"Royal Society?" Zai Zhen had heard this name before.
"Yes, Master Bei, you know that the president of the Royal Society wants to invite me to study." Li Yu said, "Why don't you go and see it too?"
Zai Zhen shook his head, "The schedule is already full. The river cruise in the morning has delayed our time. We also have to go to the Bank of England."
He does have a mission, and he has to write a report to the court when he returns. Moreover, Zai Zhen will be the Minister of Commerce in the future, so he must be very interested in the banking industry.
So Li Yu said: "In that case, I will go first with Editor Joelson."
Zai Zhen said, "Okay, just go and remember to write an inspection report."
Zai Zhen's energy is limited and he cannot go to too many institutions. Li Yu happens to be familiar with science, so it is most appropriate and completely trustworthy for him to conduct inspections in this area.
"No problem." Li Yu turned to Joelson and said, "Mr. Lao will lead the way."
Joelson said: "The Royal Society is very close. I took a carriage and hurried over. Let's go out and get in the carriage."
As soon as the two walked out of Westminster Abbey, Huang Kaijia chased after him: "Wait for me! I'll go too!"
Li Yu asked, "Aren't you going to inspect the bank with Master Bei?"
Huang Kaijia smiled and said: "I don't know anything about money. Youyi Zhong (Liang Cheng's nickname) and Yinghou (Tang Wenzhi's nickname) are enough. They are all people who fall into the eyes of money."
Huang Kaijia was a top student when he attended Yale University in the United States, and he was also a person who was passionate about science and engineering.
The three of them got into the carriage, passed Downing Street, Whitehall, and the Admiralty Building, and stopped in front of the Royal Society.
When Li Yu got out of the car, he saw two energetic old men smoking cigars standing on the steps. Li Yu saw the photos and immediately knew that they were Lord Kelvin and President Huggins himself.
Unexpectedly, the two academic masters went out to greet them. Li Yu hurriedly stepped forward and bowed deeply to them, expressing his solemn respect.
Lord Kelvin smiled and said: "I am deeply moved by how young your Excellency is."
Huang Kaijia didn't know them, so Joelson introduced them again.
President Huggins turned sideways: "You two, please come in."
Several people came to President Huggins' office. He picked up a teapot and said, "Knowing that you were coming, Lord Kelvin even went to the trouble of asking someone to buy a Chinese teapot."
Although the British porcelain industry was already prosperous at that time, it basically followed the bone china route. In terms of exquisiteness, the upper class still preferred Chinese porcelain.
What President Huggins is holding is a blue and white porcelain teapot, which is very valuable, but at the beginning of the twentieth century, it was really just a teapot.
Lord Kelvin also smiled and said: "The teapot is mine, but the tea leaves were selected by President Huggins himself. He knows that I am not as knowledgeable about tea as I am about coffee."
There is a small pot on President Huggins' table, also made of porcelain. The small label on it reads "Qimen" in Chinese, which means Keemun black tea.
This is quite in line with the characteristics of the British. The British almost only drink black tea, and most of it is black tea produced in India, such as Assam black tea and Ceylon black tea.
However, the favorite black tea of the upper class, especially the royal family, is actually the high-end Chinese black tea, and the best among them is Keemun black tea.
The British are the most knowledgeable about tea among Europeans. President Huggins brewed it skillfully, then picked up a glass of ice milk and asked, "How much should I add?"
Li Yu once had a classmate who was an international student in the UK. He knew that the British were very stubborn about this. They only drink strong tea, and they must drink hot tea. It is absolutely impossible not to add milk or heat the milk.
So he said, "Just a little bit."
President Huggins was stunned. Li Yu knew that his words were too "Chinese", so he added: "One-fifth cup of milk."
President Huggins immediately smiled, poured the milk and handed it to Li Yu.
"The royal family has a lot of tea leaves from various countries, but my favorite is this can of valve black tea." President Huggins' pronunciation was not very standard, "How about you try it."
Li Yu took a sip of milk tea from the British Empire 100 years ago. It was indeed very rich. He doesn't usually drink much tea, and mainly drinks green tea, which tastes much lighter in comparison.
Huang Kaijia praised from the side: "Qihong is the most fragrant and has the highest reputation. Good tea! Good tea!"
President Huggins did not understand this Chinese poem and asked, “Can you translate it in British language?”
Huang Kaijia was directly asked, and after holding it in for a long time, he said, "That means this bowl of tea is Very Nice!"
Lord Kelvin also agreed: "Chinese tea is very nice!"
President Huggins asked about Li Yu's scientific research environment and educational background. Li Yu smiled and said: "Sir, I don't have any diploma now."
Lord Calvin almost bit off the butt of his cigar: "No diploma? You are really a genius!"
President Huggins was not too surprised, because he did not go to formal school. He was a businessman before, but his extraordinary love for astronomy led to his current achievements. He even built an observatory of his own.
Several people talked about thermodynamics-related topics for a while, which was Lord Kelvin's specialty. Li Yu actually wanted to point out Kelvin's error in estimating the age of the earth, but after thinking about it, he had no choice but to give up after thinking that the current scientific research conditions were simply not available because accurate measurement requires radioactive isotope dating, which is the half-life of the element.
However, Li Yu's knowledge of existing thermodynamics is not low, and because he truly understands the essence of thermodynamics, that is, he has a good understanding of the microscopic field, his views are actually much more thorough, which amazed Lord Kelvin.
As we talked, we returned to President Huggins’s astronomy field. He was engaged in stellar spectroscopy research.
However, astronomy was Li Yu's specialty, and the two also had a very interesting chat.
President Huggins said: "I didn't expect that at such a young age, Your Excellency would have such a wide range of interests, including research on astronomical spectroscopy. Speaking of which, many years ago I measured the spectrum of Alpha Canis Major A and found that it was over 40 kilometers away. / second is moving away from the sun, which is very difficult for me to understand. I wonder if you have any insights?"
Alpha Canis Major A is what we call Sirius.
Sirius was the first star in history whose velocity was measured, which was the beginning of the study of radial velocity of celestial bodies. The person who measured it was none other than President Huggins.
But Li Yu obviously knew that he was wrong. Because although the universe is expanding and most stars are moving away from us, some are still rushing towards us. This is the case with Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.
"Dear President, with all due respect, if the spectrum can be accurately measured again, I believe that Alpha Canis Major A is not moving away from us, but coming towards us."
