Chapter 41: Conflict with Confucians
As Lord Kelvin said: "The speech is over, please raise your hands to speak", the venue suddenly became lively.
An exciting atmosphere instantly spread, and everyone was alert for fear of missing a word.
No one in the venue responded first, everyone was just waiting and watching.
After a while, an old man with white hair raised his hand, and Lord Kelvin immediately signaled him to ask a question.
"Hello, Bruce. I am Professor Cross from the Department of Physics at Oxford University. My main research area is classical mechanics. I would like to ask you a question."
Li Qiwei also quickly responded: "Hello, Professor Cross, please ask your question."
Cross said: "The great sage Leibniz once said: There is no continuity in nature. The calculus he and Newton created is based on the principle that the quantity being processed must be continuous."
"If, as you say, energy is in pieces and not continuous, then doesn't that go against the conclusion of the ancient sages?"
"Galileo used the results of the Leaning Tower experiment to prove that heavier objects do not fall faster, and he shouted, 'Aristotle was wrong!'" Ridgway said.
"Thomas Young proved that light can also interfere through the double-slit interference experiment. He thought that Newton's particle theory might be wrong."
“So even the ancient sages can make mistakes sometimes, and we cannot regard their words as absolute truth.”
“I respect those great scientific predecessors, but I respect the greater truth of the universe even more.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he won applause.
The answer is very good. You said that I went against the conclusion of the ancients. Then instead of proving that I am right, I said that the ancients can also make mistakes.
Planck and Lord Kelvin looked at Ridgway with great satisfaction.
At this time, another Oxford professor raised his hand and said, his temper was obviously not good, "Bruce, you are sophistry."
"Let me ask you, if energy is discontinuous, then why is the energy we perceive as continuous, such as flames, sunlight, etc."
Many people nodded slightly in agreement, saying that this question had a good angle of approach.
"That's because our human senses cannot accurately receive information about the microscopic world," Ridgway said.
"Under the guidance of Professor Thomson, I studied atoms and their structure. Although I couldn't see what atoms looked like with my naked eyes, I could tell through instruments that they were particles one by one."
"Instead, atoms cannot exist, as our ancestors believed."
"Similarly, energy also exists in pieces at the extremely microscopic scale, but existing instruments cannot observe and measure it."
The professor then asked, "Since it cannot be observed, how can you prove it is correct?"
“My paper has proven that any situation of blackbody radiation can be perfectly explained using [quantum] concepts,” Ridgway said. “Professor Planck has already done additional experiments in the laboratory.”
At this time, Planck continued: "Yes, the experimental results show that the predicted values of the [Lee-Planck radiation formula] are no different from the experimental values."
“Moreover, with the [quantum] concept, we can perfectly integrate Wien’s formula and Rayleigh-Jeans formula using interpolation.”
"I have published the relevant experimental results in the Annals of Physics. If you are interested, you can read it."
After saying that, he nodded to the two big guys, Wayne and Rayleigh, in the audience.
The Oxford professor was speechless after the refutation and could only sit down angrily with a somewhat unnatural expression.
At this time, a young man suddenly did not follow the meeting rules and stood up and cursed: "This is simply nonsense."
"Don't listen to this Oriental man's lies. How can the world be discontinuous? He must have been sent by the Qing Dynasty to disrupt our European science."
"Down with the heretic Bruce Lee."
There was a sudden commotion in the meeting hall, and Lord Kelvin's expression changed visibly.
He shouted loudly: "Guards, quickly expel this rude person. This is a sacred scientific discussion meeting, and no impudence is allowed."
Then, he apologized to Li Qiwei and the people present. The scale of this meeting was so large that it was easy for some people with ulterior motives to sneak in.
Everyone soon quieted down. These were all highly qualified human elites. No one took this little episode to heart. Instead, they were all thinking about how to understand [quantum].
At this time, another physics professor from Oxford asked a question. When everyone heard him say he was from Oxford, they all laughed at the same time.
As for the open and covert struggles between Oxford and Cambridge, everyone present was happy to watch. As long as it was a normal academic confrontation, everyone agreed with it.
"Hello, Bruce, assuming that your [quantum] theory is correct, doesn't that mean that the three pillars of classical physics are all wrong?"
"Since energy is discontinuous, the force that can produce energy must also be discontinuous, so F=ma is wrong."
"Electromagnetic waves are also energy, so they must be discontinuous, so Maxwell's equations are wrong."
"Heat is also a form of energy, so thermal theory and statistical mechanics are also wrong."
"If we continue to reason like this, doesn't it mean that everything that everyone present has learned in their entire lives is wrong? Do you think this is possible?"
"But if we are really wrong, then why can we invent the telegraph, predict the trajectory of celestial bodies, let steel ships sail on the sea, and let cars completely liberate human legs."
"If classical physics is wrong, then is the whole world an illusion?"
As expected, the professor's questions were so powerful and went straight to the point that everyone present was moved, even Lord Kelvin had a solemn expression.
He could understand that feeling very well, the sense of loss of being abandoned by the body.
Professor Planck was even stunned because it touched his heart.
Historically, within five years after Planck published his quantum theory, he had been trying to overturn his own views.
Because this completely went against his three views, he tried hard to reduce [quantum] to the framework of classical physics, but it turned out to be impossible.
So during that period of time, he was often in a trance and did not communicate with others.
Li Qiwei rarely answered immediately, but thought quietly, because the question was too heartbreaking and he had to think of the appropriate wording.
There was silence in the meeting room, and everyone was waiting for his response.
Finally, Li Qiwei spoke, "I have always believed that existing physical theories are only approximations of higher-level theories."
"When we discuss macroscopic and low-speed situations, using approximate concepts can often save a lot of computation."
"For example, for a group of molecules, we don't need to understand the precise properties of each molecule, but we can use statistical mechanics to explain and predict the macroscopic properties of the group of molecules."
“Just like we cannot explain the origin and mechanism of human consciousness, but we can still use it to create physical concepts, observe the world, and explain the world.”
“So, I think the [quantum] concept is a component of a higher-level physical theory.”
"Under that theory, even everything in the world is made up of [quanta]."
"But none of this affects our use of approximate theories to explain everything."
“Nature contains deeper truths in flowers, plants and trees. Even if we cannot understand them, we can appreciate their beauty, or grow flowers and plants, and burn trees to improve our lives.”
Finally, Li Qiwei added, "I think this is the Creator's mercy to mankind."
Wow!
The venue was in complete uproar, and everyone was shocked beyond words by Li Qiwei's explanation.
Regarding the issue of adding more chapters, everyone, adding more chapters during the new book period is very disadvantageous, so I beg for your understanding. Lao Xu's followers are not enough, and now there are not enough recommendations. Adding more chapters is a dead end. I will polish the plot well and try to make everyone enjoy it.
(End of this chapter)