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

Chapter 74 Madame Curie
A few more people raised their hands, and one of them was obviously Asian. Li Yu pointed at him: "This classmate."

"Hello sir, my name is Hirayama Kiyoji, from Tokyo Imperial University, Japan."

It turned out to be a Japanese.

Li Yu's specialty is astronomy. He remembered that Hirayama Kiyoji specialized in the research of asteroids, that is, the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. One of them was the Hirayama clan he discovered later.

Unexpectedly, he is also in Paris now.

Hirayama Kiyoji continued: "I have been paying close attention to Mr.'s itinerary. I wanted to visit him when I was in London, but when I first arrived in London, I found out that Mr. had gone to Paris, so I quickly came to Paris by boat. Fortunately, I heard that you will be there Lecture at the University of Paris, so I came to the auditorium."

Li Yu really didn't expect that he would have a Japanese fan, and he would chase him all the way, too persistent!
Hirayama Kiyoji asked: "I read Mr.'s paper on the discovery of Pluto, but I pay more attention to the 'outer planetary belt' mentioned after your paper. How difficult do you think it is to discover this outer planet?"

Hirayama's ambition is not small, and his goal is to point directly to the outer reaches of the solar system.

Li Yu said directly: "I think it is very difficult to find it now, because the difficulty of finding small non-luminous celestial bodies is not low. The discovery of Pluto is already a coincidence to a certain extent. The current observation conditions are to find the orbit of Neptune." Objects in the outer solar system will be very difficult."

It wasn't that Li Yu poured cold water on him, it was indeed too difficult.

If Li Yu had been a little simpler, with the stubborn character of the Japanese at this time, it is very likely that they would spend their entire lives looking for it, but the result would be nothing.

Although Li Yu didn't have a good opinion of Japan, he wasn't vulgar enough to intentionally disgust an astronomer.

Hirayama seemed a little reconciled: "I think that if Pluto is discovered, it is natural to continue to search for the outer planetary belt, because your article mentioned that they are not far away."

"It's okay for you to try, but you'd better do your own research first. As for looking for outer planetary belts, it's a hobby in your spare time." Li Yuyan said that, if he returns to Japan, he still insists, That can't be helped.

It's a pity that Hirayama Kiyoji did not follow what Li Yu said, and stubbornly spent half of his life observing space, and in the end he only stopped at the level of discovering asteroids, without going any further.

Too many students came today, and the questioning session ended after answering dozens of questions.After not speaking so much for a long time, Li Yu felt his throat start to hurt.

If it wasn't for lunch, it seemed that they would not let Li Yu go.

The principal came to the stage to give a concluding speech, and invited Li Yu to write an article about the content of today's speech.

After the classmates dispersed, the Curies and his wife came to Li Yu, and Madame Curie asked curiously, "You must be tired too, right?"

Li Yu is a smart person, and she knew what Madam Curie was going to say from the sight of the big braid behind her just now. After all, she has also received a lot of strange eyes in the first half of her life.

Li Yu smiled and said, "I don't think I'm tired yet."

Madame Curie smiled slightly, she was someone who had experienced it, so she naturally knew Li Yu's inner thoughts, but she didn't bother to delve into it: "That's good, if you need any help, the door of the Faculty of Science of the University of Paris will always be open for you. do you think so?"

Mrs. Curie's last question was thrown to her husband Pierre Curie next to her. As a professor of the Faculty of Science, Pierre immediately said frankly: "I can write a letter of recommendation for you at any time."

"I sincerely thank the two professors for their kindness. I will take it to heart. If there is a request in the future, I will never forget it!"

Li Yu was very moved. As a female scientist, Marie Curie not only could see the essence of science clearly, but her delicate cognition also allowed her to see the essence of human nature clearly. The level is indeed as high as that written in the book.

Li Yu thought for a while and said: "Ma'am, you must pay attention to the hazards of radioactivity in the future. There is a saying in China that water can carry a boat and capsize it. Of course, radioactivity is very important to the scientific development of mankind, but it itself has a great impact on the body." great danger."

Madame Curie said calmly: "I know."

Li Yu was taken aback by Madam Curie's attitude, and she didn't know what to say for a while.

I suddenly understood, and I was in awe: Yes, she is an expert in radioactivity, how could she not know!
Mrs. Curie continued: "The Chinese proverb you said just now, if possible, I hope you can write it down for me, just in Chinese. I like square characters very much."

Li Yu spoke in English just now, so he replied: "Of course."

The culture belongs to the world, and now many foreigners like Chinese calligraphy and culture.It's a pity that Li Yu can only barely write it down with a pen. His calligraphy with hard pens is passable, but when it comes to the level of calligraphy strictly, it can only be said that it is only decent, and the artistic conception is not up to standard.

Fortunately, Mrs. Curie liked it very much after reading it: "I will keep this precious paper well. I have heard that it is also a favorite sentence of Li Shimin, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty in your country."

Li Yudao: "Yes, and these eight characters were actually originally written by Xunzi, a Chinese thinker more than 2000 years ago."

Mrs. Curie praised sincerely: "It is really a far-reaching culture. If I have the opportunity, I will go to China."

Li Yu said with a smile: "Then I have to send you a few more words: It is such a pleasure to have friends coming from afar." Li Yu handed it to her after writing, and then explained the meaning in English, "This is what Confucius said. of."

In history, Marie Curie really wanted to come to China. When Mr. Cai Yuanpei came to France in 1921, he invited her to give a speech at Peking University.

Mrs. Curie looked at the two manuscript papers in her hand: "You forgot to sign your name."

It was the first time for Li Yu to sign for someone, and the other party was still a big shot of this level, but it was obvious that Mrs. Curie was only asking for a politeness, and it gave people a very comfortable feeling.

Li Yu finally did not forget to say to Pierre Curie: "Professor, if possible, please pay attention to traffic safety in the future!"

Pierre was very puzzled by this unreasonable sentence: "Traffic safety? You mean the new cars on the road?"

In fact, the car accident in which Pierre died four years later was really not caused by a car, but a carriage—of course a carriage is also considered a car accident.

Li Yu said seriously: "In short, you must pay attention to traffic safety!"

Seeing that he was so serious suddenly, Pierre thought it was because he cared about himself, and wondered in his heart, did he also know that he wanted to go racing with Perrin?So he replied a little touched: "I must pay attention!"

Putting this matter to rest, Li Yucai met with Yugeng's family and Huang Kaijia, and prepared to return to the embassy.They were surprised by Li Yu's performance just now. Although they didn't understand anything, it must be extraordinary that even the president of the University of Paris attended in person. You must know that the status of the university president was quite high back then.

They had been applauding desperately just now, giving enough people.

Yu Rongling has completely become Li Yu's little fan: "Brother Li Yu, you are really amazing! Although I don't understand anything!"

Yu Deling smiled and said: "Then you still speak so confidently, learn more in the future, don't fall asleep as soon as you read the book!"

Yu Rongling made a face at her sister, not convinced at all.

Minister Yu Geng cupped his hands and said: "I have been on mission to various countries for seven years, and this is the first time I have met someone like your Excellency. I admire you!"

They really don't understand advanced science, so Li Yu replied casually: "It's a fluke."

There is no car to take back to the embassy, ​​so I can only go back by horse-drawn carriage.

During the day, Zai Zhen took the envoy to watch the military parade, and the new equipment of the Western army was quite shocking to him.

Now the French army is really not weak, and the army is all striving to fight the German next to it.

However, the French casualties in World War I were really unacceptably heavy, losing more than 10% of the population, and most of them were young and middle-aged.So after that, I was completely discouraged, and even many people in later generations will use the fact that they only resisted for more than 40 days in World War II to humiliate the law every day.

The evening event was arranged by Yu Geng to go to the Paris Opera House to enjoy the opera.Zai Zhen watched the military parade all day, and his heart was quite shocked. He also wanted to listen to an opera to relieve his stress.

At this time, French opera was second to none in Europe, and it was in a tripartite rivalry with Italy and Germany.

Zai Zhen sat in the theater with the special envoys. Usually he also likes to listen to operas, but he doesn't know what operas Westerners listen to, so he happens to want to watch them too.

Anyway, the special mission is going to inspect all aspects along the way, and also inspect how Westerners usually entertain themselves.

The first "small dishes" performed were several dances, including Yu Rongling.But today they didn't perform ballet, they were really afraid of scaring those old feudalists with their dresses.

Western modern dance is something that Zai Zhen and others have never seen before. It is completely different from Chinese dance. It is unrestrained and passionate.Rong Ling and other members of the dance troupe also danced gracefully, giving momentum to the subsequent opera.

After the dance is over, the next feast is the famous opera "Carmen" created by the French composer Kirby.

In later generations, "Carmen" has become the most performed opera in the world.Whether you have seen the opera or not, at least you must have heard its prelude "Song of the Matador" and the aria "Love is like a free bird" by the protagonist Carmen.

Zai Zhen has never seen such a posture before. The passionate overture "Song of the Matador" directly filled the atmosphere, and then hundreds of people took turns performing on the huge stage, just like watching a movie.

It's a pity that Zai Zhen and the others don't understand French, and they only got a rough idea of ​​the plot through translation.

The plot of "Carmen" is actually not complicated. It tells the story of a gypsy girl Carmen: she first seduced an officer and made him abandon his existing lover; men.

On the one hand, Carmen is unrestrained and has almost no moral bottom line, but on the other hand, she advocates freedom and would rather die for it.It is a very common artistic expression technique in the West that these two extremes appear on one person at the same time, in order to greatly increase the tension.

But for Zai Zhen and the others, it is a bit difficult to understand.

After watching the nearly three-hour opera, they were really shocked again.Anyway, after a trip to the West, Zai Zhen's three views were almost shattered.

When Zai Zhen left, he shook his head and commented: "The singing is good, the music is also good, but the woman she plays is not good!"

(End of this chapter)