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

After the Nobel Prize was awarded in 1907, the selection process for 1908 quickly began. Li Yu received a letter from the Nobel Prize Committee, asking him to recommend another person.

Li Yu wanted to recommend Planck.There are many people with similar ideas in Europe, such as Swedish scientist Arrhenius who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1903 for his ionization theory.

But their reasons for recommending Planck were mostly related to atomic theory.

Planck's contribution to atomic theory in recent years has been considerable. The most important thing is that his radiation theory unexpectedly re-derived the Boltzmann constant k and provided the relationship between electrodynamics and atomic hypotheses.

This is the expression of later generations.

According to Arrhenius and others, the significance of Boltzmann's constant k is to give clues to the connection between ether and matter.

It's just that Planck himself has been studying Einstein's theory of relativity since 1905, so even if he is conservative, he cannot fully agree with this statement.

But in any case, Boltzmann's constant k was originally born based on atomic theory, so Planck's work finally strongly supported atomic theory, which was a major achievement.

As for the black body radiation formula and quantum theory that made Planck truly famous, the scientific community has not yet realized their importance.

It’s better to let the bullets fly for a while and wait until the foundation of quantum mechanics is firmly established.

Moreover, Planck's scientific status is already very high, and he is a long-lived man. It is not very important whether he wins the Nobel Prize sooner or later.

Therefore, Li Yu still wrote back and recommended Professor Lippmann from France according to historical circumstances.

In the Berlin Laboratory, Planck came in with a magazine and said to Li Yu: "I sorted it out and found that you don't seem to have submitted a manuscript to our "Annals of Physics". It's really... a bit unreasonable."

Most of Li Yu's manuscripts were written for the Proceedings of the Royal Society and the American "Science".But it seems that the current authoritative magazine in the physics community, the "Annals of Physics" edited by Planck, has never submitted it.

After all, it is an important magazine where Einstein published his Theory of Relativity.

Li Yu hurriedly said: "I'm about to vote."

"That's more or less the same," Planck said. "I already have a topic in mind, which is the article you wrote for the British magazine Nature on the isotope hypothesis. It reminds me of Plaut, who has disappeared somewhat in recent years. special hypothesis."

"Prott's hypothesis?" This name was a bit unfamiliar to Li Yu.

Planck said: "Almost eight or ninety years ago, the British chemist Plaut speculated through experimental observations that hydrogen atoms are meta-particles of various elements. In other words, the number of atoms of other elements is an integer multiple of hydrogen atoms. However, In recent years, many chemists have discovered that the atomic number of some elements is not an integer.

"If according to what you said, there are isotopes in atoms, then Plaut's hypothesis may still be tenable, but Plaut was not very accurate and chose the wrong meta-particle."

Li Yu understood it as soon as he heard it, so he said: "It can be inferred from the professor's quantum theory that there must be a minimum unit, and integer multiples are undisputed."

"I'm not as sure as you are," Planck said. "Many professors today don't even recognize atoms, let alone smaller metaparticles."

"The experiment has exposed clues, and it's impossible not to admit it," Li Yu said firmly, "and the material world not only has a lower limit such as the smallest unit, but also an upper limit, such as temperature."

Li Yu listed the calculation formula on the paper and continued: "According to the professor's black body radiation theory, the wavelength of electromagnetic waves radiated by an object depends on the temperature of the object.

“The electromagnetic wave radiated by boiling water is about 7800nm ​​(that is, medium-wave infrared rays);
“The temperature of the sun’s surface is about 5500 degrees, and the wavelength of electromagnetic waves radiated is about 500nm;

"The core temperature of the sun is 1600 million degrees, and the electromagnetic wave radiated is 0.18nm (the range of X-rays)."

If I continue writing later, the core temperature of the atomic bomb explosion is 3.5 million degrees, and the electromagnetic radiation is very scary. The wavelength is as small as 0.0083nm, which is gamma rays.

However, considering that the atomic bomb had not yet appeared, Li Yu did not mention this matter.

But just writing about the core temperature of the sun, Planck already understood: "The wavelength cannot be infinitely small, there is a lower limit."

Li Yu said: "The Planck length named after the professor is the minimum value. Substituting the Planck length into the calculation, we got this number."

Li Yu wrote the result of "1.4 trillion trillion degrees", and it is not complicated to calculate it.

Planck said: "There is still an integer multiple relationship, but it is hidden deeper, at the minimum length."

As long as the words "integer multiples" appear, it often indicates that it has a close relationship with quantum mechanics.

Li Yu said: "But this temperature will never be reached."

Planck said: "Never reach it?"

"Yes," Li Yu said, "just like absolute zero, it can never be reached."

Planck immediately asked a very profound question: "Absolute zero represents the temperature at which the thermal motion of molecules stops; and what does absolute zero represent?"

In fact, current scientists do not know that particles in the microscopic world cannot be stationary, because once they are stationary, you will know its position and momentum at the same time, which violates the uncertainty principle.

This is something.

Li Yu said: "Do you still remember Mr. Einstein's paper two years ago, which mentioned the mass-energy equation?"

Planck nodded: "I remember, he said that energy is mass and mass is energy."

Li Yu said: "When this temperature is reached, a new universe may be created."

Planck naturally could not have heard of such a shocking big bang theory, and wondered: "Created the universe!?"

Li Yu said: "Because reaching 1.4 trillion trillion degrees requires the energy of the entire universe; and if this temperature is created, a universe will naturally be created."

Planck took a breath and continued to ask: "What does it have to do with the mass-energy equation?"

Li Yu said: "At this temperature, or at this temperature at the very beginning of the birth of the universe, there is no matter, only energy."

"Only energy?!" Although Planck had studied the theory of relativity, he still couldn't understand this idea.

Everyone knows that matter is converted into energy, which happens when atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs explode.

The conversion of energy into matter seems to have only happened at the birth of the universe.

But Li Yu didn't dare to go too deep, so he laughed and said, "It's just a guess on my part."

Planck pondered for a while and said: "It is indeed a very profound conjecture, that's it! Use it when you submit your manuscript to the "Annals of Physics"."

Li Yu laughed again and said: "Then you will have to risk the disapproval of the world again, because there is not only quantum theory, but also relativity theory."

"Don't worry, I'm the editor-in-chief, I will definitely publish it!" Planck said, "And you young people are the perfect fit for scientific adventures. Even if someone objects, I can block it for you in the editorial department."

Li Yu said, "Okay, I'll write it out in the next two days."

The article was written very quickly. After all, it was purely theoretical physics, and Li Yu was the best at it.

He started from the original Plaut hypothesis, talked about the isotope hypothesis, and quoted Planck's quantum theory and the mass-energy equation of the theory of relativity. The content was very informative.

Planck thought that Li Yu would write it for a few weeks, but he didn't expect that he would give it to him on the third day. Looking at the dozens of pages of manuscript in his hand, Planck said in surprise: "That's too fast!" Li Yu clapped his hands. : "It's already very slow. If there was a computer... Oh, if there was a typewriter, I could have given it to you yesterday."

"The first article in this issue of "Annals of Physics" will be yours!" Planck said excitedly.

Li Yu waved his hand and was about to go out for a walk to get some fresh air. As soon as he went out, he met Carl Siemens, the boss of Siemens Company, who came over.

There was a middle-aged man next to Carl Siemens. He introduced: "This is Mr. Walter Rathenau, general manager of General Electric Power of Germany."

Rathenau later became well-known in German politics, but was assassinated by Germany's extreme right-wing forces in 1922.

Li Yu shook hands with him.

Rathenau said: "When I was communicating with Mr. Siemens, I mentioned that Mr. Li Yu is the best scientist in the world today. I want to invest in a project and need his help."

Li Yu said: "Sir, please tell me briefly and I will see if I can help."

Rathenau said: "I have inspected the aviation industry and believe that it has a broad future. However, the core power problem has not been solved, so I want to find outstanding scientists to participate."

Rathenau is now a German electrical giant and very wealthy.

He is also a Jew with a ruthless business vision.

——The assassination naturally has a lot to do with his Jewish identity.

Rathenau was indeed somewhat high-profile, publicly saying in a newspaper: "Three hundred Jews, who all know each other, govern the destiny of the entire European continent and choose their successors from among their followers."

Isn't this just looking for trouble?Anti-Semitic sentiment already exists in Europe, and Germany is the worst place.

So it is better to keep a low profile. For example, those wealthy Jewish businessmen in the Shanghai Concession are low-key enough.

Li Yu said: "As for aviation, I do have some experience, but I have already reached cooperation with Mr. Bell in the United States."

"It has no impact," Rathenau said. "I can provide the funds. The patent rights are still in your hands. I only need the right to use them."

Li Yu thought for a while and said, "Yes, but I have a condition."

Rathenau, a businessman, said immediately: "Please speak."

Li Yu said: "I am building a factory in China to manufacture auto parts and radio equipment. Now I am facing expansion and need some funds. But the Qing Dynasty does not have a complete shareholding system, so I can only borrow debt. I hope Mr. Rathenau can help me Issue a batch of bonds to raise funds.”

Rathenau said: "I thought it was something. With Mr.'s credibility and LY Radio's excellent performance, the bonds are great for issuance! Tell me, how much capital is needed?"

Li Yu said: "A total of 4000 million marks are needed, but it will be issued in batches."

4000 million marks is about 500 million taels, or 1000 million US dollars.

Rathenau said: "How many are needed for the first batch?"

Li Yu said: "400 million marks."

"Yes!" Rathenau said, "I can help you do it."

Li Yu said gratefully: "Thank you very much."

Rathenau was very well-positioned in Germany's industrial, financial and political circles. During World War I, he served as the director of Germany's War Resources Bureau. As you can tell from the name, it was a very key position.

Li Yu planned to fish with bait first and slowly raise all 4000 million marks.

It has to be Mark!
Li Yu did this with sufficient consideration.

Because by the time of World War I, the German mark would have devalued by a trillion times!
The 4000 million marks before the war were less than 1 mark by then, and could be paid back easily.

There are many people who do this, such as Smart Sweden.

Anyway, everyone was going crazy on Germany at that time, and 4000 million marks was just a sprinkling of money.

But for Li Yu, the most important thing is that Germany accounted for the majority of the Gengzi compensation, almost 9000 million taels!

You have to find a way to get some back from them.

Li Yu only got back 400 million this time, so what does it count?
Anyway, after thinking about this, Li Yu doesn't feel guilty at all.

Of course, this matter must be given a sweetener first. If the bond of 400 million marks can be repaid smoothly, there will be 4000 million marks later.

It is easy to borrow and repay, and it is not difficult to borrow again.

Rathenau agreed to Li Yu's request, and Li Yu naturally agreed to him: "I will immediately start the development of aeroengines."

Rathenau said: "As long as you agree to take action, I have full confidence."

Carl Siemens is also optimistic about this undertaking: "I will arrange the materials and equipment needed for the laboratory immediately."

Germany's industrial strength is indeed strong. This laboratory in Berlin is Li Yu's best laboratory, even better than the one on Fifth Avenue.

A few days later, the development conditions were ready.

What Li Yu wants to build is not too complicated, it is a very early rotary cylinder engine.

——Even if Li Yu doesn't take action, the French will do it next year.

The word "Xuan" can be understood as rotation, so the rotary cylinder engine is also a radial engine. Before the emergence of turbine engines, most aircraft engines adopted a radial design.

There are already some examples of radial engines on the market. Li Yu only needs to make some improvements to them: fix the crankshaft in the middle of the engine and let a circle of cylinders around the crankshaft rotate around the fixed crankshaft.

Until the 20s, rotary cylinder engines were the mainstream of aerospace engines.

That is to say, this design can be used for about ten years.

The United States and France have been developing aero engines for several years now. Compared with the aero engines currently in use, the biggest advantage of rotary engines is heat dissipation.

In order to achieve high power and heat dissipation, previous engines were very heavy and carried an external radiator.

For aircraft, weight reduction is the core, so as long as a rotary-cylinder engine is made that is lightweight and has good heat dissipation, it will inevitably become the mainstream and dominate the market.

The price of this thing is high. If it is produced domestically, and the shipping costs are included, it is completely acceptable in other countries.

Of course, the disadvantages of the rotary cylinder engine are also obvious, such as high fuel consumption and poor maneuverability. But these problems will be discussed ten years later. Li Yu does not want Western technology to develop too fast, and it must be within a controllable range.