Siheyuan: Starting from a fitter

Chapter 323 Einstein’s Puzzle
After the meeting in the evening, Dean Lu invited Li Guocheng to have dinner.

Dean Lu's work involves various disciplines such as physical chemistry, structural chemistry, nuclear chemistry and material science.

He has made outstanding contributions in structural chemistry research.The reciprocal Lp factor diagram for X-ray diffraction photography of isoclinic Weissen single crystals designed by him in his early years was included in the International Handbook of X-ray Crystallography and is called the "Lou's diagram".

Mr. Lu is over 60 years old, a standard old handsome guy, usually cheerful, but once he pulls his face down, he is not angry.

"Lao Zhao and I have been friends for many years, and we have heard about your affairs. I am proud that you can achieve the results you have achieved now."

Only then did Li Guocheng understand why Mr. Lu had been supporting him. It turned out that Mr. Lu knew his past.

"Mr. Lu, compared with you, I am nothing but a bean sprout. You are the pioneer and founder of the discipline of structural chemistry in China. You have always insisted on teaching and educating people, and you are full of talents all over the world."

"The mission is different. You can start an industry, invest huge sums of money in technological innovation, and save precious foreign exchange for the country. And I know that you have been working hard on basic science and technology and achieved impressive results.

We leave the operating system and application software to you, and we have peace of mind.”

"Thank you for your trust. But why are there so many people who clearly know that it is necessary to continue research and development, but are firmly opposed to it?"

"This issue is more complicated. To put it simply, they are not bad, but have different positions."

Mr. Lu said in a low voice, crying and laughing.

“They are not bad, but stupid and short-sighted.

The old man said that if you hit with one punch, you won't get hundreds of punches.

History has proven repeatedly that they fail to learn lessons.

Is it true that the only lesson to be learned from history is that lessons are never learned?”

The more Li Guocheng talked, the angrier he became. He had been holding his breath for the past few days, and now he finally vented it out when facing Mr. Zhao's friend and his elder.

The other party just looked at Li Guocheng with a smile and said nothing.

After venting, Li Guocheng stabilized his mood and said, "I'm sorry, I'm a little lost."

"This is good, young people have to be a little bloody."

Li Guocheng was indeed furious today because he knew about future generations and what China would experience in the future.

So he always wanted to do something, even if he couldn't change anything in the end, at least he did it, worked hard, and died without regrets.

"Xiao Li, have you ever heard Einstein's evaluation of China?"

He knew that the "Einstein Puzzle", which is widely circulated now, was a reply letter from Einstein to JS Switzer in 1953.

The current mainstream translations in China are:

'The development of Western science is based on two great achievements: the invention of the system of formal logic by the Greek philosophers (in Euclidean geometry) and the discovery (during the Renaissance) that through systematic experiment Show the causal relationship between things.

In my opinion: there is no need to be surprised that Chinese sages did not take these two steps, (…)

It would be amazing if these discoveries were actually made. '

Many domestic scholars interpreted it as Einstein criticizing China for having no science, no technological thinking, and no logic.

Li Guocheng said in a low voice: "I heard a little bit."

"Do you think they understand it correctly?"

"I think this is a misunderstanding. If it is unintentional, it means they are stupid; if it is intentional, it is ulterior motives."

"Can you explain your understanding?"

Li Guocheng was deeply impressed when he first heard this point of view in a salon criticizing traditional Chinese medicine.

"Nothing else matters, but the last sentence, I think they had a problem with the translation."

The reason why Li Guocheng said it was a 'problem' rather than a 'translation error' was because he suspected that some people did it intentionally and deliberately told the Chinese people that your ancestors were wrong and need to learn from us.

Mr. Lu seemed to be very interested and said, "Let's talk and listen."

"The boy is making a fool of himself.

The last sentence is: The astonishing thing is that those discoveries were made at all.

I think the correct understanding is: But what is surprising is that those discoveries (referring to ancient Chinese scientific and technological discoveries) were actually made by them (without formal logic and systematic experiments).

The "were made at all" in the sentence means that (these discoveries have been made in China) all have been made. (At all is a way of strengthening the tone, meaning "all of them have been made").

In my opinion, what Einstein wanted to express is: In my opinion, it is not surprising that China did not produce these two major scientific foundations, but what is surprising is that scientific discoveries based on these two major foundations were born in China."

"Oh! Your conclusion is very bold, hahaha...".

Mr. Lu looked at Li Guocheng and wanted to explain, and then said: "No, no, no, don't get me wrong, because I think the same as you."

"In fact, the so-called Einstein puzzle is artificially confusing, and they deliberately ignored the background of this reply letter.

The person to whom Einstein replied was J.S. Switzer, a colonel in the American Army who retired to study for a master's degree in the history department of Fordham University.

During this period, he took an elective reading class by sinologist Arthur F. Wright, whose theme was to discuss "the question of whether there is science in China."

After class, Switzer wrote down the main issues discussed in class and sent them to Einstein, and received a reply from Einstein.

I have not found the specific content of their previous correspondence, but the letter from Einstein to Switzer is very famous.

It has been cited in a large number of English papers and books, and the subject of these articles and books is to discuss the origins of modern science, rather than the scientific and technological achievements of ancient China.

In fact, regarding the origin of science in the West, the mainstream view of Einstein's generation was that it was a miracle.

Now, both in the West and China, everyone agrees that Einstein was criticizing the Chinese people."

After the old man finished speaking, his expression was very strange, neither angry nor regretful, more like sad.

Both of them were a little silent, lowering their heads to eat the tasteless food.

After an unknown period of time, the old man said quietly: "Westerners conducted a survey at a previous stage, and the conclusions are not sure whether they are true or false. The only strange thing is that the survey results were not released.

I heard some rumors: the brain capacity/average IQ of yellow people is 105, that of white people is only 100, that of dark white people in South Asia is only 85, and that of black people is only 75."

After speaking, continue to bow your head to eat.

"I also got a book called "Creations of Previous Dynasties", which explains many ancient Chinese inventions, including their origins, applications, development, and pictures and texts.

It is mentioned that the Ming Dynasty treasure ships were driven by steam engines, and hundreds of great inventions were recorded."

"Actually, there are many similar records, and I know about them, but it's a pity..."

Note: The plot and names in this book are fictitious, and any similarity is purely coincidental! ! !
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(End of this chapter)