shadow of britain

Chapter 543 Dream Reality
Two years may be a short time in a person's life, but two years is enough to bring about a qualitative change in a person's life. What kind of contribution did Arthur Hastings make to the progress of human civilization during his tenure as the Chancellor of the University of Göttingen and the Special Representative of the State from 1833 to 1834?
He rediscovered George Ohm, who had been buried in the academic world. This future Copley Medal winner and famous scientist in Europe shone brightly at the University of Göttingen. With the help of Arthur Hastings, Gauss and Weber built the world's first geomagnetic monitoring station, and founded the Göttingen Electromagnetic Society with Alexander von Humboldt and Charles Wheatstone.

Bismarck, the future iron-blooded chancellor of the German Empire, first showed his prowess in Göttingen. Although he was just an irritable young boy at that time, Arthur quickly taught him the skills to deal with "reptiles". While Bismarck was showing off his power in the Gestapo, a child from an ordinary farmer's family traveled over a hundred miles across mountains and rivers to the small Hanoverian city of Göttingen.

Although this child would become a major figure in the German industrial world many years later, with wealth that the whole world would envy, at that time, he was still worried about the tuition for university. He wanted to continue to engage in the noble profession of practical science, but if he could not solve the financial problem, he would have to face the cruel reality of giving up his dream and dropping out of school.

-- Elder Carter, Arthur Hastings and the Liberal Constitutional Reform of the Kingdom of Hanover

In the laboratory of the University of Göttingen, the air is filled with a slight metallic smell.

The newly renovated laboratory is spacious and bright, but since the latest instruments have not yet arrived, there are currently only a few simple wooden tables piled with books, manuscripts and instruments, and various circuit diagrams and hand-drawn sketches by scientists are hung on the walls.

Gauss, Weber, Ohm and Arthur gathered around a laboratory table filled with various copper coils, batteries and magnets.

However, although there were four people standing here, only Ohm was actually doing the work.

It was not that Gauss, Weber and Arthur were unwilling to help, but that they wanted to see with their own eyes how Ohm himself would replicate the experiment.

Ohm did not use many experimental equipment, only a few thermoelectric batteries, a long copper wire, a sliding resistor and two crude ammeters he made himself.

Under the gaze of everyone, Ohm's forehead was covered with sweat. He carefully connected the circuit, taking every step cautiously to ensure good contact.

He knew that these experiments were not only to verify his ideas, but also to prove to the academic community that the linear relationship between current and voltage is universal and is not affected by materials or current direction. Moreover, this might be his last chance in this life.

The mathematical giant Johann Carl Gauss, the electromagnetism genius William Weber, and Arthur Hastings, the second best electromagnet in Britain after Faraday, are all watching!
He then connected the galvanometer to the copper wire, and as the current was turned on, the galvanometer needle jumped slightly, indicating the current passing through the wire. Ohm knew that every data he was about to measure was crucial.

He adjusted the voltage of the battery, and after each change, he carefully recorded the voltage and current values. His hand held the voltmeter steadily, observing and thinking. After each record, Ohm would pause for a moment to carefully check the data to make sure there were no mistakes.

As the data was recorded on paper line by line, Gauss, who was extremely sensitive to numbers, had already seen the subtleties.

However, the cautious Gauss did not immediately express his opinion. Instead, he politely asked Ohm: "Excuse me, Mr. Ohm, can you lend me this sliding rheostat?"

When Ohm heard Gauss speak, he immediately took off the sliding rheostat and handed it to him with both hands: "Of course, you can use it as long as you want."

"Thank you." Gauss took the sliding rheostat, turned around silently, and began to build the circuit again using the equipment in the laboratory.

Although Ohm had verified the experiment in front of him, Gauss still had doubts about the final result, because he suspected that the linear relationship between current and voltage might be due to the insufficient accuracy of Ohm's homemade ammeter.

Gauss had already started the experiment over there, but Weber and Arthur were still surrounding the laboratory table, looking over and over again at the manuscript paper that recorded the experimental data.

Weber raised his eyebrows, nudged Arthur beside him with his elbow, and asked in a low voice: "Sir, have you figured it out?"

Arthur didn't say anything. He just picked up the pen on the laboratory table and wrote a formula on the blank space on the paper - Voltage = Current X Resistance.

Weber saw this line of formula, turned his head and looked at the experimental data, and couldn't help laughing: "Mr. Navi and Mr. Coriolis wrote to you before, saying that you are a mathematical genius. I didn't believe it at the time, but now it seems that they are right."

When Ohm saw the formula Arthur wrote down, he clenched his fists with excitement.

This is not only because Arthur expressed his recognition of the accuracy of the experimental data, but also because Arthur actually wrote the word "resistance" directly.

You know, the reason why he was widely attacked in "The Calculation of Electric Current" was because he proposed the new concept of "resistance".

In this era, electricity was still an emerging field, and many basic concepts had not yet been fully established. In addition, most researchers lacked sufficiently sophisticated experimental equipment to measure the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance. Therefore, the concept of resistance was not widely accepted by the scientific community, and was not as clear as it would later be.

As the second most important figure in electromagnetism in Britain and one of the academic authorities in electromagnetism in Europe, Sir Arthur Hastings's courage to write the word "resistance" is enough to illustrate his attitude.

Arthur turned on the current switch on the laboratory table and casually put the cigar head in front of the electric spark. Bright sparks and light blue smoke slowly rose in the laboratory: "I support Mr. George Ohm's argument."

When Ohm heard these words, the burden that had been weighing on him for six years seemed to be taken away all at once. His calves became a little weak, so he had to hold on to the laboratory table to barely stand.

Weber noticed Ohm's action out of the corner of his eye, but he pretended not to see it. As a natural philosopher, Weber knew what Arthur's words meant to Ohm, so he did not want to disturb the excited Ohm, because he was afraid that the gentleman would not be able to hold back his tears, which would be too disrespectful to Ohm.

Weber smiled gently and said, "Although I also support Mr. Ohm, I think...why don't you do an experiment to verify it?"

Arthur knew that Weber was subtly reminding him not to jump to conclusions, otherwise if he made a mistake, his academic reputation would be ruined.

But Arthur didn't care about that. He didn't want to do experiments. If Agares was to be believed, when he followed Mr. Faraday to publish his paper, he had already done all the experiments in his life.

Besides, even if he wanted to do it, Gauss had already started, right? Why should he get involved? Arthur took another puff of his cigarette in silence, and then used Faraday's name to endorse it.

"In fact, when I was following Mr. Faraday, I had already done countless similar circuit experiments. At that time, I had already vaguely felt the relationship between current and voltage, but I had not thought of the possibility of "resistance" at that time, so I could not find the entrance to solve the mystery. After reading "The Calculation of Electric Current", all my doubts were solved. Therefore, I do not need to conduct any more experimental verifications, and I can also declare my position. I, Arthur Hastings, support George Ohm."

Ohm had been trying hard to hold back his emotions, but when he heard Arthur repeat his position, the forty-something Bavarian man couldn't help but burst into tears.

He covered his face with his hands, crying and apologizing non-stop: "I'm sorry, Mr. Hastings, Mr. Weber, I... damn it, I..."

Weber saw this and scratched his head with a smile. "Mr. Ohm, you don't have to say anything. I understand how you feel. And I believe that Proctor Hastings can understand it, too. After all, he is Mr. Faraday's assistant."

Arthur knew what Weber meant.

The reason why the other party emphasized Faraday was that Faraday was falsely accused of academic plagiarism in his early years, and like Ohm, he was attacked because of his not-so-good family background. However, due to Mr. Faraday's own strong academic accomplishment, he finally survived that difficult period and successfully proved that he did not plagiarize. He became famous for this and eventually became the most respected scientist in Britain.

Weber saw the older man in front of him crying. He was happy for Ohm, but he didn't know how to deal with this situation. He could only make small talk at Arthur and wink: "You... Dean, you see Mr. Ohm has come from afar, you can't just verify an experiment and let him go back, right?"

Of course, Arthur couldn't let Ohm go back just like that, because he didn't call Ohm here just to do an experiment.

Arthur said, "In fact, since I arrived in Göttingen, I have been thinking about the issue of building an electromagnetics training system in Göttingen. I came to the University of Göttingen as a professor of electromagnetics at the instruction of His Majesty the King, and it was the decision of the Royal Government to develop the new field of electromagnetics in Göttingen, so we must build this new discipline to perfection. However, it is unrealistic for me alone to promote electromagnetics..."

Arthur took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and handed it to Ohm. He smiled and asked, "Mr. Ohm, I remember that you seemed to have been a private lecturer at the University of Erlangen. In that case, you should have a professorship issued by the Kingdom of Bavaria, right?"

When Ohm heard this, he couldn't help but look up in surprise. His eyes were red and he seemed to have not yet recovered from the excitement.

"I...I am qualified to be a professor."

Arthur nodded slightly, then took out a small notebook from his pocket and signed a note: "Actually, from my personal point of view, I want to directly hire you as a professor at the University of Göttingen. However, as you know, most people cannot understand your theory at present, and there are also many opponents even among the professors at the University of Göttingen. Therefore, I can only settle for the second best for the time being and invite you to be a private lecturer in electromagnetism at the University of Göttingen. As for the position of professor..."

Ohm raised his sleeve to wipe away his tears. He nodded repeatedly and said, "This is not your fault. I know my reputation and I understand that it will take time for my theory to be widely accepted. To be honest, even if you said today that you are willing to support me, it has given me great comfort, not to mention that you are willing to let me teach at the University of Göttingen. I dare not ask for a professorship, because I know that even if you give me a lecturer position, you will have to bear a lot of pressure."

Ohm meant what he said.

It can even be said that today's results have already surpassed his best expectations before coming to the University of Göttingen. How could he dare to ask for more?

Unexpectedly, Arthur listened to Ohm's words with a smile, and just shook his head slightly: "George, you misunderstood me."

"Did I misunderstand you?" Ohm's heart, which had just been relieved for a while, was raised again: "Are you saying that I have to wait for the position of lecturer?"

"No, that's not what I meant."

Arthur fiddled with the circuit switch on the experimental table and said, "I mean, I'll give you the status of lecturer this month. Next month, the University of Göttingen will hold a European Electromagnetism Conference. At that time, famous European electromagnetic researchers including Marie Ampere from France, Michael Faraday from Britain, and Hans Oersted from Denmark will all be present.

Of course, as representatives of the organizer, Mr. Gauss, Mr. Weber and I will also be present. As the host institution, the University of Göttingen will naturally present some impressive results to these well-known scholars. So, I wonder if you are willing to represent the University of Göttingen and give an academic report based on your "Calculation of Electric Current" at that conference?"

When Ohm heard this, his whole body was shocked and his head felt buzzing, as if someone had hit him with a hammer.

Seeing that he was silent, Arthur paced around the laboratory with his hands behind his back and said, "Of course, this report was not made in vain. After all, whether your theory is true or false can definitely be seen with the level of Mr. Faraday, Mr. Ampere and Mr. Oersted. So, after you finish this academic report, I have sufficient reason to officially grant you the position of professor of electromagnetism at the University of Göttingen."

"me……"

Ohm held the laboratory table with one hand and pressed the other hand on his heart. His forehead was covered with sweat, but this time it was not due to nervousness, but because of happiness.

He just felt that all the words of gratitude he had learned in his life were not enough to express to Arthur how he felt at the moment.

He stretched out his hand to Arthur tremblingly, but before Arthur could hold his hand, Ohm felt a black screen in front of his eyes, and then he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Mr. Ohm? Mr. Ohm!"

"Damn it! Mr. Hastings, you shouldn't have made so many promises to him at once!"

"How can you blame me? How could I know in advance that he was so weak?"

(End of this chapter)