Creak——
The sound of the carriage stopping quickly drew the attention of everyone beneath the shade of the trees, and even William's expression began to turn serious.
A moment later.
Whoosh——
With the sound of a curtain being lifted, a figure slowly stepped down from the carriage.
The newcomer was a man in his thirties, somewhat short and hunchbacked, wearing a powdered wig made of horsehair and a long gray robe.
Notably, the robe was made of exceptionally rare silk—although 17th-century Gaul had a complete silk production system, with Lyon even becoming the center for European silk production and design, silk was still considered a top-tier luxury commodity before the Jenny Spinning Machine emerged.
If tea during this period was equivalent to a Rolls-Royce Phantom, then silk was roughly the Bentley Continental of that class.
Judging by the current map of England, the newcomer was likely at least a second-generation magnate from a self-governing borough or a capable wealthy merchant.
Watching the man approaching, William frowned slightly and cautiously shielded Elura and Lilani behind him, while Mrs. Williams instinctively stepped in front of Andrea.
As for Lisa, she was left aside—in this era, assuming similar circumstances, the safety of adult women was actually higher than that of children.
Due to the sensitivity of this topic, no further elaboration will be made.
However, beside Lisa, Little Niu had quietly picked up his Holy Book, ready to reason with anyone who seemed suspicious.
Gulp——
William watched the approaching man, his Adam's apple moved a few times, maintaining a certain level of deference before the man's intentions were clear:
"Sir, may I ask what business you have here?"
The man lifted his gaze and glanced at him, a slight smile appeared on his lips, and he gestured with his hand to indicate relaxation:
"Please rest assured, sir, I am probably not the kind of person you have in mind."
Then he walked over to Little Niu and stared at the University of Cambridge uniform he was wearing, lingering on the Trinity College emblem for a few seconds:
"University of Cambridge, Trinity College?"
Whether due to his high status or not, the man's tone carried a slightly questioning hint, causing Little Niu to feel inexplicably displeased.
However, at this time, Little Niu was still just the youthful version of that irritable future self, lacking the confidence due to his current standing, so he only replied dryly:
"That's right."
"So, you're a student of Isaac Barrow?"
"That's right."
Upon hearing this question, the man suddenly let out a cold snort.
"What's your name?"
Little Niu's eyes flashed with a hint of shadow, and after a few seconds he replied:
"Isaac Newton."
The man's eyes slightly narrowed, seemingly sensing Little Niu's displeasure:
"Isaac Newton? Good name.
Allow me to introduce myself, Robert Hooke, currently a professor of geometry at Gray Sam College."
Upon hearing these words, Little Niu and William's family had not yet reacted when Xu Yun's heart sank heavily, almost crushing the bread in the leaf wrapper!
Could it possibly be him?!
Anyone with a bit of knowledge about Little Niu's experiences would know.
In Little Niu's 85-year life, there was one person who was both mentor and rival, closely bound to him.
Speaking of Newton invariably invokes reference to this person.
He was Robert....
Hooke!
Hooke was born on July 1635, seven and a half years older than Little Niu, his academic performance was excellent from a young age, eventually attending the renowned University of Oxford.
However, due to certain reasons, Hooke ultimately did not graduate with a degree, but was fortunate enough to become Boyle's research assistant.
Due to his outstanding scientific insights, in 1662, this exceptionally talented young scientist was recommended to serve as the laboratory director of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, quickly becoming an academician of the Royal Society.
And to be able to clash with Little Niu later for decades, Hooke's capabilities were certainly beyond reproach.
In mechanics, Hooke proposed Hooke's Law, which is the fundamental law of elasticity mechanics and materials science, widely applied.
In the American TV series "Prison Break," Marshal Mi used Hooke's Law with a whisk to pierce through the prison's reinforced concrete wall.
In optics, he was the first to advocate the wave theory, gaining fame along with Huygens, the leader of the Gaul Academy of Sciences.
At the same time, Hook was a DIY enthusiast, expanding the human perspective in both the vast and the minute worlds with his magical hands:
He improved the telescope, observed Jupiter's Great Red Spot and the Moon's craters for the first time, improved the microscope, discovered and named the cell (another was Levin Hook who discovered bacteria), and his masterpiece "Microscopy" became a bestseller.
However, quite dramatically, just when Hook was at the peak of his fame, Little Niu arrived.
In 1668, the young Newton placed the first reflecting telescope on the table of the Royal Academy of Sciences, directly offending Hook.
The reflecting telescope was the most advanced telescope design of the time, directly encroaching upon Hook's two areas of expertise in the society:
Optics and instrument design.
When this compact, exquisite model, outperforming all previous refracting telescopes appeared, Hook felt his position was challenged, so he did not join the camp praising the reflecting telescope but loudly claimed that he was the first to make the practical reflecting telescope.
Hook emphasized at the meeting that he had made a reflecting telescope only 3 centimeters long seven years before Little Niu, with performance stronger than others up to 15 meters long.
He even had smaller designs that could fit in a pocket watch, but further research was delayed due to the spread of the Black Death and the reconstruction after the Great Fire of London.
This debate inflicted great damage on Little Niu, as it evoked experiences of being severely bullied in his youth, and he even threatened to quit the Royal Society at one point.
Finally, under the mediation of Henry Oldenburg, the Royal Society's secretary, the two sides reached a "reconciliation."
But from then on, Little Niu began to "retreat" in Cambridge, no longer publishing his academic achievements externally.
But the grievances between Little Niu and Hook did not end there. In 1679, Hook wrote a letter to Newton.
After a series of discussions on mechanics, Hook told Newton that he believed there was gravitational force between any two objects, and this gravity was inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them, known as the square inverse law.
To explain this more plainly, Hook generously pointed out Little Niu's mistake, not hiding it and watching him stumble.
But likewise, he arrogantly claimed that this calculation required a new tool, so Little Niu, even knowing where he was wrong, couldn't figure it out, teasingly mocking him.
This tool was actually calculus, which Little Niu called the Fluxion Technique, and it was already nearing completion at the time.
But Little Niu, being too crafty, didn't tell Hook about it, secretly developing and deriving the law of universal gravitation on his own.
In 1687, with the support of the British astronomer Halley, Little Niu published one of the greatest works in the history of human science, "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy," later simply referred to as "Principia" by posterity.
In this book, Little Niu proposed the famous three Laws of Newtonian Mechanics and the law of universal gravitation, and using the calculus he invented, he proved Kepler's three laws could be derived from the square inverse law of gravitation.
This book's publication made Little Niu renowned worldwide, solving the world's difficulties of that time and creating calculus, one of the most powerful tools in the history of mathematics.
As Halley put it, he became "the person closest to God in the world," except for being single, his life was perfect.
And at this time, Hook wrote again to Little Niu, asking him to revise "Principia" and acknowledge that he was the discoverer of the square inverse law.
This demand completely angered Little Niu. He replied to Hook, saying this law was not proposed by Hook at all but was a well-known fact.
At the same time, in a fit of anger, Little Niu directly deleted all references to Hook in "Principia," wanting Hook to vanish from this ancient history.
Furthermore, speaking of Little Niu and Hook, one must mention another little-known fact.
Previously, we mentioned the anecdote of Mr. Tao not bowing for five bushels of rice, and in this letter involved another phrase ruinous of childhood.
Many people know that Little Niu once said:
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
Many people think this quote from Little Niu was self-deprecating and inspirational, but in reality, it was a jab at Hook.
It must be known that Hook himself was not tall and had a hunched back condition.
Thus, Little Niu's letter was not at all for saying inspirational words; the subtext was, "My achievements have nothing to do with you, Hook, you hunchbacked dwarf!"
Of course.
The context of this quote was in a letter from Little Niu discussing thin film colors, and it was even sparked by Henry Oldenburg—yes, that old man who mediated at their first meeting.
So the details of this quote aren't so dramatic, at least having nothing to do with universal gravitation, but it is indeed a sarcastic remark.
Following Hook's death, Little Niu was elected the new ** of the Royal Society of the United Kingdom, and in his first year, Hook's laboratory and library were dismantled on the spot, and Hook's experimental apparatus was either dispersed or destroyed.
Even during the Royal Society building's relocation in 1710, Hook's only portrait was 'accidentally lost' during the move, and to this day, no one knows Hook's true appearance.
Thus, one could even say in some sense, the argument between Little Niu and Hook was a matter of life and death among academic tyrants from beginning to end.
However, Xu Yun found it strange...
Not to mention how Hook appeared here, just speaking of the argument between Little Niu and Hook, which should have occurred thirteen years later, why was it that when these two met now, there seemed to be a sense of verbal daggers?
........
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