The autumn sun at dusk shines obliquely in the courtyard, and the shadows of the trees crisscross the courtyard to outline fantastical lines. Occasionally, the wind blows off a few leaves, and the dead leaves on the ground are rattled, mixed with the sound of children reading, and the whole courtyard seems quiet and serene. Every time, Sun Yuanqi came back with his tired body in tow, and when he saw this scene, he would feel peaceful.

Sun Yuanqi led the four students into the courtyard quietly, and then came to a room with the sign "Physics Academy" next to the door. Several students behind him were obviously stunned when they saw the "Physics Training Center" painted in black on a white background, and they glanced at each other, and found that each other's eyes were a little surprised. He didn't say anything, and followed him into the house.

There were a few people in the room, lighting candles, really busy working, and when they saw Sun Yuanqi leading people in, they all stood up and called "sir".

Sun Yuanqi motioned for them to continue their work: "You continue to be busy with your work." These are all my students at Beijing Normal University, and I want to see the textbook that has just been compiled. ”

A few others sat down, or flipped through the slips of paper, or copied books, and some were grading their homework. Only Liu Bin turned around, picked up a stack of books from the desk inside, put them in front of Sun Yuanqi, and then continued to work in his seat.

Sun Yuanqi said apologetically to the four students who followed him: "Several of them are my students, follow me to learn something." I've been compiling a dictionary lately, and I've been very busy. Somewhat sluggish. ”

All four students nodded, as if they were afraid that their words would disturb someone else's work.

Sun Yuanqi pointed to the stack of books: "These are several textbooks compiled by our teachers and students, and physics is also in it, you can find it out for yourselves." Then he walked over to a spare bookcase and put down the book he was holding. It seems that that position is where he usually sits.

The four students got together, and in that stack of books, there were not only books such as "Intermediate Physics Textbook", "Intermediate Chemistry Textbook", and "Intermediate Mathematics Textbook", but also "Primary School Chinese Textbook", "Primary School Mathematics Textbook", "Primary School Nature Textbook" and other primary school textbooks, in addition, "Psychology Outline", "Pedagogy Outline", and "Teaching Methodology". The last three were used by Sun Yuanqi when he trained several of his disciples to teach in primary schools, and were finally edited into a book. On the title page of almost every book, there is the inscription "Written by Sun Yuanqi Baixi", which is used to being added by students when they copy it.

The four students flipped through each book, and finally, they came to Sun Yuanqi with a stack of books in their arms and said, "Sir, we all want to borrow these books and look ......at them."

Probably when they spoke, they all blushed a little. Fortunately, it is now dark in the house, and it is difficult to see clearly. Sun Yuanqi glanced at the books they were holding, and was a little dumbfounded: not only did they take the "Intermediate Physics Textbook", "Intermediate Chemistry Textbook", and "Intermediate Mathematics Textbook", which was expected; It is not surprising that I also took the "Outline of Psychology", "Outline of Education", and "Teaching Methodology"; The key point is that they even took the "Chinese Textbook for Primary Schools" and "Nature Textbook for Primary Schools." I thought to myself, maybe they thought that the "Primary School Mathematics Textbook" was too simple and really couldn't afford it, so they didn't take it, and the others didn't fall behind.

Sun Yuanqi didn't know anything about it, and nodded: "Okay." But these books are the only one, so when you use them, don't throw them away or destroy them! ”

The four of them assured again and again, among them, Li Guobing patted his chest and said: "Mr. Sun, don't worry, people are in the book!" Then the four men got up and took their leave. Sun Yuanqi had something to do, and he didn't stay long.

On the way, Zeng Guangxi, who had always been silent, suddenly said: "I always feel that I have seen a line of English under the plaque in Mr. Sun's courtyard. ”

"English? Are you talking about the line of English under the Physics Institute? Zuo Gongxian asked.

Hu Xun is very old and observes the most carefully, recalling: "It seems to be 'InstituteofPhysicalResearchandTeaching'......"

“InstituteofPhysicalResearchandTeaching？” Li Guobing repeated, much more pure than Hu Xun, with a standard British accent. Suddenly, as if an epiphany: "IPRT! ”

“IPRT？ YorkJohnson？ Could it be that Mr. Sun is YorkJohnson, who wrote the chemistry monograph? Zuo Gongxian jumped up in shock.

"Which chemistry monograph?" Hu Xun asked.

Li Guobing also jumped up: "Let's go back and ask him now!" As he spoke, he pulled Zeng Guangxiok and walked back.

Hu Xun hurriedly stopped Li Guobing. Zeng Guangxio replied to Hu Xun's question just now: "That book is called "Principles of Chemistry", it is said that in the beginning, the name was very long, as if it was called from atoms, atomic structures to elements, periodic tables or something, anyway, the name is extremely long. Later, everyone thought the name was awkward, so it was changed to "Principles of Chemistry". ”

"Principles of Chemistry? Listening to the name, it's like a very esoteric book. Did Mr. Sun write it? ”

Zuo Gong replied first: "This is a question that many people are asking. The book, written by YorkJohnson in China, was originally published by a Canadian publishing house and sent to various national natural science societies and prestigious universities. At first, no one cared too much; Gradually, people began to circulate the book and were quickly convinced by the ideas in the book. Because there were very few books given away at the beginning, the supply exceeded the supply, so they kept reprinting, and it is said that everyone in the Western academic community now has one in their hands! ”

Li Guobing hurriedly said: "A few days ago, my grandfather asked me if there was a teacher named York Johnson in the hall of Beijing Normal University. He also said that many foreigners are inquiring! ”

Zeng Guangxi pondered: "YorkJohnson...... JohnsonYork…… SonYork, Sun Yuanqi...... That's right! That YorkJohnson should be Mr. Sun! But why doesn't Mr. Sun use his real name? ”

Hu Xun thought for a while and said, "Mr. Sun is young and high, but he often has a melancholy color, will there be anything unspeakable?" ”

When the other three heard this, they all nodded, and they didn't mention the matter of going back to Mr. Sun now.

After a while, Hu Xun said again: "Have you read that book?" ”

The other three shook their heads together. Zuo Gongxian obviously knew more: "It is said that the book "Principles of Chemistry" is extremely esoteric, and only professors can barely read it in the West, and only a few professors know the mysteries. Naturally, no one in China can read it now, so there is no way to translate it. Oh, if Mr. Sun wrote it, then he naturally understood. ”

Zeng Guangxi interjected: "You see, these books we got back have all kinds of textbooks from elementary school to university. In addition to textbooks, there are also pedagogy, psychology, and so on...... Now that there is "Principles of Chemistry", is Mr. Sun omniscient? ”

The other people were stunned. Zeng Guangxi continued: "It is rumored that Mr. Sun is Sun Shouzhou's nephew, which should be true, just now I saw the servant of Sun Shouzhou's mansion in front of Mr. Sun's door. I estimate that Mr. Sun will not be more than twenty-five years old! Thirty years old, the sky! ”

Hu Xun shook his head: "I'm only twenty-four years old, and Mr. Sun looks much younger than me." It is estimated that Mr. Sun is about 20 years old. ”

Zuo Gongxian also said: "Looking at the face and talking, I think I am about twenty years old." ”

Li Guobing opened his mouth wide: "Twenty years old, you know so much knowledge, is it a monster?" ”

Hu Xun raised his hand and gave him a violent shudder: "Heaven and Earth Monarch, do you understand!" ”

Zuo Gongxian asked: "So, Mr. Sun is a "born to know"? ”

Several people took a breath together, and one word flashed in their minds at the same time: saint? He quickly shook his head, as if he wanted to shake this thought out of his head. After a while, Hu Xun said slowly: "Forget it, since Mr. Sun is unwilling to show up, let's not make a noise!" Remember not to talk nonsense about today's events! ”

Several people nodded their heads, indicating that they were saved.

On the second day, Sun Yuanqi had no classes in the hall of Beijing Normal University. Another day passed, and Sun Yuan came up. Everything was normal in class. After class, Zuo Gongxian and the others followed Sun Yuanqi behind him and left the classroom, and then shouted: "Mr. Sun! ”

Sun Yuanqi turned around: "Oh, you guys." Is there something wrong? ”

Hu Xun was the oldest, and walked up and handed over a book: "Sir, we will return the book to you first." ”

Take a look at it, "Elementary School Nature Textbook". This should be the simplest of the books they took away, just some scientific common sense in life, and it makes sense to be the first to return it. Sun Yuan nodded and accepted the book: "Okay." Anything else? ”

Li Guobing took out a book from his book bag and said with a ashamed face: "Sir, we haven't understood this book......

Look at it again, but it is "Primary School Chinese Textbook". Li Guobing opened the book, pointed to the Chinese pinyin on each word and asked, "What is this?" It's not like French. ”

"This is Hanyu Pinyin." When Sun Yuanqi was compiling dictionaries with his students, he already had a relatively in-depth understanding of ancient dictionaries, "similar to reverse cuts, specifically for spelling the pronunciation of Chinese characters." There are two main benefits: first, it is convenient for children to further learn rare words; Second, it is easy to find Chinese characters that only know the pronunciation and do not know the glyphs. ”

Zeng Guangxi asked, "Is this Mr. Sun's own fabrication?" ”

Sun Yuanqi thought to himself that Hanyu Pinyin only came after New China, and he didn't know who made it up. As for the current era, it is indeed made up by itself. So, he replied vaguely, "Sort of......

Zuo Gong first hurriedly asked: "Then how to check the characters?" ”

"Oh, I'm working on a dictionary with a few students, and I'm almost done."

Several students exclaimed, "Hey, make up a dictionary? I glanced at each other and thought: Yes, the capable can do anything!

Hu Xun asked slowly: "Sir, can we take a look at this pronunciation plan?" ”

"Naturally, it's fine." Sun Yuanqi is still very enthusiastic about promoting Chinese pinyin, after all, after entering the information age, pinyin has a great function. "You see, I'll bring it to you next time."

Hu Xun bowed down and replied, "Thank you, sir!" ”

Li Guobing opened his mouth to ask something. Hu Xun and Zeng Guangxian sandwiched him and flew away.

More than a week passed. Sun Yuanqi's dictionary is almost finished, and now all they have to do is check for errors. Because Hanyu Pinyin has not yet been promoted, it is only used in the primary school hall and a few students in the courtyard, so one book is enough. Hu Xun asked for the "Chinese Pinyin Scheme", Sun Yuanqi brought it to them the next day, and I don't know if they are interested in learning it!

After class, Sun Yuanqi subconsciously looked at Hu Xun and Zuo Gongxian. Sure enough, they stood up. Sun Yuan nodded and walked to the path outside the door to wait for them.

Hurrying to the feet, the four people followed, bowed down and said, "Mr. Sun!" ”

Sun Yuanqi asked, "What problems have you encountered when you read books?" ”

They took out their books and asked a few questions. Sun Yuanqi answered them one by one at the moment.

After asking the question, Sun Yuanqi thought it was okay. It was still Hu Xun, who bowed down and said, "Sir, the student has a reluctant request. ”

Sun Yuanqi looked at Hu Xun, who had a slight beard: "You say." ”

"The students borrowed the textbooks from the students. Although it is magnificent, students are not allowed to put their beaks. In the rough opinion of the four of us, it is excellent and very practical. The students wanted to copy it, but one was too long, the second was afraid of being wrong, and the third was not widely circulated. I sincerely ask Mr. to print this book to benefit Xuelin, and it will definitely be a donation! After saying that, he bowed again.

These half-literate and half-plain words are said that Sun Yuanqi half understands them, but the general meaning is understood, and he wants to ask himself to print these books. So he replied, "It is naturally good to pay for printing." But I don't know anything about how to print the book - your physics textbook was printed by Master Xu, and I don't know the details. And I'm afraid no one reads these books, right? ”

Indeed, these books are all new textbooks or something, and the sales are probably not bad, but quite bad.

Li Guobing immediately clapped his hands and shouted: "Excellent! As long as Mr. Sun agrees to print, we'll take care of the rest! ”

The four students were sent away, and the dictionary was compiled. Sun Yuanqi thought that he could finally relax for a few days, and wanted to rest for a while and take the opportunity to plan his future life. Within a few days, I received various letters from Europe and the Americas.

The first few letters surprised Sun Yuanqi because they were from the UK. When he saw a letter from Mr. Conger's son, Thomas, who had visited himself in Beijing with Rutherford and crossed the Pacific Ocean with Rutherford, he should have known him as well as Rutherford.

When he opened the letter, he apologized for not writing for a long time, congratulated himself on his great discovery, and then explained the reason for the sudden letter. Well, that's because Rutherford sent him a copy of the pamphlet when he went to print, and the book rose to fame, so he claimed to his teachers in Cambridge that it was a "pleasure" to meet Professor YorkJohnson. In this way, a large number of physicists and chemists, including the great Lord Kelvin, were "very hopeful" to correspond with scientists in the Far East and discuss problems. And then, there was this letter.

Sure enough, among those letters, Kelvin, J. On the one hand, they praised the great significance of Sun Yuanqi's "hypothesis" of atomic structure, and on the other hand, they also refuted it, arguing that "electricity is continuous", so electrons are not particles; "Light is a wave", not a particle. Kelvin bluntly said that it was a "well-planned hoax." Some of them are invitations, such as Thomson's invitation to Sun Yuanqi to visit the Cavendish Laboratory.

Sun Yuanqi has always been full of admiration for these cattle whose portraits are hung in universities all over the world decades later. Write back to them with enthusiasm, answer their questions, and decline their invitations. After that, they put their letters together with the previous letters from Rutherford and others, and put them away carefully. If it is put aside for a few more decades, this is not only spiritual wealth, but also material wealth.

This was followed by another wave of letters from the Americas. With Rutherford, he gave a general account of the popularity of the pamphlet, and exchanged some questions about physics. The letter mentions that Mendeleev, who was the original discoverer of the periodic table, wrote after seeing the pamphlet that "admitting that atoms can be broken down into electrons only complicates things," and called on other scholars not to believe the book.

The letter also has a sample issue from Science magazine. Sun Yuanqi's thick paper presented a problem to Science, but Science didn't care, because it was a weekly magazine, and the editors directly regarded the paper as an issue of the magazine, but the front and back editors commented, and there were several physics professors' book reviews or review opinions in the back. In these comments, Sun Yuanqi really saw an interesting text:

“…… Although YorkJohnson's observations of the photoelectric effect were convincing and his explanations were successful, his physical theories were completely untenable. We have reason to believe that this is because he has lost his way in the debate. So, you only need to read the first part of this paper. If anyone can't resist the temptation and curiosity, he will surely learn the lesson from the experiment in the third part, because the failure of this experiment is predictable. Of course, even if only the first part of this voluminous paper is desirable, it will not lose its significance......"

Because of the large length of the paper, the remuneration this time is also very generous, which is enough to make Sun Yuanqi forget all the unhappiness.

Somehow, suddenly, it seemed as if the whole world knew about YorkJohnson: he had lived in the United States and had earned a physics degree from Yale University; He is currently engaged in research in China in the Far East, under the unit of IPRT; The first half of the treatise he wrote was angelic and the second half was devil, so reading his treatise, half of them converted to him, and the other half discovered his devilish nature and began to fight him; It is said that he was a Chinese with pigtails and was very young......

Since the end of November, I have been receiving several letters almost every week. At the beginning, Sun Yuanqi was still interested in answering their questions and refuting each other's problems; After a few weeks, Sun Yuanqi was almost tormented by the same problem and felt that his entire life was going to be ruined by this group of stubborn believers in classical physics. In desperation, he had no choice but to sort out the frequently asked questions, answer them one by one, and send them to the journal Nature – because more of the questions came from the European continent, and the continent's scientists were undoubtedly direct readers of Nautre. At the end of the article, Sun Yuanqi reluctantly wrote:

Distinguished gentlemen, if you ask these questions, or if you slander and make personal attacks against me, I have the right to refuse to reply. And, I thought, if you think my theories or conjectures are wrong and absurd, why don't you try to disprove them with experiments or empirical evidence? After all, opinions can be wrong, theories can be wrong, and rigorous and scientific experimental results cannot be wrong.

Right now, I'm researching and exploring other interesting physics problems, which will take me a certain amount of time, so I can't reply to every letter in time. It would be my pleasure if you could summarize your ideas and send them to me as a paper.

Sun Yuanqi is right to say in Nature that he is busy right now, because he now targets plagiarism on Einstein's special theory of relativity. In the original history, in the September 1905 issue of the German Journal of Physics, there was an epoch-making paper - "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", and since then the special theory of relativity has been truly established. The author of the article was Albert Einstein, then a third-level technician at the Swiss Patent Office. It is said that this paper came from the inspiration when I woke up one morning, and then it took five or six weeks to write the paper.

When Sun Yuanqi wrote "The Photoelectric Effect: From Phenomenon to Essence", he already felt that without the special theory of relativity, many expressions would be shrunk, and the development of physics would be seriously limited. Therefore, the work of "discovering" the special theory of relativity became imperative. But Einstein entered the pedagogical faculty of the ETH Zurich in 1896. At this time, the great Einstein had not yet graduated from university. This heavy responsibility can only fall on Sun Yuanqi's shoulders.

On the twentieth day of December in the Western calendar, Chongshi Middle School began its winter vacation. In this way, Sun Yuanqi had enough time to conceive the paper. Although it is said to be "plagiarism", it still takes a lot of time to integrate, because although Einstein's special theory of relativity was laid down in his "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" written in June 1905, it should also include "Is the inertia of an object related to the energy it contains?" written in September of the same year? ", "On the Principle of Relativity and the Conclusions Drawn from It" in 1907, as well as the four-dimensional formatting of the theory of relativity by Einstein's teacher and Lithuanian-born German mathematician Minkowski from 1907 to 1908, Kaufmann in 1905 and Breller in 1908. So, the integration work is still very heavy.

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