Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 56 I am standing on the shoulders of future generations

Lin Ran chuckled.

Newton stood on the shoulders of his predecessors, and he stood on the shoulders of his successors.

He really wanted to tell Siegel that number theory was just an interest, he only knew about number theory, and what he was really good at was partial differential equations.

Whether it is Fermat's Last Theorem or Fermat's Diophantine Conjecture, these all rely on the wisdom of later generations. Only the NS equation was solved by me.

If he published the NS equation, he would be the emperor of mathematics.

But Lin Ran doesn't want to do that yet.

If the NS equations were announced, with the strength of America and Russia, who knows how far they would advance intercontinental missiles, and other countries would really have no ability to fight back.

In this time and space, China's strategic maneuvering space will be further compressed.

Lin Ran could only pretend to be encouraged. "Professor, being able to make a small contribution to the mathematical community means I'm living up to the teachings of my professors when I was a student in Göttingen, and I think it's worthy of Göttingen's reputation as a sacred place for mathematics."

Siegel is waiting for you to say this: "No, no, everything you do is bringing glory to Göttingen.

Professor Hilbert summarized 1900 mathematical problems at the Second International Congress of Mathematicians in 23. In the sixty years that followed, all important achievements in mathematics were more or less related to these 23 mathematical problems.

You proposed the Randolph Program in 1960, laying the first cornerstone for the unification of mathematics. I believe that important achievements in mathematics in the next years will also be related to the Randolph Program.

This is the legacy of Göttingen as a sacred place for mathematics, and it is the best proof that after Germany has experienced war, division, and turmoil, Göttingen is still Göttingen."

After hearing this, Lin Ran thought to himself, I really came from sixty years later.

Siegel never corrected Lin Ran that he had never studied in Göttingen, even though he, Lin Ran and Horkheimer who were present knew very well that Lin Ran had only been in Göttingen for one day, and that was just to talk to him about helping him get his doctorate degree.

What's wrong with one day? One day is also the result of Göttingen's teachings! Siegel thought it was natural.

As for Göttingen's fame, it has to rely on the Chinese to support it, which is not a problem in Germany that has experienced World War II and the NAZI.

At this time in Germany, no one dared to mention the term "pure Germans". Isn't that courting death?

Not to mention that Siegel himself is Jewish.

"So Göttingen sincerely invites you to return to Göttingen to teach. We can guarantee that the salary will not be lower than that of Columbia University." Siegel has already started, holding Lin Ran's hand with a sincere look.

Lin Ran thought to himself, as expected, then glanced at Professor Horkheimer, thinking that the other party was poaching people in front of him openly, is this really a good thing?

Fortunately, there is the best shield, Lin Ran said:
"Professor, I'm honored to receive this invitation from my alma mater. Unfortunately, I'm still studying for Professor Horkheimer's doctorate. Could you please allow me to reconsider after I obtain my Ph.D. in philosophy?"

Professor Horkheimer said at the right moment, "That's right, Randolph. How are you doing with the introductory philosophy reading list I asked you to read during your trip to Hong Kong?"

Siegel was dumbfounded. It turned out that I was not Randolph's only mentor. Horkheimer, you also wanted to get a piece of the pie.

"Professor, I've read all the books you gave me. I've read Kant's dialectical discussion of antinomies in the Critique of Pure Reason, and I've also read sections 260-360 of Hegel's Philosophy of Right.

However, I have only skimmed through the manuscripts you gave me, The Dialectic of Enlightenment and One-Dimensional Man."

"Dialectic of Enlightenment" was co-authored by Horkheimer and Adorno, the same Adorno that Horkheimer mentioned earlier when he mentioned the atonal collective.

The original version of this book was published in 47, and the manuscript Horkheimer gave him contained a large number of annotations by him and Adorno.

The latter, One-Dimensional Man, was written by Marcuse and was not published until 1964. The manuscript version given to Lin Ran was also annotated by Marcuse and Horkheimer.

If I could bring these two manuscripts back to 2020, I could easily get a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University and stay on to teach.

It is not a problem to publish a few papers and become an influential scholar of the Frankfurt School.

After taking this out, who dares to say that I am not the successor of Horkheimer?
To be precise, all four books have annotations by Horkheimer. In the Principles of Legal Philosophy, Horkheimer wrote:

“If you read Hegel on your knees, you are unworthy of criticizing Marx; but if you criticize Marx while standing, you will never understand Hegel.”

When Lin Ran saw this passage, he thought that in the future, many Chinese scholars in the humanities and social sciences would kneel down and read all the Western philosophical works, not daring to question them at all.

"Actually, Max, if you want to come to Göttingen to teach, that's totally fine," Siegel suggested.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was a good idea. Horkheimer was a top figure in the field of philosophy. Buy one get one free, wouldn't that be great?

"You are old now, so you can consider coming to Göttingen to spend your old age. The air, weather and environment in Göttingen are all good," Siegel continued.

Horkheimer interrupted unhappily, "If I were to return to Germany, wouldn't I be returning to Frankfurt?"

Göttingen is such a rural place, it doesn't even have an airport. If you want to go to New York, you have to transfer in Frankfurt! This is just like how people from Shenhai look down on Suzhou, so people from Suzhou have to go to Shenhai Airport to fly.

“Professor, let me put it this way. I am willing to accept the position of visiting professor in Göttingen and take time out every year to come to Göttingen to teach.

Besides, I should go to London to attend Queen Elizabeth's investiture ceremony at Christmas at the end of the year. I will stop by Göttingen to give a round of academic lectures. What do you think?" Lin Ran looked at Siegel.

Siegel knew this was the best possible outcome and said helplessly, "Okay, okay."

Then he turned to Horkheimer and said, "You have to reimburse me for my flight back to Frankfurt! I couldn't bring Randolph back, and Doylin is really capable of not reimbursing my airfare."

Lin Ran had brought back half of the money, so the plane ticket would probably be reimbursed. He could have Horkheimer help buy it, and he could still earn money for another ticket. After all, Columbia University would reimburse Horkheimer's money, so it would be a waste not to make money from the wealthy, Siegel thought.

Horkheimer agreed immediately, as he had more research funding than he could spend. Siegel took the opportunity to say that he was going to the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University to meet an old friend, leaving Horkheimer and Lin Ran alone in the office.

Lin Ran took the opportunity to tell John Morgan about the progress of his cooperation and the fact that he would take him to Nixon's fundraising dinner tonight, hoping to get some advice from Horkheimer.

"Got it. Have fun. These kinds of dinners are quite extravagant. Be careful not to get sick."

(End of this chapter)