Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 109 A Glimpse of High-Tech Creations (Seeking a Monthly Ticket!)
"You are not only a master in number theory, but also a master in control theory." Andrei Kolmogorov said sincerely.

Lin Ran did not explain that he was standing on the shoulders of his descendants, but shook hands and left the room.

After Lin Ran walked away, Andrei asked in confusion: "Mr. Korolev, we all know that you are looking for a successor, and Professor Lin also has a good impression of us.

Why don't we take him away by force?
With the frequency he comes to Europe, we should have a good chance."

Korolev explained: “There’s no rush.

Randolph is one of the smartest people of this era, and you have to be patient with smart people.

It is true that Randolph has a good impression of us, but he also has a good impression of China. He is also Chinese. What if he insists on returning to China after we take him away?
It would be better to let him realize, after seeing America's true nature, that only by joining the Soviet Union can human society be transformed into a world full of hope.

That will be the right time, and I believe Randolph will make the right choice in the near future.

I can wait, and so can we." Korolev explained patiently.

On the other side, Lyndon Johnson reminded Lin Ran: "Randolph, I know you are a master of mathematics, and I can also see that Korolev admires you very much.

But you must understand that only in America can your gifts and talents be fully developed.

President Kennedy has given you full trust, and you should know clearly what you can and cannot do."

Lin Ran was speechless after hearing Lyndon Johnson's reminder. It was obvious that you almost got into trouble. I had information gap and knew that the Russians would definitely sign, but you didn't know.

You were so nervous when Mikoyan said he would not sign. I was sitting next to you on the right, and I saw that you wrinkled your trousers with your hands.

If I hadn't filled the hole for you, there's no way I would have met Korolev.

But on the surface, Lin Ran pretended to be absolutely loyal to America: "That's for sure. Without the White House, I would just be an ordinary professor at Columbia University and I wouldn't win the Nobel Peace Prize.

I'm definitely going all in to help NASA win the space race.

Besides, Mr. Johnson, you know, there is not a single Chinese-American official in the Kremlin. Only the White House can accept the presence of Chinese-American officials."

Not to mention the present, there was no senior Chinese official in the Kremlin during the entire Soviet era.

Lyndon Johnson nodded, very satisfied with Lin Ran's reply.

Lin Ran thought, America and the Soviet Union are not my destination, but as long as there is a way, I will return home sooner or later.

On the day the agreement was signed, the press conference was held with the audience densely packed with reporters from all over the world. This was probably the largest number of reporters Lin Ran had ever seen since he came to this era.

Even when NASA launched a manned space flight and Kennedy delivered a speech, the number of reporters was not as large as this time.

This made Lin Ran feel emotional. At the moment, the main theme of the world is still the Cold War.

Even the reason why he gained support in NASA was inseparable from the Cold War.

Including his current status is also related to the Cold War.

The only substantive aspect of the agreement reached by both parties is the hotline. Although there are many other contents, at a glance, it boils down to four words:

keep status quo.

The Berlin Wall would not fall, and the Allies would not withdraw from West Berlin.

In addition, the reduction of nuclear testing will only be discussed later, and there are no interim results yet.

By the time Lyndon Johnson and Mikoyan signed, the flashbulbs were even louder.

After signing, Lyndon Johnson and Mikoyan shook hands.

During the subsequent question-and-answer session with reporters, apart from Lyndon Johnson and Mikoyan, Lin Ran was the one who was asked the most questions.

Not to mention Jenny from the New York Times, reporters from other media also focused on Lin Ran.

Who made him such a hot topic?

"Director Lin, I'm a reporter from AFP. Now that the hotline you proposed has become a direct communication channel between the White House and the Kremlin, will you be more involved in international affairs going forward?"

Lin Ran replied, "This was an accident. My main job is still with NASA, working hard to win the space race with the Soviet Union.

I hope to see the day when humans land on the moon and leave the earth soon.

NASA’s goal is not just the space race, but to help humans leave the Earth and explore the vast universe.”

There was actually a hint of sarcasm in Lin Ran's words, but none of the reporters present understood it.

On the contrary, I think Lin Ran is too visionary.

"Professor Lin, I'm a reporter from the Frankfurter Zeitung. What do you think of the Berlin Wall?"

The Frankfurter Zeitung was West Germany's most influential and serious newspaper. Because of his status as a student of Professor Horkheimer, the West German media had a favorable impression of Lin Ran and wanted to hear his opinions. Of course, if your opinions were favorable to West Germany, we would report them extensively. If your opinions were favorable to East Germany, we would ignore them.

This is the media.

Lin Ran currently has three main identities in public: professor at Columbia University, special assistant for space affairs, and director of NASA's manned spaceflight office.

So when reporters call him, all three identities may be used.

“I believe the Berlin Wall is an extreme manifestation of instrumental rationality. Technological control methods sacrifice individual freedom and dignity. It is a symbol of the rational degeneration of human society.

Humanity was technologically capable of constructing such large-scale isolation facilities, but they failed to bring true freedom and harmony, and instead exacerbated division and suffering. The Berlin Wall is also a symbol of the paradox of historical progress.

Although we failed to tear down the Berlin Wall during the negotiations this time, I believe that people who yearn for freedom will tear it down on their own in the future."

Lin Ran's definition of the Berlin Wall based on Horkheimer's "Dialectic of Enlightenment" and his final ruthless prediction of its fall were widely reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

When the Berlin Wall is really torn down in the future, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung will even elaborate on Lin Ran’s prediction as a chapter in a special report.

In his exposition, Lin Ran is praised as the true successor of the late Professor Horkheimer's thoughts and one of the greatest philosophers of our time.

In Yenching, in the student council's office, there were only three people in the room.

The Chinese representative who had just returned from Geneva with honors after mediating, the responsible person of the Academic Committee, and Dean Qian who was inexplicably called in.

On the table was a single-board computer that looked unmodern, with silk padding underneath.

The Chinese representative introduced first: "This is what Lin Ran secretly put into my pocket when I went to Geneva this time.

He didn't tell me what it was, but I seemed to vaguely hear the pronunciation of "May 1st" from his mouth shape.

But I'm not sure because we just crossed paths, so I'm not sure if that's what he really meant.

But he definitely gave this thing to me.

I watched it again and again on the special plane back to China, and it gave me a very special feeling.

But I'm not an expert in this area, so I specifically asked Dean Qian for advice first."

The middle-aged man leaned over to examine the green PCB board carefully. As a leader in charge of scientific work, he was more familiar with it. "This is a PCB board. Not only are the circuits on it much more sophisticated than the ones we have today, but I'm not sure what the components on it are, but they are definitely very advanced electronic components."

Dean Qian was so shocked that he was speechless. It was obvious at first glance that this thing was not a modern product.

Because of the huge technological gap, they couldn't even tell whether it used transistor technology.

As a modern single-board computer, it integrates billions of transistors and is manufactured using nanoscale technology. However, the technology level in 1960 was still at the vacuum tube or early transistor stage, and integrated circuits were just getting started.

Even Dean Qian, who often comes into contact with vacuum tubes, could not tell what the black square on the green PCB board was.

He pulled a magnifying glass from his pocket and after a long pause concluded, "America doesn't have this skill either.

Judging from the density and multi-layer nature of the circuit boards, such circuit boards are not found in the small amount of equipment we import from America.

Unless America's technology has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last five years.

In addition, we can use instruments to perform simple circuit tests on it to observe its circuit characteristics.

Considering that it might cause damage to it, I think it's best not to do this.

I think we should wait now and wait for Bai Ma to send back more information.

Judging from Bai Ma’s past actions, he will definitely not give us something that we cannot understand.

Even if the message was conveyed to us through Korolev, we could fully understand it.

I believe they have a back-up plan this time, and we should be as cautious as possible before they start using it."

Although Dean Qian doesn't understand Raspberry Pi, he understands Lin Ran.

Let’s analyze now, what if it breaks?
If this high-tech product is damaged and becomes unusable, it will be a complete disaster.

The other two had similar ideas.

No one could have guessed that this thing was a computer.

Because the computers at that time took up an entire room.

Everyone had thought as highly as they could, but they still couldn't have imagined that this thing had computing power greater than all the computers at the time combined.

(1960: China's first independently designed and manufactured computer, the 107 computer)
(End of this chapter)