Chapter 1981: Research on the Difference Engine

Liu Zheng recalled that after the earliest incandescent light bulb was researched, air existed within the glass.

Although this could also make the incandescent light bulb emit light, it would cause the tungsten filament inside the incandescent bulb to have its lifespan decrease rapidly.

Therefore, they researched how to evacuate the air from inside the incandescent bulb.

Later, they used the method of an exhaust tube, maintaining suction while burning the glass exhaust pipe until it was soft and pinching it flat.

This allowed all the air inside to be evacuated.

This processing method is not considered difficult for the current level of Longyan technology, but there will inevitably be residual air inside.

"This shouldn't affect the incandescent bulb's ability to emit light, right..." Liu Zheng said uncertainly.

In his memory, the earliest light bulbs went from having air to a vacuum, and finally, it was discovered that injecting an inert gas was the best choice.

Longyan has not yet researched the production of inert gases, though among the waste gases produced by those industrial zones, a portion indeed contains inert gases.

But if one were to recover and reuse these inert gases, it would also be an extremely difficult task.

Finally, Liu Zheng determined the research plan.

Temporarily manufacture evacuated incandescent bulbs first.

For the production of this kind of incandescent bulb, the greatest difficulty is the mold for the bulb.

But this kind of matter is no longer something Liu Zheng needs to worry about; he only needs to throw his ideas to those scientists, and they will research how to do it.

However, after Liu Zheng told others about his ideas, he actually received an interesting suggestion.

Someone was actually researching a Difference Engine!

Ever since Newton and Leibniz discovered the operation of functions, there have been many, many scientists researching how to simplify such complex operations.

Some think about algorithms, others research problems.

Some people are researching machines according to these algorithms, intending to rely on the power of machinery to make such algorithms simple.

But the calculation of functions is extremely complex.

Almost no one has been able to successfully research such a thing, but the person in front of Liu Zheng, regardless of whether their research was successful or not, had at least manufactured a model of the Difference Engine.

"Lord Liu, please stay a moment and take a look at the Difference Engine I have manufactured."

Others said from the side: "Currently, no one can manufacture a machine for function operations, and you, Babbage, are no exception; don't waste Lord Liu's time."

"The machine I manufactured, all the parts were manufactured by myself; I can guarantee that my machine can perform simple calculations of functions, and can even use addition and subtraction to perform square calculations."

"I really don't understand what the point of your calculation is; can we get an accurate calculation?"

"If you don't believe it, I can demonstrate it for you all to see."

The crowd wore sneers; just as they were about to speak, Liu Zheng interrupted them.

In his previous life, the advent of the Difference Engine indeed caused quite a sensation; it was hailed as the computer of the Steam Age.

Before computers came into existence, many large-scale calculations were performed by this kind of Difference Engine.

However, this thing just wasn't that easy to use.

Liu Zheng looked at this Difference Engine and said: "You may."

Having received permission, Babbage's face blossomed into a smile; ever since he drew inspiration from the cotton Textile Machine, he had been researching the Difference Engine day and night.

However, his research did not receive attention in Britain.

So he was determined to cross the ocean to come to Longyan to continue his research.

On this machine, from the largest gear down to the smallest screw, everything was crafted by him alone.

Up until now, this gear mixture he built, which looks as precise as a work of art, has been assembled, and this is not a model, but a fully functional machine.

"Begin, demonstrate to me how this machine operates."

"Very well." Babbage answered briefly; he took a breath and operated the Difference Engine to input a function.

Meanwhile, the scientists on the other side who believed such research could not succeed also recorded this function and began to calculate.

Babbage stared at the start switch of the Difference Engine, feeling anxious inside, even though he had previously tested the operation of his machine.

But now, watching this experiment behind him was the famous figure of Longyan—Liu Zheng!

The man who single-handedly pushed forward current scientific progress!

He closed his eyes tightly and pulled the operating lever to start the Difference Engine.

The entire Difference Engine, powered by steam, emitted a violent sound, smoke, and a boom; seeing this scene, everyone was worried that this thing would suddenly explode and couldn't help but hide behind.

Babbage explained: "No need to worry, this is normal; I use a Steam Engine as its power source, which is why it makes such a sound; everyone has absolutely no need to worry."

"Please wait a moment, the Difference Engine will soon present the result of this function's inference to everyone."

The crowd looked on in disbelief; only Liu Zheng watched the tiny numbers on this Difference Engine scrolling bit by bit.

And on the other side, the scientist betting against the Difference Engine was rapidly deducing his own calculation result.

Sheet after sheet of boundless rice paper was quickly filled by him, then tossed aside as he pulled out another sheet to continue calculating.

Time passed second by second, and the commotion of the Difference Engine continued to ring out incessantly.

Finally, with a 'ding', that terrible noise stopped.

The entire Difference Engine finally displayed a string of numbers; this was the final calculation result.

At this moment, the scientist betting against it was still performing rapid calculations and had not yet announced his own result.

If one were to speak purely in terms of speed, the Difference Engine had already won perfectly.

But this kind of calculation cannot be a simple speed competition; what is more important is the result.

Mathematics is all about the accuracy of the result; even if the process is complex, if the result is wrong, such a calculation has no meaning at all.

After another while, this scientist also made his calculation result public.

The crowd looked at these two calculation results and was slightly stunned.

Between the calculation results of the scientist and the Difference Engine, only the last digit was different.

Others had long since verified such calculation results, and they were astonished to discover that it was actually the Difference Engine's result that was accurate.

The scientist lost to the Difference Engine in both calculation speed and the final conclusion.

The scientist was very astonished looking at such a result, but he could only accept this reality.

After all, reality is reality.

He lost, and that was that; he had no overbearing thoughts toward Babbage, as the two of them simply had different points of view.

What he did not expect was that the Difference Engine would actually defeat him completely in speed and accuracy.

He said to Babbage sincerely and apologetically: "I am sorry, Babbage, the Difference Engine you created is truly very capable."

Babbage nodded slightly to accept the other party's apology.

"It is a very normal thing for such a thing not to be recognized when it first begins."

"At the beginning, I also did not believe that the Difference Engine could be manufactured."

The crowd expressed their apologies and respect to Babbage, and he received them one by one.