A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Naturally, Li Yu couldn't rush the busy Planck, and even if he started reviewing manuscripts, it would take at least ten days and a half months, or even longer.Who told this paper involving the theory of relativity to be too explosive, it is true that it is serious, and it is no exaggeration to shatter the three views.

However, Planck had previously reviewed Einstein's article on the existence of molecules. With this article and Planck's approval, Einstein will be able to receive a doctorate from the Zurich Institute of Technology this year.

Just let things come one by one.

Planck asked Li Yu: "Are you interested in listening to this defense meeting? You should know something about optics, otherwise you wouldn't do that strange single-photon experiment."

Li Yu was fine, so he agreed: "If it doesn't affect you, I'll join in the fun."

Laue's surname has "von" (von). In German, anyone with "von" in their name is basically a nobleman with fiefdoms.

According to tradition, the address should be added "Von", that is, von Laue.Laue's father was a senior official in the army and was later made a hereditary nobleman.

So Laue is a son with a title. Although it is not as high as the title of De Broglie later, Germany's emphasis on the army can be said to be unrivaled in Europe. The status of the von Laue family is not low in Germany. .

Otherwise, how could he be Planck's assistant.

It's all sophistication... right...

Including De Broglie's doctoral defense since then, it must have nothing to do with his grandfather who was the Prime Minister of France and his father who was the Minister of Defense!

Well, it doesn't matter!

Planck took out Laue's thesis. When Laue left the University of Göttingen and joined him at the University of Berlin, he once said that he was better at theoretical optics.

Just starting from Kirchhoff (the first big guy who studied spectroscopy), the University of Berlin has always attached importance to theoretical optics, and now it has been passed on to Planck. He also maintains the tradition of his predecessors offering seminars on theoretical optics.

Li Yu looked over and saw that the title of Laue's doctoral thesis was "Using the Principle of Energy Conservation to Study the Interference Theory of Parallel Interfaces", which was about wave optics.

Li Yu said with a smile: "If it's Wave Optics, I can only sit in on it."

Planck naturally understood the meaning of Li Yu's words: "Nowadays, not only Germany, but the entire European continent are more respectful of the wave theory of light."

Li Yu said with a smile: "Of course I admit that light is a kind of wave, but at the same time I also think it is a kind of particle."

Planck corrected Li Yu's words: "Your use of the word 'simultaneously' lacks consideration."

Li Yu spread his hands: "You have also read Einstein's paper on the photoelectric effect, and you know what I want to say."

Planck had no choice but to say euphemistically: "This matter has yet to be verified, and many scientific colleagues need to discuss it in detail."

Planck, as the first great god who proposed quantum, has seen Einstein's photoelectric effect on the hypothesis of "light quantum". In fact, he also accepted this theory deep in his heart.

However, after all, Planck is already a middle-aged man in his 40s with a social status, and it is impossible for him to openly make such a bold claim.

Moreover, since the beginning of the wave-particle dispute of light more than 300 years ago, the Huygens wave theory in the European continent defeated the British Newton's particle theory.

The ass decides the position, and the European continent's insistence on volatility is very traditional.

And the fact is that Young's double-slit interference experiment nailed Newton's particle theory to the coffin board.

If, just if, Mote said that it was revived, the British guy on the other side would be very happy.

Neither France, which has suffered a century-old enmity, nor the emerging Germany, which has just become the number one on the European continent, will not allow this to happen.I can't stand just thinking about the arrogant look of the Brits...

In the afternoon, Laue's thesis defense was officially held.

Li Yu sat in the back with several teachers who were not members of the defense committee.

After the members of the defense committee entered the arena, Li Yu couldn't help but marvel: This lineup is too luxurious!

First Laue's mentor Max Planck, then Nernst, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Berlin and director of the Second Institute of Chemistry, Emil Warburg, head of the Department of Physics at the University of Berlin, and mathematician Hermann Schwarz, and the German philosopher Borsen.

Including Laue, there are a total of three Nobel Prize winners.

(Although Li Yu took the credit of some people, after all, the Nobel Prize is often wronged by people. Regardless of Laue or Nernst, they will definitely not lose the Nobel Prize. After all, these people have a lot of credit for other aspects. )
The five judges sat down one by one in the front row, and then Laue began his defense.

His doctoral dissertation studied the phenomenon of reflection and interference of light after passing through a medium. The whole paper was theoretical, and there was no experimental content.

In the end, the jury unanimously gave an "excellent" evaluation.

Laue then gave his thanks again, and the people mentioned were all well-known in the history of science. In addition to the above defense committee members, Braun (1909 Nobel Prize winner in Physics), Hilbert, Klein In, Wallach (the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1910), Roentgen and more than a dozen of today's big figures in the scientific community.

Li Yuguang's scalp tingles when he heard these names. It is already very impressive for a person to meet one or two of them as mentors.

Laue has 5 Nobel laureates in the list of acknowledgments alone, and has had direct contact with all of them, but he has studied with the masters for a long time or a short time.

Laue's luck was so good that he was able to win the Nobel Prize with a bit of luck in it.

It's like eating the fruit of good luck.

After the defense, Planck made a summary: "We will streamline this paper and submit it to the Annals of Physics for publication."

The background is different, and soon this doctoral thesis was published in the "Annual Review of Physics", and it was even reduced from the original 58 pages to 19 pages.

What does this mean?
Humidity!It's okay to scale back that much...

Let’s look at our patent officer Einstein again. Although the quality of the paper is very high, he still has to wait in line for publication.

Of course, Laue later had a good personal relationship with Einstein.

-

Here in Berlin, thanks to the laboratory sponsored by Siemens, the experimental conditions are still good.

Li Yu has been researching cathode ray tubes recently. This thing is very popular, but pure research on cathode rays has basically done everything that should be done at the experimental level.

But even so, there is still a lot of room for development in the future, and it is very large: such as displays, radars, electron microscopes, oscilloscopes, etc.

It's just that the current cathode ray tube lacks the two key technologies of hot cathode and high vacuum, which makes it impossible to apply in the above-mentioned aspects.

Li Yu must understand the principles related to cathode ray tubes, but the technology of cathode ray tubes is really too old for him, so he has to continue to explore.

It's like getting used to modern automatic rifles, and suddenly giving you a front-loading gun with no rifling, matchlock trigger, manual loading of ammunition, and no standard bullets, you must be confused.

Fortunately, the extreme lack of entertainment activities at the beginning of the [-]th century led to no shortage of time. When you have nothing to do, you can tinker and fiddle with it and treat it as entertainment.

The laboratories built by Siemens are equipped with apartments, so accommodation is not a problem.

During his stay in Germany, Li Yu hastened to improve his familiarity with these old experimental equipment and exercised his experimental ability by the way.

In November, invitations came from the Netherlands.

The envelope is made of very textured parchment paper, and when you open it, you will know why it is so extravagant: there are two letters inside, one is written by Lorenz, and the other is a letter written by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.

Wilhelmina is the most respected queen in the history of the Netherlands. She has been on the throne for a long time. She ascended the throne at the age of ten in 1890 and has been queen for 58 years until 1948 when the Zen throne was given to her daughter.

Everyone in later generations will feel that the Netherlands is just a small wealthy Nordic country, but the Netherlands in the early [-]th century was an absolute power in Europe.Even with the rise of Britain and the defeat of the Franco-Dutch War, the reputation of the sea coachman has disappeared, but the Netherlands still has a large overseas territory, namely Indonesia, the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname.

The area of ​​overseas territories exceeds 60 times the land area of ​​the Netherlands; the population is as high as 3800 million, more than 6 times that of the Netherlands.

At this time, the level of economic development in the Netherlands was quite high, and foreign trade transactions were of great importance to the entire European continent; the banking and financial industries had always been traditional strengths, and even one tenth of the Dutch worked in the banking and financial systems.

Since then, due to its neutral status during the First World War, it has made a lot of money, and it has become Europe's "Utopia" and a big fat.

Li Yu had a good impression of the Netherlands. The Netherlands had no deep hatred for China, mainly because the aggression they provoked all ended in disastrous failure.

The first time was driven away from Treasure Island by Zheng Chenggong, everyone knows this very well.

Later, during the Korean War, the United States formed the United Nations Army, and the Netherlands sent 800 soldiers to form the Dutch Battalion.During the fourth battle, the Volunteer Army accidentally encountered the Dutch Battalion while interspersed. With just one meeting, the Dutch Battalion was wiped out in less than 20 minutes.

I've been really scared since then.

In fact, as a country with a small territory, the best strategy is not to use force, handle diplomacy well, and focus on trade. ——No one would have guessed that a lunatic like Mustache would come out later.

Li Yu really wanted to meet the rumored Three Musketeers of the Dutch Nobel Prize.

In Queen Wilhelmina's letter, she also invited Bi Cheng, a talented woman, hoping to meet what is called "a talented man and a beautiful woman".

The Netherlands has always been good at doing business. Naturally, there are many people who know foreign languages ​​in order to do business. This idiom is used quite accurately. The four words in the letter are even written in Chinese.

Lu Bicheng was very happy after seeing it, and immediately prepared his luggage.

After they set off for the station, Konoe Zhaoxue in the room couldn't help but fell into deep thought: The situation is getting worse and worse, I really can't figure out how she is better than herself?
In terms of beauty, she can't compare to herself; in terms of resourcefulness, Konoe Zhaoxue is absolutely confident that she is much better than her, but the reality is slapped in the face again and again.