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

Chapter 577 Emotional Injury

There is no doubt that Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn both made great contributions to nuclear fission.

A simple understanding is that Otto Hahn was responsible for the experimental and chemical parts, while Lise Meitner laid the foundation for nuclear fission in physical theory and verified the infinite energy contained in Einstein's mass-energy equation.

The name "nuclear fission" was also given by Liz Meitner.

Any high-precision science or technology must first have a solid theoretical foundation, and then it can be gradually applied. There is absolutely no chance of relying on "trial" and experience.

This is the credit of Lise Meitner, who can be said to be the "mother of the atomic bomb".

Since then, mankind has mastered the terrifying nuclear energy, which has also influenced the direction of history.

Lise Meitner herself, like Einstein, was a pacifist. She was once invited to participate in the Manhattan Project in the United States, but she declined.

"I want to distance myself from bombs," Meitner said.

She really couldn't let go of the painful memories before, and she didn't want to participate in any weapon development anymore.

Just talking about the people around her, she saw Hahn's son losing a leg in World War I; Planck's son was executed by the Nazis for participating in the plan to assassinate Hitler.

In addition, Otto Hahn, who was in Germany during World War II, also opposed the creation of atomic bombs and refused to participate in Germany's atomic bomb project.

The two agreed on this.

However, when World War II ended and the Nobel Prize selection process began, Meitner was ignored.

The 1945 Nobel Prize jury did not award her the award, but only awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Otto Hahn. (Due to the war, the 1944 Nobel Prize was announced in 1945 and not awarded until 1946.)

Pauli, Bohr and other big names were very dissatisfied with Liz Meitner's failure to win the award and nominated her one after another.

Pauli was a god of hatred for heaven, earth, and air. He believed that Meitner had become a victim of the wrong era. He once said: "In 1944, the importance of nuclear fission had not yet been officially recognized, and chemists mainly focused on Interested in the work of Otto Hahn. If it had been known at that time that fission was so important, and if the prize had been awarded after the war, then it is obvious that Meitner should have been included. It often takes a great experiment to be understood For several years, this experiment was done in 1939, and a large amount of work on fission was classified immediately after it was completed in France, Britain and the United States, so the importance of fission was not generally recognized in time. She should The physics prize came in the same year that Hahn won the chemistry prize because she quickly rewrote the theory less than a week after getting hard data that she believed in."

Since then, Liz Meitner has been nominated many times, but unfortunately she has not been able to win the award.

Otto Hahn's statement made Liz Meitner even more sad.

Hahn insists that he accomplished these achievements alone, with Meitner playing only an assistant role.

Instead of thanking Meitner for her work, Hahn described her as a resentful, disappointed woman who was deeply jealous of her award.

Their thirty-year friendship was wiped out.

Their differences grew after the war, with Liesl Meitner being Jewish and Otto Hahn being German. Otto Hahn never acknowledged the atrocities committed by Germany during the war and only pursued post-war economic assistance from other countries. This was difficult for Meitner to accept.

Meitner attended the Nobel Prize Ceremony, and Otto Hahn barely mentioned Meitner in his speech.

Meitner was even sadder. She told a friend: "I feel very painful that Hahn will never mention me in interviews, will not mention that we worked together for 30 years. His motivations appear to be complicated in some ways." Yes, he really believed that Germany had been treated unfairly. The more this happened, the more he wanted to hide the past. As a result, the only thing he thought about when he was here was to complain about Germany. As for me, I am the hidden past a part of."

From then on, the two were no longer friends, let alone working together.

Fortunately, although Lise Meitner did not win the Nobel Prize, she still gained a high reputation and became a foreign academician of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. ——In the 200-year history of the academy’s establishment, she is the third female academician to be elected. The first two are Eva Ekblad, who was elected in 1748, and Marie Curie, who was elected in 1910.

Meitner passed away in 1968. Coincidentally, Hahn also died the same year.

Life is full of regrets.

-

Li Yu didn't dare to stay in their laboratory for too long, because after all, Hahn and Meitner were engaged in radioactive research...

Not only do Americans think radioactivity is a good thing, but Europe is no less conciliatory, but not as crazy as Americans.

When he arrived at Einstein's Institute of Physics, Li Yu found that Fritz Haber and his wife were also there.

"Albert," Harper asked in a deep voice, "have you made up your mind?"

Einstein was silent for a moment, and seemed to have made a great decision: "Just give it to her."

Li Yu happened to walk in and saw Haber holding a piece of paper full of words in his hand, so he asked, "What happened?"

"Mr. Li Yu, please try to persuade me," Haber said. "Your friend Einstein has already written an ultimatum."

"Ultimate order?" Li Yu asked.

Haber handed the piece of paper to Li Yu, "Read it for yourself."

On the paper is Einstein's handwriting, which is the "terms of contract" written to his wife Mileva:

条件

A. You are responsible for:

1) Take good care of all my clothes;

2) Arrange my three meals a day in my room at regular intervals;

3) The neatness of my bedroom and study, especially the desk for my sole use.

B. You give up all personal relations with me - unless it is necessary for some social reasons

This relationship must be maintained. In particular, you waive the following requirements:

1) Ask me to sit with you at home,

2) Want me to go out or travel with you.

C. In terms of your relationship with us, you must abide by the following:

1) Don’t expect any intimacy from me, and don’t give me any accusations;

2) When talking to me, if I make a request, you must stop immediately;

3) If I make a request, you must leave my bedroom or study immediately and must not talk back.

D. Promise not to belittle me with words or actions in front of our children.

Li Yu said helplessly: "Has your relationship reached this point?"

"It has been like this for a long time," Einstein said. "It has been like this even before I arrived in Berlin. I can no longer stand Mileva's gloominess. I can't feel any happiness every time I go home."

Li Yu said: "Marriage breakdown is a downward spiral, and it will enter a vicious circle, getting worse and worse."

"I envy you for being able to come up with such a beautiful metaphor. But you are right, this is a vicious cycle," Einstein said. "And I just learned not long ago that after moving to Berlin, Mileva and Zagre He maintained an affair with Vladimir, one of Boo’s mathematics professors.”

Li Yu felt shocked, "How are you going to face it?"

Einstein said: "I don't resent any of them, but I do feel more and more painful and lonely." Europeans' emotional concepts are really different from those in Asia.

It seems that Einstein is not in the mood for research recently, and just wants to get rid of family chores first.

Haber acted as the mediator and gave the "contract" to Mileva.

I thought that no woman would agree to such harsh terms, but Mileva actually accepted it!

Einstein then wrote a more straightforward letter to her: "I hope you fully understand the current situation. The reason why I am preparing to live with you again is because I don't want to lose my children, and neither do they." Lose me. The harmonious relationship can no longer continue, but I will maintain a 'business' relationship, and the personal aspect must be reduced to a very small scope. But I promise you that I will treat you with a proper attitude. It’s like I’m facing a strange woman.”

The writing is quite heartbreaking.

Mileva finally realized that their relationship was irreparable.

She could only agree to work out a separation agreement with Einstein at Haber's house.

Einstein was willing to provide Mileva and the children with annual support of 5600 marks.

However, Einstein did not show up when the agreement was drawn up and entrusted a lawyer to handle it.

Feeling exhausted physically and mentally, he took Li Yu to a pub to drink beer.

German beer is considered to be the best in Europe, but now Einstein can't taste it.

"I'm not going to get married anymore," Einstein said.

Li Yu said: "A Chinese writer once said that marriage is like a besieged city. People on the outside want to get in, and people on the inside want to get out."

Einstein said: "This sentence sums it up so well. But sometimes I also wonder whether it is not necessary to become a slave to marriage by maintaining a warm relationship."

"Since the birth of human civilization, we have known that this idea is impossible, not only because it is too irresponsible, but also because it will lead to social chaos." Li Yu said.

"Of course I know, it's just a casual sigh," Einstein sighed. "What pains me most is that if Mileva returns to Switzerland, she will take away my two children. I admit that I cannot live without them. I used to hold the children in my arms for countless days and nights, push them around in strollers, play with them, climb up and down, and have fun. In the past, they would cheer when I appeared, - my youngest son still can’t do it until now. would cheer because he was too young to understand what was happening. And now they will never come back, and the image of their father will slowly fade away in their minds!"

As the old saying goes, your wife is always someone else's best friend, and your children are always your best friend.

Einstein's children admired their father, a top scientific tycoon, but trivial matters in life had to separate them.

Li Yu could only say: "Children will always be the bond of their parents. You can visit them more in the future."

Einstein sighed again: "Mileva will definitely use this to blackmail me."

The couple remained in a stalemate until 1919 when they finally divorced.

However, the relationship over the past few years has been considered divorced.

The two drank for a while, and then Haber came to the beer hall.

"Mileva signed it." Haber placed the separation agreement in front of Einstein.

Einstein glanced at it and asked, "When will she leave Berlin?"

"It probably won't take long," Haber said.

Einstein poured him a glass of beer: "You two friends with harmonious families, have a drink with me."

"Don't be too sad," Haber said. "No one can say what the future will bring."

Haber's life was actually much more miserable than Einstein's. After World War I, his wife opposed Haber's participation in the war and the creation of terrible chemical weapons. Because the struggle was fruitless, she committed suicide a year later.

Li Yu was about to change this gloomy emotional topic, but the three elders couldn't talk about it.

"In recent magazines such as the Annals of Physics, it seems that well-known physicists are opposing your outline of general relativity." Li Yu said.

Einstein said: "This shows that people have devoted enough attention and energy to the theory of relativity. At last year's annual physics meeting, Gustav M and others had a heated debate with me. But in fact, I like to argue, It will bring more attention to the theory of relativity."

This man named Gustav Mi is also a physicist. He proposed that overmeter scattering, combined with Rayleigh scattering, can explain some atmospheric phenomena. In addition, he also prefers the theory of gravity, or Newtonian mechanics.

"The most troublesome thing was the opposition from the Prussian Academy of Sciences," Haber said.

Einstein said: "There is no way. After all, my outline of general relativity is only a rough version. But some of the relationships between space and gravity that I proposed are expected to be confirmed during this year's solar eclipse. These people must not say anything more then." "

Of course, Li Yu knew that the observation of this solar eclipse would not be successful, so he said: "Observation is one aspect, and we must also complete the demonstration of general relativity mathematically."

After hearing this, Einstein said: "My current gravitational equation is not generalized covariant, which has troubled me for a long time. If the field is mathematically completely determined by matter, then it is easy to prove that the theory with generalized covariant equations It cannot exist."

Einstein was apparently still stuck on mathematics.

Li Yu said: "How to solve tensors mathematically is the most important challenge."

"At least there is hope. I should be able to prove immediately that the gravitational equation still holds for any moving reference frame, so the hypothesis about the equivalence of acceleration and the gravitational field is absolutely correct," Einstein said. "Although nature only treats the lion's The tail is revealed to us, but I am convinced that the lion is a huge creature and the whole thing cannot be revealed to us at once. What we see is like a louse that bites a lion."

"If it works, I think you'll wipe out all the darkness in your life," Haber said.

Einstein was quite confident: "I will definitely catch up with Hilbert! Although he is a very good mathematician, I will never let a mathematician surpass me in physics."

Li Yu smiled and said: "The mathematicians in Göttingen are trying their best to 'rectify' physics. I also hope you can succeed as soon as possible, otherwise the situation of all physicists will be really embarrassing."

Einstein said: "We won't wait too long. Even if theoretical physicists don't take action in the current situation, astronomers will help us. After all, physics still has the path of experimentation and observation."

Li Yu could only say: "I hope everything goes well."

Good things take their time, it won’t take long anyway.

(End of this chapter)