The city was covered in mist, giving people a feeling that the heat was trapped in the mist and could not be dissipated. One o'clock in the afternoon was already the hottest time of the day, and it was even more painful to go out in formal clothes.
But this attire is necessary. Even if an academic lecture invites members of the public to attend, it may be difficult to get in if you are not dressed appropriately.
The clothes that Shade was wearing were made by the tailor sent by Miss Carina when he played cards with the Duke. He did not encounter any obstacles when he entered the Royal Mechanical College of Delarian. He looked at the college of higher learning in the steam age with curiosity and even stopped to admire the flowers planted in the flower beds.
Following a few middle-aged gentlemen who were obviously also there to attend the academic lecture, we followed the signs to find the auditorium where the academic lecture was held. There was even a special servant asking if we needed a guide.
The college auditorium is divided into different meeting rooms, where well-dressed gentlemen walk around, people with various accents exchange views with each other in the corridors, or invite like-minded people to watch a certain lecture together.
The academic atmosphere here is very strong. Just by looking at each person's temperament, you can tell that those gathered here this afternoon are all so-called intellectuals.
"Am I bragging?"
He stopped in front of the notice board, looking for a suitable reporting session, and thought about it.
Judging from your academic qualifications and level of knowledge, you are qualified to be called a cultured person.
This was probably one of the few times she directly praised Shade.
Somehow, the temperature inside the auditorium was much lower than outside. Xia De even discovered that there was an afternoon tea party during this academic report event. This was not mentioned in the newspaper advertisement, probably to prevent some people from taking advantage of it.
Although the original purpose of coming here was to see the development of contemporary physics, in the end, I first chose a mathematics report by an old white-bearded scholar from Saradir County.
The main content of the report was calculus, but in fact most of the time was spent talking about the old gentleman's recent work, which is "when a function meets certain conditions, using the derivative values of each order of the function at a certain point as coefficients, a polynomial can be constructed to approximate the function."
This was a small room with a blackboard and more than twenty benches. There were only a few dozen gentlemen who came to listen to the report, and they sat very scattered around.
At the beginning of the report, most people were able to nod their heads while listening, indicating that they agreed with the views. When it came to function expansion, only a few people could understand it, and when it came to the discussion of the remainder of the expansion at the end, probably only Xia De could fully understand it.
He had learned this knowledge in his hometown, but it was named "Taylor expansion" in his hometown. In this world, the old scholar named it after his own surname, and it became "Morse expansion".
This is not the most advanced mathematical research at present, which shows that in this era of steam wave, the development of mathematics has reached a very high level. The development of productivity requires the innovation of production tools, and the innovation and creation of production tools cannot do without the research and breakthroughs of basic mathematics, physics and chemistry. Foreigners have already noticed the prosperity of the steam industry in this world, so basic mathematical tools cannot be left behind.
Xia De still remembered his character setting of "losing past memories", so he just listened to the lectures this afternoon, but never spoke, and did not show any abnormality. But after the lectures, he would talk to the professors about the content of the lectures, share his own views, and try to find out what the frontier of basic disciplines has developed to.
This love of learning and "talent" made Xia De very popular, so he handed out his business cards as a way to expand his business.
Of all the reports, Shade was actually most interested in the speech on the invention of steam machinery, wanting to see the fantastic ideas of people of that era. Unfortunately, this academic report conference did not involve the exhibition of real objects, so he could only listen to reports on mechanical principles and the convenience of miniaturization and improvement of steam engines, but these were also interesting enough.
Steam technology is fascinating enough, and metal-made machinery based on basic mechanics also has enough rough beauty. Maybe it is not as practical as the power system in the foreigner's hometown, but Shade appreciates the ideas and appearance. The most interesting thing about coming to a strange world is to see those unique things.
When attending the afternoon tea party, Shade, holding a cup of tea, somehow talked with a few strangers who spoke Carsenric about the content of the report they had just heard. Coincidentally, Shade could understand Carsenric but could not speak it, while those foreigners could understand Delarion but could not speak it.
So, their conversation went quite smoothly. Xia De heard that half an hour ago, someone accidentally caused a fire when demonstrating the use of a new metal combustion aid. This made him regret not going to listen to a chemistry lecture first. After all, such a lively event is rare.
"The development of mathematics has reached a very high level without the assistance of computers. The development of chemistry is different from the system in my hometown, probably due to the influence of mysticism. Basic physics is no problem, but I think I will have no chance to copy the Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy... There is no shortage of geniuses in any world."
This is how Shade feels right now.
This academic lecture attracted people from all over the world, including a ring wizard. When Shade passed by people, he heard the reminder of the whisper in his ear. But he did not observe others, nor did he have the urge to explore their secrets. He just pretended that he knew nothing and concentrated on walking through the lecture.
In the first few hours of the afternoon, he attended several lectures on mathematics, physics and mechanical manufacturing, so after the tea party, he went to listen to lectures on humanities and social sciences. Among them, the lectures on economics and bilateral relations benefited Xia De a lot. And the occasional theological lectures he attended made him understand the cornerstone role of the church in civilized society from the perspective of ordinary people.
After the speech, Shade discussed some issues about the relationship between gods and humans with the professor of the Lorax Seminary in Tobesk, because he did not need to consider the source of basic knowledge like natural science. These questions were not meaningless. In a world where gods really existed and could come to mortals, the answers to the questions were obviously different from what the outsiders heard in their hometown.
This academic report sponsored by the City Hall actually had a dinner at 6pm. Xia De had prepared cat food for the cat before going out, so there was no need to go home, so he stayed to attend the dinner.
This was not a formal banquet, but a simple dinner, about the same size as an afternoon tea party. Everyone gathered with their plates and discussed topics of mutual interest with people they knew.
Xia De didn't meet anyone familiar the whole afternoon, but he met Professor Manning at the dinner party. It was not Xia De who took the initiative to greet Professor Manning, but the professor took the initiative to find Xia De.
At that time, the young stranger was standing beside the long dining table covered with a white cloth, holding a plate and discussing with the voice in his head how to take the roast goose on the table, whether to cut it himself with a knife or ask a servant for help.
He didn't necessarily want to eat roast goose, but he was curious about the whole goose on the plate.
"Oh, isn't this Detective Hamilton?"
I turned around when I heard someone mention my name and saw Professor Manning approaching.
At this time, more than a week had passed since the Joyful Dream Pen incident, and Professor Manning had recovered very well. Although his complexion was still a little unhealthy, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness and was still suffering from some sequelae, at least he could go out normally.
"Good evening, Professor. Long time no see."
The two men shook hands and tacitly agreed not to mention their last meeting. After a few pleasantries, Professor Manning asked why Shade came here. When he heard that he came here specifically to listen to the lecture, he immediately smiled:
"There are really not many young people like you who are eager to learn nowadays."
The two talked about the lecture this afternoon. It happened that Shade did not attend the academic lectures on history and archaeology, so he listened to Professor Manning's lecture. The theme of this time was the realistic reference significance of ancient literature. The professor who came all the way from Carsenrick pointed out that most of the ancient literature that has been passed down to this day is very likely related to real events in ancient times.
Of course, this controversial view naturally caused dissatisfaction among some people. As for Professor Manning, his research field is archaeology, or in other words, he specializes in leading a group of people to excavate ancient relics, so he did not express any opinions at the report meeting.
During the conversation, the professor used a knife on the table to open the belly of the roast goose, revealing the beef stuffed inside, which made Xia De know how to eat this dish.
The professor was not only good at archaeology, but also had great achievements in other social sciences, and even had some knowledge of advanced mathematics. After the dinner, he introduced some of his colleagues to Shade and invited Shade to listen to a report on the excavation of the Fifth Age city-state ruins in the eastern part of the kingdom after the dinner.
Professor Manning had a lot of face among the crowd, so Shade was also widely welcomed. During the lecture, he also tried to lead the topic to the large ancient civilization ruins in the New World, but people were very cautious and did not discuss this topic with Shade.
"The kingdom has clear regulations that any information about archaeological excavations in the New World cannot be disclosed to the general public in public."
This is what Professor Manning told Xia De quietly, meaning that if Xia De came to his house as a guest, it would be okay to discuss this topic in private.
It was a fulfilling day. Xia De returned home at nine o'clock that night without encountering any unexpected things. As he walked up the winding staircase to the second floor with the cat in his arms, he thought that today might be his lucky day.
Perhaps it was because of this idea that a few hours later at two o'clock in the middle of the night, someone knocked on the door downstairs of No. 6 St. Teresa's Square.