From all-round academic master to chief scientist - Chapter 165 Professor Searle’s Life Guidance

The current president of France, surnamed Ma, once recalled the hardships of his schooling years and said: “The door of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris was always closed to me, so I entered the University of Paris 10 instead.”

In order to enter this university, he even failed for two years.

When I hear the name of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, among the Chinese people’s perception of university names, this name seems a bit lame.

Even if it’s a normal school, it’s still a ‘college’?

This makes it easy for people to think that it is a foreign second junior college.

But in fact, École Normale Supérieure in Paris is very well-known in academic circles, or in the world. Even the United States, which has the most well-known universities in the world, has heard of the name of École Normale Supérieure in Paris, and even uses it in French. Say the name of Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, and many people from English-speaking countries will know the name of this school.

The Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris is not actually ranked high in the world, but this is also affected by various evaluation factors. Forty thousand people apply for this university every year, but in the end it only enrolls more than 200 students, and only 20 international students. So that the total number of students in the École Normale Supérieure in Paris does not exceed 2,000, and the size of the school also has an impact on the reputation rate of prestigious schools.

In addition, the Normal School of Paris awards very few doctorates every year, and direct doctoral students are as rare as endangered animals, so that the vast majority of master’s students here who cannot stay in school to study for doctoral degrees can only leave in the end. After entering the school, you can choose any university in the world to study for a Ph.D. No tutor at any university will refuse a master’s degree graduate from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris.

Therefore, Lin Xiao, as a rare direct doctoral student at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, and a direct doctoral student jointly trained with other schools, has brought many records to this school that have never been seen in the past.

However, for the Ecole Normale Supérieure and Normale de Paris, it is actually an honor to recruit such a student, because it means that in the future, people will know that they have solved the Mersenne prime distribution problem and proved Goldbach’s conjecture. Mathematician, he was a student of their École Normale Supérieure in Paris.

Such deeds have not happened before and will never happen again, because there can only be one person in history who has proved Goldbach’s conjecture.

…

“Mr. Lin Xiao, welcome to France.”

After entering the college full of medieval architectural style and walking through the long and simple corridors, Lin Xiao walked into an office with dark brown as the main color and came to his doctoral supervisor.

“Hello, Professor Serge.”

Looking at the ninety-four-year-old man, Lin Xiao showed respect.

Jean-Pierre Serre, an old mathematician of the same era as the mathematical emperor Grothendieck, originally ended his professorship at the Collège de France at the end of the last century, but because he heard that Lin Xiao was coming After studying for his doctorate at Normal University in Paris, he took the initiative to return here, expressing his hope to bring out the last student.

Lin Xiao was quite surprised when she saw him on the list of available mentors.

In the end, he also chose this old gentleman to be his mentor.

“I really didn’t expect that you would choose me as your mentor in the end. This really surprises me. However, I am honored to be recognized by you.”

“You are serious.” Lin Xiao said with a smile: “I believe no one would be proud to be your student.”

“No, no, no.” Jean-Pierre Ser shook his head and said, “I’m just an old guy. I even have to forget the various mathematical theories I once proposed. As your mathematics teacher, I may no longer be able to So much help for you.”

“I can only teach you some of the truths of life that I have understood in my seemingly long life.”

“This is exactly what I hope.” Lin Xiao nodded.

“Then, first let me give you a meeting gift, or… an entry gift?”

Jean-Pierre Ser smiled, then took a glass jar from the side and put it in Lin Xiao’s hand.

Lin Xiao looked at this gift and was a little dazed. What is this?

Through the glass, you can see that it is filled with many things, including fine sand and gravel, and hidden among the gravel and fine sand, there are a few… pebbles?

However, the colorful ones also give people the feeling of a work of art.

Lin Xiao looked at the jar with confusion on his face: “Professor Serge, what is this?”

“You can think of it as an ordinary jar with a few rocks in it, but it can also be your life.”

“Life?”

“Tell me, if we fill this jar with the contents of pebbles, gravel, and fine sand, and each item is needed, how will we fill it?”

Lin Xiao looked at the contents inside, thought for a moment, and said, “Then we can only put pebbles first, then gravel, and finally fine sand.”

If you fill it with fine sand first, the fine sand will fill the jar completely, leaving no space for pebbles and gravel.

And if gravel is installed first, then the gap formed between the gravel can only be filled with fine sand.

Therefore, you can only start with pebbles, then small gravel, and finally fine sand. In this way, you can use all three things and fill the jar.

Serge nodded and said with a smile: “Yes, that’s it. Now these pebbles are the most important things in your life, your family, your health, your beliefs… in short, they are the ones you Things will become precious only after they are lost, so you have to fill your life with them first, and then the gravel will be those things that are more important to life, your car, your interests, your house, In other words, your money, because it supports your motivation to survive, and the fine sand is other irrelevant things.”

“Do you understand what I mean?”

Lin Xiao nodded slightly, “I understand.”

“Haha, that’s good. Now I will give you this most ideal life, and I hope you can make your life as fulfilling and happy as the life in this jar.”

Serge smiled and nodded.

“Also, there is a gift.”

At this time, he took out a bottle of red wine from the cabinet next to him.

“Besides the cobblestones, I also want to tell you that fine wine and food should not be disappointed. You can taste the French food slowly in the future, and this bottle of Bordeaux red wine was purchased by Grothendieck eight years ago. It was given to me, but I never drank it, and now I give it to you.”

Serge said with emotion: “Originally, I wanted to pour it into this jar and really fill it, but it would be a pity if a little bit was wasted.”

Lin Xiao was stunned. Grothendieck gave it to Serge?

Although Grothendieck was born in Germany, he mainly lived in France. It seems that he was also influenced by the red wine culture here.

However, this bottle of wine seems to have great commemorative significance.

But Lin Xiao smiled slightly, took the bottle of wine, pulled out the cork, and asked: “Professor Serge, in our lives, in addition to what you said, sometimes we also need to talk to friends. We were drinking and chatting happily, so would you like a drink?”

Serge was startled for a moment, then laughed: “Why not come?”

Then he walked to the side and opened a cabinet. Lin Xiao took a look and found that there were five goblets and even a decanter inside.

Is this French wine culture?

Serge brought two goblets, glanced at Lin Xiao’s hand that was trying to take out the scrap cup, and said with a smile: “In the future, don’t think about drinking red wine from these cups.”

He handed Lin Xiao a goblet, “Let’s use this cup. Forty years ago, I spent two months of my salary to buy this set of cups. When drinking with friends, I would Will use them for entertaining.”

Lin Xiao couldn’t help but sigh at the long history of this cup and took it.

Then Serge took out the decanter, took the red wine from Lin Xiao’s hand, poured a little into the decanter, shook it slightly, and divided it equally into the two glasses.

Lin Xiao judged with his 4.95% brain development that the red wine in the two glasses was almost exactly the same, and it was infinitely close to one-third of the cup.

Serge raised a glass to Lin Xiao: “To the youth!”

Lin Xiao smiled slightly and touched Serge’s cup lightly: “Respect the truth!”

Serge smiled happily and took a sip.

The same goes for Lin Xiao.

…

After tasting the Bordeaux red wine worth tens of thousands of euros with Professor Serre, Lin Xiao returned to his residence here.

In Paris, only a few universities provide dormitories for students, and Paris Normal University is one of them.

The dormitory is hidden in a garden, with lilacs and gorse blooming outside. The rather quaint dormitory is also eye-catching.

The dormitory is a single room, but most of the students are studying outside, so the dormitory is quite quiet.

Putting the jar in the corner of the desk, Lin Xiao sat inside.

Mimi jumped up from the side and lay on the desk. Lin Xiao rubbed it and started studying.

Next, he will turn his attention to mathematics.

…