Chapter 109: A Technological Creation At A Glance
“You are not only a master-level figure in the number theory field, but also a master-level figure in control theory.” Andrei said sincerely.
Lin Ran did not explain that he was standing on the shoulders of giants, but shook hands and left the room.
After Lin Ran walked far away, Andrei asked puzzledly: “Mr. Korolev, we all know you are looking for a successor, and Professor Lin has a good impression of us too.
Why don’t we forcibly take him away?
Given his frequency of coming to Europe, we should have a good opportunity.”
Korolev explained: “No rush.
Randolph is one of the smartest people of this era; you have to be patient with smart people.
It’s true that Randolph has a good impression of us, but he also has a good impression of China, and he is still a Chinese person—what if he insists on returning to China after we take him away?
It’s better to let him realize after seeing the true nature of America that only joining the Soviet Union can transform human society into a world full of hope.
That will be the right time; I believe Randolph will make the right choice in the near future.
I can wait, and so can we.” Korolev explained patiently.
On the other side, Lyndon Johnson was reminding Lin Ran: “Randolph, I know you are a mathematics master, and I can see that Korolev appreciates you very much.
But you must understand that only in America can your talent and abilities be fully utilized.
President Kennedy has given you full trust; you should know what you can do and what you cannot do.”
Lin Ran was already speechless after hearing Lyndon Johnson’s reminder—clearly you yourself almost messed up, I knew with the information gap that the Russians would definitely sign, but you didn’t know.
When Mikoyan said he wouldn’t sign, you were so nervous, and I was sitting right next to your right hand—I saw you crumpling your western pants with your hand.
If I hadn’t covered for you, how could I possibly have met Korolev.
However, on the surface, Lin Ran had to pretend to be absolutely loyal to America: “That’s for sure; without the White House, I would just be an ordinary professor at Columbia University and wouldn’t get the Nobel Peace Prize.
I will definitely go all out to help NASA win this space race.
Also, Mr. Johnson, as you know, there isn’t a single senior official of Chinese descent in the Kremlin; only the White House can accept the existence of senior officials of Chinese descent.”
Not to mention now, throughout the entire Soviet Union period, there was no senior official of Chinese descent in the Kremlin.
Lyndon Johnson nodded, very satisfied with Lin Ran’s response.
Lin Ran thought to himself, America and the Soviet Union are not my home; with the gate here, there will eventually be a day I return to China.
On the day the agreement was signed, at the press conference site, the audience was packed with reporters from all over the world—this was probably the most reporters Lin Ran had seen since coming to this era.
Even before, when NASA launched manned spaceflight and Kennedy gave a speech, there weren’t this many reporters.
This made Lin Ran sigh inwardly: in the current era, the main theme worldwide is still the Cold War.
Even the reason he could gain support at NASA was inseparable from the Cold War.
Including the reason he could achieve his current status was related to the Cold War.
In the agreement reached by both sides, the only substantial point was the hotline; although there was a lot of other content, at a glance, it was nothing more than four words:
Maintain the status quo.
The Berlin Wall will not disappear, and the Allied forces will not withdraw from West Berlin.
Also, regarding reducing nuclear tests, it was just to be discussed later; there wasn’t even any interim result now.
When Lyndon Johnson and Mikoyan signed, the frequency of flashbulbs was even higher.
After signing, Lyndon Johnson and Mikoyan shook hands.
In the post-event reporter Q&A session, besides Lyndon Johnson and Mikoyan, Lin Ran was asked the most questions.
Not to mention Jenny from the New York Times, reporters from other media also focused on Lin Ran.
Who made him the center of attention.
“Director Lin, I am a reporter from Agence France-Presse. I would like to ask, since the hotline you proposed this time has become the direct communication channel between the White House and the Kremlin, will you participate more in international affairs going forward?”
Lin Ran answered: “This was an accident; my main work is still at NASA, striving to win the space race against the Soviet Union.
I hope to see the day soon when humanity lands on the moon and leaves Earth.
NASA’s goal is not only the space race, but also to help humanity leave Earth and explore the broader universe.”
Lin Ran’s words actually contained some subtle sarcasm, but none of the reporters present picked up on that meaning.
Instead, they felt Lin Ran had great vision.
“Professor Lin, I am a reporter from the Frankfurter Zeitung. How do you view the Berlin Wall?”
The Frankfurter Zeitung was West Germany’s most influential serious newspaper; because of its connection to Professor Horkheimer’s student, West German media all had a very favorable impression of Lin Ran and hoped to hear his views.
Of course, if your views are favorable to West Germany, we will report them extensively; if they are favorable to East Germany, we will act as if nothing happened.
That’s the media.
At this public occasion, Lin Ran had three main identities: Columbia University professor, special assistant for aerospace affairs, and director of NASA’s manned spaceflight office.
So when reporters addressed him, all three identities might be used.
“I believe the Berlin Wall is the extreme manifestation of instrumental rationality, a technicized control method that sacrifices individual freedom and dignity; it is a symbol of the degeneration of rationality in human society.
Humanity can build such a large-scale isolation facility technologically, yet fails to bring true freedom and harmony, instead exacerbating division and suffering. The Berlin Wall is also a symbol of the paradox of historical progress.
Although we failed to tear down the Berlin Wall in this negotiation process, I believe people yearning for freedom will spontaneously tear it down in the future.”
Lin Ran’s definition of the Berlin Wall, based on Horkheimer’s Dialectic of Enlightenment, and his ruthless prophecy of its downfall were extensively reported by the Frankfurter Zeitung.
On the day in the future when the Berlin Wall was really torn down, the Frankfurter Zeitung even featured Lin Ran’s prophecy as a chapter in its special report.
In its elaboration, it hailed Lin Ran as the true heir to the thought of the late Professor Horkheimer, one of the greatest contemporary philosophers.
Yanjing, in the office of the academic committee, there were only three people in the room.
The Chinese representative who had just returned from mediating in Geneva with honors, the responsible comrade of the academic committee, and Dean Qian who had been inexplicably summoned.
On the table was a single-board computer that clearly did not belong to the modern era, padded with silk underneath.
The Chinese representative introduced first: “This is something Lin Ran secretly slipped into my pocket during my trip to Geneva this time.
He didn’t tell me what it was, but I vaguely read ’51’ from his lip movements.
But I’m not sure, because we just brushed past each other, so I’m not certain if that’s really what he meant.
But this thing is definitely from him.
I looked at it repeatedly on the special plane back home, and it gave me a very special feeling.
But I’m not an expert in this area, so I specifically asked Dean Qian to come and give his opinion first.”
The middle-aged man leaned close to the green PCB board and examined it carefully; as the leader in charge of scientific work, he was more familiar with this: “This is a PCB board; not only does it have circuitry much finer than our current PCB boards, but the components on it—I’m not sure what they are, but they are definitely very advanced electronic components.”
Dean Qian was already shocked speechless; this thing was clearly not a product of the current era at a glance.
Because of the huge technological gap, they couldn’t even determine if it used transistor technology.
As a modern single-board computer, it integrated billions of transistors internally, manufactured with nanometer-level process, while 1960s technology was still at the vacuum tube or early transistor stage, and integrated circuits were just starting.
Even Dean Qian, who often dealt with vacuum tubes, couldn’t identify what the black squares on the green PCB board were.
He took out a magnifying glass from his pocket, and after a long time, he concluded: “America doesn’t have this technology either.
From the density and multi-layering of the circuitry, none of the equipment we imported in small quantities from America has such a circuit board.
Unless America’s technology has made a leap forward in the last five years.
Additionally, we could use instruments to perform simple circuit tests on it to observe its circuit characteristics.
Considering it might cause damage, I think it’s best not to do that.
I think we should wait now, wait for White Horse to pass back more news.
Given White Horse’s past actions, he definitely wouldn’t give us something we can’t understand.
Even when passing messages to us through Korolev, the information was fully comprehensible to us.
This time, I believe the other side has more moves up their sleeve; before their next move, we should be as cautious as possible.”
Although Dean Qian didn’t understand the Raspberry Pi, he understood Lin Ran.
If we analyze it now, what if we break it?
For such an obviously high technology product, if it gets damaged and cannot be used, it would be completely ruined.
The other two had similar thoughts.
No one could imagine this thing was a computer.
Because computers of that time took up an entire room.
Even when everyone had thought as highly as possible of it, they still couldn’t guess it was something with computing power stronger than all computers of the time combined.
(China’s first independently designed and manufactured computer in 1960, the 107 computer)
