Chapter 201: Academic Report Meeting of the Steam Age

The city shrouded in mist gave people a feeling that the heat was trapped in the mist and could not dissipate. One o'clock in the afternoon was already considered the hottest time of the day, and going out in formal wear was even more of a torment.

But this suit was necessary. Even if the academic report invited members of the public to attend, if the attire was inappropriate, it would probably be difficult to get through the door.

The suit Xia De was wearing was still the one made by the tailor sent by Miss Galina when he played cards with the Duke. He didn't encounter any obstacles when entering the Delarion Royal Mechanical College, curiously sizing up the higher education institutions of the steam age, and even had the mood to stop and admire the flowers planted in the flower beds.

Following a few middle-aged gentlemen who were clearly also here to attend the academic report, he found the auditorium where the academic report was held according to the road signs, and there were even servants specifically asking if they needed guidance.

The college auditorium was divided into different venues. Gentlemen in decent attire walked through them, and various accents communicated their views with each other in the corridors, or invited like-minded people to watch a certain session of the lecture.

The academic atmosphere here was very strong. Just looking at everyone's temperament, one knew that the so-called cultural people gathered here this afternoon.

"Can I count this as boasting?"

He thought while stopping in front of the bulletin board, looking for a suitable report session.

【Judging by your academic qualifications and knowledge level, you are enough to be called a cultural person.】

This was probably one of the few times she directly praised Xia De.

The temperature inside the auditorium was much lower than outside, not knowing what method was used. Xia De even discovered that this academic report activity actually had an afternoon tea party. This point was not written in the newspaper advertisement, presumably to prevent some people who wanted to take advantage from sneaking in.

Although the original purpose of coming here was to see the development of contemporary physics, in the end, he first chose a mathematics report by a white-bearded old scholar from Saladir County.

The main content of the report was calculus, but in reality, most of the time was spent talking about the old gentleman's recent work, which was "when a function satisfies certain conditions, using the values of the function's derivatives at a certain point as coefficients, one can construct a polynomial to approximate this function."

This was a small room with a blackboard and more than twenty long benches. There were only dozens of gentlemen who came to listen to the report, sitting very scattered.

When the report started, most people could nod while listening, indicating their agreement with these views. When it officially entered the function expansion, only a few people could understand, and when it finally discussed the remainder of the expansion, probably only Xia De could fully understand.

He had learned this kind of knowledge when he was in his hometown, only in his hometown it was named "Taylor expansion," while in this world, that old scholar named it after his own surname, becoming "Morse expansion."

This was not the frontier of current mathematical research, indicating that in this era of steam waves, the development of the mathematical discipline had reached a quite high level. The development of productive forces required the innovation of production tools, and the innovation and creation of production tools could not do without the research and breakthroughs of basic mathematics, physics, and chemistry. The Outsider had already perceived the exuberance and prosperity of the steam industry in this world, so basic mathematical tools could not be lagging behind.

Xia De still remembered his character setting of "having lost past memories," so he just listened to the lectures that afternoon but never spoke, not showing any abnormality. But after the lectures, he would talk a few words with the professors who gave the lectures about the content of the lectures, share his views, and test how far the frontier of basic disciplines had developed.

Such eagerness to learn and "talent" made Xia De very popular, and he therefore handed out his business card, which was a way to expand his business.

And among all the reports, Xia De was actually most interested in the lecture on steam machinery inventions, wanting to see the whimsy of people in this era. It was a pity that this academic report meeting did not involve the exhibition of physical objects, so he could only listen to reports on mechanical principles and improvement plans for steam engine miniaturization, but these were interesting enough.

Steam technology was fascinating enough, and machinery made of metal based on basic mechanics also had enough rugged aesthetic beauty. Perhaps in terms of practicality, it was not as good as the power system of the Outsider's hometown, but Xia De appreciated the ideas and appearance within it. Coming to a strange world, the most interesting thing was to see those things that were unique enough.

When attending the afternoon tea party, Xia De held a teacup and somehow talked about the content of the report meetings they had just listened to with a few strangers who spoke Casenrick. It was a coincidence that Xia De understood Casenrick but couldn't speak it, while those foreigners understood Delarion but couldn't speak it.

So, their conversation actually went very smoothly. Xia De heard that half an hour ago, someone accidentally caused a big fire when demonstrating the use of a new type of metal combustion improver, which made him regret not listening to the chemistry lecture first, after all, such excitement was rare.

"The development of the mathematical discipline, without the assistance of computers, has reached a quite high level. The development of chemistry is different from the system of my hometown, presumably due to the influence of mysticism. Basic physics is fine, but I probably have no chance to copy a *Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy*... No world will lack geniuses."

This was Xia De's current feeling.

This academic lecture attracted people from all over, and there were even Ringed Shushi among them. When Xia De brushed past people, he heard the reminder of whispers in his ears. But he didn't observe others, nor did he have the urge to explore others' secrets. He just pretended he knew nothing and focused on shuttling through the report meeting.

In the first few hours of the afternoon, he listened to several reports 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 report on economics and bilateral relations made Xia De feel that he benefited a lot. And the theology lectures he occasionally attended made him understand the foundational role of the church in civilized society from the perspective of an ordinary person.

After the lecture ended, because he didn't need to worry about the source of basic knowledge like natural science, Xia De specifically talked to that professor from the Lorax Theological Seminary in Tobesk about some questions about the relationship between God and man. These questions were not meaningless. In a world where gods truly existed and could come to the side of mortals, the answers to the questions were obviously different from what the Outsider heard in his hometown.

This academic report sponsored by City Hall actually hosted a dinner at six in the evening. Because Xia De had prepared cat food for the cat in advance when he went out, there was no need to go home, so he stayed to attend the dinner party.

This was not a formal banquet, just a simple dinner party. The scale was about the same as the afternoon tea party. Everyone held plates and gathered with people they were familiar with, discussing topics they were interested in.

Xia De didn't meet any acquaintances all afternoon, but met Professor Manning at the dinner party. It wasn't Xia De who took the initiative to greet Professor Manning, but the Professor who took the initiative to find Xia De.

At that time, the young Outsider was standing next to a long dining table covered with a white cloth, holding a dinner plate, discussing with the voice in his head how to take the roast goose on the table, whether to divide it himself with a dinner knife, or find a servant to help.

He didn't necessarily have to eat roast goose, just felt very curious about a whole goose on the plate placed on the table.

"Oh, isn't this Detective Hamilton?"

He turned around only after hearing someone mention his name, and saw Professor Manning walking over.

At this time, more than a week had passed since the 【Joyful Dream Pen】 incident, and Professor Manning had recovered quite well. Although his complexion was still somewhat unhealthy, looking like he had just recovered from a serious illness and still had some sequelae, at least normal outings could be done.

"Good evening, Professor, long time no see."

The two reached out and shook hands, very tacitly not mentioning what happened when they last met. After a few pleasantries, Professor Manning asked about the reason Xia De came here. When he heard that he came specifically to listen to the report meeting, he immediately smiled:

"There are really not many young people who are as eager to learn as you now."

The two talked about the report meeting this afternoon. It happened that Xia De didn't go to listen to the academic report on history and archaeology, so he listened to Professor Manning talk about the content of the report. This theme was the realistic reference significance of ancient literature. That professor who came from afar from Casenrick pointed out that most of the ancient literature content passed down to this day was highly likely related to things that truly happened in the ancient era.

Of course, this controversial view naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of some people. As for Professor Manning, his research field was archaeology, or to be precise, specializing in taking a group of people to excavate ancient ruins, so he didn't express any views at the report meeting.

During the conversation, the Professor used the dinner knife on the table to pick open the belly of the roast goose, revealing the beef stuffed inside, which let Xia De know how this dish should be eaten.

The Professor was not only accomplished in archaeology, but also had considerable attainments in other social science fields, and even knew a little about higher mathematics. After the dinner party ended, he also introduced some of his colleagues to Xia De and invited Xia De to listen to the report meeting on the excavation of the Fifth Era city-state ruins in the eastern part of the Kingdom after the dinner party.

Professor Manning had a lot of face among a group of people, so Xia De was also widely welcomed. During the report meeting, he tried to steer the topic to the large ancient civilization ruins in the New World, but people were very cautious and didn't discuss this topic with Xia De.

"The Kingdom has clear regulations that any news about New World archaeology cannot be disclosed to the general public in public occasions."

This was what Professor Manning told Xia De quietly, which meant that if Xia De went to his house as a guest, talking about this topic in private would be fine.

This was truly a fulfilling day. Until Xia De returned home at nine o'clock that night, he didn't encounter any unexpected things. Holding the cat that pounced on him, walking along the curved stairs to the second floor, he even thought that today was probably his lucky day.

It was probably because of this thought that a few hours later, at two o'clock in the middle of the night, the door downstairs at No. 6 Saint Theresa Square was knocked on. ===== CHAPTER 202 =====