This sudden telegram completely disrupted Sun Yuanqi's original itinerary. After a short academic exchange in Germany, he did not travel to the Netherlands, Belgium, or France, but boarded a passenger ship from Hamburg to London, and arrived in the United Kingdom on the evening of December 16.

It was already twilight when Sun Yuanqi stepped off the ship. Despite three years of absence, London is no different from the last time it came, and the damp and thick fog still locks the heart of the empire. Winter in London isn't too cold and rarely even frozen, but the slimy, rainy weather is even more annoying, but it's not as lovely as Beijing's sunny and cold weather.

The Royal Society had already received a telegram from Sun Yuanqi, and at this time there were people waiting on the docks. After receiving it, he sent Sun Yuanqi directly to the hotel by horse-drawn carriage, and informed that in view of the late weather today, the Royal Society had not arranged any special activities; Tomorrow afternoon, Lord Rayleigh, the President, will come to visit in person.

Sun Yuanqi, who was tired from the journey, was very satisfied with this arrangement, ate a few bites of dinner, drank a glass of hot milk, and fell asleep by the roaring fireplace. When I woke up the next morning, I took a hot shower, and my tiredness suddenly dissipated, and I felt refreshed.

After breakfast, I stayed alone in my room, slightly revising the speech I had delivered at Stockholm University the other day and preparing to read it at the Copley Prize ceremony tomorrow. It was nearly noon when there was a knock on the door. Sun Yuan thought it was to deliver lunch at first, but he didn't care, he waved his pen at the desk, and just replied casually: "Please come in"

The door opened, and the waiter whispered, "Dear sir, there are people outside who want to visit you, you see——? ”

Sun Yuanqi put down his pen at this time: "Who are they?" ”

"There's a lot of them, that's their calling card." The waiter took a few steps closer and handed over a large stack of business cards.

After a rough look, there are reporters from The Times, teachers from University College London, and Baroness so-and-so...... Among this large number of exquisite business cards, the business cards with the six Chinese characters of "Li Fuji" and "Yu Tongkui" directly written on the hotel's sticky note paper are the most eye-catching. Sun Yuan smiled, then took out this piece of paper and said to the waiter, "Please invite the two gentlemen on this business card to come in." As for the others, please tell them that we are too busy today and tomorrow, and if they don't dislike it, they can come the day after tomorrow."

"It's my pleasure to be at your service," the waiter replied respectfully, then took the note and exited the room.

A few minutes later, the door rang again. This time, Sun Yuanqi did not support him, and quickly got up to open the door, and saw the waiter leading Li Fuji and another Chinese to stand at the door, thinking that he was Yu Tongkui.

"Please come in, please come in" Sun Yuanqi hurriedly beckoned.

After entering the house, Li Fuji found a stool to sit down at random, but Yu Tongkui stood aside respectfully.

Sun Yuan saw that his face seemed to be older than himself, so he smiled and said, "You are Brother Yu, right?" You're welcome, just sit down and I'll make you a cup of black tea. ”

Yu Tongkui hurriedly bowed: "After Mr. was tormented, he learned from the student Yu Tongkui, the word Xingshu, and the Marquis of Fujian." In the winter of the 28th year of Guangxu, he was admitted to the Normal Hall of Beijing Normal University, and he has traveled to England for 30 years, until now. During the school period, Mr. was the deputy head teacher of the school, how dare the students call him a brother in front of him? ”

I didn't expect to meet students thousands of miles away from the motherland, although they were not taught by themselves-their teachers were their own students at Jingshi University, so he should be his own apprentice. - That's surprising enough. The two first recalled the eventful years of the Beijing Normal University Hall; Immediately afterwards, Sun Yuanqi, as a division commander, carefully inquired about his studies in the UK. After that, he asked Li Fu a few times: "Zemin, what is the matter with you coming here today?" ”

Li Fuji said with a smile: "There are two main things: the first is that I have packed my luggage and am ready to leave for China, and I want to say goodbye to you; The second thing is that Brother Xingshu wants to visit you and ask me to make a recommendation. ”

"I only arrived in London last night, and it took a lot of effort for you to inquire about my accommodation, right?"

"Oh, that's not true. In fact, it was surprisingly simple, because if you open the newspaper this morning, you will see the news that you are staying at this hotel. ”

"Is there such a thing?"

Yu Tongkui interjected at this time: "Sir, you are the first scientist in sixty years to win two awards after Herschel in 1847; In the nearly 200 years since the establishment of the Copley Prize, he is also the sixth scientist to win the Copley Prize twice. In terms of nationality, you are the first foreigner to get twice, so the major newspapers in London are competing to cover everything from the time of your arrival, the hotel you are staying in, and so on. ”

"Uh......" I didn't expect to accidentally become the object of newspaper gossip.

"My mentor told me that for your outstanding contributions to science, you deserve to be awarded the Copley Medal twice, and no one will be jealous or resentful. If your theory is more confirmed, it can even break De Sagillier's record. Yu Tongkui continued.

As Newton's assistant, physicist, and priest, Jn Teilu Degulier won the Copley Medal in 1734, 1736, and 1741, becoming the biggest winner of the prize since its establishment. His award-winning record has not been broken until now, and it is estimated that no one will break it in the future.

A few masters and apprentices are boasting about themselves here, will it make people laugh out of their big teeth when they pass it out?

Sun Yuan felt a chill and hurriedly changed the topic: "Xingshu, why did you come to me?" ”

"That's right," Yu Tongkui hurriedly replied: "As we all know, the reason why China is poor and weak today is because of the backwardness of science and technology. On the other hand, the reason why Europe and the United States are prosperous in science and technology is inseparable from the strong promotion of various academic groups. In England, for example, the Royal Society was established as early as 1660, and various specialized societies of the natural sciences were established in the mid-19th century. For example, the English Chemical Society was founded in 1841, the French Chemical Society was founded in 1858, the German Chemical Society was founded in 1868, the American Chemical Society was founded in 1876, and even our neighbor Japan founded its own chemical society in 1878. Our students studying in Europe deeply realized the positive role of academic societies in promoting the development of science, so they proposed to organize China's own chemical society to promote the development of chemical science in China. ”

Yu Tongkui said, while taking out a few pages from his body and handing them to Sun Yuanqi: "This summer, Brother Li Jinghao, who studied in France, was the first to propose the establishment of a chemistry group, and it was successively supported by colleagues from France, Britain, Germany, and Belgium. Initially, the organization was going to be named the 'Chinese Chemical Society', but later I thought about it, whether in terms of research performance or reputation at home and abroad, Mr. China would not think about it as a second person. A few of us went to Europe to form the 'Chinese Chemical Society', claiming to be the president and secretary, not to mention disobeying the public, if the Chinese people know, it should be a joke that we are honored in a place where there is no Buddha. Therefore, we decided to change the name to 'European Branch of the Chinese Chemical Society' and prepare to hold an inaugural meeting in London on the 25th of this month.

"In October, when I heard that Mr. Chen had won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry, everyone was overjoyed and ready to contact you when you arrived in Europe and invite you to attend the meeting to discuss the establishment of the Chinese Chemical Society. It's just that I haven't seen my husband before, so I have no reason to see him. Recently, I heard that Brother Zemin is quite familiar with you, so I specially asked him to introduce him and come to disturb him. ”

Looking at the "Constitution of the European Branch of the Chinese Chemical Society" in his hand, Sun Yuanqi couldn't help but think of his visit to the United Kingdom three years ago. At that time, the president of the Royal Society, Sir Hagens, suggested that he should establish a body similar to the Royal Society in China to facilitate academic exchanges between the two countries.

At that time, Sun Yuanqi was quite moved. After returning to China, he found that it was a very taboo to set up a society in the Qing Dynasty: Kang Youwei and Tan Sitong established the Qiang Society, the Yue Society, the Shu Society, and the Southern Society before the reform, Dr. Sun established the Agricultural Society before going abroad, Zhang Binglin established the Qun Society before scolding Guangxu, and Tang Caichang established the Qunmeng Society before the rebellion...... Organizations like the Society are completely the G-spot of Grandma Cixi, and whoever scratches it will die

Even if the word "science" is added in front of the society, it will not work, you must know that Wu Yue, who assassinated the five ministers, is from the Wuhu "Science Book Society"; Last year, the core organization that launched uprisings in Pingxiang, Jiangxi, Liuyang, and Liling, Hunan, was called the "Science Tutorial Institute." The so-called "fake is true when it is true", selling dog meat on the head of a sheep has come to this point, even if Sun Yuanqi really sets up a veritable "science society", it is estimated that it will not be able to escape the suspicion of melon fields and plums. In line with the principle of safety first, more things are better than less things, Sun Yuanqi gradually forgot about this stubble.

Now that Yu Tongkui mentioned this matter again, Sun Yuanqi unconsciously moved in his heart: If you establish a society abroad, you shouldn't have so many scruples, right? Even if there is an obstacle, Grandma Cixi can't reach it, aren't Dr. Sun, Kang Youwei and others all living well in Japan? Besides, Grandma Cixi hasn't grown a whip yet

After pondering for a moment, Sun Yuanqi said: "I am very much in favor of your establishment of the Chinese Chemical Society; I am also very happy to participate in your inaugural meeting. Just a suggestion that I hope you'll give serious consideration to. ”

"Please sir," Yu Tongkui hurriedly said.

Sun Yuanqi said: "As you just said, a large part of China's backwardness is due to the backwardness of science and technology, and the establishment of the society is very conducive to the development of science and technology. Nowadays, all of you colleagues in the field of chemistry should take the lead in establishing an organization, which is very good, but we must also take into account that other disciplines also have the need to establish societies, but no one is aware of it, or has realized it but suffers from no one organization. Even if someone comes forward to organize, it will inevitably lead to death halfway due to difficulties such as few members, large changes, and inconvenient contact. Therefore, I suggest that it is better for everyone to work together now, first build the framework of the society of each basic discipline, and then form a Chinese Society for Science and Technology by the main leaders of each society, which is responsible for the coordination work. In this way, it can not only ensure the operation of the society in the future, but also promote the development of the discipline. ”

"Good idea," Li Fuji high-fived.

"Good idea" Yu Tongkui's eyes also lit up. He immediately thought of a few questions: "But, sir, there are only a few of us, and people from other disciplines have established the society without showing up, what if they don't agree in the future?" Moreover, it is difficult to solve the problem of funding for such a large society."

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