Go back to the past and be a schoolboy

Chapter 31
Veblen's efficiency was very fast, and the task was completed in just two days. Thousands of journals were printed and shipped to major universities in the United States, striving to gain fame in the shortest possible time.

In addition, he deliberately played a bad idea by distributing double copies of the "Mathematics Yearbook" to Rutgers University, his rival in the state, without receiving any money, just to see the other party's distraught look.

Before the 20th century, Princeton University was called the College of New Jersey, and Rutgers University was also called Queens College. Whether in academics or sports, Princeton was always under pressure from the opposite side, which made the teachers and students of the school complain.

Until one day, students from Rutgers University took advantage of the night to steal a cannon from Princeton University. Princeton refused to accept it and wanted to come to ask for advice.

Later, there was no way, Princeton rolled up his sleeves and said, why don't we fight a battle, play a rugby game, and the other party agreed.

Unexpectedly, Princeton, who was full of confidence and wanted to avenge its shame, was hit head-on and lost to Rutgers 4:6.

Not only that, this game also became the first inter-school game in the history of American football. More and more schools participated in the game later, and the sports content became more and more abundant. NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association.

So find someone to ask which is the earliest NCAA game, and they will tell you to start with Princeton's 4:6 loss to Rutgers.
Belonging is engraved on the pillar of historical shame.

So far, the ties between the two schools have become deeper and deeper, and the derby in the same city has become more and more fierce.

Now that the good days are coming for Princeton, not only has it surpassed Rutgers in teaching, but also has such a major academic achievement in its hands, Veblen is not to mention how happy he is.

Throwing a stack of "Mathematics Yearbook" on the opposite table, he said happily: "Hey, Mason, my dear friend, you must read our supplement of this issue. There is an achievement that can shake the mathematics world."

Mason, who is also a professor of mathematics, pulled down his glasses, rolled his eyes and said, "Little Veblen, you know that Rutgers has many academic journals, such as "Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics", "Theoretical and Applied Mathematics" and "Theoretical and Applied Mathematics". "Records", "Journal of Mathematics", etc., but we never read such academic rubbish as your "Yearbook of Mathematics" in Princeton."

"Oh, my dear friend, your attitude is not friendly. We are a brother school, and we should help each other." Veblen was not angry at all, picked up the top magazine, and casually Flipping: "But this supplement of ours seems to prove Kronecker's youthful dream, and the author has created a subject called class field theory. If you don't take a look, it seems that Rutgers has retreated from the academic frontier. step."

Seeing this arrogant attitude, Mason gritted his teeth until he died, resisting the desire to cover his head with the book in his hand, and said bluntly: "I know Kronecker's dream of youth, If you lie to me, I will send you to Satan with a shotgun."

Veblen laughed out loud, and when he knew the effect had come out, he retreated outside the door to continue sending him to another school. Suddenly, he felt that it was still a bit awkward, and he touched the door frame and said meanly: "Professor Mason, although I believe in your mathematical ability, But this paper is a bit difficult, if you don’t understand it, please go to the Department of Mathematics of Princeton University next door for advice, Dean Fan Yin and I welcome you very much.”

At the end, he touched the door frame and boasted again: "The author Tom Cheng will become a professor in our school, and you Rutgers should also work hard."

After speaking, he ran away quickly, because in addition to a roar, there were two gunshots in response to him.

In this way, under the efforts of Veblen, the entire American academic community soon knew that a man named Tom Cheng not only proved Kronecker's youthful dream, but also created a mathematics discipline, which caused a great sensation .

Many emotions of amazement, praise, doubt, and disdain gathered together, stirring up a miasma in the American mathematics world, and even gradually walked out of the academic world, and the general public also heard the news.

Even if it is just a sub-discipline under the mathematical number theory, it is like a patriarch. Some people even exaggerated to give Tom Cheng the title of the father of class field theory. For a while, everyone was discussing the identity of the mysterious man , I want to find him and ask him to give lectures to solve these questions.

Because New York State is very close to New Jersey, where Princeton University is located, some reporters with a keen sense of smell in New York rushed to the editorial room of the "Almanac of Mathematics" to inquire about the author's identity.

At the beginning, Fan Yin refused to disclose any of Cheng Nuo's content, but some people in the editing room could not resist the temptation of money, and soon it gradually leaked out. Later, he felt that it was not an option. and said before the faces of all:
"Mr. Tom Cheng is one of the most talented people in mathematics I have ever met. He comes from Harvard University and is currently teaching at the Chinese Public Peking University. On behalf of Princeton University, I have sent a letter of employment to him. I believe he will become our One of them."

The first half of the sentence and the second half of the sentence were directly ignored by the public, and they only focused on the word "China", which completely detonated the American public opinion circle.

At this time, because of the "Chinese Exclusion Act", the United States generally held a negative attitude towards the Chinese. It was hard to imagine that the flowers of science bloomed in that land. Lion, let him sleep, and when he wakes, he will shake the world."

Unknowingly, a small number of white people began to change their attitudes towards the Chinese, and they were no longer as arrogant as before.

But the mystery shrouded in Tom Cheng has not been fully revealed. In order to know more about this man and to sell better, the "New York Herald", "New York Sun" and "New York Times" continued to go to Harvard Sent reporters and arrived at Harvard almost on the same day.

Facing the aggressive reporter, Professor Robert, who is familiar with Cheng Nuo, was a little overwhelmed, and said slowly: "Although the isomorphism between the generalized ideal group and the Galois group is obtained by calculating the order of the group, the isomorphism of the two groups is still Not sure, but there is no doubt that Tom Cheng, a young student from the far east, proved the existence of general class fields, and the subject of class field theory will have a lot of room for development. There is no doubt that Tom Cheng may Will become another master in mathematics, and I have personally applied to the school to hire him as a professor in the mathematics department.”

The same passage came to the three major newspapers, but it changed its flavor.

"The Sun" pays more attention to lace, saying that Tom Cheng is a young oriental handsome guy, besides his talent, he will gain more weight in the future, and he is still single at present, and he has no scandals during school
The "Herald" was even sharper, saying that the current major scientific achievements come from the backward continent, which is a shame to local scholars. It suggested that the gentlemen on Capitol Hill should relax the restrictions on Chinese and increase the number of Chinese teachers in various universities.
The content of the "New York Times" is more serious. It actually copied Professor Robert's original words verbatim in the newspaper, and the focus is on class field theory.
Through telegrams, some students studying abroad also got the news. They were excited when they heard it, and burst into tears for a while. A small number of people became interested in mathematics after being excited, changed their subject to mathematics, and posted this on their bedside. papers to motivate yourself.

As for right and wrong, that is another story.

(End of this chapter)