Chapter 778 Great Ideas Are Often Born Inadvertently

Princeton University.

The coffee shop is located on the second floor of the building on the side of the boulevard. Many professors would choose to have a drink here in their spare time, or exchange academic issues with their peers, or hold a book to read quietly, or simply enjoy this moment in the afternoon. peaceful.

Edward Witten had been a frequent visitor here since he settled down in Princeton.

Most of the students here respect this physicist who has won the Fields Medal and is just a hair away from the Nobel Prize. Many people will warmly greet him after meeting him. Take the initiative to say hello, or ask some physics questions that are too obscure for beginners.

Whenever these things come across, the old man is very happy to answer them.

In Princeton, where there are so many strong people, he and Professor Fefferman are one of the few masters who are approachable and approachable, and they are not arrogant.

One day, after the class, Professor Witten came here as usual, ordered a cup of coffee and sat by the window, and spread out the notes he took out from his pocket, but happened to see an unexpected person at this moment, Come up from the stairs.

"Angus?" Widened his eyes in a little surprise, closed the slightly old notebook that was spread out on the table, and looked at Professor Angus walking towards him, Witten said jokingly, "My friend, why did you come back so soon?"

"Because I have already got the answer I want," Leaning the crutches he carried with him against the side of the table, Professor Angus sat down slowly opposite Witten, paused for a while and said, "Are you right? , although it took less than an hour to communicate with him, it really benefited me a lot."

Professor Witten smiled, "Oh? Can you share your harvest with me?"

"Scholars of their generation are more optimistic than ours, and their ideas are also very unique. I used to be pessimistic and thought that the world might be over, but now I have a new view."

"I'm glad you've gained something," Wei Teng said softly, looking at the time on his watch, "I have a physics class in a while, so I won't be with you."

"Go ahead... Speaking of which, since when did you become interested in undergraduates?" Professor Angus asked him with a strange look.

"Because life has an end... I think you are right. We will inevitably sleep forever, but some things can be passed on," Wei Teng smiled, finished the rest of the coffee, and put down the cup in his hand , continued softly, "Maybe one day in the future, one of my students can see for me the unity of the four fundamental forces and the string that constitutes our world."

Professor Angus smiled maliciously: "Maybe they are all farts."

Wei Teng laughed, and said, "Haha, maybe! No matter the pros and cons, it is an answer for me... Speaking of it, do you want to make a bet?"

Professor Angus: "No problem, but the problem is what are you going to bet on? It doesn't matter whether there is money in heaven or not. Even if I win, it's no good."

Witten joked: "I think there will be, after all, we have sent so many economists."

"Then let's talk about it then!"

Witten is gone.

Professor Angus stayed in the cafe and continued to sit, but there was one less person who could talk to him.

Quietly looking at the campus outside the window, looking at the students walking down the tree-lined path downstairs, he was a little dazed for a moment.

After a long time, he slowly pulled out a crumpled notebook from his pocket.

This is his memo, because he occasionally forgets things when he is old, so he often carries such a thing with him, whenever he doubts whether he has forgotten something important, he will turn it out and have a look .

In addition to recording such daily chores as "paying bills" and "repairing the faucet", occasionally he would also write down his sudden inspiration on it to prevent it from slipping away from his thin silver hair...

Staring at the blank page on the paper, Professor Angus pondered for a long time, the nib in his hand was like a rusty dagger, trembling slightly above the notes.

After a while like this, he seemed to have figured out something, his eyebrows loosened.

"...It is not correct to speculate on the future with the methods of the past. What the future needs are the methods of the future, and...thinking beyond reality."

He murmured something to himself that others could not understand, and then he scribbled a line of words on the blank note.

【Cosmic Economics】

After pausing for a while, he crossed it out with a pen, wrote a new line, and whispered to himself.

【Future Sociology】

"This name sounds more interesting..."

Great ideas are often born from casual thinking.

A theory that has a huge influence on later generations was born inadvertently...

...

In the second week after seeing off Professor Angus, Lu Zhou heard an interesting rumor.

An economics professor named Angus Deaton, Princeton has introduced a new course called "Future Sociology." This course does not teach any specific theoretical knowledge, just a thought about the future.

Although the name sounds a little strange, but because the course creator is a Nobel Prize winner, many students still sign up.

Professor Angus, who taught the course, is said to be writing a book on the subject.

Although the specific content has not been made public, according to an old friend of his who has read the manuscript, this academic work with a serious title is more like a science fiction novel without a protagonist than an academic monograph, and it is still Kind of boring to read.

However, the old friend also said that some of the points put forward in it are very interesting, and maybe they will be useful in the future...

All these interesting things were known to Lu Zhou from the students who taught in Princeton.

After so many years, Qin Yue has become a professor from a lecturer, and Hardy, who returned to teach at the University of Sao Paulo early in Brazil, has also done well, and even became one of the academic leaders of the local number theory school...Of course, this is also possible It has something to do with the fact that the "severely biased" Brazilian mathematics community is not good at number theory research.

As for Vera, it is said that she is cooperating with Molina of the Institute for Advanced Study to challenge the highest crown in mathematics - the Riemann Hypothesis. It doesn't matter whether there are results or not. That timid girl who was able to show the courage to challenge this century's problem is already a very gratifying thing in itself.

There are also Wei Wen, who is about to get a doctorate from Princeton, and Jericho, who was recruited by the Institute of Computational Materials at MIT...

Overall, several of his students are doing pretty well.

As their professor, Lu Zhou is also very pleased.

After replying an email to Qin Yue who sent the email, just as Lu Zhou got lazy and was about to take a break from his busy schedule to go to Arxiv to see if there were any interesting mathematics papers, the tranquility of the office was suddenly knocked on the door. The door was broken.

After clearing his throat, Lu Zhou said.

"Please come in."

The door was gently pushed open, and a serious Wang Peng walked in quickly.

Seeing his expression, before Lu Zhou had time to ask "what's the matter", he spoke first.

"bad news!"

Lu Zhou frowned slightly.

"What happened?"

Wang Peng hesitated for half a second, then spoke with a heavy tone.

"Biosphere A was attacked by an unknown armed force. According to the news from the local army, the loss was heavy..."

Unknown armed forces... attack?

Fuck? !

When Lu Zhou heard it, he subconsciously grabbed the armrest and stood up from the office chair.

"Are you all right?"

Wang Peng: "The militants have all been killed in the exchange of fire. The researchers and foreign experts present are all safe and sound... They have been transferred to a nearby city for resettlement. The local troops have been dispatched urgently to block all roads in the nearby area. The militants' background and entry channels are being investigated, but..."

Lu Zhou breathed a sigh of relief just now, and his heartbeat finally slowed down because of the word "but".

"but?"

Wang Peng continued with a heavy tone.

"...The loss of biosphere a is said to be serious."