Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 227 The Shining Moments of Life
“I know this might be a little difficult for young students to understand.”

When you are just beginning your lives, and there is still a long way to go before your final judgment is made, I am telling you that the doors of life will close one after another. People will find this puzzling and incomprehensible.

I believe that the older I get, the more I will resonate with what I'm saying.

For young students, I don't want to shift the focus to cherishing time, studying hard, and seizing every opportunity to make choices.

Teachers and parents say similar things all the time in everyday life, so I don't think I need to repeat them.

I just want to objectively describe the facts: people will only have fewer and fewer choices in the future.

But don't be discouraged or disheartened.

Because after making one choice after another, and after a long life, you will eventually see your own moment of glory.

Witness your own shining moment in human history.

As Stefan Zweig wrote in the preface to his book *The Stars of Humanity*:

'A truly historic moment is often preceded by a long period of ordinary life.'

Take the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, whom I mentioned, as an example. He became famous at a young age, publishing a collection of poems at the age of 20. In his youth, he organized literary gatherings where learned scholars gathered and there were no uncultured people among his acquaintances.

They were all Austria's most famous writers, poets, philosophers, and musicians at the time, such as Romain Rolland and Thomas Mann.

He wrote "The Stars of Humanity" in his thirties, a work that would leave a significant mark on human history. But then came a long period of exile, his work could not be published, and he eventually committed suicide with his wife.

In his last letter, he wrote: 'The world of my mother tongue has fallen and abandoned me, and my spiritual home, Europe, has also brought about its own destruction.'

Some people shine early, followed by a long period of ordinary life; others shine late, waiting many years for their moment to shine.

Everyone will eventually have their moment to shine; it's just a matter of when.

As you move forward without looking back, and you feel one door after another closing, as if your life has come to this, don't forget that there are still shining moments waiting for you ahead. Keep a youthful heart and be ready to welcome your shining moment at any time.

No one lives an ordinary life. I hope that the young friends who listened to my first lecture today will remember that their lives haven't yet shone brightly, and that they shouldn't give up but keep moving forward, even in the long, ordinary years ahead.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, the scene switched back to the live broadcast in Yanjing, where Sa Beining and the students in the studio were applauding.

"That's so well said. Professor Lin's words made me feel like I was back when I was studying at Yenching University. Back then, I could choose to work for a ministry, a central enterprise, or a law firm."

Back then, these places were all vying to hire me, but now, they just throw my resume in the trash. Who is this? Over forty and trying to become an intern lawyer?
Life's doors close one after another.

The professor not only told us about the pessimistic reality of life's helplessness, but also gave us reasons to remain optimistic through his own shining moments.

When Lin Ran heard Sa Beining first address him as Professor Lin, and then directly as Professor, he thought to himself, "You're really good at this. I'll leave the rest of the interviews to you."

"Finally, let's ask Professor Lin a few questions to conclude the first lesson of the new semester," Sa Beining said after his summary.

Lin Ran thought to himself, "Why is it Professor Lin again? No, you're still not up to par."

"Professor Lin, you mentioned earlier that everyone has their own shining moments. So how do we cope with the psychological gap after those shining moments end?"

Like me, I feel that the shining moment of my life was when I was recommended to Peking University. In the more than 20 years since then, although I have achieved some small successes, they seem insignificant compared to being recommended to Peking University.

And Professor, perhaps—and I mean perhaps—you will never solve a problem of the century like the twin prime conjecture in your future life, and your shining moment will have passed in your prime.

Lin Ran smiled and said, "It's very simple, just walk forward and don't look back."

At least there are still shining moments in life worth reminiscing about, just like you can keep bringing up your admission to Peking University without taking the entrance exam. Although it is a past experience, it can be brought out again and again to polish and rekindle your dull life.

However, I won't. The twin prime conjecture is just the beginning for me. Fields giving it to me is Fields' glory, not mine.

Sa Beining's smile froze instantly. "I'd heard Professor Lin was arrogant, but I never expected him to be even more arrogant than me."

But I still hope that the professor can achieve something even greater than the twin prime conjecture, such as completely solving Goldbach's conjecture.

The second question, Professor, is that most ordinary people will never experience what is called a "shining moment" in their entire lives, so people will think what you're saying is too much of a motivational platitude.

Lin Ran said softly, "No, no, no, my definition is a shining moment for an individual, not a shining moment for all mankind."

Take you as an example. Getting into Peking University is at best a shining moment for you personally. For all of humanity, it is just an ordinary moment. In Zweig's "The Stars of Humanity," let alone being a story, the author probably wouldn't even want to use a single word.

Of course, I proved the twin prime conjecture, which was indeed a glimmer of human wisdom in the long river of history, and can be called a shining moment in human history.

For most ordinary people, the money earned from their first job, the red envelopes they send to their parents, the smiles they receive when they video call them back at night, the salary increases after working hard and getting promoted, the effort they put into talking to the prettiest girl in their class, or bringing knowledge and hope to children deep in the mountains—these are all shining moments for an individual.

In short, looking back on the past years, those shining memories are your shining moments.

But that's all in the past. New brilliance awaits us in the future; the only difference is whether that new brilliance will be more dazzling or dimmer.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, Sa Beining could only smile wryly, "No, this is the first time I've felt that my Peking University is so embarrassing."

The professor kept saying I had proven some century-old problem, and Yenching University was begging me to teach there. No way! I'll definitely avoid professors like that in the future. Getting a guaranteed admission to Yenching University would be too embarrassing for him.

Okay, jokes over. One last question, professor: if you were to recommend a book to all the primary and secondary school students across the country watching on television, what book would you recommend?

After pondering for a moment, Lin Ran said, "Harry Potter, perhaps. The gravity of reality is too heavy. I hope everyone can forget their troubles in the fantasy world."

Because it's Lin Ran, this interview isn't just for primary and secondary school students; many college students, graduate students, and working adults can also find Lin Ran's first lesson of the new semester on various channels.

Various clips have gone viral on major social media platforms.

Especially since Sa Beining used the Yanda University meme to show off his superiority in the past, his expression when he met Lin Ran this time caused various clips to spread at an unimaginable speed.

"No, this is the first time I've seen Sa Beining get his comeuppance. Being recommended to Peking University is really no match for Fields." "What I want to say is, can CCTV invite Ran Shen to participate in the show more often? I want to see Sa Beining's expression of wanting to cry but not being able to. As long as Sa Beining dares to say that he was recommended to Peking University, Ran Shen can use Fields to refute him."

"No, you guys haven't had enough of Sa Beining's overused joke about being recommended to Peking University, have you? Don't you think Professor Lin's words make a lot of sense?"

"Of course it makes sense. He quoted extensively from classical texts and famous sayings, showing a deep knowledge base at a glance. What moved me even more was the last question. I thought he would talk about popular science books or biographies of famous people, but I didn't expect him to talk about Harry Potter."

It fully demonstrates the heartwarming side of Harry Potter; indeed, students of all ages, from elementary to high school, can find simple joy in reading Harry Potter.

"Let alone students, even when I'm working, I often read all kinds of Harry Potter fanfiction."

The heated online discussions have another benefit for Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

That was Lin Ran, who had been released from the hotel, and was going to give everyone their first lesson of the new semester at Shanghai Jiaotong University.

In addition, there is the so-called Lin Ran Mathematics Class, which recruits first- and second-year undergraduate students from Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Lin Ran's math class is recruiting 20 students. All students are welcome to take the exam, and admission will be based on the best performance.

Whether you are a freshman or have already studied for a year, you will have to start over after being admitted. In other words, you will become a freshman in your sophomore year, and your previous academic years will be reset to zero.

This is similar to changing majors at Tongji University.

If you want to switch from another major to architecture at Tongji University, you can only do so after your first year. After that, you have to start from the first year again, which means you have to study for six years, since the architecture department is a five-year program.

"Hello everyone, I am Lin Ran. I am very happy to be here to give the first lesson of the new semester to the students of Shanghai Jiaotong University."

Everyone here is at least a college student. Of course, I know that most of you here are freshmen, and other students can only watch from the classroom or dormitory.

I graduated only a few years ago; many of my classmates are still at Jiaotong University.

Back then, we were all students; now I'm a professor, and you're still students.

A burst of laughter erupted from the audience.

Freshmen always feel that they can become Lin Ran, rather than the classmates Lin Ran talks about.

"So what I want to talk about today is related to my job and also closely related to Jiaotong University."

I want to talk about the mathematical knowledge used in the Apollo moon landing and discuss the essence of mathematics.

I hope that the insights gained from this class will resonate throughout your student life for the new students, and that it will also inspire the returning students.

As everyone knows, we start learning math from kindergarten.

From the earliest addition and subtraction to addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and gradually expanded to addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and then to complex calculus and topology, the world of mathematics has slowly become more complex.

Cutting-edge mathematical research is almost like metaphysics; a few people may spend their entire lives making only slight progress.

However, mathematics is particularly important in applications; it is not metaphysics, but a science that must be mastered.

The Kalman filter was particularly important in the Apollo missions. It was developed by Stanley Schmidt at NASA's Ames Research Center to process noise data in spacecraft navigation.

It accurately estimates the spacecraft's position and velocity through a prediction and update mechanism, even with the limited computing power of the 1960s.

The Kalman filter not only helped the Apollo missions succeed, but it has also been widely used in modern air traffic management, demonstrating the enduring value of mathematics.

Mathematics, through modeling and computation, connects physical laws with engineering practices, enabling feats like the moon landing.

In addition to the mathematical theories mentioned above, other mathematical concepts also played a crucial role:
The Vivi equations and Lambert problem in orbital mechanics, based on the principles of energy conservation and optimization, are used to plan the orbital transfers and maneuvers of a spacecraft. These tools ensure fuel and time efficiency, particularly in the calculation of lunar transfer windows.

The Navier-Stokes equations and ablation theory of fluid dynamics and thermal protection are used to simulate the behavior of a spacecraft re-entering Earth's atmosphere.

The Navier-Stokes equations describe fluid dynamics and predict the flow characteristics of a spacecraft at high speeds and high temperatures, while the ablation theory ensures that heat shield materials protect the spacecraft under extreme conditions.

Due to limitations of onboard computers, numerical methods have become crucial for solving complex differential equations. For example, trajectory calculations require real-time updates, and numerical methods provide approximate solutions, enabling the task to be accomplished.

In mission planning, probability and statistics are used to assess risks and uncertainties, such as the selection of launch windows and the success rate of lunar landing. These tools help decision-makers weigh various possible outcomes.

The mathematical applications in the Apollo missions revealed the essence of mathematics, that is, it is not only an abstract theory, but can also be transformed into a practical tool for solving real-world problems.

Let's take the Navier-Stokes equations as an example.

The freshmen present were completely confused.

Lin Ran was teaching the most complex calculus. Not to mention freshmen, even doctoral students majoring in mathematics watching the live broadcast, or doctoral students specializing in PDEs, could only keep up with it with great difficulty.

After finishing his explanation, Lin Ran said, "As you can see, isn't it easy to understand? The Navier-Stokes equations played a crucial role in the Apollo moon landing."

Today, I wonder if any of you would like to participate in the Apollo moon landing project.

My undergraduate thesis was an optimization of the Apollo moon landing, and now I want to reboot the entire project.

Let's see how far we can go. For example, we may not be able to replicate the Saturn V rocket, but we can certainly do orbit calculations.

If any students are interested, please send an email to my work email address to register.

I believe that participating in this project will be a shining moment in your university life.

　I think I'll only be writing one chapter today. Also, I'd like to recommend a book by a friend; you can check it out if you're interested: *I Virtually Raised a Superstar*.

(End of this chapter)