Chapter 227: Shining Moment Of Life
“I know it might be a bit difficult for young students like you to understand this point.
When your life has just begun, and you’re still very far from a final verdict, telling you that the doors of life will close one after another makes everyone feel puzzled and unable to comprehend what I’m saying.
I believe the older you get, the more you’ll feel what I’m talking about.
For young students, I don’t want to veer into cherishing time and studying well, seizing every opportunity to make choices.
Similar content is said too much by teachers and parents in everyday life; I don’t need to repeat it.
I just want to objectively describe the fact that everyone’s future choices will only become fewer and fewer.
But don’t be disheartened; don’t lose heart.
Because after one choice after another is made, after a long life, you will eventually wait for your own shining moment.
Welcoming your own shining moment of humanity.
Just as Stefan Zweig wrote in the foreword to his work The Shining Moments of Humanity:
‘Before a truly historically significant moment appears, it often requires experiencing long ordinary years.’
Taking the Austrian writer Zweig, whom I mentioned, as an example: he became famous young, publishing a poetry collection at 20, and the literary gatherings he organized in his youth featured eminent scholars in casual conversation, with no ordinary people among the guests.
All were the most famous Austrian writers, poets, philosophers, and musicians of the time, like Romain Rolland, Thomas, and others.
In his thirties, he wrote The Shining Moments of Humanity, which could leave a thick and heavy stroke even in human history, but then came long exile, inability to publish works, and finally suicide with his wife, leaving the world.
In his suicide note before his death, he wrote: ‘My mother tongue world has sunk and abandoned me, and my spiritual home Europe has also brought about its own destruction.’
Some shine early, followed by long ordinary years; some shine late, waiting many years to finally get their shining moment.
Everyone will eventually wait for their own shining moment; it’s just a matter of time, early or late.
In the process of moving forward without looking back, when you feel one door after another closing and your life seems to be like this, don’t forget that a shining moment is still waiting for you ahead. Keep a young heart inside, ready at any time to welcome your own shining moment.
No one will be ordinary for a lifetime. I hope that the young friends listening to my first lesson of the school year today can, in the long ordinary times of their future lives, think that their lives haven’t shone yet, don’t give up, and move forward.”
After Lin Ran finished speaking, the screen switched back to the Yanjing live site, where Sa Beining and the students in the studio were all applauding.
“Very well said. Professor Lin’s words made me feel like I was back to when I was still studying at Yenching University. At that time, I could still choose to go to a ministry, a central state-owned enterprise, or a law firm.
Back then, if I wanted to go to those places, they were all fighting for me, but now, when people see my resume, they throw it straight into the trash. Who is this? Over forty and wanting to be an intern lawyer?
The doors of life close one after another just like that.
But the professor not only told us the pessimistic reality of life’s helplessness but also gave everyone a reason to stay optimistic through the shining moments of life.”
Hearing Sa Beining first call him Professor Lin, and then directly Professor, Lin Ran thought, you’re quite savvy, kid; the rest of the interview is all yours.
“Finally, let’s ask Professor Lin a few questions to conclude today’s first lesson of the school year.” After Sa Beining’s summary, he continued.
Lin Ran thought, why Professor Lin again? No, you’re still not savvy enough, kid.
“Professor Lin, you mentioned earlier that everyone has their own shining moment. So, after life’s shining moment ends, how should one face this psychological discrepancy?
Just like me, I feel my life’s shining moment was when I was directly admitted to Yenching University. In the more than twenty years since, although I achieved some small accomplishments, compared to being directly admitted to Yenching University, they seem not worth mentioning.
And Professor, maybe—and I mean maybe—if in your future life you don’t solve a century problem like the twin prime conjecture, your shining moment has also already passed in your youngest time.”
Lin Ran smiled and said: “Very simple: move forward, don’t look back.
At least there’s still the shining moment of life worth reminiscing about. Just like you can keep bringing up your direct admission to Yenching University—this, though a past experience, can be repeatedly polished and reignite your bland life.
But I won’t. The twin prime conjecture is just the beginning for me; the Fields is the Fields’ honor to me, not mine.”
The smile on Sa Beining’s face stiffened instantly. “I’ve heard Professor Lin is very arrogant, but I didn’t expect him to be even more arrogant than me.
But I’m still looking forward to it. I hope the professor can achieve even greater accomplishments than the twin prime conjecture, like completely solving the Goldbach conjecture.
Second question, Professor: but for the vast majority of ordinary people, they may never experience the so-called shining moment of life in their entire lifetime. Everyone will feel what you said is too much like chicken soup.”
Lin Ran said softly: “No, no, no. My definition is the shining moment for the individual, not the shining moment for all humanity.
Taking you as an example, getting into Yenching University is at best your personal shining moment. For all humanity, it’s just an utterly ordinary moment. In Zweig’s The Shining Moments of Humanity, let alone being a story, the author probably wouldn’t even spend a single stroke on it.
Of course, my proof of the twin prime conjecture is indeed a flash of human wisdom in the long river of history, worthy of being called a shining moment in human history.
For more ordinary people, the smile of parents when you send them red envelopes with money from your first job, the raise in salary after hard work and promotion, wracking your brains to win over the prettiest girl in class, or bringing knowledge and hope to children in the deep mountains—these are all shining moments for the individual.
In short, looking back on past years, those sparkling memories are your shining moments.
But those are all in the past. The future will also have new flashes waiting for everyone; it’s just a difference of whether the new flash is brighter or dimmer.”
After Lin Ran finished, Sa Beining smiled helplessly and bitterly, only able to smile bitterly. “No, it’s the first time I’ve felt that my Yenching University is so embarrassing.
The professor casually says he solved a century problem, Yenching University begged me to teach there—no, in the future, if there’s another professor like this, I must avoid him. Direct admission to Yenching University has no face in front of the professor.
Alright, jokes aside, last question, Professor: if you were to recommend a book to primary and secondary school students across the country watching on television, what book would you recommend?”
Lin Ran thought for a moment and said: “Harry Potter. Reality’s gravity is too heavy; I hope everyone can forget real-life troubles in the world of fantasy.”
Because it was Lin Ran, this interview wasn’t just watched by primary and secondary school students; many university students, graduate students, and working adults could also come across the content of Lin Ran’s first lesson of the school year through various channels.
Various clips went viral on major social platforms.
Especially because Sa Beining had previously used his Yenching University bit to show off superiority in various ways, this time facing Lin Ran, Sa Beining’s expressions made the clips spread at an unimaginable speed.
“No, it’s the first time I’ve seen Sa Beining deflated. Direct admission to Yenching University indeed can’t stand up to the Fields.”
“What I want to say is, can CCTV invite Ran Shen to more programs? I want to see Xiao Sa’s expression of wanting to cry but unable to. As long as Xiao Sa dares to mention his direct admission to Yenching University, Ran Shen can counter with the Fields.”
“No, haven’t you had enough of Sa Beining’s rotten Yenching direct admission bit? Don’t you think Professor Lin’s words make a lot of sense?”
“Of course they make sense: citing classics, famous quotes at his fingertips, vast knowledge reserves at a glance. What moved me more was the last question. I thought he would recommend some popular science book or celebrity biography, but unexpectedly it was Harry Potter.
It fully shows Ran Shen’s warm side. Indeed, from elementary to high school, students of any age can find pure joy in Harry Potter.
“Not just students—even after starting work, I often read various Harry Potter fanfics.”
Online discussions were boiling over. For Shanghai Jiaotong University, there was another benefit.
That is, Lin Ran, released from the hotel, would give the first lesson of the school year to everyone on the Shanghai Jiaotong University campus.
In addition, there was the so-called Lin Ran math class, recruiting from Shanghai Jiaotong University’s freshmen and sophomores.
The Lin Ran math class recruits 20 people. All students can take the exam, with admission based on exam scores.
Whether you’re a freshman just enrolled or already a sophomore, after admission, you have to start over, meaning sophomores become freshmen, and previous academic years are reset.
This is similar to Tongji’s major transfer.
At Tongji, transferring from other majors to construction can only happen after freshman year; after transferring, you start over from freshman year, equivalent to six years of university because the construction major is five years.
“Hello everyone, I’m Lin Ran. I’m very happy to give the first lesson of the school year to the students of Shanghai Jiaotong University here.
Everyone is at least university students. Of course, I know those present are all freshmen; other students can only watch in classrooms or dorms.
I graduated not long ago; many of my university classmates are still at Jiaotong University.
Back then we were all students; now I’ve become a professor, and you’re still students.”
Laughter erupted from the audience.
Freshmen always think they can become Lin Ran, not the classmates Lin Ran mentioned.
“So the content I want to talk about today is related to my main job and also closely related to Jiaotong University.
I want to talk about the mathematical knowledge used in the Apollo moon landing to discuss the essence of mathematics.
I hope for the freshmen, the insights from this lesson can permeate your entire student life; for older students, it can also inspire you.
Everyone knows that from starting kindergarten, you have to learn mathematics.
From the earliest addition and subtraction to addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, gradually expanding to complex calculus and topology, the world of mathematics slowly becomes complicated.
The most cutting-edge mathematical research is even like metaphysics; a few people may exhaust their lifetime with only slight advances.
But in applications, mathematics is especially important; it’s not metaphysics but a science that must be mastered.
In the Apollo mission, the Kalman filter was particularly important. It was developed by Stanley Schmidt at NASA’s Ames Research Center for handling noise data in spaceship navigation.
It precisely estimates the spaceship’s position and velocity through prediction and update mechanisms, even achievable under the limited computing power of the 1960s.
The Kalman filter not only helped the Apollo mission succeed but is also widely used in modern air traffic management, embodying the enduring value of mathematics.
Mathematics connects physical laws and engineering practice through modeling and calculation, driving feats like the moon landing.
Besides the mathematical theories mentioned above, other mathematical concepts also played key roles:
The Vivi equations and Lambert problem in orbital mechanics, based on energy conservation and optimization principles, are used for planning spaceship orbit transfers and maneuvers. These tools ensure fuel efficiency and time efficiency, especially in moon transfer window calculations.
Fluid mechanics and thermal protection’s N-S equations and ablation theory are used to simulate spaceship behavior during Earth atmosphere reentry.
The N-S equations describe fluid dynamics, predicting the spaceship’s flow characteristics at high speeds and temperatures, while ablation theory ensures the heat shield material protects the spaceship under extreme conditions.
Due to onboard computer limitations, numerical methods became key to solving complex differential equations. For example, trajectory calculation requires real-time updates, and numerical methods provide approximate solutions to make the mission possible.
In mission planning, probability and statistics are used to assess risks and uncertainties, such as launch window selection and moon landing success rates. These tools help decision-makers weigh various possible outcomes.
The mathematical applications in the Apollo mission reveal the essence of mathematics: it is not only abstract theory but can also be transformed into practical tools for solving real problems.
Taking the N-S equations as an example, let’s talk about them.”
The freshmen present were all listening in a fog.
Lin Ran was talking about the most complex calculus. Not to mention freshmen—even math PhD students watching the live broadcast, or those doing PDE directions, could only barely keep up.
After finishing, Lin Ran said: “See, it’s very easy to understand, right? The N-S equations played a big role in the Apollo moon landing process.
And today, I wonder if any classmates want to participate in the Apollo moon landing project.
My university graduation design was the optimization of the Apollo moon landing, and now I want to restart the entire project.
See how far we can go—for example, maybe we can’t replicate the Saturn V rocket, but orbital calculation should be doable.
If any interested classmates want to participate, you can email my work email to register.
I believe that in your university life, participating in this project will be your shining moment.”
