"Oh?! Tu Tu Tu Tu Tu!"
Lord Kelvin bit the butt of the cigar directly this time, and a bunch of tobacco leaves scattered in his mouth.
I really didn’t expect that a young man from the backward and decadent Qing Dynasty would point out that he had made mistakes in his professional field on the first day he met the dignified president of the Royal Society of the Empire on which the sun never sets.
Isn't this a bit of an international joke?
Huang Kaijia was also dumbfounded. Is Li Yu crazy? He actually questioned their boss in the Royal Society! What if I made a mistake and explained it to Zai Zhen? He is now representing the Qing Dynasty Special Mission. Is there any mistake?
President Huggins obviously found it difficult to accept: "Mr. Li Yu, red shift and blue shift are very obvious phenomena. How can the measurement be wrong?"
Red shift and blue shift are spectroscopic terms. In short, red shift means that celestial objects are moving away from us; conversely, blue shift means that objects are coming towards us. President Huggins discovered that Sirius had a spectroscopic red shift and said that it was moving away from the earth.
Li Yu smiled and said: "President Huggins, if I am not completely sure, I would not dare to say this, but we can definitely do another measurement."
Lord Kelvin loved to watch the fun and laughed: "Great! President Huggins, this time I am on the side of the young people. How about I make a bet?"
If it were an ordinary person, President Huggins would really be angry, but as a junior and from the far east, Li Yu had no need to travel all the way across the Eurasian continent to make fun of him. Moreover, the views of his previous papers were obviously subversive and innovative, and were even recognized by a number of big names in the scientific community. I was really a little unsure.
But astronomy is his specialty after all. President Huggins said: "Okay, I'll make this bet! What bet?"
Lord Kelvin looked at the cigar with his butt bitten off in his hand and said: "If Li Yu wins, you will give me ten boxes of fine Cuban cigars. If you win, I will give you three boxes."
Huggins said: "My Lord, your calculation is not quite right. Why did I only win three boxes?"
Lord Kelvin explained: "That's not easy, because you have already done the measurements and have the data in hand, so the chances of winning are very high."
"Okay, three boxes is three boxes." President Huggins turned to Li Yu and asked, "What do you want to win?"
Lord Kelvin interjected: "Young man, don't worry, if you lose, it's mine; you just need to think about what you want if you win. By the way, do you smoke cigars?"
Li Yu shook his head, "I don't smoke."
Lord Kelvin seemed to realize something, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask you this question."
At that time, many aspiring Chinese people outside were ashamed to mention opium or even any tobacco leaves.
Li Yu knew that Lord Kelvin didn't mean it, so he smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, but I really have a lucky draw. If I win, I hope I can use President Huggins' observatory."
"observatory?"
President Huggins' observatory is privately owned, and no one is currently using it. There is no problem in lending it to Li Yu.
"Okay, I promise you."
Lord Kelvin slapped his thigh: "It's a deal! The Royal Observatory in Greenwich is not far away. Let's go and see what happens tonight!"
President Huggins smiled and said, “Your Majesty is really good at choosing places!”
"That's necessary. What if you cheat when I go to your observatory?" Lord Kelvin lit another cigar and continued to say to Li Yu, "Since you are also a scientific talent, we have a mysterious thing for you to see. look!"
"Mysterious thing?" Li Yu asked.
Lord Kelvin stood up and said, "Come together!"
The four of them parked in the backyard of the Royal Society. Lord Kelvin pointed in front and said: "This is the latest land transportation in Europe, the car! We will drive it to Greenwich in a moment."
Li Yu's heart was calm, but Huang Kaijia saw this thing that looked like a carriage for the first time, and his jaw dropped: "Can this thing drive? Is it too small? I didn't see a steam engine or a chimney. ah!"
Li Yu looked at the car. Although it was very primitive, it already had some features of modern cars, such as water cooling cycle, steel tube frame, leaf spring suspension, rear-wheel drive, front-wheel steering, etc.
Li Yu has a double bachelor's degree in mechanical design and physics, and has a very solid theoretical foundation in machinery. None of these designs were difficult for him, after all, the car was indeed too simple, but what surprised him the most was the line of English words on the car nameplate on the side: "Daimler AG".
In Li Yu's era, this line of English words was translated like this in China: Mercedes-Benz Group!
Yes, the transliteration is Daimler.
President Huggins said proudly: "I spent half a year's salary to buy this car. I personally selected and purchased the chassis, radiator, engine, and the latest latest technology at the Daimler factory in Coventry. Michelin tires. Oh, by the way, they tried to convince me to choose a two-seater at first, but I didn’t listen to them, and now it’s proven that I was right to choose a four-seater!”
No wonder cars were originally considered luxuries among luxuries. Cars at this time were not industrial products at all, they could be called handmade products!
The buyers are all wealthy and prestigious people like President Huggins. They will personally select every spare part in the factory, and can even choose different appearance lines, and a dedicated technician will be responsible for the vehicle design.
If someone in the 21st century went to a car factory to ask for something like this, he would probably be regarded as a lunatic, unless he could spend tens or even billions to build an exclusive production platform.
Since it was produced in a single piece, almost every car of that year was different. They were all handmade with finesse to meet the various needs of different customers.
From 1886, when Karl Benz invented the first car, until last year, that is, 1901, although Germany, the birthplace of the automobile, had 12 automobile factories, its annual output was only 884 cars.
Therefore, buying a car these days is almost equivalent to buying a Rolls-Royce in the 21st century, and it is the most expensive Phantom. It is so rare!
This Daimler car has four seats, and there are exactly four of them. There was originally a full-time driver, but it was obvious that there was no room for him.
"How about a squeeze?" Lord Kelvin said, but then he thought about it, crowding together really affects the gentleman's demeanor.
"If it really doesn't work, I don't have to go." Huang Kaijia was more sensible and said proactively.
"Need not!"
The three of them looked at Li Yu who was speaking, and heard him continue: "Let me try, I can drive a car!"
We're not lying, I just got my driver's license during the summer vacation, okay?
Moreover, the speed of cars at the beginning of the 20th century could not exceed 20 kilometers per hour. To him, it was like driving an electric car, or it was simply like "What's the name of daddy's daddy" played by children in a children's playground?
