Manhattan Reborn 1978

Inside Princeton University, Flint Library.

This library is the main library of Princeton University. The building is divided into three floors above ground and three floors underground.

It opened in 1948 and was extended to the first and second floors above ground in 1971.

The reason why we chose to build three underground floors is to prevent some of the ancient books here from being damaged by ultraviolet rays and causing permanent damage.

David looked at the exterior of the building.

Its walls are made of rough dark yellow granite.

After he and Xide entered the library together.

Side went to get some introductions about the library's books to David first.

There is a sculpture called "Day" in the lobby, which was sculpted by Isamu Noguchi in 1966.

The hall to his left is very bright and has some duplex rooms.

In the hall on the right, there are books from the 18th century, which were handed down from the original library of the College of New Jersey.

Cide introduced David to the elevators, stairs, and diagrams of each floor, and gave him a map of the distribution of books in the library on each floor.

David looked at the few pages of the Flintstone Library introduction in his hand, and sighed in his heart that he had come to the right place, but also to the wrong place.

Either way!

Knowledge is always useful.

He thanked Sidney for her help.

Sidé also smiled and said goodbye to David and went to work.

correct!

David stopped Side again and asked when John Nash would come and where he usually read.

After Sid looked at David strangely for a while, she told him: "Professor Nash usually does not come to the library at a fixed time. If he comes, he will go directly to the reading area in the southwest corner of the third floor. He is often there. Sitting quietly for most of the day.”

"Thank you! Thank you~"

After David thanked him, he stood there and carefully read the introduction in his hand.

Um. .

For him who graduated from high school in a daze, the knowledge he learned in his previous life was not consistent with most of the introductions here.

Now that you're here, let's take your time and look at it layer by layer.

He put the introduction away and ignored a line of small print on its second page.

The total number of books in the Flintstone Library has reached nearly 300 million volumes.

Even if you give him ten or twenty years, he won't be able to read all the books here.

Of course, if he could understand all the books, he would become the most famous scholar in the world.

David took out a pen and notebook from his backpack, put it on his back, and began his search on the first floor.

The first floor here mainly contains collections of books related to humanities, social science research and other fields.

When David saw something he was interested in, he wrote down its title and location so that he could read them together later.

In this way, time passed quickly, more than two hours later.

David found and marked nearly 20 books and materials he wanted to read on the first floor, but there was no current affairs analysis or information that could be helpful to David now.

These more than 20 books can bring David more and deeper knowledge accumulation.

David sat down a little earlier and sorted out his notes.

Classified the information he recorded.

I drank some more water and went to the toilet.

I have to say that the toilet here is really big, and there are not many people there, so there is less embarrassment when everyone drains the water together.

After David was almost ready, he walked up to the second floor. It was as big as the first floor, but there were more people than on the first floor.

He continued to spin.

He was on the rows of bookshelves, holding the introduction in his hand and comparing it to the guide.

David suddenly saw Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations".

This is a large and pioneering book on economics, with a total length of approximately 1099000 words, and was first published in 1776.

Its full title is: A Study of the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.

It laid the theoretical foundation for the free economy of capital society and marked the establishment of the theoretical system of classical political economics.

"The Wealth of Nations" is called the "Bible" of Western economics!

David looked at the dense rows of various versions of "The Wealth of Nations", some of which were edited and republished with annotations.

He took out the first volume of a two-volume set and opened it for a while.

This book is divided into two volumes, with a total of five parts and 32 chapters.

It basically includes the economic theory, economic history, history of economic thought, finance, economic policy and other aspects of knowledge established by mankind at that time.

It also involves all aspects of social behavior represented by history, ethics, economics and politics.

David put the book in his hand back to its original place, and in the rows below it, he found some scholars' evaluations of the book.

Economist, Schumpeter: "The Wealth of Nations" is not only the most successful economics work, but also perhaps the most successful scientific work ever published except Darwin's "On the Origin of Species".

Buckler, Historian: In its final effect, this book is perhaps the most important one ever written.Its contribution to human happiness exceeds the combined contributions of all politicians and legislators throughout history!

David was speechless.

He had heard of this book and briefly read it.

The famous economic term, the password of market economy: "the invisible hand"!

Right from this book.

The most popular passage in "The Wealth of Nations" is: In Adam Smith's view, under a system of natural freedom, everyone engages in production and management activities based on their own interests. In this process, he is subject to " guided by the “invisible hand” to pursue their own interests.

This often means that he can promote the interests of society more effectively than if he truly intended to do so.

The system of natural freedom and economic liberalism are important guarantees for the "invisible hand" to fully exert its effectiveness.

In David's view, these inevitably reflect some of Smith's cognitive issues regarding economic development in different eras and later generations.

The United States is a capitalist country represented by a free economy and a market economy.

It has now become a paradise for the rich!

David even feels that the current family conglomerates in the United States have some shadows of those centuries-old and thousand-year-old families in Chinese history.

No matter how the world changes in the future, as long as these family consortiums don't fight for their own lives, they will continue to stand.

This is terrifying!

For example, the Morgan family, to which Giles and Pine belonged, had plundered a large amount of wealth due to various opportunities when they started.

Later, after more than 100 years of subsequent expansionary development, it has become a giant in the American financial and economic circles.

Its existence itself is already part of the national interests of the United States.

After World War II, these family consortiums all understood the limitations of their independent development.

They all began to penetrate and tolerate each other intentionally or unintentionally. You have me in you, and you have me in you.

The United States is a paradise for capital. This is not a joke, but a fact.

So it was really difficult for David to carve out a way in this country by relying on his prophetic advantages.

David looked for some more books on these rows of bookshelves.

I carried them to the small table and looked through them carefully.

No matter what category or system of knowledge they are, they are all developed from initial theoretical research.

Just like data, information, and experimental creations, they are all developed, changed, and utilized from some initial theories.

David wants to continue to work hard in the world of finance, economics, and business.

He must have some of the most basic and practical theoretical foundations in his mind.

With his head empty, he will play himself to death sooner or later, or he will die without knowing how.

His attitude towards knowledge is that no one else is as good as having it himself!

For him, one knowledge of "The Wealth of Nations" is probably enough, and it is already somewhat outdated in some respects.

But the research, evaluation, and argumentative manuscripts written by these scholars who studied "The Wealth of Nations" were very useful to David.

amount.

It seems that John Nash's "Nash Equilibrium" also has a unique analysis and commentary on the "invisible hand".

Ok.

If I see Nash later, let’s try chatting.