Chapter 69: Make NASA great again?

"Make NASA great again? MNGA?"

Lin Ran ate the fried potatoes in front of him and joked casually.

James Webb's style was relatively bold; the two of them were dressed in suits and leather shoes in a traditional American burger shop, and the style looked mismatched no matter how you looked at it.

But fortunately, this was Washington, and it wasn't like there weren't other customers with similar attire.

After joking, Lin Ran still wanted to answer this question properly:

"Let me improve NASA's R&D efficiency, do more verification from the theoretical level, and reduce the frequency of errors?"

In this era where computer computing power is limited and various data simulation algorithms are not yet sound, from the perspective of avoiding risks, the participation of a great mathematician is still very effective.

Lin Ran guessed that Kennedy didn't want to see another fun event like a live-broadcast satellite launch explosion; this not only hit NASA's credibility but also hit the White House's credibility.

James Webb nodded: "That's only part of it.

The current White House doesn't like that all the scientists from top to bottom in NASA are scientists from former NAZI Germany; some of them only provided technical support to Germany, but some provided other help to Germany.

But out of pragmatic considerations, we have to let them occupy the entire NASA.

But the White House doesn't want this to become the norm.

You know, we accuse Soviet Russia in the media of stealing their atomic bomb technology from us, and similarly, they also accuse us in the media of using scientists from NAZI Germany on a large scale to compete with them.

Ignoring the crimes they once committed.

Eisenhower could not care, but Kennedy cares.

We hope you can become NASA's iconic scientist, not Von Braun.

You are now the Special Assistant to the President for Aerospace Affairs, and in the future, we can add the position of NASA Chief Scientist to you."

Without a doubt, James Webb, who had worked in Washington for many years, had skillfully mastered the essential skills of politicians, which was painting a pie.

After listening, Lin Ran asked in confusion: "Mr. Webb, but I have only shown my talent in mathematics in the past.

Where did you hear about me, and why do you have such confidence in me, believing that I can exert my talent in the aerospace field?"

James Webb explained: "Haynes, Haynes was my father's student, and he is also my acquaintance at NASA.

When I proposed my idea to him and asked him which scientist within NASA could definitely be more outstanding than Von Braun, he said, he wasn't sure about anyone in NASA, but you definitely could.

I later looked at your resume in detail from the newspaper; your talent in mathematics is beyond question, and Professor Horkheimer being able to take you as his last disciple proves that you also have unique insights in philosophy.

Making some achievements in aerospace, I believe, is a matter of course. As a lawyer by training who was appointed by President Kennedy as NASA Administrator, your conditions are much better than mine."

This achieved a logical closed loop.

Lin Ran began to recall James Webb's life; his father was the principal of a public school in Granville County, North Carolina, and Haynes was his student; there was indeed such a possibility.

As for being good at mathematics, so one can also make achievements in aerospace, that was even easier to understand.

Being good at mathematics is a natural halo, not to mention that at Lin Ran's level, the title of the youngest Fields Medalist and Prince of Mathematics was waiting to crown him after he completed the Randolph Program.

Even if he didn't complete the Randolph Program, at the very least, he was a mathematician on par with Évariste Galois.

For laymen, there has always been a myth that if you are good at mathematics, you won't be bad at anything; haven't you seen Wall Street hiring math PhDs with high salaries every year, even if they don't have any 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 Last Theorem, facing the Federal Security Committee's questioning of his reliability, Randolph not only did not retreat but instead launched a counterattack with breathtaking debate skills and legal knowledge. His performance was like a senior lawyer or politician, making everyone present look at him with new eyes..."

Inside the mathematics department seminar room of the City University of New York, the number theory seminar convened by Harry Kane was about to begin, but inside the seminar room, besides paper and pens, the most numerous things were the newspapers from the last two days.

The front-page headlines of the newspapers were all news about Lin Ran participating in the hearing in Washington.

The New York Times wrote on its front-page headline: "Mathematician turns into lawyer, refutes accusations by citing classics," praising Lin Ran for "cleverly defending his innocence with the rigor of a jurist and the eloquence of a politician," and sighing: "This scientist makes people almost forget that his main profession is mathematics, not law."

The Washington Post commented: "Randolph's rebuttal not only displayed his wisdom but also exposed the weakness of the Elephant Party senators' accusations. His citing of classics caught his opponents off guard, forcing the hearing to re-examine the reasonableness of the accusations." The article also predicted that this performance might change the direction of the hearing.

Time magazine wrote in a feature: "Randolph overturned people's stereotypes about scientists with his profound knowledge and excellent eloquence. His performance convincingly proved that he is not only a scientific giant but also a master of debate."

Scientific American said: "Randolph used knowledge and truth to fight against prejudice, setting a model for the scientific community and even the entire society. In this era full of fear, his courage is particularly precious."

Of course, not all media praised him; for example, the Chicago Tribune questioned in its report: "Although Randolph's debate is impressive, his possible close connection with Huaguo cannot be ignored. Whether these connections are truly harmless still needs to be carefully evaluated."

The mathematicians in the conference room took turns flipping through the newspapers, chatting while reading:

"Kane, you said Randolph would come today; is it true? You've invited him several times before, and he's only come twice. He's going to work in the White House recently; how would he have time to attend our number theory seminar?" Courant asked—that Courant from the Courant Institute at New York University.

Harry Kane replied: "The White House appointment hasn't come down yet; Randolph has already returned to New York. He promised me he would come to attend today's number theory seminar and tell us about some of his thoughts on the ABC conjecture."

After Lin Ran proposed the ABC conjecture, because it was proposed by him, it caused a huge reaction in the field of number theory and was considered a problem in the field of number theory no less than Fermat's Last Theorem, and it was even considered that this conjecture was even greater than Fermat's Last Theorem.

It's just that compared to Fermat's Last Theorem, it needs time to settle.

The source of Harry Kane's confidence, Lin Ran's former student, Chen Jingrun, sat in a chair flipping through the newspaper full of Lin Ran's half-length photos, thinking:

"Professor Lin, you've made such a big scene in America too!" ===== CHAPTER 70 =====