The "dumb" scientific giant Einstein

Faced with so many people who have achieved great things, you may feel ashamed and say: "How can I become a genius if I am so stupid?" , "I am too ordinary, I am not material to become a great man!" Now I will tell you the story of a man who was thought to be stupid by his teachers and principal.

This man is Albert Einstein. This stupid student who was considered by the principal to be "unable to accomplish anything", through hard work, became the founder and founder of modern physics and the most outstanding physicist in modern times.

On March 14, 1879, a little life was born in a small town called Ulm in Germany. His parents gave him a promising name: Albert Einstein. Looking at his cute appearance, his parents placed all their hopes on him. However, it didn’t take long for the parents to become disappointed: their children were all starting to learn to speak, and Einstein, who was already three years old, was just babbling. Later, Einstein's sister, Maga, who was two years younger than him, was able to talk to her neighbors, but Einstein still faltered when he spoke, and his words did not make sense... Looking at the slow-moving Einstein Stan, the parents began to worry. They worried whether he might be less intelligent than ordinary people. It wasn't until he was 10 years old that his parents sent him to school. However, in school, Einstein was ridiculed by teachers and classmates, and everyone called him a "stupid guy." The school requires students to follow military instructions before and after class. Because of Einstein's slow response, he was often scolded and punished by teachers. Some teachers even pointed at his nose and scolded him: "This guy is so stupid, he can't keep up with any course!" In a craft class, the teacher picked out a very poorly made wooden bench from the students' works. Everyone said: "I think there may not be a stool worse than this in the world!" Amidst the laughter, Einstein stood up with a red face and said: "I think there is such a stool!" As he spoke, he took out two even more unattractive stools from the desk and said, "I made these the first two times, and what I gave you is the third one. Although it is not good, it is better than these two." Much stronger!" Einstein himself was surprised by saying so many words in one breath. The teacher was even more stunned, sitting there not knowing what to say.

Amidst the ridicule and insults, Einstein grew up slowly and entered the Luitbold High School in Munich. In middle school, he liked mathematics classes, but was not interested in other classes that were divorced from reality and life. Lonely, he began to look for sustenance and spiritual strength in books. In this way, Einstein met Archimedes, Newton, Descartes, Goethe, and Mozart in books... Books and knowledge opened up a broader space for him. With his horizons broadened, Einstein had more questions to think about. One day, he said to his uncle who often tutored him in mathematics: "If I use the speed of light in vacuum to run forward with light, can I see the electromagnetic waves vibrating in space?" His uncle stared at him with strange eyes. After a long while, there was both approval and worry in his eyes. Because he knew that the question raised by Einstein was extraordinary and would cause unexpected shock. Since then, Einstein has been tormented by this problem. In the autumn of 1895, after careful consideration, Einstein decided to apply for admission to the University of Zurich in Switzerland. However, he failed and failed in foreign language. After failing the exam, he was not discouraged and took part in middle school tutoring. A year later, he obtained a secondary school tutoring certificate and was admitted to the Polytechnic University of Zurich. At this time, he was already preparing for his future. He spent all his energy on extracurricular readings and laboratories. The professors were very dissatisfied and angry when they saw him reading books that had nothing to do with studying and doing experiments that had nothing to do with test scores, thinking that he was "not doing his job properly."

When Einstein graduated from college, the economic crisis broke out. Because he was of Jewish descent, had no connections, and had no money, he had to be unemployed at home. In order to make a living, he had to post advertisements everywhere and earn a living allowance of 3 francs per hour by teaching physics. This period of unemployment gave Einstein a lot of help.

During the teaching process, he reflected on traditional physics, which contributed to his violent impact on traditional academic views. After five weeks of intense and exciting struggle, Einstein wrote a 9,000-word paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies," from which the special theory of relativity was born. It can be said that this is a decisive and great declaration in the history of physics and another milestone for physics to move forward.

Although many people objected to this, and some even published critical articles in newspapers, Einstein still received attention from society and academia. In a short period of time, 15 universities awarded him doctoral certificates, and famous universities in France, Germany, the United States, Poland and many other countries also wanted to hire him as a professor. Einstein, who was called "idiot" and "stupid thing" by people at that time and thought he could not become a genius, finally became recognized by the world as the most outstanding intelligent figure of our time. What does it mean to change from "ugly gong" to "white swan"? I think Einstein's words are the best answer. When many young people pestered him and asked him to tell the secret of success, he wrote down a formula: A=x y z, and explained: "A means success, x means diligence, y means the correct method, then z It means you must talk less empty words." For many years, Einstein's magical success equation has been praised by people. From Einstein's struggle process, it is not difficult to see that it was diligence, correct methods and less empty words that turned Einstein from a stupid person to a giant.

It can be seen that it is not terrible that a person is not smart. What is terrible is that he vents his anger first. As long as you are willing to work hard for your goals and use the right methods, you will definitely be rewarded by the goddess of success. Many people who have achieved success in their careers did not necessarily show sharp advantages in their childhood or adolescence. On the contrary, they were too ordinary and even seemed slow and stupid. They were often laughed at and laughed at by the people around them. ridicule. If you become discouraged and stop working hard because you are stupid, wouldn’t that kill your potential talents and abilities in the cradle?

In fact, everyone has different talents, and everyone will find their own constellation in the long river of life. If you feel stupid, it's because you haven't found your own zodiac sign yet. Just like Einstein was slow to other things but particularly fond of physics and mathematics, when you find your own zodiac sign, you will definitely radiate a unique brilliance.

Give it a try and find your place as soon as possible.

Watt

Watt (1736～1819) is a world-recognized inventor of the steam engine. His creative spirit, superhuman talent and unremitting research left behind precious spiritual and material wealth for future generations. The steam engine improved and invented by Watt was a huge contribution to modern science and production and had epoch-making significance. It led to the rise of the first industrial technological revolution and greatly promoted the development of social productivity.

(1)

In 1736, Watt was born in Greenock, a small town near Glasgow, Scotland, England. His father was an experienced carpenter, his grandfather and uncle. They are all mechanical craftsmen. As a boy, Watt did not receive a complete formal education due to his poor family and frail health. He attended Greenock Grammar School, where he excelled in mathematics, but dropped out before graduating. However, under the guidance of his parents, he always insisted on self-study and became interested in physics and mathematics very early. Watt began studying geometry at the age of six, and by the age of fifteen he had completed books such as "Principles of Physics". He often repaired and made cranes, tackles and some navigational equipment by himself. In 1753, Watt went to Glasgow to work as an apprentice. Because his income was too low to maintain his livelihood, he went to work as an apprentice in an instrument repair shop in London the next year. With his diligence and studiousness, he quickly learned to make more difficult instruments. But the heavy labor and hard life damaged his health, and after a year, he had to go home to recuperate. The one-year apprenticeship made him suffer a lot, and also allowed him to develop exquisite craftsmanship and cultivate his tenacious personality.

After Bolton's introduction, Watt also joined the Full Moon Society. During the activities of the Full Moon Society, Watt gained a better understanding of the gas chemistry and thermochemistry that people were concerned about at that time due to his interactions with chemists Priestley and others, which laid the foundation for his later participation in the debate on the chemical composition of water. Base. More importantly, the activities of the Full Moon Society enabled Watt to further increase his scientific knowledge and activate his scientific thinking.

Since its cooperation with Bolton, Watt has received strong support in terms of funds, equipment, materials, etc. Watt produced two more steam engines with separate condensers. Since there was no significant improvement, these two steam engines did not receive social attention. These two steam engines cost a lot of money and brought Bolton to the brink of bankruptcy, but he still provided generous sponsorship to Watt. With his support, Watt continued his research with indomitable perseverance. After trial-producing a steam engine prototype with a separate condenser in 1769, Watt had realized that low thermal efficiency was no longer the main drawback of his steam engine, but that the piston could only make back-and-forth linear motion was its fundamental limitation. In 1781, Watt was still participating in the activities of the Full Moon Society. Perhaps at the gathering, members mentioned that Uranus discovered by the astronomer Herschel that year and the resulting circular motion of the planet around the sun inspired him. Perhaps it was the clock. He was inspired by the circular motion of the gears. He thought that by changing the linear motion of the piston back and forth into a rotating circular motion, power could be transmitted to any working machine. In the same year, he developed a gear linkage called the "Sun and Planet", which finally transformed the back-and-forth linear motion of the piston into the rotational motion of the gear. In order to increase the inertia of the rotation axis of the wheel shaft and thereby make the circular motion more uniform, Watt also installed a fire flywheel on the wheel shaft. Because of this major innovation in the traditional mechanism, Watt's steam engine truly became a power machine that can drive all work and life. At the end of 1781, Watt obtained his second patent for the invention of a mechanical linkage with gears and pull rods.

Since this type of steam engine adds a wheel shaft and a flywheel, the steam engine consumes a lot of energy when converting the back-and-forth linear motion of the piston into the rotational motion of the wheel shaft. In this way, the efficiency of the steam engine is not very high and the power is not very great. In order to further improve the efficiency of the steam engine and increase the efficiency of the steam engine, Watt studied the cylinder itself after inventing the gear linkage. He found that although he changed the internal condensation of the Newcomen steam engine into external condensation, the steam engine's Thermal efficiency was significantly improved, but the stroke process of steam pushing the piston in his steam engine was no different from that in the Newcomen steam engine. The steam in both is a single motion, entering at one end and coming out at the other. He thought that if steam could enter and exit from both ends, the steam could push the piston upward as well as downward. Then, his efficiency can be doubled. In 1782, Watt based on this idea, trial-produced a new cylinder with a two-way device. Watt received his third patent. The original single cylinder device was converted into a two-way cylinder, and the steam introduced into the cylinder was changed from low-pressure steam to high-pressure steam for the first time. This was Watt's third leap in the process of improving the Newcomen steam engine. Through these three technological leaps, the Newcomen steam engine completely evolved into the Watt steam engine.

From the initial contact with steam technology to the successful development of Watt steam engine, Watt has gone through a difficult journey of more than 20 years. Although Watt suffered many setbacks and failures, he still persevered and never looked back, and finally completed three innovations of the Newcomen steam engine. The steam engine became more widely used and became the driving force to transform the world.

In 1784, Watt obtained his fourth patent in the process of innovating the Newcomen steam engine with a comprehensive assembly of a high-pressure steam engine with a flywheel, gear linkage and two-way device. In 1788, Watt invented the centrifugal governor and throttle valve; in 1790, he invented the cylinder indicator. At this point, Watt completed the entire process of steam engine invention.

(3)

In 1785, Watt was elected as a member of the Royal Society. In 1814, he was admitted as a foreign member of the French Society of Scientists.

After 1790, generous patent taxes made Watt a very wealthy celebrity.

Watt died at his home in Heathfield on August 5, 1819, and his body was buried in a church in the suburb of Handwalls.

Watt lived in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, so he inevitably had the limitations of the times and class. He once blocked the invention and promotion of double-cylinder steam engines and high-pressure steam engines, and also laughed at other people's efforts to use steam engines to drive vehicles.

In general, Watt made an indelible and important contribution to the popularization and use of steam engines and effectively promoted the progress of society. Engels wrote in "Dialectics of Nature": "The steam engine is the first truly international invention... Watt added a separate condenser, which brought the steam engine in principle to its current level. "In order to commemorate this great inventor, later generations set the unit of power as "Watt".

The ancestor of modern experimental science----Bacon

Francis. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) - a famous British materialist philosopher and scientist. He is revered among the giants of the Renaissance as an epoch-making figure in the history of philosophy and science. Marx called him "the true ancestor of British materialism and the entire modern experimental science."

1. Bacon's life

Bacon was born on January 22, 1561, into a family of officials in London. Father Nicholas. Bacon was the Lord Privy Seal of Queen Elizabeth and studied law at Cambridge University. He tended to have progressive thoughts, believed in the British Crown, and opposed the Pope's interference in the internal affairs of the United Kingdom. Mother Anne is a well-known and talented woman. She is proficient in Greek and Latin and is a believer in Calvinism. A good family education made Bacon mature earlier and showed unusual intelligence in all aspects. At the age of 12, Bacon was sent to Trinity College, Cambridge University for further study. While studying at school, he had doubts about traditional concepts and beliefs, and began to think about the true meaning of society and life alone.

After studying at Cambridge University for three years, Bacon served as the British Ambassador to France, Amyas. Sir Paulet's entourage came to France. During the two and a half years of living in Paris, he traveled almost all over France, came into contact with many new things, and absorbed many new ideas, which played a significant role in the formation of his world view. It has played a big role. In 1579, Bacon's father died suddenly of illness. His plan to prepare for Bacon's future support was shattered, and Bacon's life began to fall into poverty. After returning home to attend his father's funeral, Bacon enrolled in Gray Law School, where he studied law while seeking positions. In 1582, he finally qualified as a lawyer. In 1584, he was elected as a member of Parliament. In 1589, he became the clerk of the court after the vacancy. However, this position did not become vacant for 20 years. He ran around but never got any position. At this time, Bacon was more mature in his thinking. He was determined to reform all knowledge that was divorced from reality and nature, and introduced empirical observation, factual basis, and practical effects into epistemology. This great ambition was the main goal of his "great renaissance" of science and the ambition for which he fought throughout his life.

In 1602, Elizabeth died and James I succeeded to the throne. Because Bacon had advocated the union of Scotland and England, he was greatly appreciated by James. As a result, Bacon's career has skyrocketed. Knighted in 1602, appointed counselor to James in 1604, solicitor general in 1607, chief prosecutor in 1613, advisor to the Privy Council in 1616, promoted to seal in 1617 Chancellor, he was promoted to Continental Officer in England in 1618 and was created Baron Verulan and Viscount Albans in 1621. But Bacon's talents and interests were not in state affairs, but in the search for scientific truth. During this period, he made great achievements in academic research. And published many books.

In 1621, Bacon was accused of corruption and bribery by Parliament. He was fined 40,000 pounds by the High Court, imprisoned in the Tower of London, expelled from the court for life, and barred from holding parliamentary and official positions. Although the fine and imprisonment were later waived, Bacon's reputation was ruined.

From then on, Bacon ignored political affairs and began to concentrate on theoretical writings.

At the end of March 1626, Bacon was riding through the northern suburbs of London. At that time, he was concentrating on the study of hot and cold theory and its practical applications. When passing by a snowy field, he suddenly wanted to conduct an experiment. He killed a chicken and stuffed the chicken belly with snow to observe the effect of freezing on preservation. However, due to his weak body and unable to withstand the invasion of wind and cold, the bronchitis recurred and his condition worsened, and he died of illness in the early morning of April 9, 1626.

After Bacon's death, people built a monument in his memory, and Sir Henry Warden inscribed his epitaph:

Viscount St. Albans

If a more prestigious title should be used

it should be called the "light of science" and the "tongue of the law"

...

II ． Bacon's philosophical thoughts Bacon's philosophical thoughts are inseparable from his social thoughts. He was a representative of the rising bourgeoisie, advocating the development of production, eager to explore nature, and demanding the development of science. He believed that scholasticism had hindered the development of contemporary science. Therefore, he strongly criticized scholasticism and theological authority. He also further exposed the source of fallacies in human understanding and put forward the famous "Four Illusions". He said that this is a common pathological state in the human heart, rather than confusion and doubt arising from a certain situation. The first is the "false appearance of race", which is a misunderstanding caused by human nature; the second type is the "false appearance of the cave", which is a one-sided misunderstanding caused by an individual's personality, hobbies, education, and environment; The third type is the "illusion of the market", which is the confusion of thinking caused by the uncertainty of language concepts when people communicate. The fourth type is "theatre's illusion", which refers to the misunderstanding caused by blind superstition of authority and tradition. Bacon pointed out that the scholastic philosophers used four kinds of illusions to obliterate the truth and create fallacies, thus giving a heavy blow to scholasticism. However, Bacon's "Illusion Theory" permeated the empiricist tendency of Bacon's philosophy and failed to make a strict distinction between the nature of reason and the illusion of idealism. Bacon believed that the academic tradition at that time was impoverished because scholarship had lost contact with experience. He advocated that scientific theory and science and technology complement each other. He advocated breaking "idols" and eradicating all kinds of prejudices and illusions. He proposed that "truth is the daughter of time rather than the daughter of authority" and launched a powerful attack on scholasticism.

Bacon’s view of scientific method is mainly experimental, qualitative and inductive. He inherited and developed the ancient idea that matter is the origin of all things. He believed that the world is composed of matter, matter has the characteristic of movement, and movement is an attribute of matter. Starting from a materialist standpoint, Bacon pointed out that the task of science is to understand the natural world and its laws. However, due to the limitations of the times, his worldview still has the characteristics of simple materialism and metaphysics. three. Bacon's treatises

In 1597, Bacon published his first work, "Essays on Essays". In the book, he condensed his understanding and thinking about society and his understanding of life into many philosophical famous sayings, which were welcomed by readers.

In 1605, Bacon completed the two-volume "On the Progress of Learning" in English. This is a work that takes knowledge as its research object. It is part of Bacon's grand ideal and plan to comprehensively reform knowledge with knowledge as its field. In the book, Bacon fiercely attacked the obscurantism of the Middle Ages, demonstrated the great role of knowledge, and suggested the unsatisfactory status quo of knowledge and its remedies. In this book, Bacon proposed an outline for a systematic scientific encyclopedia, which played a major role in later compiling encyclopedias by the French Encyclopedia School headed by Diderot in the 18th century. In 1609, when Bacon was Solicitor General, he published his third book, "On the Wisdom of the Ancients." He believes that in ancient times, there existed the oldest wisdom of mankind, and the lost oldest wisdom can be discovered through the study of ancient fables.

Bacon originally planned to write a six-volume encyclopedic work - "The Great Revival", which was his masterpiece to revive science and reshape human knowledge, but he failed To complete the expected plan, only the first two parts were published. "New Instruments" published in 1620 was the second part of the book. "New Instruments" is Bacon's most important philosophical work. It puts forward the principles and methods of empirical knowledge pioneered by Bacon in modern times. This book is the antithesis of Aristotle's Instruments.

After the end of his political career, Bacon completed the book "The Chronicles of Henry VII" in just a few months. This work was highly praised by later historians and was hailed as "the most important work of modern history". A milestone in historiography."

Around 1623, Bacon wrote "New Atlantis", an unfinished utopian work first published by Rollet in the second year of his death. In the book, the author describes the ideal social blueprint for his new pursuit and yearning, and designs a country called the "True Color Column". In this country, science dominates everything. This is the "great renaissance" of science advocated by Bacon's graduation. A concentrated expression of thoughts and beliefs. In addition, Bacon left many works after his death, which were later compiled and published by many experts and scholars, including "On the Nature of Things", "Clue of the Labyrinth", "Critiques of Various Philosophies", "Great Events in Nature" ”, “On Human Knowledge”, etc.

Four. Bacon's position in the history of science

Francis. Bacon was the first philosopher to propose the principle of empiricism in the history of modern philosophy. He attached great importance to the role of sensory experience and inductive logic in the process of cognition, and created a new era of empirical philosophy that uses experience as a means to study perceptual nature. He played a positive role in promoting the establishment of modern science and contributed to the history of human philosophy and science. All have made significant historical contributions. For this reason, Russell respected Bacon as "the pioneer of logical organization of scientific research procedures."

The story of mathematician Zu Chongzhi

The grandfather of Zu Chongzhi (429-500) was named Zuchang, and he was an official in charge of court buildings in the Song Dynasty. Zu Chongzhi grew up in such a family and read many books since he was a child. People praised him as a learned young man. He was particularly fond of studying mathematics and astronomy and calendars. He often observed the movements of the sun and planets and made detailed records.

Emperor Xiaowu of the Song Dynasty heard about his reputation and sent him to work in the "Hualin Academic Province", an official agency specializing in academic research. He was not interested in being an official, but there he could concentrate more on studying mathematics and astronomy.

Our country has had officials who studied astronomy in all dynasties, and calendars were formulated based on the results of astronomical research. By the Song Dynasty, the calendar had made great progress, but Zu Chongzhi thought it was not accurate enough. Based on the results of his long-term observations, he created a new calendar called the "Daming Calendar" ("Daming" is the reign name of Emperor Xiaowu of the Song Dynasty). The number of days in each tropical year (that is, the time between two winter solstice points) measured by this calendar is only fifty seconds different from that measured by modern science; the number of days it takes for the moon to circle around is no different from that measured by modern science. For a second, you can see how accurate it is. In 462 AD, Zu Chongzhi asked Emperor Xiaowu of the Song Dynasty to promulgate a new calendar, and Emperor Xiaowu convened ministers for discussion. At that time, Dai Faxing, a favored minister of the emperor, came out to object, believing that Zu Chongzhi's unauthorized change of the ancient calendar was an act of deviance. Zu Chongzhi used the data he studied to refute Dai Faxing on the spot. Dai Faxing relied on the emperor's favor and said arrogantly: "The calendar was established by the ancients and should not be changed by future generations." Zu Chongzhi was not afraid at all. He said solemnly: "If you have factual basis, just use it to argue. Don't scare people with empty words." Emperor Xiaowu of Song Dynasty wanted to help Dai Faxing, so he found some people who knew the calendar to argue with Zu Chongzhi, but they were all refuted by Zu Chongzhi. . However, Emperor Xiaowu of Song Dynasty still refused to promulgate the new calendar. It was not until ten years after Zu Chongzhi's death that the Daming Calendar created by him was implemented.

Although the society was very turbulent at that time, Zu Chongzhi still studied science tirelessly. His greater achievement was in mathematics.

He once commented on the ancient mathematical work "Nine Chapters on Arithmetic" and compiled a book "Zhu Shu". His most outstanding contribution was the fairly accurate calculation of pi. After long-term and painstaking research, he calculated that pi was between 3.1415926 and 3.1415927, becoming the first scientist in the world to calculate pi to more than seven digits.

Zu Chongzhi was a versatile man in scientific inventions. He built a compass. No matter how the car turned, the bronze figure on the car always pointed to the south; he also built the "Thousand-mile Ship", which is in Xinting After trial navigation on the Yangtze River (southwest of today's Nanjing City), it could sail more than a hundred miles a day. He also used water power to turn stone mills and pound rice to grind millet, which was called "water mill".

In Zu Chongzhi's later years, Xiao Daocheng, who controlled the imperial guards of the Song Dynasty, destroyed the Song Dynasty.

The original poster can go here to take a look:

/xstd/student/page3/kxj/kxj.htm