The auditorium was already overcrowded, and Principal Elliott gave a speech first:
"I want everyone to imagine that with a population of 90 million in the United States, if there are only 160 hospitals, no special children's hospitals, no clinics for the poor, all medical schools in universities have been cancelled, and the vast majority of people do not have any health care Knowledge, every village has many tuberculosis patients, no city is free from smallpox, and even big cities are faced with the dangers of plague!
“What would it be like if this was where you were going to live?
"What's more, the population of that place is several times that of the United States."
Many people in the stands were whispering. Principal Elliott paused and said loudly:
"Where is the Qing Dynasty!"
Although what Eliot said is a bit exaggerated, for example, Americans do not know much about China’s unique traditional Chinese medicine and doctor traditions.
And he seems to have forgotten India...
But the introduction of Western medicine did help.
But what Li Hongzhang said is indeed correct: This is a major change that has not happened in three thousand years.
The impact of various ideas at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China was really great.
Later, during the Republic of China, some people were crazy about abolishing traditional Chinese medicine, but at that time, Western medicine was actually not very perfect.
Western medicine relies entirely on the application of science, and science needs to bring Western medicine back to a high level, at least until the miracle drug penicillin is born.
In fact, Western medicine is really no better than Chinese medicine at this time.
During the Republic of China, it was so barbaric that it wanted to abolish traditional Chinese medicine, and something went terribly wrong. Because at that time, there was no domestic manufacturing capacity for Western medicine. Western medicine was extremely expensive, there were few hospitals, and there were even fewer doctors. After the abolition of traditional Chinese medicine, there was almost no way for people to get sick.
This is a very ridiculous decision.
Although traditional Chinese medicine cannot be said to be omnipotent, it has its own advantages in fighting certain diseases.
Maybe many of the people who are clamoring for the abolition of traditional Chinese medicine are the same group of people who are clamoring for the abolition of Chinese characters.
Alas, there was nothing I could do about it. The admiration for foreigners was very serious at that time.
In the future, Li Yu can set up some traditional Chinese medicine courses at the soon-to-be-established "Harvard Medical School in China", which can also be regarded as an early realization of "integration of traditional Chinese and Western medicine."
"Everyone, be quiet!" Principal Eliot continued, "Even if this was the case in the Qing Dynasty, we still cannot underestimate the terrible sedimentation of a long-standing civilization. The scientific giant Li Yu who emerged from nowhere is a typical example.
"I think everyone here has heard of him no matter which college they come from. Either they have read Li Yu's works on thermodynamics, or they have read his wonderful experimental papers on X-rays, or they have read his major discoveries in astronomy; or they have read Those two ground-breaking mathematical works, "Fractals and Chaos" and "Game Theory"; no matter what, at least you have read the now popular Star Wars series.
“Yes, I couldn’t help but watch it too.
"In short, I don't need to introduce his level and ability. Such a mysterious and astonishing Eastern scientific giant is an existence that we can look up to.
"And now, he's standing here!
"Next, let's invite Mr. Li Yu to give a scientific lecture!"
Eliot was very good at speaking. After a few words, there was thunderous applause.
After previous experiences in several universities, Li Yu now has less stage fright and behaves more naturally. He walked up to the podium gracefully and looked around, even seeing a few oriental faces.
Li Yu can talk a lot, but for the first time, the content should be as relaxed as possible.
So Li Yu started from the relationship between mathematics and physics and elaborated many of his own views; during this period, many physics students did not pay enough attention to mathematics, even in prestigious schools such as Harvard, there was not much difference.
Then we talked about the importance of theoretical physics in physics, and the study of theoretical physics is even more inseparable from mathematics.
These are two pedagogical topics, but they are still very important.
It’s just that most students still don’t fully agree.
In their view, mathematics is mathematics, physics is physics, chemistry is chemistry, and biology is biology.
This view is very popular at present. After all, science has not yet developed to the point where it can be integrated with each other.
In half a century, studying physics will be completely inseparable from advanced mathematics; studying biology, even all undergraduate courses will consist of chemistry courses.
"But Mr. Academician," a physics student asked, "I have read almost all of your writings. Even so, after reading your "Fractals and Chaos" and many physics papers, I did not find much mathematics and physics. Relationship."
Li Yu smiled and said: "Mathematics is hidden in physics. You must have heard Gauss, the prince of mathematics, say that mathematics is the queen of science. You will find in the future that mathematics and physics are actually the left and right legs, and they are inseparable. Physics People in the department don’t think physics is a form of mathematics, and students in the mathematics department don’t think mathematics is just a tool.”
A classmate raised his hand and said: "I know, it's like the golden mean in Chinese culture."
Li Yu said: "Very good, you know a lot."
The classmate smiled and said: "I am from the History Department of the Faculty of Literature."
The United States does not have much history, but there are so many universities, many of which have history departments. You can only study the history of other countries, such as Roman history, European history, East Asian history, and Chinese history.
To be honest, they don't have much first-hand information.
I can accept everything I want to study abroad, but I really don’t agree with studying East Asian history and Chinese history at an American university...
It feels like these majors are only for Europeans and Americans, why are Chinese people going to join in the fun? Just to pretend to be 13?
"Harvard History of China" is also difficult to describe in one sentence. Anyway, Britain's "Cambridge History of China" is much better.
It is not easy for the student in front of me to say the word "moderate".
One student said: "It's incredible that Mr. Academician can span astronomy, physics, mathematics, and mechanics. I want to know how you do it?"
Li Yu didn't know how to answer this question for a while, but another student answered it for Li Yu. He said: "You must have forgotten Mr. Newton. He is also familiar with astronomy, physics, mathematics, optics, etc. And he has achieved great achievements in the law of universal gravitation, the three laws of mechanics, calculus and spectroscopy. So there is no problem in being knowledgeable."
Li Yu smiled and said, "That's true."
Another student asked: "Mr. Academician, I am from the Department of Astronomy. I have seen many reports in recent scientific journals. For example, in the spectroscopic binary star spectrum, there will be special spectral lines without displacement, and these spectral lines are according to the Stars become stronger as their distance increases. You have made such great achievements in astronomy, but you don’t know how to look at this problem?"
This is a relatively professional question. Li Yu said: "It's very simple, because the dark areas between stars, that is, some dark areas in the Milky Way, are not the dead spots of stars. There is also light-absorbing material there, which can be called interstellar dust. They are the ones that block the stars in the distance.”
The student asked, "So, does that mean we will never see some stars?"
Li Yu said: "That's true."
In fact, the Milky Way itself blocks the telescope's view the most.
The student was quite frustrated: "If this is the case, wouldn't we never be able to understand all the mysteries of the universe?"
Li Yu laughed: "Your ambition is not small, but you will find a way in the future."
The student asked: "What can I do?"
Li Yu couldn't say that astronomy developed greatly later, with the emergence of radio telescopes and telescopes in space. He could only say: "Perhaps we can place our hope on the development of other disciplines, and don't just focus on astronomy itself, such as electromagnetism and communications. This is what I We just started talking about the reasons for the relationship between disciplines. Besides, the existing technology can discover enough things for you to study for many years."
After answering questions for another hour, today's lecture ended. Some of the questions were still very good.
Principal Eliot was very satisfied: "Mr. Academician is really only eight pints high...eight pints!"
Li Yule said: "He is a man of extraordinary talent."
Eliot said: "Yes, yes! You are so talented! Haha, I can't wait to open a platform for cultural exchanges between China and the United States so that I can improve my idioms. In addition, I am also interested in your country's mythology, history, folklore, I am quite interested in culture, calligraphy and painting arts.”
His statement can represent the attitude of many American scholars, who are very interested in these things in China.
Li Yu didn't have time to return to New York that day, so he stayed at Harvard. The next day, he continued to go to Eliot's office to study the follow-up cooperation.
After a while, the assistant came in and said to President Elliott: "President, Dean Pritchett and Professor Crafts from Boston Polytechnic Institute are here."
Elliott said, "What, they still can't accept my merger proposal?"
The assistant said: "Maybe, you see..."
Eliot said: "Let them wait a while, since they are only two miles away, just say that I am meeting important guests from afar."
Li Yu didn't realize which school "Boston Institute of Technology" was just now, but his mind suddenly turned, and then he heard Eliot say that it was less than two miles away from Harvard University. Isn't this the MIT?
Why is it now called a pheasant university? It doesn’t sound as loud as Washington University in St. Louis.
So Li Yu said: "Principal Elliot, it's okay. I can wait. The other party is also the dean after all."
Eliot thought for a while and said, "That's fine. Orientals know etiquette. This is what I like most."
Eliot asked his assistant to call in MIT Dean Pritchett and Professor Crafts.
After the two said hello to Eliot, they saw Li Yu and were surprised: "It turned out to be the famous Academician Li Yu!"
"He also spoke in our auditorium yesterday," Elliott said.
Eliot seemed to embody the power of Harvard in front of them, intentionally or unintentionally.
Krafts said: "If we had known that Academician Li Yu would give a lecture, we should have come yesterday."
Krafts was the previous president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a chemist himself, and his research results were still used in chemical weapons in later generations. Krafts graduated from Harvard University in his early years. Later, like all American chemists, he had to go to Germany for further study and worked as an assistant to Bunsen.
However, he himself was not very good at management. After two years as dean of MIT, he quit and gave it to Pritchett.
Li Yu shook hands with them: "Nice to meet you."
"Your Excellency, Dean, you can come to our college to give a lecture when you have time in the future!" Dean Pritchett invited, but then he thought that his own college was almost in danger, so he turned to Eliot and said: "Mr. Principal, I have seen your proposal, and I have personally appealed to the state legislators. Although we do not have land or donations now, we are strongly opposed to the merger with your school, Lawrence College."
Elliott said: "This is the sixth time I have suggested it. Since you can't get land and funds, and you are so close to our university, merger is a natural thing. Otherwise, the allocation of educational resources will make the parliament feel It’s very troublesome, and besides, everyone can now see that the social benefits that our Harvard University can bring are obviously much greater than yours.”
Pritchett said respectfully: "What the principal said is absolutely true. However, we have begun to change our teaching orientation, reducing theoretical teaching and becoming more professional to help students find jobs."
Elliott said: "Then you have become a vocational college? It should not be called a 'polytechnic'! In order to maintain academic purity, you should merge with us. We may also allow your college to continue academic research."
It can be seen from the conversation and tone of the two that the current status of MIT is quite low, and it seems to be in danger and on the verge of bankruptcy.
This is indeed the case. Although this young school was supported by the land grant act for universities in the United States, the land it received was too small. The previous principals were not good at financial management, which made the situation very difficult by the beginning of the 20th century.
Historically, it was really just a hair away from being merged by Harvard.
Pritchett was a little embarrassed. The other party was obviously wealthy and academically powerful and wanted to eat him.
But Pritchett was unwilling to give in.
Li Yu thought for a while and suddenly said: "Dean Pritchett, maybe I can provide some financial help."
Eliot was first surprised: "Mr. Academician, this is a quagmire!"
Eliot made a pun. Firstly, he said that MIT's current economic situation is very poor and it needs a lot of funds. Secondly, the MIT campus is located by the river, which is indeed like a quagmire.
Fortunately, MIT is indeed very good at technology applications. Pritchett himself is also crucial to the development of MIT. He quickly understood the meaning of Li Yu's words, and it was like grabbing a life-saving straw. , said: "Mr. Academician, I heard that the market value of your LY radio has exceeded 40 million US dollars. If you can fund it, we will continue to provide you with technical talents."
Li Yu said with a smile: "This matter can be pushed back. After all, I also have requirements. On the one hand, you must set up a special education foundation to accept and fund future Chinese students, and on the other hand, you must provide some teachers. Teaching in Shanghai.”
Although Li Yu's approach feels a bit "taking advantage of others", these conditions are completely acceptable to Pritchett.
Sure enough, Pritchett agreed almost without thinking: "Academician Li Yu, your proposal is the best! In the future, our college will set up an education fund named after you; as for the teachers you request, we will select the best. Choose!”
Eliot still kindly reminded: "Mr. Li Yu, you have to think clearly. It costs a lot of money to fund a university, and it is a college that is at the end of its rope and has no prospects."
Looking at it at this time, "Boston Institute of Technology" is indeed a very average university. However, Li Yu has traveled through time and knows what will happen in the future. It will not fail, let alone have no prospects.
Li Yu dared to say this because of the booming stock market and the massive orders received at the St. Louis World Expo.
It’s so hard to have money but not spend it! Anyway, Li Yu doesn't want to be a big capitalist, and even if he is simply a rich man, the income from the Star Wars series and the royalties from those patents are enough to make him a super rich man.
As for the money earned from industry, Li Yu wanted to use it to improve his education in China and cultivate domestic national enterprises.
If you want to do a good job in domestic education, just like doing a good job in radio and automobile companies, you must let the United States get some benefits first, and then they will feel comfortable.
Li Yu still understands the reason why he can't let go of his children without trapping the wolf.
The key point is that Li Yu himself did not expect that MIT would be in such a dire straits. This was not something that came to his doorstep, but was not initiated by me.
The luck is really good, and it seems that the good luck has not stopped yet.
(End of chapter)
