Chapter 1168 Postscript 24 Mathematical Research Is a Bit Too Advanced

11th Mathematics Study is a little too ahead of its time

Chen Duan is thirty-two years old.

He won the national examination at the age of twenty and was once astonishingly talented. Since then, he has failed in the exams many times, and even his status as a candidate has expired. He will have to take the exam again this year.

In the past two years, I moved to Luoyang with my grandfather just to visit famous teachers in the capital and see if I can improve my knowledge.

"My father, brother, and uncle are not in Beijing, and the courtyard is usually empty. You brothers are just here to keep me company." Chen Duan led them to the backyard. "Brother Xian's room has been tidied up a long time ago. You can sleep in it after moving out the bedding." . Your four healthy servants can sleep outside."

Xie Yan said: "Thank you, Brother Ten, for taking the trouble."

Chen Duan smiled and said: "It was all arranged by my grandmother, how can I be so careful?"

"Then I must thank my grandmother." Xie Yan said.

Chen Duan said: "You pack your luggage and take a shower first. Your elder brother and I will drink tea and wait for you."

Xie Hong also said: "Juro is a warm-hearted person. You are still very young. You regard this place as your home."

"Hahaha, this is true, I really like to hear it." Chen Duan laughed.

Xie Yan really wanted to take a good bath. Although the high-end carriage of the train was farther back, he still smelled soot all the way after opening the window.

He bid farewell to his two brothers, asked his servant to move the box containing the scale into the house, and then began to look for his change of clothes.

In the bedroom, a maid was making the bed and folding the quilt.

When the maid saw Xie Yan, she quickly stopped what she was doing, bowed and saluted and said, "Long-term blessings, sir. My name is Yan Yan, and I live in the next room. If you have anything to do, please just give me your instructions."

Xie Yan cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, sister."

Yanyan is about seventeen or eighteen years old. She is neither beautiful nor ugly, but she is very quick at work. She grasped the edge of the sheet with both hands and shook it, and most of it had been laid out: "The hot water is already being heated in the kitchen. Please wait a moment if you want to take a bath."

"No rush."

Xie Yan took out the key, opened the box, and checked whether his scale was damaged.

The scale had long since been disassembled, each component wrapped in silk. Besides the silk, there is cotton, and then it is wrapped in cotton cloth.

Repeat this process of padding and wrapping it in several layers.

The box was also filled with cotton to protect it from the bumps and bumps on the train.

After taking it apart one by one and checking it, there was no damage. Xie Yan rewrapped the various parts of the scale.

After doing this, Xie Yan stood up and turned around, seeing Yan Yan standing nearby.

"What are your orders, Sir?" Yan Yan asked.

Xie Yan said: "Go and do your work. Call me after the hot water is boiled."

Yanyan bowed and left.

The eldest brother Xie Hong suddenly walked in: "Did you bring it that day?"

Xie Yan said: "It's all in the box. I just checked it and it's intact."

Xie Hong said: "Your molecular paper was published in the last issue last year. I don't know about other places, but it really caused huge controversy in the East and West Beijing. Most scholars are completely opposed to the views in the paper, and a few Scholars agree with some and oppose some.”

"It would be good if a few people agree," Xie Yan was very satisfied. "After the invention of the long-arm damping balance, have chemists used it to verify molecular theory?"

Xie Hong said: "I don't understand chemistry, so I can only try to help you find out. That long-arm damping balance is indeed useful. I heard that many physics and chemistry experiments have achieved breakthroughs. But if it is used to study molecules and atoms, it seems that the accuracy It’s still a little bit worse.”

"When I take out this scale, they can shut up." Xie Yan was full of confidence.

Xie Hong smiled and said: "Actually, this Spring Festival, there is another scholar who was scolded worse than you."

Xie Yan asked curiously: "Are there any masters?"

Xie Hong said: "The scholar's name is Wang Daqing. He has just passed his forties and is a professor at Nanjing Taixue. He studies mathematics, physics and astronomy. He submitted a manuscript to a mathematics journal early last year, and it was rejected many times. I was so angry that I stopped teaching and asked for leave to come to Luoyang from Nanjing.”

"Then you published it to him?" Xie Yan asked.

Xie Hong shook his head: "The Mathematical Society still refused to publish it, saying that his paper was too absurd. Wang Daqing was so angry that he found a printing house in Luoyang and printed the paper at his own expense. Then he got it to the Royal Society and Luoyang Imperial College gave out gifts to everyone, and the content of the paper caused great criticism. "

Xie Yan was even more curious: "What on earth did he write?"

Xie Hong said: "I'm not good at mathematics, and I don't understand complicated things. It seems to prove that the fifth postulate of geometry is unprovable. On this basis, I derived a lot of results and claimed to have established a kind of starry sky geometry."

Zhu Guoxiang and Zhu Ming, father and son, were not professionals after all, and many basic theorems and formulas were omitted.

At that time, a large number of books were brought back from Byzantium, Fatimid (Egypt), and Seljuk, including complete Euclidean geometry.

The mathematicians of the Ming Dynasty took over all Euclidean geometry and combined it with the mathematics of the father and son.

The five postulates of Euclidean geometry naturally spread during the Ming Dynasty.

The first four postulates are all simple and clear.

And just last year, Wang Daqing proved that the fifth commune was derived from the first four communes. This is not the most outrageous thing. In the process of proof, he deduced a lot of counterintuitive content, and also built a system based on this and claimed to have created a new geometry.

To summarize simply, it is to dig out the foundation of traditional geometry.

"Where can I get his paper?" Xie Yan asked.

Xie Hong said with a smile: "I went to attend a literary meeting today and was stuffed with a copy by Wang Daqing. He stayed in Luoyang even during the Spring Festival and actually went to a literary meeting for liberal arts students to distribute papers."

Xie Yan said: "I want to take a look."

"Lang Jun, the hot water is ready!" Yanyan shouted outside the door.

Xie Hong stood up and said: "After you take a bath, follow me to see Chen Shangshu and have dinner with them. After dinner, I will give you the mathematics paper."

Xie Yan took a change of clothes to the bathroom, and Yanyan followed him the whole time, waiting outside the bathroom to help him fill up the water.

Xie Yan finished washing without adding water.

By the time he was taken to the dining room, the others had already arrived.

In addition to Chen Duan and Xie Hong, there was also Chen Wenzhao, Minister of Industry. As well as Chen Wenzhao's old wife Xia and his concubine Zhang.

Chen Wenzhao's hometown is in Shaanxi, and none of his other descendants have followed him to the capital.

Xie Yan's deceased grandfather was a Jinshi in the same year as Chen Wenzhao, and he was an intern in the same department. Later, because they dared to speak out and remonstrated, the two of them were demoted to a humble place one after another.

This relationship seems to be very strong.

But in fact, they were not very close, because the total time they spent together was only half a year. After that, they went their separate ways and didn't see each other very often.

"Junior Xie Yan, pay homage to the old husband, and pay homage to the old lady!" Xie Yan went over and saluted the three elderly people.

The two old ladies smiled and nodded.

"Sit down and eat quickly. There is no need to be polite at home."

Chen Wenzhao also had a smile on his face. He asked Xie Yan to sit down and said, "Your grandfather and I have known each other for many years. Although we didn't meet much, we still corresponded every year. If he could live a few more years, he would see his grandson sixteen If you become a Bachelor of Jasper at the age of 18, you will definitely be able to live with great joy and die without regrets!"

Xie Yan said modestly: "It's just a fluke."

Chen Wenzhao smiled heartily: "I was also a Li Jinshi back then. The Medicine Jade Bachelor may be lucky, but the Jasper Bachelor is not a lucky person."

Chen Duan took the opportunity to make the old man happy: "When my grandfather was young, he also published a paper in a mathematics journal."

Xie Yan quickly handed over his hands: "Disrespect, disrespect."

This was something Chen Wenzhao was very proud of. He laughed and waved his hands: "It's just an ordinary mathematics paper. It doesn't deserve much praise. It didn't even make it to the Bachelor of Medicine and Jade."

Xie Hong said: "That's because my old husband was too busy with official duties and was busy serving the country and loyal to the emperor. He had no time to study mathematics. Otherwise, he would at least still be a Rose Bachelor by now!"

Chen Wenzhao smiled even more happily, pointed at Xie Hong and said, "You are very clever, and you have the legacy of your grandfather."

Xie Yan asked: "Isn't my grandfather a serious Taoist scholar?"

"He's so serious! One time he dragged me to..." Chen Wenzhao suddenly shut up in the middle of the sentence, waved his hands and said, "Forget it, it's better for the dead, don't tell the embarrassing things about him back then."

Xie Hong and Xie Yan could only smile and say nothing.

Who hasn’t been young and frivolous?

Chen Wenzhao said: "The Society of Physics has written to the Ministry of Industry about the damping phenomenon you discovered. This thing is very promising, especially when applied to sea ships. I have signed and allocated research funds."

Xie Yan said: "If buildings are built to a hundred floors in the future, especially if they are built in coastal areas where there are typhoons, then dampers will also be used in tall buildings. Well... to prevent the building from being blown down by the wind."

"Hahaha!"

Everyone present laughed, including the two old ladies.

The old lady Xia said: "If you build a building with a hundred floors, the people who live in it may not be gods."

The old lady Zhang continued: "Mortals can live in it, but I'm afraid the floor is too high to climb. In the morning, when you come down from the 100th floor, it's probably time for lunch. Climb back to the 100th floor, just in time for dinner. sleep."

This was said in a funny way, and everyone laughed again.

Xie Yan also laughed.

The rest was all about family matters. Mrs. Xia stared at Xie Yan and said, "He is a talented person and has extraordinary knowledge. Unfortunately, my granddaughters are either married or engaged."

Mrs. Zhang said: "The Qin family has two granddaughters who are a perfect match."

Xia shook her head repeatedly: "No, no. The two granddaughters of the Qin family are wild girls who are used to going crazy. The sixth son of the Xie family is a royal bachelor, and he should be matched with someone who is quiet and virtuous."

"How is the little girl from the Shao family?" Ms. Zhang asked.

"Which Shao family?"

"Fufeng Shao family, we returned to Beijing more than three years ago, and we were guests at the Shao family."

"I remembered. The young lady from the Shao family is really nice, gentle and quiet, and a good child who is well-informed and courteous. I will write to you some other day to ask if the young lady from the Shao family is engaged."

"..."

The two old ladies became more and more animated as they talked.

Chen Wenzhao was unhappy: "This is all this woman knows. Xie Liulang has a bright future. Why should he be anxious about getting married at such a young age?"

Xia said: "No matter how knowledgeable you are, you are still a human being. To be a human being, you need to get married and have children. With a good wife to take care of the chores at home, Xie Liulang will be more comfortable with his studies."

After Xia finished speaking, she asked the three young people at the dinner table: "Do you think this is true?"

"Yes, yes."

"It should."

"The old lady is right."

The three young people quickly followed suit.

Xia turned her head to her husband and said, "Look, they all think I'm right."

Chen Wenzhao was too lazy to argue: "Yes, yes, you are right. This is Xie Liulang's marriage. Maybe his family has already arranged it, so don't write random letters to the Shao family. By then, Xie Liulang's family will have an agreement, How should you face the Shao family?"

Xia was speechless and stopped talking.

Xie Yan heard that it was interesting. The three old couples were very easy-going, and they did not regard him and the eldest brother as outsiders.

After dinner and some small talk, everyone went back to their rooms.

Xie Hong also brought over the mathematics papers that Wang Daqing had printed and distributed at his own expense.

Xie Yan returned to his guest room and read carefully under the light.

He was good at advanced mathematics and his geometry knowledge was also OK, but in the eyes of mathematics majors, he was just rubbish.

Wang Daqing's paper started with a hypothesis: multiple parallel lines can be drawn through a point outside a straight line.

That is, it is assumed that there are multiple parallel lines to a straight line.

Xie Yan was stunned on the spot and felt that his brain was not enough.

He soon realized that this was not Euclidean geometry, but the legendary Lobachevsky geometry.

I have never learned it!

I only came into contact with a little superficial concept in the high school geometry textbook.

At that time, the high school mathematics teacher was in the mood to brag and casually told a few stories about Gauss and Lobachevsky.

The reason why Xie Yan remembered it clearly was because the high school mathematics teacher said that Einstein's theory of relativity could not find mathematical tools to express it, and finally relied on Lobachevsky geometry to solve the problem.

I don't know if it is true, but it does not prevent Xie Yan from thinking that Lobachevsky is awesome.

The academic of this Ming Dynasty is too lame, and mathematical research seems a little too advanced.