University of Berlin, Munich, Germany.

Laue excitedly took a telegram and hurried to the room of his teacher, Planck.

The door hadn't been pushed open yet, and the shouts had already rushed in.

"Teacher, good news, To, a famous mathematician from the Eastern country of China, is going to visit our school, and he wants to see you by name, saying that he must discuss the mystery between mathematics and physics with you."

"Is that true? No, at the moment our two countries are belligerents, and it is too dangerous for him to come here, so immediately send a telegram to him and tell him not to come." Planck was overjoyed, but then worried.

The telegram in Laueyang's hand shrugged and said, "I'm afraid I can't do your request, G said in the telegram that they are already on their way to Europe, so you can just wait in peace."

Afraid that Planck would not believe it, Laue deliberately stepped forward two steps, spread the telegram in front of the table, and said seriously: "The telegram also said that I have prepared a big gift for you, the teacher, saying that it can bring new mathematical research and help you improve the law of blackbody radiation as a gift for your 60th birthday."

"God, is this true?" Planck quickly snatched the telegram, and after reading it twice, he was still incredulous: "G is such a genius that just a few sentences have given me a hint of inspiration, you must know that I have spent a total of 6 years before and after deriving this radiation formula!"

In the history of modern physics, there is hardly a great physicist who is not well versed in the language of mathematics.

For theoretical physicists, the function of mathematics is to provide him with the background of his imagination to grasp the external world.

Galli, the father of modern physics, famously said: The book on nature is written in the language of mathematics.

Calculus, for example, was a powerful mathematical tool invented by Newton to deal with fundamental mechanical problems such as instantaneous velocity, and he felt that only through this new computational tool could he express the magnificent picture of the physical world governed by the laws of cause and effect.

Similarly, at the age of 12 to 16, Einstein was already familiar with the basic ideas of analytic geometry, as well as the concepts of infinite series, differentiation and integration. and was convinced that all physics was based on Newton's laws of motion and the necessary mass and force, and that everything could be developed mathematically deductively.

Planck's study of thermal radiation also took a long time mathematically to derive the radiation formula.

And Cheng Nuo directly admitted in the telegram that he could further improve on the basis of his original, which made him very excited.

"It's unimaginable, what a mysterious Oriental youth." Holding the telegram, Planck muttered to himself.

The student on the side, Laue, came up with an idea: "Teacher, aren't you currently working on the asymmetric gyroscope problem, which is used to solve the optical problem of molecular rotation spectrum, and there are some mathematical problems in the middle, if g is coming, you can discuss it with him."

"That's a good idea." It's a pity that after pondering for a while, the light in Planck's eyes was extinguished again: "If it was okay before, but now that I am infamous now, even if G can come, how can I have the qualifications and face to face international academic peers?"

Perhaps it was too depressing in the room, or perhaps it was too stuffy for himself, Planck took the initiative to open the window, looked at the unclear sky, and said, "How I wish there was a spiritual world and a moral world in a place where the nations fought each other."

Laue comforted: "Teacher, in fact, you are not to blame, you did not know the political background and content of the declaration beforehand."

Planck waved his hand: "You don't need to say it anymore, don't you understand it beforehand, isn't this also a mistake?"

The so-called declaration was a declaration that Germany was right to start a war, and Planck was deceived into signing this declaration.

[In view of the general environment,

But because of this declaration, Planck has been criticized by a large number of colleagues in the field of natural sciences at home and abroad.

Later, Planck expressed his deep regret and tried to eliminate the mistake of his signature, which was produced in the international scientific community

Adverse effects of life.

Therefore, when I saw Cheng Nuo's visit letter, except for my first reaction was happiness, the others were frustrated and self-blamed.

On the deck of the cruise ship, Cheng Nuo smiled helplessly after receiving Planck's euphemistic refusal.

"No wonder Einstein said that Mr. Planck knew no more about politics than cats knew about their God. Why bother yourself?"

After receiving the telegram, Liang Qichao felt the same after reading it: "This is not my helpless choice, the political reality and the tragic ending are always the opposite of what he wants to say and want."

Cheng Nuo just wanted to fill his stomach with a piece of bread, but before he could reach his mouth, he was seized by the seagulls following behind the cruise ship and was taken away at once, causing everyone to laugh, Cheng Nuo himself was a little helpless:

"In the early years, Planck openly believed that scientific research was faced with the dual task of fully grasping the world of sensation and fully knowing the world of reality, which in our opinion was not only a goal that could never be accomplished, but also trapped itself."

Liang Qichao handed over a slice of bread again, guarding against the seagull like a thief: "You mean Planck has entered the phase and is out of reality?"

"This is what Ren Gong said realistically, I didn't say it." A hint of cunning flashed on Cheng Nuo's face, he took the bread and stuffed it into his mouth with lightning speed, but unfortunately the bread was so dry that he was almost choked and speechless: "Actually...... Physics is the same as mathematics, we ...... Hiccup~"

Liang Qichao was still careful, and hurriedly handed over a glass of water: "Don't worry, no one will grab it from you...... Well, no, this bird in the sky is for you to rob, but it doesn't have to be like this."

"Whew, it's so much better, thank you Ren Gong." After taking a sip of water, Cheng Nuo suddenly felt much more comfortable, and then immediately said: "The continuous improvement of the structure of the image of the physical world means that it gradually moves away from the world of sensations and becomes more and more abstract formulas.

Coupled with Planck's three-century theory, the world of feeling, the world of reality and the world of physical science seem strange at first glance, but in fact they are very similar to a famous sentence in the history of our ancient aesthetics. What is it called

My teacher's heart, my heart's master's eyes, and my eyes are my master's Huashan."

After speaking, Liang Qichao couldn't help but look Cheng Nuo up and down, and was surprised: "It seems that you are also very interested in philosophical issues."

Cheng Nuo smiled: "There is life and there is no life."

Liang Qichao looked at Cheng Nuo's somewhat smug look, couldn't help but pestle him, and said curiously, "So, are you going to give up visiting Planck?"

Cheng Nuo raised his eyebrows: "Who said that? I didn't give up."

Liang Qichao was puzzled: "Then everyone else has refused, do you still have to be cheeky?"

Cheng Nuo sighed and said: "Why not, our current development of the chemical industry is just a trick, if we want to honestly complete the road of industrialization, we must lay a good road of coal + steel industrialization, coal provides fuel for industrialization, and steel is the most basic material for industrialization."

Looking at the national economy and society, the demand for steel is almost everywhere: steel is needed for industrial equipment, steel is needed for coal mining, steel is needed for infrastructure construction, and steel is needed for agricultural production.

But the development of these two items is not so simple, I used to always want to escape, but now as the scale of our industry is getting bigger and bigger, it is very unrealistic to think about blindly purchasing equipment from foreign countries.

At present, the most urgent ammonia synthesis process requires equipment and pipelines to withstand huge high temperature and high pressure, which is based on the production of alloy steel seamless pipes, and we just do not have the production technology of this seamless steel pipes, which is really dead."

Liang Qichao suddenly thought of something, and said eagerly: "Let's make guns and cannons, is it a seamless steel pipe?"

"I didn't expect Mr. Ren Gong to know so much." Cheng Nuo was slightly surprised, but still patiently replied: "Generally speaking, the chamber pressure of the gun is very high when it is fired, and if you don't use seamless steel pipes, it will explode and hurt yourself, and the military industry can't do without steel technology if it wants to develop better."

Liang Qichao said thoughtfully: "So this is one of the reasons why we rushed to Europe."

Cheng Nuo nodded: "If nothing else, the European competition is over."

The day will not be too far away, we need to rush to this special time, and try to gather as many skills and talents as possible, lest some countries in the future be defeated, and we will not even have the opportunity to drink soup."

Liang Qichao asked, "So, do you think Germany will be defeated?"

Cheng Nuo saw that no one was paying attention to this, so he quickly pulled Liang Qichao aside and whispered: "There is no difference between justice and evil in this European war, it is just an uneven distribution of interests, dog eats dog, and the main reason for the defeat is not because of the battlefield, but more from the country, whoever can't hold it first will collapse."

At the moment, there is a great possibility of Germany's defeat, and no one is sure until the end. But from my point of view, now is a good opportunity to enter, quietly enter the village, don't shoot, let's just take the things."

Speaking of the war situation, Liang Qichao was a little sad: "The violence of nature is far less than that of human beings, and the violence of barbarians is far less than that of civilized people.

Cheng Nuo shook his head: "But our country doesn't even have the qualifications to dream now."

Liang Qichao was a little unconvinced: "If it is really according to what you said, Germany lost, we are the attitude of the victors, standing on the international political stage, this is a great change that has not been seen in a century, although I have not dreamed, but the dream has become a reality."

With the Paris Peace Conference later, although Cheng Nuo didn't want to fight, he didn't want Liang Qichao to be too disappointed in the end because of his high expectations, so he thought about it and said: "Without the national industrial foundation laid by coal and steel, there is no public law in the world.

Although Liang Qichao wanted to refute, he thought about what the Western powers had done, and reason told him that what Cheng Nuo said was the truth.

But emotions didn't allow him to continue to think about it, and the consequences were too terrible, so he changed the topic like a thief: "Planck, what are you going to do next?"

Cheng Nonunu said: "The Western philosopher Goethe once said that as long as a person is pursuing, then he will inevitably be confused. At present, this telegram is a manifestation of his confusion, and of course we have the responsibility to clear this confusion for him, whether to go or go."

After a pause, Cheng Nuo sighed: "Actually, it's not to blame him, there is no justice in the current European war, everyone supports their own country, as a German, he should support his own country, and the fault is that he Germany is a defeated country."

Liang Qichao was a little confused: "What is the solution?"

Cheng Nuo explained with a smile: "Last year, on behalf of the Academy of Sciences, I sent invitations to major countries around the world to come and attend the annual meeting of our Academy of Sciences.

Liang Qichao asked, "Why?"

Cheng Nuo laughed and said: "Nationalism is rising, of course, everyone is busy fighting, and the United States is much more radical than Germany in this regard."

As a "latecomer" to World War I, the United States entered the war in April 1917 and mobilized various social forces, including universities, to serve the war in order to win the "total war."

Due to the sharp deterioration of relations between the United States and Germany and the eventual severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries, anti-German sentiment in the United States has risen. In this situation, the higher education community generally showed a strong enthusiasm for the war and actively supported the federal government's preparation and participation in the war.

In 1917, at the initiative of William McClellan, dean of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the "Inter-University Information Bureau" was established to "assist the government in recruiting college students or college graduates who are interested in joining the military and placing them in appropriate positions."

Cheng Nuo's alma mater, Harvard University, set up a military committee to "organize and coordinate all activities of Harvard's preparedness plan" to ensure that "all Harvard facilities can be fully used to support the war", indicating that the university is well aware of how to help the government and will do its best to meet the needs of the government.

In the atmosphere of the main battle, individuals or organizations who oppose the war may be labeled as "traitors" or "beautiful women".

In hundreds of university chemistry laboratories, professors have responded to the call and carried out under the guidance of the government

Research."

By June 1918, the War Department formally established the "Chemical Warfare Force", which consisted of seven departments, including the "Research Department" at American University in Washington, D.C. The university had the largest chemical weapons laboratory in the United States at the time and is still considered the cradle of chemical weapons in the United States.

Chemical weapons research and development was the largest government research project in the United States during World War I, and it was on an unprecedented scale. Some scholars estimate that the United States mobilized at least 1,900 scientists in the project. Some scholars believe that the number of scientists involved in the project is more than that, perhaps as many as about 5,500.

From this point of view, if it weren't for Cheng Nuo's hanging, just because he led a team of 100 people and wanted to study chemical weapons, compared with the United States, it was really not enough.

However, in industrial matters, it is impossible to hand over all technical research to Cheng Nuo alone, which is also an important reason for Cheng Nuo to go to Europe.

Technology, talent, equipment and other issues need to grasp the small tail of the First World War and make a breakthrough as soon as possible.