The atmosphere in the cafe is a little weird.
Roland touched his nose awkwardly,
"Indeed, I was sent by the Collège de France to pick up the two of them for exchange, but I am a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, so I can only advise this school."
Bernard Shaw was puzzled: "Then why did the French Academy choose you?"
Roland replied: "Do you still remember when Mr. Hamsun criticized Professor Lu in the newspaper?"
Lu Shi was stunned for a moment, and memories emerged.
He once mourned Oscar Wilde in "No One Survived", which caused Hamson to burst into flames.
Hamsun's original words are: ""No One Survived" is well written, but its roots are as crooked as Mr. Wilde's. I don't know if the Chinese man took root in the wrong place and grew a poisonous weed. .”
Later, many literary critics and writers also joined in and became the "land-breaking" school.
Roland, on the other hand, was a "supporting Lu" faction and defended Lu Shi.
The two of them formed a good relationship.
Lu Shi nodded,
"understood."
He could understand the good intentions of the French Academy.
Roland chuckled and said: "Hahaha, I can only count the non-staff members of Lanxi College."
After saying that, the conversation changed.
"About upgrading your work to a teaching material..."
Lu Shi did not express his position.
This silence was naturally interpreted by De Roland,
He showed a happy expression,
"Thanks!"
As soon as he said "Thank you!", countless students in later generations would be tortured because of this, and they would all have to curse Lu Shi in their hearts.
Bernard Shaw said: "It's almost time to rest. Let's set off quickly."
Roland nodded,
"Mr. Poincaré should be waiting for you. It is said that he also invited Mr. Verne. We can definitely have a drink tonight."
With that, they finished their coffee and left the cafe.
Favre left on his own,
The other three went directly to the Collège de France.
The Collège de France consists of five faculties:
French Academy, founded in 1635;
The French Academy of Inscriptions and Letters, founded in 1663, later became the French Academy of Letters;
French Academy of Sciences, founded in 1666;
French Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1816;
French Academy of Humanities, founded in 1795.
The core of which is the French Academy, composed of forty academicians.
These academicians are informally called "les immortels", which directly translates to the immortals, which also implies the lifelong tenure of academicians.
Roland took them to the place,
After the concierge asked, a staff member immediately came in and announced,
Soon, a fat French man wearing glasses came out, shook hands with Lu Shi enthusiastically, and said at the same time: "Professor Lu, Mr. Xiao, you are finally here! I have been waiting for a long time!"
He introduced himself: "I am Henri Poincaré, an essayist."
Bernard Shaw scratched his head when he heard this.
He had never heard of any essayist named Poincaré.
On the other side, Lu Shi smiled and said, "Mr. Poincaré really loves to joke. He is clearly a mathematician, a physicist, and a mathematical philosopher."
To later generations of science and engineering students, Poincaré was the one who was truly hated.
In Lu Shi, a small witch meets a big witch.
Poincaré was surprised,
"I do write prose. I just didn't expect that Professor Lu is proficient in natural science."
Bernard Shaw chuckled and said: "Mr. Poincaré, Lu is an interdisciplinary scholar. His monograph "Guns, Germs and Steel" covers many subjects. Mr. Roland has already requested it to be used as a teaching material for the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris."
Poincaré: "Huh?"
He looked at Roland with sharp eyes,
stare--
Roland looked away awkwardly and muttered: "The wind is very noisy today~"
Poincaré said: "Then my alma mater, the University of Paris, will also use it as a teaching material."
Although I don’t know what “Guns, Germs and Steel” is about, Poincaré must not lag behind others.
Lu Shi was speechless for a while.
A few people chatted for a few more words,
Poincaré said: "Let's go first, arrange accommodation for Professor Lu and Mr. Xiao, and call someone who can really talk to Professor Lu. It's better for me, a half-hearted essayist, to retreat behind the scenes." "
He led the three of them towards the academy.
The Collège de France is more of a research institution with a very weak educational attribute and no students at all.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at the dormitory.
Compared with Poincaré, Roland is a young man,
So the matter of calling Verne was left to him.
Poincaré was in charge of entertaining, and while rummaging through the boxes, he said: "I heard that the British and Chinese like to drink tea. I have brought out the best tea here. You two must try it."
Soon, he had a small round box in his hand.
There was a label on it. Bernard Shaw squinted at it for a long time and muttered: "Unknown words... French?"
Lu Shi looked at it and said, "It doesn't look like it. It's a language I don't recognize either."
Although the two of them chatted in a lowered volume, Poincaré still listened.
He was shocked and said: "These are obviously Chinese characters!"
Lu Shi:? ? ?
He leaned over and took a closer look. After a long time, he complained helplessly: "These are the Chinese characters written by you French people. Why do they look like dogs crawling?"
Poincaré couldn't help but feel embarrassed.
"Ah this..."
Lu Shi explained: "It's indeed Chinese characters, it says 'Longjing Mountain'."
Upon hearing his words, Bernard Shaw immediately became energetic,
"I know 'Dragon'! Dragon!"
This guy is quite cute.
Lu Shi said: "Mr. Superintendent, Chinese dragons are still different from Western dragons~"
It is precisely because of this that later translators tended to translate the Chinese dragon as "Loong" instead of "Dragon", a large lizard with wings.
Of course, Bernard Shaw didn't understand this, and asked curiously: "What is this 'Longjing Mountain' you are talking about?"
Lu Shi replied: "The origin of tea."
Poincaré opened the box.
Bernard Shaw poked his head over and said in surprise: "Lu, this tea is so strange."
Lu Shi asked: "Why is it strange?"
George Bernard Shaw pointed to the tea,
"The color is actually slightly yellow... I heard that you Chinese don't like to add spices to your tea, so you have to fry the tea leaves carefully, but shouldn't the fried tea leaves be green?"
Lu Shi didn't understand tea either, so he could only answer: "It's probably a matter of variety."
Poincaré was embarrassed, took off his glasses and wiped them violently.
"It can't be that we got fake tea leaves."
Lu Shi said, "I don't know. You'll know just by looking at Pao Bao."
Poincaré and Bernard Shaw consciously moved away from the table, and then looked at Lu Shi with exploratory eyes,
"Hot water is ready, please."
Lu Shi: "..."
I had no choice but to catch the duck and put it on the shelf.
He washed his hands, warmed the cup with hot water, then used a teaspoon to take tea leaves and put them into the cup.
Then lift the kettle high, pour in an appropriate amount of water to cover all the tea leaves, then draw a circle with a larger circle and a smaller circle, and fill the cup with water to a quarter of the height.
As soon as the expert takes action,
Just know if there is.
Neither Poincaré nor George Bernard Shaw had ever seen tea made like this.
Lu Shi held the cup with both hands and gently shook the glass in one direction.
The Dragon Well inside first floats up and then sinks, like a dancing beauty.
The warm tea leaves exude a delicate fragrance.
Lu Shi actually didn't know how to make tea in a high-quality way, but after doing this, he was able to fool foreigners.
Bernard Shaw couldn't help but sigh: "It's really art."
Poincaré said: "Professor Lu is indeed well versed in the ways of Chinese literati... Well... Professor Lu, I heard that you Chinese students are good at writing calligraphy. I wonder if you can give it to me... Ah, no, it should be given to France. The college has left a legacy."
Lu Shi suddenly had one head and two heads.
For him, writing calligraphy is a very difficult task.
To put it nicely, it’s called “eclectic”;
To put it harshly, it's called "baring one's teeth and showing one's claws."
He quickly changed the subject and said: "It's better to drink tea first, drink tea first and then talk."
As an Englishman, Bernard Shaw could no longer wait any longer. He put the teacup to his lips and took a sip.
The aroma of tea slowly ferments in your mouth,
"Gudong~"
He swallowed the tea.
After a while, he commented: "It turns out that tea without seasoning tastes so good."
Lu Shi also took a sip.
It must be admitted that the tea produced by Poincaré is indeed of high quality.
In modern times, this kind of tea may only be exported abroad as a diplomatic gift or a small amount of designated foreign trade.
Lu Shi asked Poincaré: "Where did this tea come from?"
Poincaré replied: "I bought it from an officer at a high price."
As for how the officers were obtained?
This is a heavy question.
Lu Shi sighed slightly.
Poincaré was also surprised to realize that what he said was a bit harsh, so he held up the tea cup to drink tea in a disguised manner.
Bernard Shaw blinked and asked: "Mr. Poincaré, Lu just said that you are a mathematician and a physicist. Both of them are easy to understand. But what about the mathematical philosopher?"
This question is meant to ease the awkwardness of finding something to say.
Poincaré replied: "Philosophy of mathematics is a category of philosophy of science, and philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy that has only emerged recently. It focuses on the foundation, methods and meaning of science, and mainly studies the nature of science, the structure of scientific theories, scientific explanations, Scientific test..."
Five hundred words are omitted here.
Bernard Shaw did not expect that his well-intentioned move to find a topic would lead to such a big mess.
He was completely confused and dizzy after hearing this.
But Poincaré was an honest man.
After he finished speaking, he asked: "Does Mr. Xiao understand?"
Bernard Shaw was speechless and spread his hands to show that he understood the hammer.
Poincaré continued to explain: "In fact, it is easy to understand the issues in the philosophy of science, such as what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose of science..."
Another thousand words were omitted.
Bernard Shaw was even more dizzy,
"Wha...what? Say it again..."
Lu Shi listened and wanted to laugh.
He interrupted Poincaré and said to Bernard Shaw: "Give me an example. For example... let me think about it... Mr. Superintendent, in your mind, is mathematics an invention or a discovery of mankind? This It’s just a question of mathematical philosophy.”
Bernard Shaw suddenly realized,
"understood."
Poincare suddenly felt defeated.
At the same time, he looked at Lu Shi curiously,
At this moment, he had a real feeling that Lu Shi was indeed an interdisciplinary scholar.
A question can give people who don't know much about mathematical philosophy the most intuitive feeling. Not everyone can do it.
Poincaré asked: "What does Professor Lu think mathematics is?"
Lu Shi was caught blind,
This problem is completely in his blind spot of knowledge.
He said: "It should be a discovery."
Poincaré looked playful and asked, "Why did Professor Lu say that?"
Lu Shi fell into deep thought,
To be honest, he didn't know why.
Poincaré came to a conclusion and continued: "It should be because Professor Lu is a historian, so he came to that conclusion, right? Historically, Plato firmly stated that 'mathematics is a discovery'."
Plato believed that once people understand a certain mathematical concept, they will be faced with some indisputable facts.
This is materialism in a sense.
Lu Shi shook his head,
"No, I'm not thinking that far ahead."
Poincaré thought for a moment and said, "Not that far? If you think about it more closely, it's Euclid. Euclid believed that if one day someone claimed that he had discovered the largest prime number, it would be easy to prove that he had discovered it. It's wrong."
Lu Shi and Bernard Xiao looked at each other,
After a while, Lu Shi asked: "What does this mathematical inference have to do with 'mathematics is a discovery'?"
Poincaré:? ? ?
"Do you still need to explain such a simple thing?"
One thousand five hundred words are omitted here.
Bernard Shaw looked like a primary school student who was listening to a class. He sat upright, tugged at the corner of Lu Shi's clothes, and whispered: "Lu, stop him quickly!"
Lu Shi also raised his hands like a primary school student answering questions.
"etc!"
Poincaré was not dissatisfied when he was interrupted, but showed an expression of joy.
This kind of joy is like a teacher who is in class seeing his disciples brave enough to ask questions.
He said: "Professor Lu, please speak."
Lu Shi said: "I say mathematics is a discovery because it gives me a real feeling and will never deceive me."
Poincaré was puzzled.
"Can't cheat?"
Lu Shi nodded and said:
"
Your eyes can deceive you;
Your feelings can deceive you;
Your experience will deceive you;
But math doesn’t,
No, it just won’t!
"
This is actually a Chinese pun.
But it can also be said perfectly in English (No, it's just not!) or French.
The room was quiet,
After a few seconds,
"Pfft! Hahahahahaha!"
Bernard Shaw laughed wildly.
Poincaré was stunned for half a minute, and then he realized what he was doing and couldn't help laughing.
He reached out and patted Lu Shi on the shoulder and whispered: "Professor Lu, when you say 'No, you just can't!', are you mocking me for forcing you to instill relevant knowledge of mathematical philosophy?"
Lu Shi shook his head repeatedly.
"No no!"
Poincaré smiled even more happily,
He said: "It doesn't matter. I am really lucky to know such a wonderful person like you. I can even write a poem to sarcastically or admonish you~"
Bernard Shaw also said: "Yes, that poem just now was really good. Does it have a name?"
Lu Shi said "Huh?" and said in his heart:
That's not a poem at all!
However, George Bernard Shaw misunderstood and said, "Looking at your expression, I guess you haven't decided on a name yet. In that case, how about I ask you to come up with a name for this poem? How about calling it "Deception"?"
Lu Shi had a headache.
"No, please don't! I just told a joke."
Bernard Shaw said: "I understand that "His Majesty the Supreme Emperor arrived today in his loyal Paris" is a kidney-breaking joke ~ but it does not prevent this joke from being a poem with profound meaning."
After speaking, he turned to Poincaré,
"Mr. Poincaré, do you have any pen and paper here?"
Poincaré nodded first,
"some!"
But he quickly shook his head again,
He stared at Lu Shi with a strange look, like a hunter looking at his prey.
Lu Shi trembled and said, "Mr. Poincaré?"
Poincaré chuckled,
"Professor Lu, didn't you mention calligraphy just now? Otherwise, can you keep a copy of the calligraphy?"
(End of chapter)
