Chapter 52: Can You Not Rush?
“Ah”
Seagull wanted to refuse, because after Fermat’s Conjecture was proved and solved, he had already given him a telephone invitation when he saw the proof paper in the inaugural issue of New Progress in Mathematics.
Lin Ran also specifically thanked Professor Seagull in the acknowledgement statement of the paper:
“Thanks to Professor Seagull for his support and help during my doctoral career. I will forever miss the days at University of Göttingen.”
To be honest, seeing this acknowledgement statement, Seagull was both moved and speechless. Have you ever stayed in Göttingen? And now you’re forever missing it.
Later, it was precisely because of this statement that Göttingen Colleagues all felt it was he who let Lin Ran go.
But on the telephone, after his sincere invitation was refused by Lin Ran in a mild yet firm tone, Seagull didn’t insist anymore.
After all, compared to the big metropolis New York, a small place like Göttingen was indeed quite a bit inferior.
But now facing Döblin’s pressure, Seagull really wanted to refuse.
Before he could think of what to say, Döblin pulled out a stack of colorful papers from his pocket:
“Professor, this is the train ticket from Göttingen Train Station to Frankfurt Central Station, this is the flight ticket from Lufthansa, from Frankfurt Airport to New York.
If there are no accidents, you will be able to see Randolph in three days. Remember to tell him that Göttingen Colleagues are all eagerly awaiting his arrival.”
“You this, I this.” Seagull took the train ticket and flight ticket with a bitter face, “No, I haven’t prepared yet.
Besides, what about the return flight ticket?”
Döblin smiled and said: “Professor, when the time comes, you call me, and I will book flight tickets for you and Randolph Lin.”
Döblin’s subtext couldn’t be more obvious: if you don’t bring Randolph back, you actually don’t need to rush back alone.
Seagull smiled bitterly: “Alright.”
At this time, the paper was sent out, and Lin Ran knew that all the mathematicians in the world doing number theory were probably talking about him.
Kunihiko Shioda and this group of Japan mathematicians stayed in Hong Kong for a week.
Although his lectures were only three days, they came to Hong Kong University almost every day to exchange ideas with him, even if it was just the short one or two hours after Lin Ran’s seminar ended, which annoyed him to no end.
Besides academic exchanges, he also met with the two Shipping Kings Xu Aizhou and Dong Haoyun in the middle, and explained to them in detail how container data structuring would specifically operate at the port.
These two Shipping Kings chose to join hands in the face of the container standard.
Not only did they join hands, they also brought together big and small shipowners in Hong Kong to jointly establish a joint venture company named Hong Kong Shipping, hoping to become the standard setter, which included Pao Yue-kong who would rise in the 1960s.
Honeycomb Deck System and Conical Guide Post Positioning Device were easy to understand; with structural diagrams, one could make a model to get the general idea.
Container data structuring was somewhat complex, especially involving the optimal structure for large sample data, so they still needed Lin Ran to explain it.
To do the sample project well, they even specifically recruited a batch of Mathematics Department graduates from Hong Kong University for this task.
The training Lin Ran gave them was mainly targeted at this group of Mathematics Department graduates.
Everyone was very excited; they couldn’t even get into the top fifty for Professor Lin’s seminar, but unexpectedly got to hear Professor Lin’s lecture in this way.
“We mainly need to use paper cards to record data. Everyone can think of it as a card index system similar to a library catalog.”
“When using paper ledgers to record data, be sure to do so in chronological order.”
Considering reality factors, it’s unlikely you can have them go straight to IBM to buy a 1401 computer or 1620 computer to do a database system.
Even if bought, at this time point, there is no database management system in the modern sense.
So at the beginning, we can only use manual recording methods, combining various manual recording methods together.
But fortunately, now it’s just building the container data structure for a single route, so manual recording isn’t a big problem.
If it can really become the standard, then specifically developing a database and database management system is completely feasible later.
Even starting with this database to specialize in database services could block Oracle’s path.
“I think Professor Lin’s lecture isn’t difficult?” Liang Zhengyuan complained. He was this year’s undergraduate graduate from Hong Kong University Mathematics Department.
“Yeah, I also think it’s not difficult. Isn’t it very easy to understand? And there are so many cases to help everyone reduce the difficulty of understanding.
Hong Kong Newspaper company is too good at making things up, making Professor Lin’s lecture sound like no one but immortals can understand it.” Liao Mingji, his classmate from the same school and major sitting next to him, also expressed approval.
They couldn’t understand it; they felt Professor Lin was approachable, lecturing in an easy and flowing manner, patiently answering all their doubts, yet Hong Kong’s newspapers portrayed Lin Ran as a mathematical immortal high above, untouched by the mortal realm.
Roughly saying Professor Lin’s talent is too high, so any difficult problem is not a problem in his eyes, thus the lecture contains a lot of content that Professor Lin finds easy, but students find it like listening to heavenly scriptures; as a genius, he cannot understand the world of ordinary people.
Liang Zhengyuan and Liao Mingji also thought so when they received the company notice before coming for training; the night before, they were so nervous they couldn’t sleep until midnight, but unexpectedly, it was nothing like what the newspapers promoted.
Lin Ran’s lecture content was so easy to understand that even seventy-year-old Xu Aizhou listened with great interest.
“Professor Lin, thank you for your help. We will definitely do this well and make the Hong Kong standard the global standard!” At the end of the training, before Lin Ran got in the car to leave, Xu Aizhou held his hand tightly and wouldn’t let go.
Xu Aizhou was old but his vision was still sharp; after Lin Ran’s clear and accessible explanation, he was very clear that just this set of container data structuring, if they could use it well, would bring tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars in additional annual profit from a company management perspective alone.
Plus the honeycomb hull structure allowing 30% more cargo, the conical guide post positioning device avoiding cargo damage issues, combined, the help to shipping would be immense.
If Hong Kong Shipping industry could really get a share in the container standard, it would not only be a matter of money, but also an unprecedented opportunity for Hong Kong’s shipping industry and even Hong Kong’s industry.
“The container revolution brings a future where sea power is greater than land power
Starting next year, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) will begin formulating the international standard for containers, establishing unified dimensions, structure, and identification. This standardization process enables containers to be widely used globally and achieve seamless connection between ports of various countries under America-led dominance.
Traditional bulk cargo loading and unloading for a ship may take 3-5 days, while container ship loading and unloading time is reduced to 8-12 hours, with efficiency improved by over 80%. The widespread of mechanized loading and unloading equipment will further reduce labor and time costs.”
