1840Indian rebirth

Who is George Boole?

If it weren't for the same name, he would be the founder of Boolean algebra. If you have a little knowledge of computer science, you must have heard his name.

However, it is obvious that Mr. Boole has not achieved such great achievements at this time, and his appearance here seems quite unusual. After all, he is a mathematician, and his identity is a bit amateur, and he has only recently become prominent in the academic circle.

Meeting academic celebrities at Cambridge University was not something surprising. After chatting and laughing with Kelvin and Joule for a period of time, Ma Shao had already adapted to this.

But Boole's situation is a bit special, because speaking of it, the research results of this great mathematician are somewhat related to entropy, or to Shannon.

In the future, Shannon's master's thesis that shocked the world was based on Boolean algebra.

"Please, Mr. Bull." said the horse whistle.

George Boole: "This is a great discovery, but I have a question. If according to the later definition of this formula, the increase in entropy does not seem to be an inevitable event?"

"Theoretically, it is true." Ma Shao nodded, and then stretched out his hand to make a gesture, "But as long as you estimate it, you will know that even if it is just the air molecules in my palm - there may be ten to the power of ten, the probability of its entropy decreases

It is also unimaginably low and almost impossible.”

"We can set a probability, call it n, which refers to the probability of occurrence of spontaneous entropy decrease visible to the naked eye."

Ma Shao wrote the letter n on the blackboard, and then continued to hold the chalk and said: "How small will this n be? I guess, throw the chalk from one side to the other side, so that it can write a Shakespeare sentence on the blackboard.

poem, the probability of this may be n."

Bull frowned slightly, seeming to be a little confused, but he didn't know what to say.

Ma Shao smiled and said: "I can probably guess what you are thinking, Mr. Bull. In fact, before and after the birth of this formula, various doubts continued to emerge in my heart, and I recorded many of them.

I will make them public soon."

Next, someone else asked: "Why can't entropy be defined as 'the degree of convertibility of energy' instead of the other way around?"

Ma Shao: "You have such a question, probably because you haven't understood my further explanation of entropy. If it is just used as a data for studying steam engines, it is okay to define entropy in reverse, but obviously, entropy will not be limited to

The field of steam engines is not even limited to thermodynamics and physics..."

Hundreds of people in the audience raised their hands, and there were still many questions.

But Ma Shao doesn't have so much time.

In fact, he has taken up a lot of extra time in the meeting, and the next few speakers are already lined up.

The queue did not continue to extend, because it was obvious that if we continued to queue any longer, we would have to wait until dark.

"Last question." Ma Shao pointed at a random person.

"The concept of entropy is a bit obscure, but I have to say that you are an outstanding lecturer, and I think I have understood the meaning of this word." The questioner said cautiously.

After a pause, he continued: "The law of entropy, or the 'Second Law of Thermodynamics'...it seems to reveal a destructive ending - our world will eventually evolve to the state of maximum entropy and chaos.

Annihilation?"

People responded to this question one after another.

"Yes, this is also what I want to say. This law is too terrible!"

"I would rather believe that this law is false."

"Oh, chaos, is this the end of the universe..." People were pessimistic.

Mashao smiled slightly: "Do you still remember what I said about the meaning of the word 'entropy' in the Apache language - original calamity?"

"We must admit that this law reveals some unfortunate and pessimistic truths." He paced on the podium and said slowly, "The first law tells us that you can never defeat the universe, and the second law

It seems to tell us that you can't even tie."

"But things are not so absolute. After all, I have said that entropy reduction is theoretically possible, and even the reversal of the entire universe is not impossible."

"A... reversal of the universe?"

Ma Shao: "Yes, I think the word 'reversal' is very appropriate, because entropy also seems to indicate the direction of time. It is like the arrow of time, indicating an irreversible order."

"In fact, I have seriously considered the reversal, or reorganization, and regression of the universe, and obtained some mathematical results. However, if I talk about it, other speakers at the conference may not have time."

The audience was enthusiastic about it.

Entropy seems to reveal the fate of the entire universe, and there are already mathematical results?

There is no doubt that no one wants to listen to anyone else's speech now. People even feel that Ma Shao's speech has just begun.

Ma Shao did not continue: "Sorry everyone, I think I have taken up too much of the meeting time. If anyone still has questions, discuss it with me, we can do it outside the meeting."

He looked at George Boole and gave him a suggestive look.

As one of the most important mathematicians of the 19th century, Boole is certainly worth getting to know.

"Or when my book is published, all the questions I can answer will be explained in the book." Ma Shao finally said, "Thank you everyone for listening to my lengthy speech."

"Bah, bang, bang—" Two seconds later, the still-unfinished audience burst into applause.

Mashao breathed a sigh of relief, sat back next to Kelvin and Joule, and asked casually: "How do you feel?"

"Great!" Thomson smiled, "You are simply a natural lecturer and speaker."

Joule also said: "Yes, I believe everyone here has been convinced by you."

Ma Shao smiled and said nothing.

Then, Thomson and Joule's smiles faded, and the atmosphere suddenly became a little quiet and awkward.

Ma Shao also felt this embarrassment and drank water by himself.

It wasn't until about half a minute later that Thomson broke the awkwardness and said: "All of these are problems you have solved long ago, including those discussed with us...right?"

As a future physics teacher, Ma Shao would inevitably have to pretend to be confused during his interactions with Thomson and Joule, and pretend to discuss some questions that he knew the answers to.

There will always be flaws in the disguise, and it is inevitable that someone will slip up occasionally.

It's just that Thomson and Joule didn't pay too much attention and didn't realize that Ma Shao was pretending to be confused.

Until this speech, as Ma Shao continued to throw out blockbuster content and performed some groundbreaking stunts in public, the two keen scientists finally recalled Ma Shao's previous actions of pretending to be confused and realized that something was wrong.

This Indian who came from afar has already built an almost perfect thermodynamics building by his own efforts.

Ma Shao was silent for two seconds and decided to tell the truth: "Indeed, there are some problems that I have solved... Frankly speaking, I need your help, otherwise you can imagine that British journals will not accept a submission from a barbarian.

."

"You actually wrote the paper on the thermodynamic temperature scale a long time ago?" Thomson took a deep breath and asked again.

Ma Shao: "Well... almost."