1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 370: Awakening! The four stages of scientific development! Scientific thought is more important than theory!

October 1915, 10, French Concession.

The convening of the first general membership meeting of the Chinese Science Society marked the beginning of a new stage of development in the field of Chinese science.

At this moment, Li Qiwei walked onto the podium.

Look at those hungry faces and their unwavering faith.

Li Qiwei was excited.

He wants to point out the direction for these passionate young people in the audience so that they will no longer be confused and move forward courageously.

They are the hope for the future of Chinese science.

"Today, my speech topic has three parts."

“The first part is: what is the process of scientific development like?”

“When we talk about science, our first reaction is often Western science.”

"Although it is regrettable, it is an established fact that science was born in the West. No one can deny this."

"I know that many people in China will do archaeological research in documents for the sake of national pride."

"It proves that ancient China also had science."

"But I believe that all of you here, as elites in the scientific field, will be cautious about this."

"Science is about seeking truth from facts and cannot be troubled by any subjective factors."

Everyone in the meeting room suddenly had a serious expression.

President Li emphasized the scientific spirit at the beginning of his speech.

The Chinese Science Society aims to spread science in the country, but it must not be restricted by patriotism.

Promoting science is patriotic, but science itself has nothing to do with the country.

This logic is deeply engraved in everyone's mind.

"After science was born in the West, it actually went through a long and tortuous development."

"What we now call science is generally considered modern science."

“And the period between the ancient Greek era and the Middle Ages can be figuratively called classical science.”

“The most important achievement of classical science is to establish the guiding role of logic in science.”

"Euclidean geometry is the pinnacle of logical deduction."

"From then on, the construction of the edifice of science had a solid material foundation."

"But logic alone is not enough."

"Another characteristic of classical science is the substitution of imagination for experiment."

“For example, the famous iron ball falling problem.”

"Aristotle was merely imagining the process in his mind, and so he came to the wrong conclusion."

“This dislike of experimentation is also related to that era.”

"In ancient Greece, people who could do scientific research with peace of mind were generally not ordinary people."

"It's really not possible to ask these grown men to do hard labor."

"So, unfortunately, the experiment has not been taken seriously by scientists."

"Modern science has recognized the importance of experimentation."

“To be correct, a theory must be consistent with experiments, and the experimental results must be consistent with natural phenomena.”

“The development of modern science has gone through four stages so far.”

"First there was the enlightenment phase in the 15th and 16th centuries."

"The most important achievement of this period was Copernicus' heliocentric theory."

“This great achievement in the field of astronomy completely shattered the shackles that the church had on human thought.”

"Although from today's perspective, the heliocentric theory is also wrong."

"But its influence on the society at that time and on humanistic thought is unparalleled."

"Moreover, the heliocentric theory laid a solid foundation for later astronomy and even Newtonian mechanics."

“The 17th and 18th centuries were the formative years of science.”

“The two most important scientists of this period were Galileo and Newton.”

"Galileo laid the foundation for the scientific system of experimental research, and Newton developed this system to its peak and proposed Newton's laws."

"At this stage, science began to form branches, physics, chemistry, medicine, etc."

"But no matter which branch, the research process is the same."

“The first step is to come up with hypotheses by observing natural phenomena.”

“Then, we conduct a large number of experiments to verify these hypotheses.”

“Finally, by comparing the theoretical and experimental results, we can prove whether the hypothesis is correct.”

"This system seems obvious today."

"But its birth was extremely difficult. It can be said to be a revolution in thought and a historic turning point."

"At least, China has not come up with this kind of systematic research idea after thousands of years of development."

“So, the true essence of science has never been those theorems and formulas, but the process of obtaining those theorems and formulas.”

“It is not enough to know the facts. Only by knowing the reasons behind them can we truly enter the threshold of science.”

“From this period on, experiments became the most important part of scientific research.”

"And the byproduct of science: the Industrial Revolution, has profoundly changed our world."

Wow!
Everyone looked shocked.

President Li's analysis made them understand what the true scientific spirit is.

This huge and exquisite wisdom system was not established overnight, but was the result of hundreds of years of successive efforts.

And this whole process is firmly centered around these two pillars: logic and experiment.

“The 19th century was a period of rapid scientific development.”

"During this period, there were three groundbreaking achievements: Maxwell's electromagnetic theory, cell theory, and Darwin's theory of evolution."

"Science during this period was more brilliant and diverse, and all fields flourished."

"Moreover, the most significant change in science is that it is getting further and further away from ordinary people."

“This is not just about unfamiliarity in terms of empirical cognition, but rather the difficulty in understanding the theoretical system.”

"It's easy for a person to imagine Newtonian mechanics, but it's hard for him to directly construct how the electromagnetic field works."

"From this period onwards, science gradually surpassed people's experience and paid more attention to rationality."

“The two major ideas of logic and experiment have reached their peak.”

"Scientists are now different from ordinary people."

“It is impossible for a person who has not received professional training to communicate effectively with scientists in their professional fields.”

"In Newton's time, it was not uncommon to cross industries."

"But now, even if I want to be a biologist, I'm afraid I have to start from scratch."

There was a burst of laughter from the audience.

Everyone thinks President Li is too modest.

You have proposed the existence of creationism, so who dares to say that you are an outsider in biology?

“Nineteenth-century science gave rise to the Second Industrial Revolution.”

“If we say that the first industrial revolution greatly enriched our material life.”

"The second industrial revolution is to make our lives more sophisticated and unimaginable."

"But everyone has to remember that these are just byproducts of science."

“If you start studying science with utilitarian purposes in mind, you are doomed to achieve nothing.”

"Because you'll always be thinking about what's the use of this and what's the use of that."

“Therefore, many important phenomena are overlooked.”

“Real scientists never care whether it is useful or not, they only care about why.”

"It is true that the Chinese Science Society aims to spread science and improve the country's scientific and technological level." "But this does not mean that we should turn science into utilitarianism."

“We should spread scientific ideas, enlighten more people, and then transform these ideas into technology.”

“Otherwise, it will be like the United States.”

"We are already the world's leading industrial power, but in the field of science, we can only pick up the leftovers from Europe."

"If China follows this path and always takes what is available, it will be strangled by the West in the future."

The word "choke point" felt very new to the members present.

After reading it silently several times, I found it easy to understand the meaning, and it was very vivid.

At this time, Ren Hongjun said:

"Boss, I understand."

"You are helping us understand and spread science correctly from the very beginning."

“Treat science as a thought, not a tool, and use it whenever you want.”

Li Qiwei nodded and said, "That's right."

"We must first figure out what the core of our communication is."

"Just like the Industrial Revolution was a byproduct of science."

"Improving domestic science and technology and strengthening national strength are just byproducts of the Chinese Science Society's dissemination of science."

"Because only in this way can we go further and be more solid."

“Assume an extreme situation.”

"One day a three-star civilization descended upon Earth and conveniently wiped out the entire Western world."

“So can the remaining countries continue to develop science?”

"I think it's difficult."

"Because this scientific thought has not yet been fully accepted and digested by us."

Li Qiwei used the example of "Bugs" and it was easy for everyone to understand.

He continued:
“The 20th century marked the fourth stage of science, which I call the breakthrough period.”

"Although I may be exaggerating, the theory of relativity and quantum theory are undoubtedly breakthroughs in the field of science."

"This breakthrough is ideological. It changes the way people view the world. It is no longer the same as before."

“Although the theory of relativity and quantum theory have only just been born, I am confident that these two theories will dominate the next hundred years.”

"From this stage on, science has completely become alienated from ordinary people."

"An ordinary person may be able to understand Newtonian mechanics through popular science. If he is smarter, he may be able to comprehend electromagnetism."

"But it is absolutely impossible for him to have a deep understanding of relativity and quantum theory just through popular science."

“You must realize this.”

"What content the science society should popularize and to what extent are all things that need to be carefully considered."

"For different groups of people, such as college students and ordinary workers, the focus of science popularization is also different."

“These are all things that require careful and detailed planning by the Science Society.”

"So, you must not underestimate your work."

"It's not the same as just translating a few foreign documents and calling it popular science."

“You have to have your own understanding first, break it down, and explain it to other people.”

"If you can't explain it, it means you don't understand it yourself, so how can you popularize science?"

Wow!
Li Qiwei's remarks shocked everyone.

Because it hits the nail on the head.

No one expected that there would be so many aspects to popular science work.

Especially active people like Zhou Ren, they immediately sat up straight and warned themselves to take this career seriously in the future.

The vast majority of members of the Chinese Science Society have their own jobs.

Joining the science club is a voluntary job. Currently, there is no salary for it and it is entirely supported by the dream.

Therefore, Li Qiwei needs to make everyone understand that popular science is not something that can be done casually.

If we really want to revive Chinese science, we need to take everything seriously.

If you fish for three days and dry the net for two days, and fool around every day, it would be better to leave early, otherwise it will waste both parties' time.

Ren Hongjun quickly wrote this point down on paper.

As the vice president, he needs to consider the development of the society comprehensively.

Since the president has raised this issue, he has to find a way to solve it.

“Perhaps we can consider introducing an incentive mechanism in the future.”

As for what it is, he hasn't figured it out yet.

At this time, Li Qiwei continued:

“These are the four stages of scientific development.”

"This is just a general classification that I have summarized personally."

"The specific situation is countless times more complicated than this."

“But the point I want to make is the same.”

“Although science originated in the West, anyone and any country can learn it.”

“Scientific ideas are universal and have no national boundaries.”

“Although the Huaxia Science Society is not a specific scientific research institution, it also needs to follow scientific ideas.”

"With nine research labs and so much knowledge, it would be very chaotic if there is no unified ideological guidance."

"So, I hope my analysis can be helpful to you."

"You should also be good at applying scientific thinking in your daily work."

Wow!
There was thunderous applause in the conference hall.

At this moment, all members felt that President Li was like a god.

His speech was mind-blowing!

He uses a high-level perspective to analyze the development of science from a macro perspective.

It allows everyone to have a deeper understanding of the scientific system, just like reading a text on the palm of their hand.

One can imagine the impact this kind of depth has brought to China in this era.

You know, now in China, there is not even an official title of scientist.

The public has no concept of this at all.

It is precisely because of Li Qiwei's sudden emergence that science in China has been slightly accelerated, but it is also limited.

Because of the lack of media and power for communication.

And now, there is a medium, and that is the Chinese Science Society.

There is power too, and that is the power of thought.

Therefore, this guiding theory can be said to have laid the foundation for the development of Chinese science as a whole.

Even later, historians will regard Ridgwell as the "Father of Chinese Science".

Even though he had published the theory of relativity and won the Nobel Prize, it didn't work.

Because he has no ideas, his theories are his own and cannot guide others.

And now, Ridgway is beginning to influence others and allow the seeds of science to take root and sprout.

This is the most important thing for a country.

Scientific theories apply to individuals, while scientific ideas apply to nations.

Although Li Qiwei's current remarks cannot even be considered as thoughts, he will gradually improve them.

The speech continues!

(End of this chapter)