Chapter 29 Chapter 21

However, Hari Seldon returned to the library the next day.For one thing, he had promised Hummin that he would try his best, and he couldn't just muddle along.On the other hand, he owes something to himself, and he is extremely reluctant to admit defeat, at least not now.Now he could tell himself that he was following the thread. So he stared at a list of reference films he hadn't yet consulted, trying to decide which of these unappetizing numbers might be of any use.When he was about to come to a conclusion: the answer was "none of the above", but when he checked the samples one by one, he suddenly heard a sound of tapping on the wall of the alcove, which made him startled.

Seldon looked up and saw Li Song Ruanda peering at him from the edge of the alcove opening with an embarrassed expression on his face.Seldon knew Randa (introduced by Dors) and had had several meals with him (and a few others). Ruan Da is a lecturer in the Department of Psychology. He is small in stature, short and chubby, with a round face full of joy, almost always smiling.He has the yellowish skin and small eyes that characterize millions of the world's inhabitants. Seldon was quite familiar with the look, for many of the great mathematicians had it, their holograms he had seen often.But in Helicon, he had never seen one of these Orientals. (That's their traditional name, though no one knows why; the Orientals themselves are said to have a slight distaste for the name, but again no one knows why.)

"There are millions of people like us on Trantor." Seldon couldn't quite suppress the surprise when they first met, Randa had said, smiling unabashedly. "You'll find a lot of southerners too—dark skinned, curly hair. Have you ever seen one?" "Never seen it in Helicon," murmured Seldon. "Helikens are all Westerners, huh? How monotonous! But it doesn't matter, all kinds of people can be lively." (These words made Seldon wonder why there are Easterners, Southerners and Westerners, but why No northerners. He tried to find possible answers from reference data, but got nothing.)

Now, Randa's kind face turned toward him with an almost comical concern. "Are you all right, Seldon?" Seldon's eyes widened: "Of course, why is it bad?" "I'm just judging by the sound, friend, you were screaming." "Screaming?" Seldon looked at him with disbelief and displeasure. "It's not very loud, like this—" Ruan Da gritted his teeth, and let out a high-pitched voice that strangled his neck from the back of his throat. "If I'm mistaken, I apologize for this unwarranted intrusion, please forgive me." Seldon lowered his head: "I don't mind, Li Song. I do make that noise sometimes. I've been told that it's an unconscious movement. I never noticed it."

"Do you understand why you are doing this?" "Understood. Because of frustration, frustration!" Randa beckoned Seldon to come closer and lowered the volume. "We disturbed other people, let us go to the lounge, so as not to be thrown away later." In the lounge, after drinking two glasses of light wine, Ruan Da said: "Based on professional interests, may I ask you, why do you feel frustrated?" Seldon shrugged: "Usually why does a person feel frustrated? I'm working on a job, but I haven't made any progress." "But you're a mathematician, Harry. Is there anything in the History Library that frustrates you?"

"What are you doing here again?" "I was passing here to take a shortcut, and I heard you moaning... Now you see," he smiled again, "it's no longer a shortcut, it's a serious delay. I like it, though. situation." "I wish I'd just stopped by the history library, too. But I'm trying to solve a math problem that requires some knowledge of history, and I'm afraid I'm not doing the job right." Randa stared at Seldon with a rare serious expression, and said, "I'm sorry, but I must risk your anger—I've been looking up you on my computer."

"Check me!" Seldon's eyes widened, extremely angry. "I really offended you. But, you know, I have an uncle who is a mathematician. You may even have heard of it: Jiang Tao Ruan Da." Seldon gasped: "Are you a relative of that Ruan Da?" "Yes, he was my father's elder brother. He was rather displeased that I did not follow in his footsteps—he had no children of his own. So it occurred to me that he might be pleased if I let him know that I had made the acquaintance of a mathematician. .I wanted to brag about it for you - if I could, so I checked the math library."

"I get it, that's the real reason you're there. Well—sorry, I don't think I have anything for you to brag about." "I'm quite surprised that you're wrong. I can't even scratch the surface of what your paper is about, but the data seems to be very hot. And when I checked the news archives, I found that you were present at this year's Decade Conference. So... what exactly is 'psychohistory'? Obviously, the first two words piqued my curiosity." "I believe you read the letter." "Unless I'm totally misguided, it seems to me that you can project the future trajectory of history."

Seldon nodded sleepily. "That's pretty much what psychohistory is about, or rather, its theoretical intent." "But is it serious knowledge?" Ruan Da asked with a smile, "You're not just throwing branches, are you?" "Throwing a branch?" "It was a game played by children on my home planet Palla. It's a game to predict the future, and if you're a smart kid, you can benefit from it. You just tell a mother, say Her daughter will be beautiful and will marry a rich man and will be given a piece of cake or half a credit on the spot. She won't wait to verify the fulfillment of the prophecy, you just say that and you will be rewarded instantly .”

"I see. No, I'm not throwing twigs. Psychohistory is an abstract science, extremely abstract. It has absolutely no practical application unless..." "Now we're getting to the point, the 'unless' is always followed by the funniest part." "Unless I'm willing to develop such an application. Perhaps, if I knew more about history..." "Oh, that's why you study history?" "True, but it doesn't help me at all," Seldon said sadly. "History is too broad, and too little is recorded." "That's what frustrates you?"

Seldon nodded. Randa said, "But, Harry, you've only been here a few weeks." "Yes, but I can already see that..." "You can't see anything in just a few weeks. You might have to spend a lifetime to make even a little progress. It might take generations of mathematicians to really make a breakthrough on this problem." "I know, Li Song, but this doesn't make me feel any better. I want to make some visible progress." "Well, it doesn't help if you drive yourself insane. If it makes you feel better, I can tell you an example: There is a subject that is far simpler than human history. Many people have spent countless years without knowing it. How much progress. I know this because there is a group of people working on this topic at this university, and a good friend of mine is also involved. If you talk about frustration, you have no idea what frustration is!" (on )-161.JPG.TXT "What's the topic?" Seldon felt a little curiosity welling up in his heart. "Meteorology." "Meteorology!" Seldon felt a little offended by this anti-climactic answer. "Don't make faces, listen to me. Every inhabited world has an atmosphere; every world has its own atmospheric composition, its own temperature range, its own rotation and revolution rates, its own axial inclination, and its own distribution of water and land .We have 25 million different problems and no one has ever been able to find a general rule.” "That's because the behavior of the atmosphere can easily go into a chaotic phase, and everyone knows that." "That's what my friend Janelle Reagan said, you've seen him before." Seldon thought for a moment. "Tall? Long nose? Don't talk much?" "That's him—and Trantor is almost harder to understand than other world histories. According to records, at the beginning of colonization, it had a fairly normal climate pattern. Then, as the population grew, and the urban area expanded, the energy consumption As the heat continues to increase, more and more heat is emitted into the atmosphere. As a result, the ice cover gradually shrinks, the clouds gradually thicken, and the weather becomes worse and worse. This prompts residents to turn to underground development, forming a vicious circle. The worse the climate, the residents The greater the rush to dig and build domes, the worse the climate became. Today, the entire planet is covered in clouds almost all year round, and it often rains—or snows, if it's cold enough. Only no one has a proper explanation for it , no one has done a proper analysis of why the weather has deteriorated to this extent, or reasonably predicted the details of the day-to-day variation." Seldon shrugged: "Is this kind of thing important?" "For a meteorologist, yes. Why aren't they as frustrated with the problems they face as you are? Don't be a self-centered chauvinist." Seldon recalled the cloudy, damp and cold conditions on the way to the palace. "So, how far has it been done so far?" he said. "Well, there's a huge research program going on at this university, and Janelle Regan is one of the directors. They feel that if they can understand climate change on Trantor, they can gain a lot of insight into the basic laws of meteorology. Reagan is eager Find out those laws, just like you would find out the laws of psychohistory. So he set up a huge array of various instruments on the dome. So far, they have not gained much. Since many generations of Meteorologists have spent countless efforts on atmospheric problems, but there has been no concrete results. If you spend weeks and fail to study anything from human history, what is there to complain about!" Randa was right, Seldon thought, his own lack of reason and attitude.And yet... and yet... Hummin would say that the failure of this scientific research is another sign of the decline of the times.Perhaps he was right, too, but he was referring to general degradation and average effects, and Seldon did not feel any degradation in his abilities and intelligence. He said with mild interest, "You mean they climbed up the dome and into the open air outside?" "True. It's not fun, though. Most Trantorians wouldn't do that. They don't like going up to the dome, and the thought of it makes them dizzy or otherwise. Participate in this meteorological study." Most of the plans are aliens." Seldon looked out the window.Looking across the grass is the same as the florets of the school scarf.It was sunny outside, without any shade or sweltering heat.Then, he said earnestly, "I guess I can't blame the Trantorians for coveting the comforts of the conservatory, but I think curiosity drives some people to the dome, and I'm one of them." "You mean, you want to see meteorology in action?" "I guess that's it. How do I get to the dome?" "No problem. A lift takes you up, and you're there as soon as the door opens. I've been there before, and it's just... novel." "It will make me forget about psychohistory for a while." Seldon sighed. "I'm glad to have this opportunity." "Besides," Randa said, "my uncle used to say, 'All knowledge is one,' and he might be right. You might learn something from meteorology that will help you in your psychohistory. Isn't that possible?" Seldon forced a smile: "Many, many things are possible." Then, he added in his heart: But it is actually not feasible.