all the people who studied physics were engaged in experiments, and they were not very up to standard in physics theory, let alone mathematics.

Shi Deming and Ding Weiliang calculated for a long time, and got stuck at a node, and neither of them seemed to be able to proceed.

The physics professor Shi Deming sighed: "I can't do anything about this kind of mathematical problem. Mr. Chief Professor, you are now the chief professor of Qingguo University, can you find a student from the Department of Mathematics to do the math together."

Martin took the chalk and wrote down a few more formulas on the blackboard. He said helplessly, "Those so-called 'scholar-officials'? Give it up! In terms of literature, they are adults, but in terms of science, they are still children." !"

Li Yu felt uncomfortable hearing these words. In fact, he had already seen the problem in the calculation, and said loudly: "Let me interject, two professors, you made a mistake at the beginning, how could you do it right!"

The air froze for a few seconds. Martin and Shi Deming looked at the two people outside the window together. Shi Deming said, "Are you students of Tongwen Hall?"

Fan Xiren felt that it was too offensive. He had attended private schools for many years and had great respect for the teachers in the school. Even if he was wrong, he would say it privately.And with such a large number of calculations, the difficulty is not at the same level as yesterday's fixed points. How can you just say that the two foreign teachers are wrong!
He hurriedly said: "Master Chief Teacher, I... I am indeed a student of the Tongwenguan, and I don't intend to disturb your discussion. Let's go now."

Now almost everyone in the Qing Dynasty worships foreigners very much, and it can be said that they are truly "worshiping foreigners and fawning on foreigners".

"It's okay." Ding Weiliang said, "Tell me, what's wrong?"

Fan Xiren shook his head hastily: "It wasn't me who spoke just now, it was Brother Li Yu, he, he is in mathematics..."

Sweat was dripping from Fan Xiren's forehead, Li Yu patted him and motioned for him to come.

Li Yu didn't have any feudal shackles on him, and he was entitled to a very ordinary academic exchange.In fact, Martin and Shi Deming are not surprised to see this. When they were in college, they often discussed it directly with their professors.

Li Yu's thinking was very clear, and he said: "After you change the integral, you should use the periodicity of the sine function sin to simplify the integral, otherwise it will be impossible to continue the subsequent proof."

After he finished speaking, he went straight into the classroom, wiped the blackboard, picked up a piece of chalk, and quickly listed more than ten calculation steps on the blackboard, and finally got the same result accurately.

Li Yu threw the chalk casually, "This is the end."

Shi Deming was very surprised and praised in English: "Such a beautiful proof!"

Martin did not expect that a young scholar in the Qing Dynasty could have such a high level of mathematical accomplishment. He read it carefully several times and found that he could not master the mathematical skills in some places, but the result must be correct.

"Your name is—carp?"

Li Yu corrected: "It's not the carp, it's Li Yu. Li Bai's Li, the edict of the Shang Yu."

Ding Weiliang said, "Li Yu. Okay, I'll make a note. Are you also a student of Tongwenguan?"

Li Yu shook his head: "I'm not, I'm just a librarian."

"Librarian?" Weiliang Ding asked in surprise, "How did you master these advanced mathematical knowledge?"

Li Yu had no choice but to tell him about his own situation. Of course, he can only say that he learned from the schools in the concession, and many of them were self-study.

Ding Weiliang said: "In this way, it is a pity for you to be an administrator. How far have you mastered the current science?"

Li Yu calculated the time, and now quantum mechanics and relativity have not yet come out; the chemical community has just studied the periodic table of elements, and then established the first and second laws of thermodynamics; but electromagnetism can be said to be very popular now.

So he had no choice but to say generally: "I have deep research on differential equations in mathematics, thermodynamics and atomic composition in chemistry, electromagnetism and mechanics in physics, and I have also dabbled in subjects such as biology and microorganisms."

These all pointed to the forefront of various sciences at that time, and Martin opened his mouth slightly, "This, how is this possible!"

Li Yu smiled and said, "If you want, I can deduce Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction or Maxwell's equations for you."

(End of this chapter)