Chapter 68: Make Nasa Great Again?
“Make NASA Great Again? MNGA?”
Lin Ran ate the fried potatoes in front of him and casually joked.
James Webber’s style was relatively bold; the two wore suits in a traditional American hamburger shop, and their styles looked mismatched no matter how you saw it.
But it was good that this was Washington; there were also guests with similar outfits.
After the joke, Lin Ran still wanted to answer this question properly:
“Let me improve NASA’s research and development efficiency, do more verification from the theoretical level, and reduce the frequency of mistakes?”
In this era when computer computing power was limited and various data simulation algorithms were not yet complete, from the perspective of avoiding risk, the participation of a great mathematician was still very effective.
Lin Ran guessed that Kennedy did not want to see fun incidents like the live broadcast of a satellite launch explosion again; this not only damaged NASA’s credibility, but also damaged the White House’s credibility.
James Webber nodded and said, “This is only part of it.
The current White House does not like that all the scientists in NASA from top to bottom are former NAZI German scientists; some of them only provided technical support for Germany, but some provided other help for Germany.
But out of pragmatism, we had to let them occupy the entire NASA.
But the White House does not want this to become the norm.
You know, we accuse Soviet Union’s atomic bomb technology of being stolen from us in the media, and similarly, they accuse us in the media of massively using NAZI German scientists to compete with them.
Ignoring the crimes they once committed.
Eisenhower didn’t care, but Kennedy does.
We hope you can become NASA’s iconic scientist, not Von Braun.
You are now the Special Assistant for Aerospace Affairs to the President; in the future, we can add the position of NASA’s Chief Scientist to you.”
Undoubtedly, James Webber, who had worked in Washington for many years, was very skilled at the essential skill of politicians, which was painting pies.
After hearing this, Lin Ran said puzzledly, “Mr. Webber, but in the past I have only shown talent in mathematics.
Where did you hear about me, and why do you have such confidence in me, thinking that I can exert my talents in the field of aerospace?”
James Webber explained, “Haines, Haines is my father’s student, and he is also my acquaintance in NASA.
When I proposed my idea to him and asked him which scientist inside NASA would definitely be more outstanding than Von Braun, he said that he was not sure about anyone in NASA, but you definitely can.
Later, I looked at your resume in detail in the newspaper; your talent in mathematics is beyond doubt. If Professor Horkheimer accepted you as his last disciple, it proves that you also have unique insights in philosophy.
To achieve something in aerospace, I think it’s not difficult. I, coming from a lawyer background, was appointed by President Kennedy as NASA’s Director; your conditions are much better than mine.”
This achieved a logical closed loop.
Lin Ran began to recall James Webber’s background; his father was the president of a public school in Granville County, North Carolina, and Haines was his student, so there was indeed such a possibility.
As for being good at mathematics, so he can also achieve something in aerospace, this was easier to understand.
Being good at mathematics is a natural halo, not to mention at Lin Ran’s level; the youngest Fields, the title of Mathematics Prince was waiting for him to be crowned after completing the Randolph Program.
Even if he didn’t complete the Randolph Program, he was at least a mathematician on par with Evariste Galois.
For laymen, there has always been a myth that if you’re good at mathematics, you won’t be bad at anything. Don’t you see Wall Street recruiting mathematics PhDs with high salaries every year, even if they have no financial foundation at all.
“Washington D.C., February 12, 1961—Randolph Lin’s security hearing was officially held in Washington D.C. This famous mathematician who solved Fermat’s Conjecture faced doubts from the Federal Security Committee about his reliability. Randolph not only did not back down, but instead launched a counterattack with astonishing debate skills and legal knowledge. His performance was like that of a senior lawyer or politician, impressing everyone present.”
In the seminar room of the Mathematics Department at New York City University, the number theory seminar convened by Harvey Cohen was about to begin, but in the seminar room, besides paper and pens, the most numerous things were the newspapers from the past two days.
The front-page headlines of the newspapers were all news about Lin Ran attending the hearing in Washington.
The New York Times wrote on the front-page headline: “Mathematician Turns Lawyer, Cites Sources to Refute Accusations,” praising Lin Ran for “cleverly defending his innocence with the rigor of a lawyer and the eloquence of a politician,” and sighing: “This scientist made people almost forget that his true profession is mathematics, not law.”
The Washington Post commented: “Randolph’s refutation not only showcased his wisdom but also exposed the weaknesses in the Elephant Party congressman’s accusations. His citations caught the opponent off guard, forcing the hearing to re-examine the rationality of the accusations.” The article also predicted that this performance might change the direction of the hearing.
Time magazine wrote in a feature: “Randolph subverted people’s stereotypes of scientists with his profound knowledge and outstanding eloquence. His performance convincingly proved that he is not only a scientific giant but also a debate master.”
Scientific American stated: “Randolph confronted prejudice with knowledge and truth, setting an example for the scientific community and even the entire society. In this era filled with fear, his courage is especially precious.”
Of course, not all media praised him; for example, the Chicago Tribune questioned in its report: “Although Randolph’s debate was impressive, his possible close ties with China cannot be ignored. Whether these ties are truly harmless still requires careful evaluation.”
The mathematicians in the meeting room took turns flipping through the newspapers, chatting while reading:
“Kane, do you think Randolph will come today? Is it true? He only came twice in the previous few invitations. He’s going to take a position in the White House recently; how could he have time to attend our number theory seminar.” Courant asked, the Courant from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University.
Harvey Cohen replied, “The White House appointment hasn’t come down yet; Randolph has already returned to New York. He promised to come to today’s number theory seminar and talk to us about the ABC conjecture, some of his ideas.”
After Lin Ran proposed the ABC conjecture, since it was proposed by him, it caused a strong reaction in the number theory field, considered a problem in the number theory field no less than Fermat’s Last Theorem, even thought to be greater than Fermat’s Last Theorem.
It just needed time to settle compared to Fermat’s Last Theorem.
The source of Harvey Cohen’s confidence, Lin Ran’s former student Chen Jingrun, sat in the chair flipping through the newspaper full of Lin Ran’s headshots, thinking to himself:
“Professor Lin, you’ve made such a big scene in America too!”
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