Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 12 Accident
Some unfamiliar names were awakened, and past events and old friends came to mind.

To be honest, Horkheimer and Larry Mayer were not very familiar with each other. Apart from being colleagues, they did not have much personal relationship, and their academic research topics also had little overlap.

He had never heard that Larry Mayer had any Chinese students.

"Well, kid, what do you want from me?" Horkheimer asked, suppressing his doubts.

Lin Ran did not choose Li Xiaoman's great-grandfather Li Junnan, but chose Larry Mayer, because Larry Mayer had passed away. In this era of poor information flow, it was difficult for Horkheimer or other bigwigs of the Frankfurt School to judge the authenticity of what he said.

Li Junnan's son, Li Xiaoman's great-grandfather, is living well in New York. If he takes out the badge and says it belongs to Li Junnan, and then someone with ulterior motives finds the badge from Li Xiaoman's great-grandfather, it will be a hidden danger of considerable significance.

Going further, for Lin Ran, he needs the protection of the Frankfurt School, and the Frankfurt School also needs top talents like him to help them build a reputation in the government and academia?

Who says the Frankfurt School's critical theory can only be applied in the humanities and social sciences? Its application in mathematics led to the solution of Fermat's Last Theorem, a centuries-old problem. Its application in engineering also helped America achieve a manned moon landing before the Soviet Union.

You should know that before Lin Ran, a top talent of the Frankfurt School, joined NASA, NASA lagged behind the Soviet Space Agency in artificial satellites and manned space flight.

By then, the Frankfurt School's huge influence in America would naturally help him promote it, as the main members of the Frankfurt School were all Jews.

Lin Ran will also become a representative figure of the Frankfurt School in the fields of science and engineering, helping them expand the influence of critical theory in academia.

It's a win-win.

"I hope to be a professor in the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University," said Lin Ran.

Horkheimer raised an eyebrow. "That's not an easy task. Do you have a doctorate from a European university?"

Horkheimer was obviously amused by the young man's fantasy, and the other party's credibility was greatly reduced when he claimed to be an old friend of Larry Mayer.

In his impression, Larry Mayer was at most a literary critic, and the distance between him and a mathematician was too far.

"No." Lin Ran said bluntly.

Horkheimer shook his head and said, “That’s not an easy task. Even with my sponsorship, you still need to convince Ralph Fox.

He is not so easily persuaded.”

Ralph Fox was chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University from 1952 to 1962, becoming chairman in 1960.

Another important reason why Lin Ran chose Columbia University as his first stop is that this place is very friendly to Chinese people.

At this point in time, Zhou Yuanshen is an assistant professor of statistics at Columbia University. At the same time, on New Year's Day in 1960, the day when Lin Ran entered the 60s, he was transferred to IBM's Watson Laboratory.

For a long time, IBM has had close ties with the military, and Zhou Yuanshen was able to be transferred to work in IBM's most core Watson Laboratory.

In addition, Wang An, the future founder of Wang An Computer, also rose to prominence in New York, and Professor Shaw-Hwa Lo, a future student of Zhou Yuanshen, even directly became the director of the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University.

All these things combined are enough to illustrate how friendly New York and Columbia University are towards Chinese people at present.

"I have enough confidence to convince Professor Fox." Lin Ran's inexplicable confidence gave Horkheimer an inexplicable feeling.

There was a silence in the room.

Before Horkheimer could say anything, there was a loud sound of footsteps outside, followed by the security guard's loud shout: "Sir, you cannot enter the professor's office without permission!"

The door was opened with a bang, and the leader was a man with typical German appearance. One of them was someone Lin Ran knew, Ebenezer Haines.

Ebenezer Haines said apologetically, “Randolph, this is Arthur Rudolph, my boss.

I am sorry that after I gave him your manuscript, he insisted that I bring it to you."

Before Haines could finish, Arthur Rudolph interrupted and said, "Okay, stop, Randolph, NASA needs your help. Please come with us."

Haynes had not originally told Rudolph about Lin Ran's affairs, but because he had been in New York for too long, under Rudolph's pressure, he told Rudolph the whole story.

After hearing this, Rudolf was dissatisfied with Haynes for letting the man escape. After asking the mathematical experts at the Redstone Base to read the derivation process of Newton's gravitational perturbation correction formula sent back by Haynes, his dissatisfaction reached its peak.

You let such a genius get away? Regardless of whether he is a genius or not, we must bring him back to the base for verification.

Therefore, under the pressure of performance, Rudolph personally brought two federal staff members from the Redstone Base to New York to arrest people.

Lin Ran thought to himself that the situation was not good, and knew that the only one who could save him now was Horkheimer.

Given Arthur Rudolph's style, if he really went to NASA, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause.

Although he had a way to ensure his personal safety, he didn't want to expose this ability.

"Professor Horkheimer, these two are NASA staff members. Are they enough to prove my ability?"

Lin Ran then walked over to Horkheimer, pulled out the Fabian Society badge from his pocket, and whispered, "Professor, this is proof that my father once followed Larry Mayer.

And I proved Fermat's Last Theorem."

There is no need to say anything more at this point.

Horkheimer took the Fabian Society badge from Lin Ran and rubbed it in his hand. Looking at the four men coming at him aggressively, his face turned pale: "Get out!

I don't think the President has given NASA the power to recruit personnel. This is Columbia University, and you have no say in the matter."

After hearing what Professor Horkheimer said, the security personnel who had been waiting outside for a long time rushed in and dragged the four people out.

When Haynes was leaving, he put his hands together and apologized to Lin Ran with an apologetic look on his face, but Lin Ran didn't even look at him.

When the office quieted down again, Horkheimer's fury had completely vanished, and he looked like a harmless professor again.
"Don't think too much. I'm not doing this for you. Arthur Rudolph, the executioner, is not a good guy. I didn't expect to see him in this situation."

(End of this chapter)