Chapter 21 The whole world is shocked
By 1900, telegraph technology had matured.
As the world's number one superpower, Britain's submarine power lines span the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, connecting many surrounding countries.
The transmission of information has long been instantaneous, and communication between people has become very convenient.
Starting from June 6, if you look down from the sky in London, you can see that the paper published by Ridgwell on the front page of Nature magazine is spreading rapidly around the world in all directions in a network-like manner.
In a detached house in central London, Lord Kelvin is carefully reading a paper on quantum mechanics.
Even though he was now gray-haired and his eyes were almost blurry, he still did not ask his secretary for help.
He slowly ran his finger over each word, and a smile appeared on his face from time to time. He did not appear angry as imagined.
The image of Li Qiwei appeared in Lord Kelvin's mind. The young man who had confronted him head-on did indeed keep his word.
He really opened up a new future for physics. Although quantum mechanics is still very weak now, it is like a beacon, guiding the way for those who come after him.
As one of the world's top physicists, Lord Kelvin could not find any reason to refute the concept of "quantum".
At the same time, he was also well aware of how brilliant Li Qiwei was who proposed this theory.
Denying Newton's classical continuous view of space and time, it is incredible that the world is actually discontinuous.
The courage required to propose such a theory is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
Therefore, he lost the bet, losing to the young man he once ridiculed.
This has to be said to be an inexplicable irony.
Lord Kelvin murmured to himself: "Bruce Lee, I really want to apologize to you in person, but I am old and can't walk anymore."
“I’ve come to believe that when a person gets old, the things they appreciate most are things that take them back to their youth.”
"And you, Bruce Lee, your achievements have helped me find my former purity. Thank you."
"Maybe I agreed to the bet with you because I saw my shadow in you."
"When I was young, I was just like you, so obsessed with physics that I forgot to eat and sleep."
"I shouldn't judge a person based on their race. Physics belongs to all mankind."
The secretary beside him did not dare to interrupt Lord Darwin, but just kept taking notes with a pen.
These materials will become precious historical relics in the future.
Lord Kelvin's voice became softer and softer as he spoke, and finally he fell asleep with a smile on his face.
The secretary had never seen the lord fall asleep so happily. This paper must have touched him deeply.
Inside the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.
Thomson and Wilson, the master and his apprentice, read the paper from beginning to end three times without saying a word.
Finally, Thompson couldn't help but break the silence: "I thought I had overestimated Bruce Lee enough."
"I didn't expect that I underestimated him. Such an amazing idea is really unimaginable."
"Wilson, I have a strong intuition that 'quantum mechanics' is correct."
"Perhaps it is the most powerful weapon to explain the structure of atoms."
If Li Qiwei was there, he would definitely be full of admiration.
Thomson is indeed worthy of being the man who discovered the electron. His intuition is extraordinary.
Thirteen years later, in 1913, Thomson's disciple, Bohr, used the concept of "quantum" to successfully explain the hydrogen atomic model and became the number one figure in quantum mechanics.
However, Boll is only 15 years old now and is still a kid.
Wilson felt mixed emotions after hearing his mentor's conjecture.
Is that young man who often comes to the lab to help me after school almost out of my reach?
No wonder the other party can easily solve the problems that bother you and create a new theory.
Wilson shouted in his heart. He was really shocked by Li Qiwei.
From the initial rocket topic, to the proposal of the [cloud chamber], and then to the current [quantum mechanics].
Wilson watched Li Qiwei grow step by step, but the speed was a little too fast. "Teacher, what kind of response do you think Bruce's quantum theory will have?"
Thomson said: "I don't know, but at least Lord Kelvin's second dark cloud problem has been completely solved."
"Moreover, quantum mechanics has strong extensibility. I believe there will be a lot of new results in the future."
"Wilson, you need to talk more with Bruce and get involved in the research of new theories."
"Perhaps you can help Bruce find more powerful evidence and improve the foundation of his theory."
"Now it seems that quantum mechanics is just a hypothesis that happens to be self-consistent."
Wilson said, "I understand, mentor. I will pay close attention to quantum science."
"Like you, my intuition tells me that the theory must be correct. All that's left is experimental proof."
"And experiments happen to be what I am good at."
Thompson said: "Wilson, I am very happy that you think so."
"Although your talent is not as good as Bruce's, nor as good as your senior brother Rutherford, you are my favorite student."
"Because I see your passion and persistence for physics, which is very valuable."
“I hope you can keep up this excellent quality.”
Wilson said, "Thank you, tutor. When Bruce finishes his exam, I will bring him here and ask him why your name is not on the paper."
"He did the experiment at Cavendish."
Thomson laughed and said, "Maybe it's because he and Professor Planck had a good chat."
"But whatever achievements Bruce makes next will definitely belong to the laboratory."
"After all, he will soon become my doctoral student."
After saying this, the master and the disciple smiled at each other.
University of Berlin, Germany.
Planck was surrounded by a group of teachers and students at this time. Everyone was crazy and kept asking him questions.
"Professor Planck, was the result of that quantum mechanics paper completed by Bruce Lee alone, or did you also participate in a large part?"
"Professor Planck, may I ask why you are willing to be the corresponding author of the paper?"
“Is Bruce Lee really a Qing Dynasty Chinese? Is he really only 20 years old?”
"Professor, since you are Bruce Lee's honorary teacher, will you invite him to give a lecture at the University of Berlin?"
Looking at the excited students and colleagues with whom he had a good relationship, Planck could only smile bitterly.
The influence of this paper is so great that it is enough to drive all physics students crazy.
Of course, he and Li Qiwei will also face various tests in the future. Newton's classical mechanics is not so easy to overturn.
But Planck believed that the young man would solve everything. This was what his intuition told him.
So he comforted everyone and explained that Li Qiwei would soon come to the University of Berlin for a visiting scholar program, and only then did he disperse the crowd.
Wilhelm Röntgen, a 55-year-old physics professor at the University of Munich in Germany, was full of praise and laughed heartily after reading the paper on quantum mechanics.
Marie Curie, a 33-year-old female teacher at the Ecole Normale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, was extremely curious about Ridgway and felt that the concept of "quantum" could be used to explain the radioactivity of elements.
Ernest Rutherford, a 29-year-old physics professor at McGill University in Canada, had a gleam in his eyes. He was ready to return to England immediately to participate in the grand era that was about to begin.
At the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, after reading the paper, Einstein's breathing became rapid and his expression became excited. He wished he could fly to Li Qiwei's side immediately.
Countless physics giants who later became famous were shocked by Li Qiwei's paper.
Everyone had a premonition that physics was about to change!
At the same time, everyone also wanted to know who Bruce Lee, this Qing Dynasty man named Li Qiwei, was!
Thanks to [天地行健], [仙人覆你顶], [北维31111] for their recommendation votes. In the early stages of the new book, Lao Xu is looking forward to reading it, and there are also various votes. Thank you all the book friends~
(End of this chapter)