Daming: I, Yang Xian, really govern Yang!

Chapter 362: Science sprouts, Yang sails away (4k)

Heavy objects fall faster than light objects. This is a conclusion that most people draw based on their own intuition and perception.

However, in many situations in life, people are often deceived by their own senses and conventional cognition.

Even the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle once believed that the speed of falling objects is directly proportional to the weight, so it is normal for Xu Miaoyun and others to think so.

While Yang Xian and Xu Miaoyun were chatting, Zhu Xiongying on the other side had already walked up to the roof of the teaching building with two stones of different sizes.

Standing on the roof of the five-story building, Zhu Xiongying stretched out his hands and suspended two stones in his hands.

Everyone below looked at Zhu Xiongying without blinking, for fear of missing the whole process.

"I'm ready to let go!"

Zhu Xiongying, who was standing on the top floor, shouted loudly.

The next moment, under the gaze of everyone, Zhu Xiongying loosened his hands, and two stones of very different sizes fell from the top of the teaching building.

pat!

Two dull sounds sounded at almost the same moment.

At the same time as the voice sounded, there were shocked faces and mouths that couldn't be closed.

"This, how is this possible?!"

"Yes, the size of the two stones is almost ten times different. How could they hit the ground at the same time?"

These primary school students let out exclamations of doubt about life.

Xu Miaoyun turned to look at Yang Xian, her eyes widened as if to say, "How did you know?"

The corner of Yang Xian's mouth raised slightly, and he chuckled: "Look, I just said that the big and small stones will fall to the ground together."

"What on earth is going on?" Xu Miaoyun couldn't help but ask.

"If you go by what you said before, a heavy stone must fall faster than a small stone." Yang Xian casually broke off a branch from the side and drew it on the ground. "Now assume that the speed of the big stone is 8 and the falling speed of the small stone is 4. Then when we tie two stones together, the one falling faster will be dragged by the one falling slowly and slowed down, and the one falling slowly will be Being dragged along by the rapid fall and speeding up.”

Speaking of this, Yang Xian paused and looked up at Xu Miaoyun, as if waiting for the other party to digest.

After confirming that Xu Miaoyun could understand, Yang Xian said: "In this way, the falling speed of the entire system of the two stones tied together should be less than 8."

Xu Miaoyun frowned and nodded, as if he had thought of something.

Yang Xian then said, "But if the two stones are tied together and considered as a whole, then the combined weight is heavier than the big stone, so the heavier object falls slower than the lighter object."

A smile appeared on Yang Xian's face and he said: "Using the assumption that heavy objects fall faster than light objects, in the end we came to the conclusion that heavy objects fall slower than light objects."

Yang Xian did not talk to Xu Miaoyun about universal gravitation and gravitational acceleration, but used this method to make the other party's opinions fall into self-contradiction, so that she could understand this phenomenon more intuitively.

Zhu Xiongying, who ran down from the teaching building, also noticed Yang Xian and Xu Miaoyun in the distance. Zhu Xiongying immediately ran over quickly, came to Yang Xian and saluted respectfully: "Xiongying has met Mr. Yang."

Seeing this situation, Xu Miaoyun on the side had a look of surprise on her face. You must know that Zhu Xiongying is the emperor's grandson, and if nothing big happens, he will be the emperor in the future.

Yang Xian was very indifferent to this.

You must know that Yang Xian is Zhu Xiongying's savior, so it is normal for Zhu Xiongying to pay any courtesy. This is what Zhu Biao and Crown Princess Chang Xia asked him to do. Moreover, Zhu Biao also wanted Yang Xian to be Zhu Xiongying's teacher.

Yang Xian pointed to two pits in the dirt on the playground in the distance, and chuckled: "How did Xiao Xiongying discover this phenomenon?"

Zhu Xiongying looked back and saw Yang Xian mentioning his proud work. He couldn't help but smile and said, "I discovered it by accident. Everything is a coincidence."

Yang Xian nodded, as he had guessed.

"Next, little Xiongying can use different objects to test this phenomenon, such as feathers and iron balls, cotton and stones, etc. See if objects made of different materials fall freely from a height and land at the same time."

"After a lot of experiments, if you can summarize and draw the conclusion of the rule, I can write the rule proposed by Xiao Xiongying into the textbook, and then mark the discoverer of the rule, so that all future generations of readers can learn from it." Yang Xian chuckled.

"Yeah, it's settled." Zhu Xiongying said happily.

"It's a deal." Yang Xian bent down, looked at Zhu Xiongying and replied with a smile.

Xu Miaoyun on the side was already filled with excitement.

At this time, Zhu Xiongying, who was still young, only knew that this was a very cool thing. He could not yet understand the meaning of writing the rules and names into the textbook, but Xu Miaoyun, who was standing aside, understood extremely well. What does this mean?

If the rules discovered by Zhu Xiongying can really be written into textbooks and are not overturned later, then Zhu Xiongying's name will be passed down together with the rules he discovered, from one generation to the next.

When all future generations of scholars learn this rule, they will think of Zhu Xiongying's name. In terms of secular power, even if you become an emperor, after a hundred years, future generations will not be able to remember every emperor of the previous dynasty.

And these are exactly the three immortalities that all scholars pursue: meritorious deeds and good deeds, the most important of which is standing up for good deeds.

If people knew that a child under ten years old was already close to the Confucian realm of three immortals, they would be so shocked that their jaws would drop.

After graduating from Beijing No. 1 Primary School, Yang Xian went to Beijing University.

There is a debate going on here too.

Because they are all adults who have been crowned, the issues they discuss are naturally different from those of the primary school students over there.

Yang Xian and Xu Miaoyun stood nearby and listened for a while, and found that they were discussing the mysteries of the heaven, earth and universe. The several groups of people at the scene were arguing so fiercely that no one noticed the two Yang Xians who were at the outermost edge of the crowd.

One of the students insisted that the sky is round and the earth is square, saying that this is an eternal truth.

This student represents the Gaitian theory among the three major theories of ancient astronomy, which holds that the sky is like a canopy with a round shape, and the earth is like a chessboard with a square shape. When combined together, the sky is round and the place is round.

However, the idea that the sky is round and the earth is round is untenable once it was proposed in ancient my country. Zengzi, who was the first to raise objections, once said: "If the sky is round and the earth is flat, then the four corners cannot cover it."

The meaning of this sentence is that if the sky is really round and the earth is really square, then the four corners cannot cover it.

Sure enough, some students on the spot used Zeng Zi's words to refute the theory that the sky is round and the earth is round.

The supporter of the round sky and the square earth argued: "Those four corners that cannot be covered are the endless abyss."

This statement was immediately refuted by the other students.

"Don't say you are wrong. Even if you are the author of Zhoubi Suanjing who proposed a round sky, no, it should be said that no one in this world has ever walked to the end of the sky or the end of the earth."

"Then why are you so sure that the sky is round and the earth is square, and what you said about the endless abyss is even more nonsense. Student Yu Jianjun, have you forgotten that the teacher taught us to seek truth from facts in our studies? Dao?"

The student named Yu Jianjun blushed and couldn't say a word after being rebutted by his classmate.

Then students proposed two other major astronomical theories.

The first is the theory of Hun Tian.

Huntian theory believes that heaven and earth are a whole, the sky is a spherical space, and the earth where people live is located in the center of this spherical space. The sun, moon and other stars all move in this spherical space. The representative work on the theory of the Huntian Sky is Zhang Heng's "Notes on the Armillary Sphere". This book introduces the theoretical system and observation methods of the Theory of the Huntian Sky in detail. By the way, Zhang Heng also invented the armillary sphere, which is the earliest astronomical observation instrument in the world.

Then there is Xuan Ye said.

Xuanye theory is the last important astronomical theory in ancient China and originated in the Tang Dynasty. Xuanye theory believes that the universe is an infinite space with no center and boundaries. The sun, moon and other stars move freely in this infinite space. The representative work of Xuanye Theory is "Dayan Calendar" by Seng Yixing. This book introduces the theoretical system and observation methods of Xuanye Theory in detail. The monks and his party also conducted a series of astronomical observations and made important contributions to the development of Xuanye theory.

These two theories do not have obvious flaws like the theory of a round sky and a square place, but they have one thing the same as the theory of a round sky and a square place, that is, they cannot be self-proven.

Everything is just based on guesswork.

It was precisely this kind of thing where the public said the public was right and the mother-in-law said the mother-in-law was right, that the students from Capital University quarreled so fiercely.

But they quarreled and quarreled, and finally returned to the most critical issue.

That's how to verify.

Just when everyone was silent because they had no solution.

A voice suddenly sounded.

"It's not easy to verify. Go to the end of the world and see for yourself. You'll know!"

After hearing this, everyone was in an uproar.

"Who, who said such outrageous words!"

"Doesn't he know that besides the land, there is an endless sea?"

Amidst the doubts, everyone subconsciously began to look for the owner who said the previous words.

The students from Beijing University quickly found the rightful owner. The moment they saw the rightful owner, their expressions changed drastically, and they quickly bowed and said, "Students have met Mr. Yang."

Yang Xian smiled, nodded, and said, "No need to be polite."

Even though Yang Xian said this, all the students from Beijing University present still looked very nervous.

It is not because of Yang Xian's official position and title, but purely because of Yang Xian's current academic status. You must know that the new knowledge they learn today comes from Yang Xian. It can be said that Yang Xian is the saint in the hearts of these students in the post-Ming Dynasty era.

So can they not be nervous?

"I'm just here to take a look. You can continue the discussion without paying any attention to me." Yang Xian said with a smile.

One of the students mustered up the courage, looked at Yang Xian with fiery eyes, and said, "Mr. Yang, you said that you can go to the end of the earth. Is this really possible?"

"Why do you think it can't be done?" Yang Xian said, looking at the young and lively faces in front of him. “The pursuit of scientific truth requires the determination and consciousness to pave the way over mountains and build bridges across rivers.”

"Can the mere sea stop us? With the Ming Dynasty's navigation technology, as long as we prepare enough food and water, as well as enough navigation knowledge, it will not be difficult to sail to the end of the sea."

"When you encounter anything, don't set limits for yourself before you start, thinking that it must be something you can't do. Pursuing science sometimes requires the kind of mentality that doesn't know the heights of the sky."

"So even if your first voyage is blocked and you don't reach the end of the world, it doesn't matter. Just come back the second time. And this time, you can learn from the previous experience and lessons and summarize the reasons why you failed before. If If the rations are not enough, then prepare more rations. If it is because the ship cannot withstand the wind and waves, then rent a larger ship. If it is because of lack of knowledge about sea navigation, then what you can do is either hire a boat. A professional navigator can either supplement his knowledge in this area by himself.”

Yang Xian looked at the crowd. Some of the students who had been accused of being psychologically lowered their heads in shame.

Yang Xian's speech about the pursuit of scientific truth was not over yet. He looked at everyone's expressions and in order to adjust the atmosphere, Yang Xian chuckled and said: "And you can choose to be like-minded and have the same pursuit as yourself. It is such a romantic thing for opposite sexes to set off together and go to the end of the world with the person they love.”

“And this way, there is another advantage, that is, if you finally find that your generation cannot make it, you can combine with your loved one, reproduce, and let your descendants inherit your ideals and move on. I believe that if you have such determination and awareness, you will be able to reach the end of the world one day.”

After Yang Xian's words came out, the students present all showed knowing smiles.

In order to verify that the sky is round and the earth is round, Yang Xian was the only one in the world who could think of the problem of matching men and women to reproduce.

In fact, circumnavigating the world wouldn't take that long at all.

It took only three years for Magellan's fleet to sail around the world. Unfortunately, as the captain, Magellan was not able to witness this historical moment with his own eyes. He died in a tribal conflict in the Philippines in the second year of his voyage.

You must know that the ships of the Ming Dynasty now use steam engines, which are much more advanced than Magellan's fleet in the original time and space.

Even if there is a lack of experience, it will never be available for more than three years at most.

This is why Yang Xian is so confident.

Now that Zhu Di's Western Expedition has begun, Yang Xian feels that it is time for the Ming Dynasty's fleet to move eastward.

(End of this chapter)