Ding Haoliang was an American. He served as the chief instructor of the Tongwen School in Beijing from 1869 until 1894, which lasted for 25 years. His influence on Tongwen School in Beijing could be said to be very great.
As the chief professor of the best national top university in the Qing Dynasty at that time, you must think that Ding Haoliang is a very outstanding figure in academics, but in fact, he is just a missionary.
Ding Nailiang graduated from Indiana University. The highest ranking of this university in the United States is probably 70 or 80, and it should be more than 300 globally. Moreover, it is not a research university, and it mainly focuses on employment. I often watch the NBA.
People may have heard it, Indiana University is one of the five cradle schools in the NBA.
Ding Naoliang received an orthodox Western education in the United States, but later entered a seminary to study theology.
In terms of academic ability, he is really not outstanding, but as a missionary in a foreign country, his communication skills are very strong and his Chinese is also very good. He actually became the chief teacher of Tongwen Hall.
One can imagine how far behind the Qing Dynasty was in science at that time.
Although I don’t want to admit it, to be honest: the scientific level of the Qing Dynasty is really much worse than that of India.
It’s so exciting!
Now Ding Haoliang has resigned as the chief professor of Tongwen Hall, but in a few months he will be hired again as the chief professor of Western Studies at the Capital University.
After all, Tongwenguan is an agency directly under the Prime Minister's Office for National Affairs, and the two are so close to each other. With the prime minister and minister who has real power, the relationship is always in place.
Another foreigner who worked with Ding Haoliang on calculations was Shi Deming, a physics teacher at Tongwen Hall.
Fan Xiren did not dare to disturb them, and watched from the window with Li Yu.
They calculated very seriously, with a blackboard full of mathematical equations and intense discussions.
Fan Xiren could not understand these mathematical symbols and murmured: "Western science is really complex and profound. I can recognize these letters, but I have no way of knowing their meaning."
At this time, Fan Xiren was definitely a fan of Western learning, but his level was not good enough.
Li Yu had to read the equations on the blackboard thoroughly, and soon understood that it was a question about mathematical analysis. He needed to prove that a binary continuous function in a plane domain is equal to a cumulative integral. This question is indeed difficult.
, which is roughly equivalent to the medium difficulty level of the postgraduate entrance examination for the Department of Mathematics.
Shi Deming was a physics teacher, but his mathematics level was not very high. At that time, most people who studied physics were engaged in experimental routes, and their physical theory was not very up to standard, let alone mathematics.
Shi Deming and Ding Yuliang calculated for a long time and got stuck at a node. Neither of them seemed able to proceed.
Physics teacher Shi Deming sighed and said: "I can't do anything about this kind of mathematical problem. Mr. President Xi, you are now the chief professor of Qingguo University. Can you find a student from the Department of Mathematics to do the math with you?"
Ding Haoliang took the chalk and listed a few more formulas on the blackboard, and said helplessly: "Those so-called 'literary officials'? It's better to give up! In terms of literature, they are adults, but in terms of science, they are still children.
!”
Li Yu felt uncomfortable listening to these words. In fact, he had already seen the problem in the arithmetic and said loudly: "Let me interject, two teachers, you made a mistake at the beginning, how could you get it right!"
The air condensed briefly for a few seconds. Ding Haoliang and Shi Deming looked at the two people outside the window. Shi Deming said: "Are you students from Tongwen Hall?"
Fan Xiren felt that it was really offensive. He had attended private schools for many years and had great respect for the teachers in the school. Even if he was wrong, he would say it politely in private. Moreover, the difficulty of such a large number of calculations was not at all the same as yesterday's definite integral.
How can you just say that two foreign teachers are wrong?
He quickly said: "Chief Teacher, I... I am indeed a student of Tongwen Hall. I have no intention of disturbing your discussion. Let's leave now."
Nowadays, almost everyone in the Qing Dynasty has an extraordinary admiration for foreigners. It can be said that they are truly "advocating foreigners and favoring foreigners".
Fan Xiren shook his head quickly: "The person who just spoke was not me, but brother Li Yu. He, he is in mathematics..."
Fan Xiren's forehead was covered with sweat. Li Yu patted him and motioned for him to come.
Li Yu did not have any shackles of feudal ideas, so he was engaged in very ordinary academic exchanges. In fact, Ding Weiliang and Shi Deming were not surprised by this. When they were in college, they often discussed it directly with their professors.
Li Yu had a very clear idea and said: "After converting the integral, you should use the periodicity of the sine function sin to simplify the integral, otherwise you will not be able to continue the subsequent proof."
After speaking, he walked directly into the classroom, wiped the blackboard, then picked up a piece of chalk and quickly listed more than ten calculation steps on the blackboard, and finally arrived at the same result accurately.
Li Yu threw the chalk away casually, "This is the end."
Shi Deming was surprised and praised in English: "Such a beautiful proof!"
Ding Hailiang never expected that a young scholar from the Qing Dynasty could have such a high level of mathematical accomplishment. He read it carefully several times and found that he was not able to master the mathematical techniques in some places, but the result was definitely correct.
"Your name is - Carp?"
Li Yu corrected him: "It's not a carp, it's Li Yu. Li Bai's Li is the emperor's edict."
Ding Haoliang said: "Li Yu. Okay, I've written it down. Are you also a student of Tongwen Hall?"
Li Yu shook his head: "I'm not, I'm just a librarian."
"Librarian?" Ding Haoliang asked in surprise: "How do you master these advanced mathematical knowledge?"
Li Yu had no choice but to tell him about his own situation. Of course, he could only say that he learned it from the school in the concession. Many of them were self-study.
Ding Hailiang said: "In this case, it is a pity for you to be an administrator. To what extent do you understand current science?"
Li Yu counted the time and found that quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity have not yet come out; the chemical community has just studied the periodic table of elements, and then established the first and second laws of thermodynamics; but electromagnetism can be said to be very popular now.
So he had to say generally: "I have in-depth research on differential equations in mathematics, thermodynamics and atomic composition in chemistry, electromagnetism and mechanics in physics. In addition, I also dabble in biology, microorganisms and other subjects."
These were pointed at the forefront of various sciences at that time. Ding Hailiang opened his mouth slightly and said, "This, how is this possible!"
Li Yu smiled and said, "If you want, I can deduce Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction or Maxwell's equations for you."