Edison was born on February 11, 1847, in the small town of Milan, Ohio, in the midwestern United States. His father is of Dutch descent, and his mother once worked as a primary school teacher and is of Scottish descent. When Edison was 7 years old, his father lost money in his roofing business, so he moved the family to Fort Gratiot in the northern suburbs of Huron, Michigan. Shortly after moving here, Edison contracted scarlet fever and remained ill for a long time. It was believed that the disease was responsible for his deafness. Edison went to school at the age of 8, but after only three months of reading, he was dismissed by the teacher as an "imbecile" and kicked out of school. From then on, his mother was his "teacher". Because of his mother's good education methods, he developed a strong interest in reading. "Not only did he read a lot of books, but he also read ten lines at a glance and could recite them after reading them." When he was 8 years old, he read Shakespeare, the most important playwright of the English Renaissance, the works of Dickens, and many important historical books. By the age of 9, he could quickly read more difficult books , such as Parker's "Natural and Experimental Philosophy". I loved chemistry when I was 10 years old. At the age of 11, he experimented with his first telegraph. In order to make money to buy chemicals and equipment, he started working. When he was 12 years old, he got a job selling newspapers on the train and traveled between Port Huron and Detroit, Michigan. While selling newspapers, he also runs a fruit and vegetable business. Whenever he has time, he goes to the library to read.
He bought an old printing press and started publishing his own weekly magazine, the Herald. The first issue of the magazine was printed on the train. He used the money he earned to build a chemistry laboratory on a luggage cart. Unfortunately there was a chemical fire and he was thrown out of the car along with his equipment. Another time, when Edison was trying to board a freight train, a train conductor grabbed his ears to help him get on. This action resulted in Edison becoming permanently deaf.
In August 1862, Edison used fearless heroism to rescue a boy who was about to be killed on the train tracks. The child's father was grateful for this, but since he had no money to repay him, he was willing to teach him telegraph skills. From then on, Edison became involved with this mysterious new world of electricity and embarked on a scientific journey.
In 1863, Edison served as a telegraph operator at the Stratford Junction Station of the Grand Trunk Railway. From 1864 to 1867
he worked as a telegraph operator in various places in the Midwest and lived a wandering life. Traveled to Stratford, Adrian
Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Nashville, Tennessee, Memphis, Louisville, and Huron
etc.
In 1868, Edison came to Boston as a telegraph operator. In the same year, he received his first invention patent.
This is a device that automatically records votes. Edison thought the device would speed up Congress's work and would be welcomed. However, a member of Congress told him that they had no intention of speeding up the agenda and that voting slowly was sometimes politically necessary. From then on, Edison decided not to make any inventions that people didn't need.
In early June 1869, he came to New York to look for work. While he was waiting to be summoned at a broker's office, a telegraph machine broke down. Edison was the only one there who could fix the telegraph, and he got a job that was better than he expected. In October, he and Pope jointly established a "Pop-Edison Company" to specialize in scientific instruments for electrical engineering. Here, he invented the "Edison Printing Press." He dedicated this printing press to the manager of a large Wall Street company. He wanted to ask for $5,000, but he lacked the courage to say it. So he asked the manager to give a price, and the manager gave
40,000 US dollars.
Edison used the money to build a factory on Ward Street in Newark, New Jersey, specializing in manufacturing various electrical machinery.
He worked all night long. He trained many capable assistants, and at the same time, he also happened to meet the diligent Mary, his future first bride. In Newark, he made inventions such as wax paper and mimeograph machines. From 1872 to 1875, Edison successively invented the double and quadruple telegraph machines, and also helped others create the world's first telegraph machine. Get the first English typewriter.
In the spring of 1876, Edison moved again, this time to "Menlo Park" in New Jersey. Here he built the first "invention factory", which "marked the beginning of collective research." In 1877, Edison improved the early telephone invented by Bell and put it into practical use. He also invented one of his pet projects - the phonograph.
The telephone and the telegraph "were a revolution that expanded human sensory functions"; the phonograph was one of the three great inventions that changed people's lives.
"From the perspective of the imagination of invention, This is his most significant invention achievement." By this time, he was known as "The Magician of Monroe Park."
While inventing the phonograph, Edison finally made a breakthrough in the research on electric lights after numerous failures. On October 22, 1879, Edison lit the first truly useful light. Electric lamp with wide practical value. In order to extend the life of the filament, he
re-experimented and tried more than 6,000 fiber materials before he found a new luminous body-Japanese bamboo silk, sustainable
1,000 For many hours, it achieves the purpose of durability. In a way, this invention was the pinnacle achievement of Edison's life. He then created a power supply system that allowed distant lamps to distribute power from a central power station, a major technological achievement.
His first purely scientific discovery appeared in 1883. While experimenting with electric lamps, he observed what he called the Edison effect
In a lit bulb, an electric charge travels from a hot filament through space to a cold plate. Edison patented this
discovery in 1884 but did not pursue further research. Other scientists used the Edison effect to develop the electronics industry, especially wireless radios and televisions.
Edison also attempted to do for the eyes what the phonograph had done for the ears, and the movie camera was born here. Using a strip of George Eastman's newly invented celluloid film, he took a series of photographs and projected them rapidly and continuously onto a screen,
producing movement. hallucination. He first experimented with film in the laboratory in 1889 and applied for a patent in 1891. In 1903, his company produced its first feature film, "The Train Robbery." Edison did much to organize and standardize the motion picture industry.
After Edison moved his laboratory to West Orange in 1887, he founded many commercial companies to manufacture and market his many inventions; These companies later merged to form the Edison General Electric Company, later known as the General Electric Company. Thereafter, his interests turned to fluoroscopy, ore crushers, magnetic separation of iron, batteries and railway signaling devices.
During World War I, he developed torpedo mechanisms, flamethrowers and underwater periscopes.
Einstein
Albert Einstein[1] (Albert Einstein, March 14, 1879 - April 18, 1955), the world-famous American Physicist, a Jew, the pioneer and founder of modern physics, the proposer of the theory of relativity - the "mass-energy relationship", the defender of the "deterministic interpretation of quantum mechanics" (vibrating particles) - does not throw dice God. On December 26, 1999, Einstein was selected as the "Great Man of the Century" by the American "Time" magazine.
Einstein graduated from the Technical University of Zurich in 1900 and became a Swiss citizen. Received a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Zurich in 1905. Served at the Patent Office in Bern. Professor at the Technical University of Zurich and Deutsche University in Prague.
Returning to Germany in 1913, he served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics in Berlin and professor at the University of Berlin, and was elected as an academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. In 1933, due to persecution by the Nazi regime, he moved to the United States and became a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he engaged in theoretical physics research. In 1940, he became a U.S. citizen.
When Einstein was young, one day the Kaiser's troops passed through the streets of Munich. Curious people flocked to the windows to cheer, and the children were fascinated by the soldiers' shiny helmets and neat footsteps. While fascinated, Einstein hid in fear. He despised and was afraid of these "war monsters" and asked his mother to take him to a land where he would never become such a monster. When he was in middle school, his mother fulfilled Einstein's request and took him to Italy. Einstein gave up his German citizenship, but he did not apply for Italian citizenship. He wanted to be a world citizen without any attachments. ...After the war, Einstein tried to build his dream of world peace on the basis of reality and made a series of "peace" speeches in "enemy countries". His thoughts and actions brought him close to death: a Russian aristocratic female assassin with imperialist ambitions secretly aimed her gun at him; Albert Eyre also appeared on the blacklist of German right-wing assassins Einstein's name; Hitler placed a reward of 20,000 marks on his head. In order to maintain "harmony" between himself and the world, Einstein had to move from Italy to the Netherlands, then from the Netherlands to the United States, and became an American citizen. He believes that in the United States, people of all classes can survive in barely passable friendships. (Excerpted from "Einstein's Reflections", Issue 5-6, 1985, of the academic monthly "Applied Writing"
The late nineteenth century was a period of great change in physics. Starting from experimental facts, Einstein He re-examined the basic concepts of physics and made fundamental breakthroughs in theory. Some of his achievements greatly promoted the development of astrophysics, especially theoretical astrophysics. Impact. The first mature aspect of theoretical astrophysics, the theory of stellar atmospheres, was established on the basis of quantum theory and radiation theory. Einstein's special theory of relativity successfully revealed the relationship between energy and mass. , adhering to the deterministic position of the interpretation of quantum theory (the vector sum of particle vibration and translation) that "God does not play dice", has solved the long-standing problem of stellar energy sources. In recent years, more and more high-energy physical phenomena have been discovered. , the special theory of relativity has become one of the most basic theoretical tools to explain this phenomenon, and its general theory of relativity has also solved a long-standing mystery in astronomy, and inferred the light bending phenomenon that was later verified, and also became the basis for many later phenomena. Theoretical basis of astronomical concepts.
Einstein’s greatest contribution to astronomy is his cosmological theory. He founded the relativistic cosmology and established a static, finite and self-consistent dynamic universe model. He also introduced new concepts such as cosmological principles and curved space, which greatly promoted the development of modern astronomy
[Edit this paragraph] Growth history
March 14, 1879 at 11 am. Einstein was born at 135 Bahnhofstrasse in Ulm, Germany. His father's name was Hermann Einstein and his mother Pauline. On August 18, Einstein's sister Maya was born in Munich.
In 1884, Einstein was fascinated by the pocket compass.
In 1885, Einstein began to learn the violin. /p>
In 1886, Einstein studied at the Munich Public School (Council School); he studied Jewish observances at home.
In 1888, Einstein entered the Luipold High School. He continued his religious education at school and received the ordination ceremony.
In 1889, under the guidance of Talmei, a medical student, he read popular scientific readings and philosophical works.
In 1891, he studied Euclidean geometry by himself, and he became enthusiastic about it. At the same time, he began to study advanced mathematics on his own.
In 1892, he began to read the works of Immanuel Kant in 1895. , completed self-taught calculus.
In 1896, he received a diploma from Aarau High School. In October, he entered the Normal Department of the Federal Technical University of Zurich to study physics. Einstein
On October 19, 1899, Einstein officially applied for Swiss citizenship.
In August 1900, Einstein graduated from the Federal University of Technology in Zurich; in December he completed his thesis "Inferences from Capillary Phenomenon", which was published in the "Journal of Physics" in Leipzig the following year and became a Swiss citizen.
On March 21, 1901, he obtained Swiss nationality. From May to July of this year, I completed the thesis on the thermodynamic theory of electric potential difference.
In September 1904, he was converted from a probationary employee of the Patent Office to a formal third-level technician.
In March 1905, he developed quantum theory, proposed the light quantum hypothesis, and solved the photoelectric effect problem. In April, he submitted his thesis "A New Method for Determining Molecular Size" to the University of Zurich and obtained his doctorate. In May, he completed his thesis "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies" and independently and completely proposed the principle of special relativity, ushering in a new era of physics.
In April 1906, he was promoted to a second-level technician in the Patent Office. In November, I completed a paper on the specific heat of solids, which is the first paper on the quantum theory of solids. In October 1908, he concurrently served as a non-staff lecturer at the University of Bern.
In 1913, he returned to Germany and served as director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics in Berlin and professor at the University of Berlin. He was also elected as an academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences.
In August, World War I broke out. Although he lived in the birthplace of the war and lived surrounded by war advocates, he resolutely expressed his anti-war attitude.
In September, Einstein participated in the founding of the anti-war group "New Motherland Alliance". When this organization was declared illegal and its members were arrested and persecuted in large numbers and went underground, Einstein remained determined Participate in the secret activities of this organization.
In November 1915, he proposed the complete form of the gravity equation of general relativity and successfully explained the perihelion motion of Mercury. Einstein
In March 1916, he completed the concluding paper "Foundations of General Relativity". In May, he proposed the hypothesis that the universe is finite and unbounded. In August, he completed "Quantum Theory of Radiation", summarizing the development of quantum theory and proposing the theory of stimulated emission.
In 1917, after the victory of the Soviet socialist revolution led by Lenin, Einstein enthusiastically supported this great revolution, praising it as a great social experiment that would have decisive significance for the world and said : "I respect Lenin because he was a person who had a spirit of complete self-sacrifice and devoted himself wholeheartedly to realizing social justice. I don't think his methods are practical, but one thing is for sure: people like him are He is the defender and recreater of human conscience.”
In November 1918, influenced and inspired by the victory of the Russian October Revolution, German workers and soldiers launched an uprising and overthrew Kaiser Wilhelm. On the third day after II stepped down, Einstein wrote two postcards to his mother, cheering "A great thing has happened... What an honor it is to experience this event personally!" From the 1920s to the early 1930s, Einstein was basically an absolute pacifist. But the reality of constant wars of aggression and plunder shattered his beautiful dream. Especially after Hitler came to power in 1933, Germany became increasingly fascist, which made Einstein realize that a new barbaric war was inevitable, prompting him to change his views. He made it clear: "When the law and human dignity must be defended, we must fight. Since the danger of fascism has arrived, I no longer believe that absolute passive pacifism is effective. As long as fascism rules Europe, then There will be no peace." Because of Einstein's progressive activities and because he was a Jew, he was listed as an important target of persecution by the German Nazis. Fortunately, he left Germany at the end of 1932 to give lectures in the United States and was not persecuted. His house in Berlin was raided and destroyed, his property confiscated, his books burned, and the Nazis offered a reward of 20,000 marks for his death. Facing the danger of assassination by the Nazis, Einstein showed no fear, but fought more determinedly. When his close friend Laue wrote a letter to persuade him to adopt a prudent and protective attitude towards political issues, he regardless of his personal safety, loudly pointed out that fascism means war, peace must be defended with arms, and called on the American people to rise up and fight fascism.
When Einstein later learned from radio broadcasts that the United States had dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing and injuring many civilians, he felt very sad. He later wrote a letter to American citizens, saying: "The scientists who have liberated this huge power must first take responsibility for everything. Atomic energy must be limited and must not be used to kill all mankind, but To enhance human happiness."
Einstein's theory in 1919 is regarded as "one of the greatest achievements in the history of human thought." In December, he received the only honorary degree in Germany: a doctorate in medicine from the University of Rostock.
From April 2 to May 30, 1921, in order to raise funds for the establishment of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he and Weizmann visited the United States for the first time.
In January 1922, the first paper on unified field theory was completed. In July, he was threatened with murder and temporarily left Berlin. On October 8, Einstein and Elsa took a ship from Marseille to Japan. Visits Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai along the way. On November 9, while on his way to Japan, Einstein was awarded the 1921 "Nobel Prize in Physics" for his explanation of the photoelectric effect. Visited Japan from November 17th to December 29th.
In July 1923, he went to Gothenburg to receive the 1921 Nobel Prize. In December, it was speculated for the first time that quantum effects may arise from over-constrained general relativistic field equations.
In 1924, the "Bose-Einstein condensation" was discovered.
After 1925, Einstein devoted all his energy to exploring the unified field theory. In the first few years, he was very optimistic and thought victory was in sight; later he found difficulties and he believed that the existing mathematical tools were not enough.
In the 30 years from 1925 to 1955, in addition to the completeness of quantum mechanics, gravitational waves and the motion problems of general relativity, Einstein devoted almost all of his scientific and creative energy to The search for unified field theory.
In 1926, he was elected as an academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.
After 1928, he turned to the exploration of pure mathematics. He tried various methods, but failed to achieve results of real physical significance.
In January, he was elected as a director of the "German Human Rights League" (formerly the German "New Fatherland League").
On his 50th birthday in March 1929, he hid in the countryside to avoid birthday celebrations. Won the "Planck Medal" on June 28.
From December 11, 1930 to March 4, 1931, Einstein visited the United States for the second time, giving lectures at the California Institute of Technology.
In July 1932, he corresponded with Freud to discuss the psychological issues of war; he called on the German people to rise up to defend the Weimar Republic and oppose fascism with all their strength.
On January 30, 1933, the Nazis came to power.
On March 10, he issued a statement in Pasadena that he would not return to Germany, and set off back to Europe the next day.
Fan Zhongyan (989-1052), that is, the second year of Duangong of Taizong (989) - the fourth year of Huangyou (1052). Fan Zhongyan, courtesy name Xiwen. In the same dynasty as Bao Zheng, he was a famous official, politician, and writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was a native of Wuxian County (now part of Jiangsu Province). When he was young, his family was poor but he was eager to learn. When he was a scholar, he often took the world as his own responsibility and had a reputation for speaking out. He wrote many letters criticizing the prime minister at that time, and was demoted three times. During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, he was an official who participated in political affairs and was equivalent to deputy prime minister. Yuan Haofan took Shaanxi as a direct scholar of Longtuge and Xia Song. His orders were strict and the Xia people did not dare to violate them. The Qiang people called him Longtu Laozi, and the Xia people called him Xiaofan Laozi. In 1043 (the third year of Qingli reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty), Fan Zhongyan was extremely distressed by the shortcomings of the government at that time, and proposed the "Ten Matters", advocating the establishment of a strict official system, paying attention to farming and mulberry crops, rectifying military equipment, promoting the legal system, and reducing servitude. Song Renzong adopted his suggestions and implemented them one after another, which is known as the "Qingli New Deal" in history. Unfortunately, it could not be realized soon due to the opposition of conservatives, so he was demoted to Shaanxi Fourth Road Xuanfu Envoy. Later, he died of illness on the way to Yingzhou and was given the posthumous title Wenzheng.
Fan Zhongyan liked to play the piano, but he only played one song by Lu Shuang on weekdays, so people at that time called him Fan Lu Shuang. He specializes in poetry and prose, and his articles are rich in political content, beautiful in diction, and open-minded. The two sentences in his "Yueyang Tower", "Be worried about the world's worries first, and be happy after the world's happiness" are the best sentences throughout the ages. It is also a reflection of his lifelong patriotism.
He was not only a famous politician and commander in the Northern Song Dynasty, but also an outstanding writer and educator. The Qingli Reform Movement he led became the prelude to Wang Anshi's "Xifeng Reform" later; his improvements to certain military systems and strategic measures stabilized the western frontier defense for a long period of time; a large number of scholars recommended by him contributed to the The Song Dynasty laid the foundation for the academic heyday; the thought of worrying first and rejoicing later and the moral integrity of people with lofty ideals he advocated are shining spiritual wealth in the history of Chinese civilization: Zhu Xi called him "the first-class figure in the history of heaven and earth"! For thousands of years, Fan Zhongyan's remains have always been protected and commemorated by people in various places.
Li Shizhen, whose courtesy name was Dongbi and whose nickname was Binhu, was born in Qi, Hubei (now Qichun County, Hubei Province). He was born in the 13th year of Zhengde, Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty (1518 AD), and died in Wanli, Shenzong. Twenty-one years (AD 1593). His family has been practicing medicine for generations, and his grandfather was the "Bell Doctor". My father's name is Yuechi, and he is a famous local doctor. At that time, the status of private doctors was very low. The Li family was often bullied by officials and gentry. Therefore, his father decided to let his second son, Li Shizhen, study and take the exam so that he could succeed and stand out. Li Shizhen has been frail and sickly since she was a child, but has an upright and innocent personality. She cannot learn from those empty and boring eight-legged essays. In the nine years since he was admitted as a scholar at the age of fourteen, he went to Wuchang three times to take the exams, but failed every time. So he gave up his plan to become an official in the imperial examination and concentrated on studying medicine. He begged his father: "I am twenty-three years old this year and I always fail to pass the exam. You should let me study medicine!" and expressed his determination. : "The body is like a boat against the current, and the heart is stronger than iron and stone. I hope my father will fulfill my son's aspirations, and I will not be afraid of difficulties until death." Li Yuechi finally woke up in the face of the cold facts, agreed to his son's request, and taught him carefully. Within a few years, Li Shizhen became a very famous doctor. When he was about thirty-eight years old, he was summoned by the King of Chu in Wuchang and served as the "Fengshizheng" of the palace, and also in charge of the affairs of the good doctor's office. Three years later, he was recommended to Beijing to serve as a judge at the Taiyuan Hospital. The Imperial Hospital was a medical institution dedicated to serving the palace. At that time, it was in a state of chaos caused by some quack doctors. After serving for only one year, Li resigned and returned to his hometown.
In the past ten years, Li Shizhen has read a large number of ancient medical books, and through clinical practice has discovered that the ancient herbal books have "a tedious number of products and many miscellaneous names. One thing may be divided into two or three, or two Things are mixed into one product" ("Ming Dynasty's Biography"). In particular, many toxic drugs are considered to be able to "prolong life" if taken for a long time, thus causing endless disasters. Therefore, he decided to re-compile a Materia Medica book. When he was thirty-one years old, he began to think about it. In order to "search for everything", he read a lot of reference books. After finishing reading the books in his family collection, he took advantage of the opportunity of practicing medicine to borrow them from the wealthy families in his hometown. Later, after entering Prince Chu's Mansion in Wuchang and Beijing Taiyuan Hospital, I read more books and became a "book addict". He said in his own words that "I have been addicted to classics for a long time, just like eating cane sweets" (original preface of "Compendium of Materia Medica"). In "The Biography of Li Shizhen", Gu Jingxing also praised him for "having studied for ten years without leaving the house, and was extremely knowledgeable about everything." Indeed, he not only read more than 800 kinds of medical books and tens of thousands of volumes, but also read many famous works of history, geography and literature. He read the masterpieces of Dunhuang classics and history; he also carefully read the complete works of several great ancient poets. Study it thoroughly. He also excerpted a large number of poems about medicine. These poems gave him a lot of real and useful medical knowledge and helped him correct many fallacies in medicine made by his predecessors. For example, in ancient medical books, "owls and ducks" often appear. What do they refer to? Is there a difference? Pharmacologists throughout the ages have had divergent opinions and debated endlessly. Li Shizhen quoted two sentences from Qu Yuan's "Li Sao": "The general will compete with the chickens and ducks for food" and "The general will be like a duck in the water", and pointed out that the poet used the word "bird" and "bird" in parallel, which means that they are not the same. Evidence of breeding birds. Based on the descriptions of their different living environments in the poem, he proved that the "pheasant" is a domestic duck and the "falcon" is a wild duck, with different medicinal properties. Qu Yuan's poems actually became Li Shizhen's eloquent basis for verifying the name and reality of medicines.
In the process of compiling the "Compendium of Materia Medica", the biggest headache for Li Shizhen was that due to the mixed names of drugs, the shape and growth of the drugs were often unclear. Although the past Materia Medica has been repeatedly explained, some authors did not conduct in-depth actual investigation and research, but copied and "guessed on paper" from books, so the more they explained, the more confused they became, and the contradictions became more frequent. It makes people confused. Take the medicine Polygala for example. Tao Hongjing, a famous medical scientist in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, said that it is a small grass, like ephedra, but green in color and with white flowers. However, Ma Zhi of the Song Dynasty thought it resembled Daqing and blamed Tao Hongjing for not knowing Polygala at all. Another example is the medicine Gouji. Some say it resembles wormwood, some say it resembles geobuckthorn, and some say it resembles guanzhong. The opinions are very inconsistent.
There were many situations like this, and Li Shizhen had to put down her writing again and again. How to solve these problems? Inspired by his father, Li Shizhen realized that "reading thousands of books" is certainly necessary, but "traveling thousands of miles" is even more indispensable. Therefore, he not only "searched for Baishi" but also "interviewed all parties" to conduct in-depth actual investigations.
Li Shizhen put on straw sandals, carried a medicine basket, and accompanied by her apprentice Pang Xian and son Jianyuan, traveled far into the mountains and wilderness, visited famous doctors and scholars, searched for folk prescriptions, and observed and collected drug specimens. He first conducted interviews in his hometown of Qizhou. Later, he went out for interviews many times. In addition to Huguang, I have also visited many places in Jiangxi, Jiangsu, and Anhui. I have also been to Mount Taihe in Junzhou. Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi Province, which is rich in medicinal materials, and Sheshan Mountain, Maoshan Mountain and Niushou Mountain in Nanjing, may also have his footprints. Later generations wrote a poem about this, "Products from far-flung and remote areas, adventures to explore the beauty of the foothills", reflecting his life of traveling long distances and interviewing people from all over.
Everywhere Li Shizhen went, she humbly asked all kinds of people. Among them are those who collect herbs, those who farm, those who fish, those who cut firewood, and those who hunt. Enthusiastically help him learn about various medications.
Brassica, for example, is a commonly used medicine for treating diseases. But what does it look like? "Shen Nong's Materia Medica" can't explain it clearly, and various commentaries can't figure it out either. Li Shizhen asked an old man who grew vegetables. After his guidance and inspection of the real thing, he realized that brassica is actually rapeseed. This plant is sown in the first year and blooms in the second year. The seeds can be squeezed for oil. Therefore, this medicine was clearly annotated in his "Compendium of Materia Medica".
In interviews or in her own medicine garden, Li Shizhen pays great attention to observing the shape and growth of medicines. Qi Snake is the white-flowered snake native to Qizhou. This medicine has the functions of treating wind paralysis, convulsions, tinea and leprosy. Li Shizhen has long studied it. But at first, just observe from the snake traders. An insider reminded him that it was caught from the mountains of Xingguozhou in the south of the Yangtze River and was not a real akid snake. So what does a real snake look like? He asked a snake catcher for advice. The man told him that the tips of the snake's teeth were highly venomous. If a person is bitten, his limbs must be amputated immediately, otherwise he will die from poisoning. It has special effects in treating the above-mentioned diseases, so it is very valuable. The state officials forced the people to risk their lives to catch him in order to pay tribute to the emperor. Qizhou is so big, but the real Qi snake can only be found on Longfeng Mountain in the north of the city. Li Shizhen wanted to find out the truth and wanted to observe the snake with his own eyes, so he asked the snake catcher to take him to Longfeng Mountain. There is a Suanni Cave there, surrounded by rugged rocks and thick bushes. Heather vines twining around shrubs are everywhere. Akid snakes like to eat the flowers and leaves of heather vines, so they live in this area. Li Shizhen ignored the danger and searched everywhere. With the help of the snake catcher, I finally saw the snake with my own eyes and saw the whole process of catching and preparing the snake. Due to such in-depth practical investigation, when he later wrote about the white-flowered snake in the "Compendium of Materia Medica", he was able to speak concisely and accurately. It is said that the shape of the Ki snake is: "a dragon's head and a tiger's mouth, black matter and white flowers, twenty-four square shengwen on its flanks, a rosary spot on its abdomen, four long teeth on its mouth, a Buddha's nail on its tail, one or two points long, and its intestine is shaped like a string of beads"; It is said that the process of catching and making akid snakes is: "People often find them by eating their flowers and leaves on heather vines. Sprinkle a handful of sand first, so that the snake does not move, and then take it with a fork. Hang it with a rope. The knife breaks the abdomen and removes the intestines, and then the tail is turned to wash the abdomen, and the wound is covered with a bamboo support, bent and coiled, and tied to the kang stem." At the same time, the differences between the ki snake and the white flower snake from other places were also clarified. : "Those who leave the land of Qi may be dry but their eyesight is not sunken, but those who live elsewhere cannot." Such a clear description of the various situations of the Qi Snake is certainly due to the meticulous field investigation.
Li Shizhen understands drugs and is not satisfied with a superficial investigation. Instead, she looks at them one by one and compares them with the actual objects. This clarified many specious and ambiguous drugs. In his words, he "looked at them one by one and found out the truth", "listed all the products and looked at them repeatedly"
At that time, the "Langmei" produced by Wulong Palace in Taihe Mountain was Taoist priests said that he ate "the fairy fruit that can lead to immortality". They picked it back every year and paid tribute to the emperor. The government strictly prohibits other people from picking it. Li Shizhen didn't believe the Taoist priests' lies and wanted to try it himself to see what effect it had. So, despite the objections of the Taoist priests, he took the risk and picked one. After research, it was found that its effect is the same as that of ordinary peaches and apricots. It can produce fluid and quench thirst. It is a deformed elm tree fruit and has no special effects.
Dace, also known as pangolin today, is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine.
Tao Hongjing said that it can live on both land and water. During the day, it can climb up rocks, open its scales, pretend to be dead, lure ants into its armor, then close its scales, dive into the water, and then open its armor to let the ants emerge, and then devour them. . In order to know whether Tao Hongjing's statement was correct, Li Shizhen went up to the mountain to observe it personally. With the help of woodcutter and hunter, a pangolin was caught. About a liter of ants was cut out from its stomach, confirming that Tao Hongjing was right about pangolins. However, from observation, he found that when pangolins eat ants, they scratch open the ant nests and lick the food instead of luring the ants into the armor and swallowing them in the water. Li Shizhen affirmed Tao Hongjing's right side and corrected his mistakes.
In this way, after long-term and arduous field investigations, Li Shizhen clarified many difficult problems with drugs, and completed the compilation of "Compendium of Materia Medica" in the Wuyin year of Wanli (1578 AD). The book has about 1.9 million words and 52 volumes. It contains 1,892 kinds of medicines, 374 new medicines, more than 10,000 prescriptions, and more than 1,000 pictures. It has become a Chinese medicine. An unprecedented masterpiece of learning. Among them, he corrected many mistakes of his predecessors, made outstanding achievements in many aspects such as animal and plant taxonomy, and also made contributions to other related disciplines (biology, chemistry, mineralogy, geology, astronomy, etc.). Darwin praised it as "the encyclopedia of ancient China".