Fox of France

"According to the rules, as a member... of the Academy of Sciences, and as one of the reviewers of this paper, I also have the right to make a speech." Napoleon hurriedly said, as if afraid of speaking slowly, Joseph directly announced the end of the meeting.

After saying this, Napoleon breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that although this guy Joseph was very annoying, although he was very bad, if he was counted by the Jiugongge camp, this guy was definitely in the lawful camp. As for lawful evil, lawful good, or lawful neutral, different people in the family have different opinions. But everyone agreed that Joseph was a man who played by the rules. Since according to the rules, Napoleon had the right to find out, and Napoleon pointed out this point, then Joseph should not break the rules and not give him a chance to speak.

Sure enough, Joseph frowned, but he still said: "Okay, Academician Bonaparte, please come up and speak. But it's better to be brief..." At this point, he took out his pocket watch and took a look, " Don't interfere with everyone's lunch."

"No, no, I'm very short, I'm very short." Napoleon said as he hurried up to the podium.

Napoleon knew that one of the great tricks in politics is to celebrate funerals and celebrate funerals. For example, it is clear that the domestic plague is prevalent and there are many dead, but if you say it is "because we have the largest number of tests in the world"; for example, a large number of young people with relatively better resistance are also infected with the plague. The result is that "it is a good thing in a sense that more young people get sick." As long as you are good at organizing funerals, you may be able to dress yourself up as an upright image who respects science and has the courage to admit and correct mistakes.

"Academicians and gentlemen." Napoleon said, "I am sorry for making such a mistake when I just joined the Academy of Sciences. Although Mr. Evans was not present, I still want to say sorry to him. This is A great paper that should have won the 'Prometheus Award', but, because of my old and conservative thinking, I was bound by the habits of the past, I failed to find the great significance of this paper, and even vilified it, so that Misleading many colleagues. This is my mistake, so I would like to apologize to those colleagues.

On the road of science, there is no room for a little bit of pride and self-righteousness. On the road of science, only when we get rid of all kinds of old prejudices and boldly abandon those old ideas, can our science and our career continue to progress.

Speaking of this, I thought of Danton's famous saying. In the most dangerous days of the Republic, Danton said: 'Let us be bold, be bold, always be bold, and France will be saved! ’ In fact, in science, we also need to have a bold and enterprising spirit, not to be bound by past habits and dogmas, but to boldly break through the shackles of these things. Be bold, be bold, always be bold, and science will make progress.

But being bold is not enough. We can see how tight Mr. Evans' arguments are in this essay. To be honest, because I couldn't accept his conclusion that broke my old point of view, I spent a lot of time looking for loopholes in the argument of this paper. Of course, as you know, I failed.

However, my failure, or Mr. Evans' success, also shows that science requires not only the courage to make major breakthroughs, but also cautious and meticulous operations. Only the combination of these two is the glory of our science, and even our France's continuous exploration and progress. "

Napoleon felt that after such a speech, he had successfully turned the funeral into a happy event. Although this fellow of Joseph embarrasses him, he is not the only one who made a mistake. Didn't the entire Paris Normal University get beaten together with him? Moreover, his main identity is that of a statesman and military strategist, and his identity as a scientist is just a gimmick. Moreover, on a scientific issue, he made the same mistake with those scientists who could be shortlisted for the "Prometheus Award". same error? Only when the level is high enough, as high as Laplace and the others, will you make such a mistake, and you don't deserve to make such a mistake! So Napoleon also won spiritually.

The next thing is the matter of publicity. This matter must be discussed carefully, and the funeral must be turned into a happy event in a down-to-earth manner. And it had to be a real happy event. It must not be like a certain country in later generations, where funerals are held happily, and even the people of their own country cannot be fooled in the end.

The journal "Mathematics" of the Academy of Sciences temporarily issued a special issue for this paper. In this temporary special issue, which is as thick as this book, the paper of Mr. Lucien Evans is first published in full, and then Joseph and Gauss discuss this paper from different angles and in different ways. The dissertation on the proof, then the speech of the trainee Fourier, then the speech of the Dean Bonaparte, and finally of course the speech of Napoleon.

This is especially true considering that science in France is now number one in the world, especially in mathematics. Therefore, the "Mathematics" magazine of the French Academy of Sciences is definitely the most authoritative journal in the field of mathematics in the world. For mathematicians in many countries, if their papers can be published in the French "Mathematics" magazine, it is almost the highest honor. Even in Oxford and Cambridge in the UK, some mathematicians are more and more willing to publish their papers in the French "Mathematics" magazine, not only because of the higher remuneration given by the "Mathematics" magazine, (British People have raised the remuneration of some of their professional journals), especially because publishing articles in the journal "Mathematics" can bring higher academic reputation.

But in terms of publicity, the "Mathematics" magazine has a big problem, that is, its circulation is too small. Because its readers are limited, limited to a very small circle. The stuff in Mathematics is often too advanced to be understood by most people. For most people, those articles in the "Mathematics" magazine are completely incomprehensible bibles. This is even true for many college students studying science and engineering.

But this does not mean that the "Mathematics" magazine has little influence, because its B rating is high enough. B grid itself is an influence. For guys in the press, news related to the "Mathematics" magazine is always particularly attractive. What's more, there are so many good newsworthy things in this supplement of "Mathematics".

First, a disruptive, groundbreaking theory emerges, and the author doesn't know who it is. Then the subversive and breakthrough theory led to the split of the French Academy of Sciences. In the end, everyone adopted a nearly duel-like hearing method to resolve differences. How interesting! More importantly, the opponents in this scientific duel turned out to be brothers. Of course, the most important thing is that these two brothers are still the most prominent brothers in France, and can even be said to be the two most prominent brothers in Europe.

One of them is the first ruler of the French Republic, and the other is the president of the French Academy of Sciences. One is Augustus of the Roman Empire, and the other is Caesar of the Roman Empire. In the past years, the two brothers have been brothers and sisters, and have become a model of brotherly love, but now they have entered the duel field for this paper. What big news you said. For journalists from all over the world who are committed to making a big news, this is something worth reporting!

Therefore, before the special issue of "Mathematics" was issued, "Science Pravda" first issued related reports. Because they have a special news channel, they can always get the big news first: "'Euclidean geometry' has encountered challenges. , "Mathematics" will soon publish a subversive paper." The focus of this report is still on "mathematics" itself, on whether there are triangles with interior angles less than 180 degrees. However, at the end of this report, it was also mentioned that Dean Bonaparte and Academician Bonaparte disagreed on this paper.

Immediately afterwards, the "Sun", which has the fastest reporter in the world, followed up immediately. Of course, the "Sun" doesn't care what the sum of the interior angles of a triangle is, and in fact none of the "Sun" readers care about this. So the headline of the "Sun" news is naturally: "Who is the winner of Caesar in the battle of Augustus?" And the focus of the report is naturally on the brotherhood.

Of course, if the "Sun" had a hundred guts, it wouldn't really dare to mess with the rhythm, saying that the Bonaparte brothers had turned against each other. In its report, the two brothers still look like "I love my brother (brother), but I especially love the truth". Their argument is just a dispute between gentlemen based on different viewpoints.

Even at the end of the report, the "Sun" was full of desire to survive and attributed the dispute between the two brothers to the equality, freedom and fraternity in France.

They said that the participants in this debate included the first ruler, the president of the Academy of Sciences, academicians, and trainee academicians. However, when discussing scientific issues, everyone did not use their status to overwhelm others. This reflects the fundamental spirit of the founding of France. --equality.

And everyone speaks freely on one issue without any scruples, which is the embodiment of the freedom of the spirit of the founding of France.

For a paper by an unknown author, everyone's enthusiasm is also a manifestation of the spirit of fraternity in the founding of France. So France is invincible in the world, it should be taken for granted!

These two newspapers took the lead in the hype. Although the "Mathematics" magazine has not yet been published, the popularity has already risen. Not only the French, but people from other countries are also full of interest in this matter. Even the British newspapers generally reproduced the news.

Of course, the British can't spit ivory out of their mouths, and they put more power on satirizing Napoleon's academician status. They imply that Napoleon was able to become a member of the French Academy of Sciences solely because of his political status.

Of course, there are some pro-French media, especially those with a trade background. The patrons of these media are either exporting textiles or importing machinery. They both need "good Anglo-French relations". So naturally they sound different.

"We interviewed Professor Cohen of Cambridge University on the academic level of Bonaparte's administration. Professor Cohen said that Bonaparte's administration has a very high level of research on complex variable functions. Judging from his thesis, he Obtaining the title of Academician of the Academy of Sciences is a matter of course.

The reporter mentioned that some people think that there is a possibility that the gunman wrote the thesis of Bonaparte's ruling. In this regard, Professor Cohen said that the nonsense of those guys who are full of conspiracy theories is not worth refuting at all. He said: 'This kind of person, as long as you look at them, you will lose to him. '

As for the claim of 'shaking Euclidean geometry', Professor Cohen said: 'I am very much looking forward to seeing the new issue of Mathematics as soon as possible. I personally estimate that it is likely to be a paper on the fifth postulate. Since Greek times, countless mathematicians have tried to reduce this postulate to a theorem. This is a problem that has persisted for thousands of years. Perhaps our French counterparts are gaining ground on this issue...'"

As a result, under the hype or follow-up of these media, the special issue of "Mathematics" has not yet been published, and the popularity has been successfully copied.

Under such much attention, the special issue of "Mathematics" was finally published.

Then, the newspapers immediately boiled over.

"Science Pravda" first interviewed some famous scholars from the University of Paris and the Ecole Normale Supérieure. They made their own comments on the significance of this paper from their own perspectives. Although everyone's perspective is different, everyone recognizes the importance of this breakthrough to mathematics.

"Scientific Pravda" published a large number of letters from readers. Most of these letters express a love of science and admiration for both sides of this scientific duel.

"Dean Bonaparte's scientific acumen and talent, as well as his rigorous and meticulous, truth-seeking and pragmatic spirit are all admirable. He is already a role model for young people who love science. And his younger brother, Academician Bonaparte At the beginning, he dared to stick to his point of view, but after knowing that he had made a mistake on this issue, he had the courage to admit his mistakes, find problems in himself, and correct his mistakes, which also showed us the noble character of a scientist. "——"Science Pravda · Reader Letters Column"

Led by "Scientific Pravda", the entire French media almost unanimously sang the praises of Napoleon. Many newspapers even stated: Although Academician Bonaparte lost to his brother Dean Bonaparte in a scientific duel, it proved that your brother is still your brother. But Academician Bonaparte looked even cuter.

In other countries, of course, newspapers will not praise Napoleon like French newspapers, because French newspapers must praise Napoleon in accordance with the basic law—ah, the basic method. But foreign media, they don't care about this, they can even make Napoleon blush when they praise Napoleon.

This is actually not surprising. In later generations, when some media in a certain country praised foreign countries, such things also happened, such as "dominant little passport", "conscience sewer", "free house for free" , What are the "dignity of the slums", "the rigor of the oil-paper package", and "the conscience of free medical care", boasting that foreign moons are rounder than black holes. It made foreigners read it for themselves, and misunderstood that you were turning a corner to ridicule them.

Now in some European countries, some media also like to brag about France in order to ridicule the inside. This kind of media not only exists in Italy, but also in the Rhine Union, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and even the British.

And the situation on the British side is very special. In Austria and Russia, the reformers praise France and Napoleon, while the conservatives criticize France and Napoleon. But in the UK, the situation is different. In Britain, there is no such old-fashioned aristocracy as in Austria and Russia, which is far behind an era.

But the British have pro-French factions and anti-French factions. It stands to reason that the pro-French faction should praise France, the anti-French faction criticize France, the pro-French faction praise Napoleon, and the anti-French faction criticize Napoleon. But things in this world are very strange. In Britain, the pro-French faction and the anti-French faction praise France and Napoleon together.

Needless to say, the pro-French faction, what about the anti-French faction? What are they boasting about? They boast that the French are patriotic, unlike the UK, there are so many damn pro-French scum in the country. It is obvious that the French have been secretly supporting, not even secretly supporting, but explicitly supporting the separatist forces in the country, but these damned British traitors ran with the French for such a small amount of money. Look at the French, Napoleon, when did they do such shameless things? Alas, if Napoleon were British, he would have sent these traitors to the guillotine long ago! (Napoleon said that it is better to let Robespierre do this kind of thing)

They also praised Napoleon for developing industry, especially heavy industry. It is by no means like those British bureaucrats who sit on a vegetarian diet and sit back and watch Britain's heavy industry gradually fall behind. Sit back and watch these industries become less and less competitive. Their mantra is: "If our Prime Minister had been Napoleon, we would have raised tariffs on French goods."

All in all, they praised Napoleon with ulterior motives. They praised Napoleon in order to scold those in the country whose interests were inconsistent with theirs. They praised Napoleon, even like Xin Qiji praised Sun Baiwan. Although Sun Shiwan was hanged and beaten by different people on the battlefield, he is really worthy of praise when compared with those emperors whom I love, at least they dare to attack the Central Plains.

Of course, this time, they had the opportunity to praise Napoleon again, that is: "Napoleon was willing to admit and correct his mistakes, but those guys who did so many wrong things on stage and harmed the whole of Britain didn't know Shame. Well, they still have one thing better than Napoleon, that is, they have thicker skins than Napoleon."

So Napoleon managed to turn the funeral into a happy event.