Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1325 The Inertia of History (4k)

As leading figures in the national science and technology academies, it was naturally not difficult for them to meet Gao Zhendong, especially since they met him at the Third Factory.

On the very day they formed their group, they met Gao Zhendong at the Third Factory.

Apart from the head of the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, none of the other comrades had actually met Gao Zhendong before, as he even missed the ceremony for the appointment of new committee members. This aroused great curiosity among the other comrades about this man who was not even old at the time.

When you finally meet them in person, you can probably guess a little why. Just by looking at their age, you can tell there must be something fishy going on.

I've seen plenty of military-level officers around 30, but science committee members around 30 are truly rare.

However, these comrades were only slightly surprised, mainly because their curiosity and eagerness for that paper far exceeded that for Gao Zhendong himself.

As long as the eggs taste good, it doesn't matter what the hen that laid them looks like.

Gao Zhendong was somewhat prepared for their arrival. If he saw someone say that the maximum error rate of the communication system was higher than 50%, he would also go and see for himself. If someone said that the error rate reached 100% and that it had been achieved, he would go over and treat that person as a god, visiting them every morning and evening.

"Comrade Zhendong, that two-dimensional graphite material..." When they got to this point, the colleagues at the Academy of Sciences still felt a little unreal.

In 1934, Landau proposed the theoretical conjecture that "two-dimensional crystals cannot exist stably at finite temperatures," which was widely accepted.

In condensed matter physics, falsification may be relatively easy, but proving a claim can sometimes be more difficult than mathematics. Mathematics can solve some problems through rigorous proofs, but with physics, you can never imagine what kind of unexpected things the real world can do to you.

Although there is no empirical evidence yet, people think this statement is plausible.

So the comrades all felt it was somewhat unreal. Don't underestimate their reaction; even this "unrealism" is something most people can't perceive. It's like how most people can't understand most difficult math problems.

Gao Zhendong, who was already prepared, nodded: "I've got everything ready. Come on, let's go take a look."

Seeing Gao Zhendong's calm and collected demeanor, the comrades felt that the matter was probably reliable. To be honest, they mostly only knew about Gao Zhendong's achievements, but they didn't know much about him personally. However, even just knowing about these achievements was enough to give them sufficient confidence in him.

Looking at his demeanor now, well, it seems there's no doubt about it.

It's practically impossible to start from scratch and peel off the tape until the entire process is complete. Peeling off the tape is one thing, but running the verification process afterwards takes a long time.

However, the completed work is ready to be shown to comrades, which saves a lot of time-consuming steps. Comrades won't suspect that Gao Zhendong is up to any underhanded tricks in this matter; they're all people of that rank.

Watching the comrades from the technical department of the third factory verify the samples they had prepared step by step, their expressions grew more and more excited. It seemed that there was really a chance!
"It really does look like it's only as thick as a single carbon atom!" A thickness of 0.4 nm is slightly larger than the diameter of a single carbon atom, but that's not a big problem. As we all know, there is a margin of error in physics.

Moreover, the diameter of a carbon atom is a theoretical diameter. When the scale reaches this level, many things are very different from the macroscopic world, and many unexpected things can affect the diameter of a carbon atom.

This data provides excellent proof that the object in Committee Member Gao's hand is a two-dimensional material.

"It really worked! You've created a miracle!"

For a long time, the comrades in the propaganda department liked to use the word "miracle" to label some of our breakthroughs in a single direction.

There was no other reason than that, given the conditions at the time, it was truly a miracle that these things could be accomplished.

The weak foundation, the scarcity of personnel, the lack of funds, and so on were all obstacles that hindered the comrades' efforts to make even the smallest breakthroughs. It is no exaggeration to call it a miracle that they were able to overcome all these obstacles and make a breakthrough.

However, the word was overused and became somewhat stale, but that's another story.

"Yes, we are quite certain of that. If any of you are interested, we can provide highly oriented graphite and related materials, and we will also open our laboratory equipment so that you can conduct further research based on our work."

Committee Member Gao is very confident and has a broad vision.

"Don't rush, don't rush, what is this thing called?" The head of the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry felt that the name "carbon-based two-dimensional crystal material" was a bit wordy and not catchy enough. As the inventor, Committee Member Gao must have some ideas, right?

Unexpectedly, Gao Zhendong shook his head: "That's what it's called here, nothing else..."

It wasn't that Gao Zhendong didn't want to come up with a name; after all, the name for this thing already existed: graphene.

However, Gao Zhendong was somewhat allergic to this name; it bothered him, and he subconsciously didn't want to use it.

Graphene, nanomaterials, quantum effects... Heaven knows how many good terms those merchants have ruined in their past lives, especially those who scam old men and women out of their retirement savings, it's simply outrageous.

As a result, whenever Gao Zhendong heard these terms, he would subconsciously think, "This thing is fake," and even after genuine products came out, he still held this thought.

"Huh? That's too technical..." The colleagues in the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry were somewhat surprised by Gao Zhendong's answer. Being able to name a revolutionary new material would be a huge temptation for those in this field, but this guy actually looked down on it.

What a waste! What a waste!

However, what truly tested their nerves was Gao Zhendong's next sentence.

"To be honest, I just came up with this idea on a whim. I don't really have that much skill when it comes to naming things, and I'm afraid the names I come up with won't be good enough. How about... everyone here is a senior, someone who has been working on this path for a long time, so why don't you come up with one?"

What he said was actually true; otherwise, he wouldn't have been unable to think of any other more fitting name besides "graphene."

Don't underestimate the importance of naming. Anyone who has studied organic chemistry knows that naming organic compounds, or conversely, drawing structural formulas based on the names of organic compounds, is one of the basic test points in organic chemistry. Many students fail on this point if they don't pay attention in class.

Believe it or not, although graphene is a product of condensed matter physics, its name actually comes from organic chemistry.

But what he said was true, and his comrades were genuinely a little uneasy listening to it, and the urge to go up and punch him a few times arose spontaneously.

The comrades present are all seasoned experts in this field, and they should have seen all sorts of outrageous things, but Gao Zhendong's words are just too outrageous.

What sudden inspiration? Your entire preparation and verification plan is so complex that even seasoned researchers might not be able to fully understand it, let alone someone who just had a sudden inspiration.

No, it's not that it's unlikely, it's that it's simply unthinkable! After all, Landau's theory is still there, who would be interested in messing around on a dead-end path?

Well... from this perspective, perhaps it really was just a flash of inspiration from an outsider, since those who have actually entered this field would never have thought of such a path. But that makes it even more difficult to maintain composure!

The comrades were at a loss for words.

"It seems we still can't blindly follow classical theories, especially those that are difficult to verify empirically. We can't just abandon them rashly because there are authoritative conclusions on the table," the department head sighed.

If the people here were ordinary researchers, Gao Zhendong would most likely advise them to try to work within the existing theoretical framework. The main problem is that this kind of thinking can easily waste all resources and end up achieving nothing, including the researchers' own energy, lifespan, and health.

However, the comrades here are all at the top of the country, and leading everyone to make scientific breakthroughs and revolutions is one of their important work directions, so Gao Zhendong didn't say much.

It was only at this point that the department head realized what Gao Zhendong had meant earlier: that he was giving the honor of naming the company to his group.

The comrades looked at each other, saying, "Oh dear, how can we accept this?"

While saying they were sorry, they were all racking their brains, trying their best to come up with a fitting name for Comrade Zhendong, this groundbreaking material.

It seems that the saying "battle reports can be deceiving, but the front lines can not" is indeed very valuable.

"This is graphite crystal, so the word 'graphite' is essential."

"Hmm, a two-dimensional graphite crystal?"

“No, no, this name is no different from the one in the paper. It’s just as bad…it feels like padding for word count.” This comrade, who had barely swallowed the word “long”, glanced at Gao Zhendong guiltily while trying to find a way to cover it up.

Fortunately, Comrade Zhendong remained calm and unconcerned.

Gao Zhendong wasn't unaware of what was happening; he simply felt that the other person's judgment was correct, and that the science committee member was truly accurate in his assessment!

"Ideally, it should be three characters, easy to pronounce, and concise. Just like in organic chemistry, I think the most beautiful name is 'crown ether,' and reaching that level would be the best."

Crown ethers are a class of organic compounds named for their crown-like structure.

Although Gao Zhendong, this half-baked chemist, knew quite a bit about chemistry, he really didn't know what crown ether was. But that didn't stop him from nodding along with everyone else, just like Mr. Nan Guo.

Those who plagiarize for the greater good do so for the country and its people, yet Gao Zhendong, a mere charlatan, does so with such self-righteousness!
But things took a turn for the worse than he expected.

“Hmm, that makes sense…wait, what did you just say?” Another comrade suddenly remembered something.

"I said the best name would evoke the same feeling as Guan Ether."

"No, last sentence."

"I'm talking about organic chemistry..."

The comrade who asked the question slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Yes, that's it! Organic chemistry! Comrades, look at each cell of this single-layer structure, what does it resemble?"

Gao Zhendong immediately sensed something was wrong! But having already given away the naming rights, he couldn't say anything more and could only watch helplessly as the event returned to the inertia of history.

"It's somewhat like the planar structure of olefins!"

"Oh right, so let's borrow a concept from organic chemistry and name this thing 'graphene,' what do you all think?"

Gao Zhendong almost spat out a mouthful of blood. Damn it, no matter how much he planned, he still hadn't anticipated that his comrades' quick thinking would kick the runaway horse back onto the original trajectory of history.

What he was thinking was unimportant, but the comrades present found it increasingly brilliant.

"Wonderful! Graphene! We have its origin and structure."

"It is catchy, easy to read and remember, and has distinctive features."

"Hmm, I think this name is good, let's go with this one."

"Comrade Zhendong, what do you think of this name?"

Gao Zhendong admired his comrades' keen insight, marveled at how good naming tends to converge, and smiled.

"Okay! This is it!"

What else could he say? He wasn't capable of coming up with a better name either.

Everyone happily wrote down the name, but the only strange thing was the smile on Comrade Zhendong's face; it looked like he had swallowed a fly.

"Comrade Zhendong, I'll help you change this name in your paper later. By the way, is this paper going to be published publicly? Will there be any problems?"

As scientists, they naturally hope that we can achieve more results to be seen by the world and further enhance our influence and attractiveness. However, on the other hand, the issue of confidentiality cannot be ignored.

Gao Zhendong shook his head: "The National Defense Commission has already given instructions, there's no problem. I've analyzed it, and they agree. As for the reasons, we'll discuss them later."

Since he said that, the other comrades naturally stopped worrying. They were very clear about Gao Zhendong's relationship with the National Defense Commission. The reason why this young comrade was so mysterious was 90% due to the National Defense Commission.

"So, which journal do you suggest publishing it in? I don't recommend domestic journals. Objectively speaking, given the current situation in China, it would be somewhat detrimental to the academic evaluation of this article." The comrades were very pragmatic. Fighting for empty fame is useless. Objective evaluation, recognizing reality, feeling ashamed and then striving to catch up are what we should be doing.

"Science and Nature, that's it." Gao Zhendong said calmly, showing no sign of worry.

Speaking of this, the department head suddenly remembered something: the young man in front of him had already published an article in Science entitled “A Study on Background Noise in Space Communications”.

(End of this chapter)