Chapter 465: n.o.bel Lecture

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

“I warned you!”

The words from w.a.n.g Haifeng’s former supervisor made him turn white.

When he left the office, he was walking in a zombie-like manner, almost like he was a puppet being controlled by ropes.

He thought back to Academician Liu’s facial expression and suddenly realized how dangerous his behavior was.

Maybe because Lu Zhou was too young, even younger than his own students, he almost forgot the rules of academia.

The only fortunate thing was that Lu Zhou wasn’t a revengeful person.

Otherwise, Lu Zhou could easily destroy him.

This was the first time he had gotten so lucky that his enemy ignored him as if he was nothing but an ant…

…

Actually, w.a.n.g Haifeng overestimated himself.

If Lu Zhou didn’t meet him at the State’s dinner, he wouldn’t even have remembered this person.

As part of the n.o.bel Prize award ceremony, after the n.o.bel Banquet, there would be a series of n.o.bel Lectures the next day.

At 2 pm, UTC+1 ¹ , Lu Zhou came to the lecture halls at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He would conduct a thirty-minute lecture on “The Mystery Of Numbers In The Microscopic World”.

The lecture hall was crowded when he first arrived; it was even more packed than the n.o.bel Banquet. However, no one was complaining.

Not only did chemistry scholars from all over the world come to attend this lecture, but there were also students from the University of Stockholm, KTH Royal Inst.i.tute of Technology, and even some local citizens who were interested in science.

Due to the nature of these n.o.bel Lectures, the lectures weren’t completely academic. Even if someone didn’t have knowledge in a particular field, they could still understand what the people on stage were saying.

Of course, the lectures weren’t completely simplified.

Simply put, the purpose of the n.o.bel Lectures was to enable scholars in the same field but in different branches of the field to get a glance of what the n.o.bel Prize winners had done or were doing. To let them understand the meaning of the work done and what it meant for academia.

This sounded simple, but it wasn’t easy to do at all.

After all, ever since the second half of the twentieth century, the development of academia went from primitive to the sophisticated refinement of different categories. Electrochemistry scholars might not necessarily understand research in the physical chemistry field, and biochemistry scholars might not be able to read theses in either of those fields.

And this applied to any academic discipline.

In this report, Lu Zhou didn’t use any overcomplicated formulas to explain his arguments. He only talked about the problems he faced when researching HCS-2 and some of his thoughts on the abnormal situations that occurred.

Although he didn’t use any overly pa.s.sionate language, the live audience was eager to listen.

One reason was out of respect for the n.o.bel Prize.

The other was their admiration for this n.o.bel Prize winner’s knowledge.

Most people could spend their entire lives working and only be proficient in one area.

Building on the basis and making small progress was the mission of a scholar.

Actually, modern science was progressing in this fas.h.i.+on.

However, this rule only applied to normal people.

For him, whether it was theoretical electrochemistry or applied lithium-sulfur batteries, these problems that would take many people to solve were solved by him alone…

Lu Zhou’s speech soon came to an end. He paused for half a second before he made some simple ending remarks.

“… I remember hearing a phrase from a long time ago; when you’ve made all the mistakes there is made in a field, you become an expert in that field. Because by then, you know which hypotheses are destined to be wrong.

“In my opinion, the mathematical tool is equivalent to providing a unique perspective. It lets us bypa.s.s acc.u.mulate experience and allows us to stand in the perspective of the G.o.ds and think about the unknown phenomena.

“What is science?”

Lu Zhou looked at the crowd and stopped for a second before he spoke in a confident manner.

“In my opinion, it’s rational thinking. It’s the answer to the unknown.”

Thunderous applause echoed throughout the venue.

The crowd stood up and showed their tributes.

Lu Zhou bowed slightly before he turned around and walked down from the stage.

…

There were several civil servants in suits standing outside the lecture hall in the corridors of the Royal Academy of Sciences. They were led by a middle-aged Chinese man.

The middle-aged man’s eyes lit up when he saw Lu Zhou walking out of the lecture hall. He smiled and walked toward Lu Zhou.

“Professor Lu’s vivid language really brought us an exciting speech!”

When Lu Zhou heard this unexpected compliment, he looked at the stranger and smiled. “Thanks, you are?”

Zhang Wenbin smiled and reached out with his right hand as he said, “I’m Zhang Wenbin, an amba.s.sador at the Sweden Emba.s.sy of China.”

Amba.s.sador?

Lu Zhou didn’t expect to see this person. He shook his hand and said, “Honored to meet you, Mr. Amba.s.sador.”

“I’m the one that is honored,” Amba.s.sador Zhang said as he shook Lu Zhou’s hand. He then said with a smile, “Also, congratulations, Professor Lu! The honor you won on stage is huge for the Chinese science community!”

“You’re too kind.” Lu Zhou smiled humbly and said, “There’s a lot of outstanding scholars in the Chinese academic community; one n.o.bel Prize is only the icing on the cake.”

“You’re too humble! If a n.o.bel Prize is only the icing on the cake, then there is no such thing as a praiseworthy glory.” Amba.s.sador Zhang paused for a second before he asked, “Can I ask if you have any plans after your Stockholm trip ends?”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and said, “I might have to go to France.”

Amba.s.sador Zhang said, “France?”

Lu Zhou smiled. “Yeah, there’s a Millennium Prize Problem award there, and since it’s on the way, I plan on accepting it.”

Accepting an award because it’s on the way…

Millennium Prize Problems…

This guy…

The emba.s.sy staff members cringed when they heard him.

Even Amba.s.sador Zhang, who had seen a lot of stuff in his lifetime, couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

But he quickly coughed and tried to hide his emotions.

“I only thought athletes would get sick of medals; I didn’t think this would happen in academia as well. Professor Lu, you’re very… surprising.”

Lu Zhou smiled and said, “I guess.”

Including the Fields Medal he won a few months ago, it was true he won quite a lot of awards this year.

Amba.s.sador Zhang immediately asked, “Then what about after France?”

Lu Zhou thought for a bit and made sure he had no other plans before he said, “Other than going home for New Year’s, nothing else planned.”

Amba.s.sador Zhang smiled brightly when he heard this. He then proposed with a smile.

“Before you go home, can you please drop by Beijing?”

Lu Zhou: “Beijing?”

“Yes,” Amba.s.sador Zhang smiled and said, “someone wants to see you.”