Chapter 345: Please Tell Me

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

It had been a month since Lu Zhou’s thesis was published in JACS; the debate about the theoretical model of the electrochemical interface had become more and more intense.

Because of this controversy, this thesis had been receiving more and more attention.

Although he didn’t choose to submit to the popular journal Science, Science still made a “highlight” for his thesis.

Not only that, the famous theoretical chemist and the 2013 n.o.bel Prize laureate, Professor Martin Karplus of Harvard University, was invited to write a scientific review and comment on the research results.

“… I’ve been paying attention to his theses, and I didn’t expect his results to come out so soon. This is without a doubt a great achievement. I am quite optimistic at the correctness of the research. However, it answers many problems regarding the electrochemical interface, thus I have some unresolved questions.

“So far, the n.o.bel Prize has only been given to the computational chemistry field twice. I believe that the n.o.bel Prize will visit this field again in the near future.”

Prior to this, Martin Karplus made an outstanding contribution to the multi-scale simulation of complex molecular system design by proposing the Karplus equation for the relations.h.i.+p between the coupling constant and the dihedral angle. This was the reason he received the 2013 n.o.bel Prize in chemistry.

He was a theoretical chemist that was also proficient in mathematics. Karplus made many outstanding contributions in fields such as quantum chemistry, biomacromolecules, and molecular dynamics model.

Because of this, his review of Lu Zhou’s thesis received widespread attention.

Especially because Science was one of the top two journals in the world, many scholars outside of the chemistry field were able to read a summary of the thesis.

At the same time, a photo had been circling on Twitter among the Columbia University students.

It was a photo of a man standing in front of the Thinker statue.

The caption was in one line.

[A mortal man saw the universe through a bronze statue.]

This photo was taken a month ago.

Apparently, it was taken by a person with a PhD in philosophy who was walking back to his apartment.

This PhD holder thought it was interesting that someone was standing in front of the “Thinker” statue for so long, therefore he took a photo.

After returning home, the PhD holder drank some alcohol and came up with the caption for Twitter.

He didn’t expect that his tweet would be discovered a month later.

Actually, this tweet didn’t attract any special attention until the 2013 n.o.bel Prize winner gave this photo a very different meaning on Science.

It brought a sense of character and color.

Even though everyone knew that it was impossible for an apple to teach Newton the laws of gravity, a story gave a sense of scientific romance to the public. It was then easier for the public to spread the story.

Standing in front of a bronze “Thinker” statue while coming up with a new chemistry theory was exactly this type of story.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t know that these things were happening on Twitter. He merely realized that he was being recognized more often on the Columbia campus; some people even took photos with him.

He was confused at the enthusiasm of these people, but since he was an easygoing person, he would often accept the requests of his fans.

As for those that were too enthusiastic and naughty…

He obviously rejected them.

The interesting thing was that Lu Zhou wasn’t the only popular person on the Columbia campus.

Even the bronze statue became the center of attention.

More and more people began to stand in front of it, both professors and students.

It was difficult to say whether this was a good thing for the statue or not…

…

Times of joy were always short-lived.

It was time for Lu Zhou to say goodbye to this university.

Before leaving, the president of the Columbia University, Professor Lee Carroll Bollinger, personally sent Lu Zhou to the school entrance.

“I can tell that Columbia students like you a lot. Are you sure you don’t want to stay?”

Lu Zhou smiled and joked, “I don’t think Mr. Eisgruber would like that very much.”

Eisgruber was the president of Princeton University. Although Lu Zhou wasn’t close to him, he still knew of him.

“Oh, don’t do this, I was only thinking for my students.” Bollinger smiled and said, “If you can, tell Eisgruber I said hi. Also, the doors of Columbia University are always open for you.”

Lu Zhou smiled. “Thank you.”

Professor Bollinger said with a heavy tone, “Actually we prepared a gift for you. But this gift is a little special, it requires your opinion…”

Lu Zhou asked, “Can I ask what this gift is?”

“An honorary professor t.i.tle at Columbia University. Since this gift is nothing useful to you,” Bollinger smiled and said, “I don’t know if you’re willing to accept this gift?”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “It’s my honor.”

Professor Bollinger smiled. “This is also the honor of Columbia University.”

A person could have many honorary professor t.i.ttles. Prior to this, Lu Zhou was only an honorary professor for Jin Ling University.

This t.i.tle represented Columbia University’s recognition of his academic ability and his friends.h.i.+p with Columbia University.

Any scholar would be happy to receive as many honorary professor t.i.tles as possible.

Lu Zhou walked outside of Columbia campus and sat in his Ford Explorer.

Jerick was sitting in the driver’s seat. When he heard that his professor was coming back, he volunteered to pick Lu Zhou up.

Even though Lu Zhou planned to take the train back, he didn’t reject Jerick’s proposal.

“Professor, are we going back to school?”

Lu Zhou put on his seat belt and said, “Of course, we can still get some lunch if we get there fast.”

Jerick nodded. “Okay, professor.”

He was about to start driving, but suddenly, a man in a suit fell in front of his car.

Lu Zhou was muddled.

Is this…

The legendary insurance fraud?

I’ve never even seen this in Jinling, why is it happening here?

Jerick was also muddled; he had never seen anything like this. He removed his feet from the gas pedal and turned the engine off.

The man in the suit climbed up and walked to the side of the car. When he saw Lu Zhou, he screamed tearfully.

“Please, in G.o.d’s name, forgive me.”

Lu Zhou was confused; he didn’t know what was happening.

“Speak slowly, who are you?”

Honest to G.o.d, Lu Zhou had never seen this dude before.

It was almost like Lu Zhou had bullied this guy before.

This isn’t a good look for me…

Lu Zhou looked around and saw many students staring at the commotion.

The security guard at the entrance of the Columbia campus touched his baton as he stared at them.

There had been an increase in school shootings in recent years. Although New York had the strictest gun laws in America, they still took security very seriously.

This could be seen from the protective gear the security guards had.

“I…” The man in the suit awkwardly hesitated and said, “I’m Ricardo… I used to work at your research inst.i.tute.”

When Lu Zhou heard this name, he finally knew what was going on.

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I have already withdrawn your lawsuit.”

Although Lu Zhou was angry when he was poached…

But it had been so long… Furthermore, since this dude had been a great help to him, Lu Zhou had let this matter go a long time ago.

However, Lu Zhou didn’t expect Ricardo to be even more miserable.

“No, please don’t do this! Sue me! I beg you!”

Lu Zhou: …?

What?