shadow of britain

Chapter 575 God said: Let there be light

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.

The ground was without form and void; darkness was over the surface of the deep, and only the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.

God said: "Let there be light!"

Then, there was light.

——"Genesis" in the Old Testament of the Bible

Just a simple vibrato brought laughter from the audience.

However, the meaning contained in the laughter is different.

The German scholars sitting behind Alexander von Humboldt, the president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, all treated Ohm with a cold eye.

Georg von Pohl, a classmate of Ohm at the University of Erlangen, even wanted to get up and leave the moment he saw Ohm, but fortunately, he was pulled back by his friends as soon as he stood up.

It is not difficult to interpret what the two people are saying from their mouth shapes.

"It's ridiculous to give the opening report to a liar!"

"Why rush? No matter how shiny fool's gold is, it can never turn into real gold. Faraday, Ampere, Oersted and others are all here. They will have their own opinions. Georg, it would be impolite for you to leave now."

As for other German scholars, although their attitudes were not as radical as Bohr's, few of them still gave Ohm a good look.

Almost all of them looked livid, because for these scholars, letting Ohm give the opening speech at such an important occasion would not only affect Ohm's personal academic reputation, but would even make European countries look down on the entire German academic community.

The scholars, aware of the seriousness of the situation, became restless and whispered to each other. From time to time, they would glance at Ohm on the stage, point their fingers at him, and talk to their friends about this guy's academic integrity.

In this situation, even if it is not condemned by everyone, it can be said to be repeatedly despised.

Invisible pressure loomed in Ohm's heart, and past failures flooded into his mind, forcing Ohm to take a step back involuntarily.

The German scholars who saw Ohm retreat had no intention of letting him go; they just snorted contemptuously.

In their view, perhaps Ohm was not only an academic fraud, but also an academic coward.

Just as Ohm was about to retreat, suddenly, his evasive gaze met a very familiar face.

"That...that's Professor von Langsdorfer? The one next to him is...Martin?"

Professor of Mathematics at Heidelberg University, von Langersdorfer, and Professor of Mathematics at Berlin University, Martin Ohm.

One was Ohm's supervisor when he was studying at the University of Erlangen, and the other was his junior and blood brother.

Professor Langsdorfer looked at Ohm, and he also noticed Ohm's gaze.

The former mentor did not smile, but nodded calmly at the student he had always been proud of. He patted Martin Ohm beside him and swayed his lips slightly: "Come, let me see if it is really as I predicted that another pair of Bernoulli brothers will be born from the locksmith's house."

Ohm's younger brother Martin was obviously more nervous than his brother. This respected professor of mathematics at the University of Berlin was so nervous that he dared not say a word and just kept nodding at his brother.

But for Ohm, this was enough. He understood that the nod meant: Come on, George!
Immediately afterwards, laughter, cheers and applause broke out inside and outside the noisy conference hall.

The applause came not from scholars or students, but from the citizens of Göttingen.

For these simple citizens of Göttingen who knew nothing about electromagnetic research and the grievances in the academic world, laughter did not mean sarcasm, cheering did not mean booing, but applause was definite praise, which was their way of expressing goodwill.

The citizens had smiles on their faces, some of them were holding their children, and were looking at the mature-looking doctoral student from afar.

Citizens may not understand academics, papers, or reports, but they understand tension and tolerance, because people's emotions are interlinked.

People living in this city have seen too many similar scenes, as many of them have their livelihoods closely tied to the university where they were born and raised.

Some of them are farmers in the suburbs who supply the school cafeteria, some are cooks who help in the cafeteria, some are sanitation workers who are responsible for cleaning, and some of them, their ancestors even directly participated in the construction of the Göttingen Library...

Everyone has encountered situations like this, such as doctoral dissertation defenses, once or twice in the course of their work.

They envy these doctoral students, but they are not jealous. The people of Göttingen always regard them as role models for educating their children. When a new doctor walks out of the Göttingen campus, it is not only a glory for the doctor himself, but also a glory for all the people of Göttingen.

Countless great figures have emerged from the small city of Göttingen, including imperial prime ministers, princes and nobles, first-class politicians, revolutionary poets, big bankers and top scholars.

Although these people may not always remember their lives in Göttingen, the citizens remember them clearly. Whenever a foreigner came to the tavern for a drink, someone would always boast that he had entertained Metternich and run errands for Heine. Lionel Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the richest families in Europe, would address him as "Sir" when he met him.

As for college students, although citizens often complain about these unfocused young people, in most cases they are always encouraging.

Because who knows if the little guy who looks fussy today will one day become a shining figure in Europe?

As the best university in Germany, Göttingen has always produced great figures. Göttingen has always produced great figures!

Even though this could not bring them any substantial benefits, just having it as a topic of conversation after dinner was enough to satisfy them.

Therefore, as always, when these citizens saw Ohm pause in his speech, they spontaneously applauded for him, cheering him on and hoping that he could draw a little strength from the applause.

"Come on! Doctoral student, if you can overcome this hurdle, you will be able to kiss the bronze statue of the goose girl."

"And the Doctor's parade carriage!"

"Old Hanks swears to God, if you can pass the customs today, all the flowers you give to the goose girl will be free!"

"You represent not only yourself, but also our Göttingen!"

Although it has been nearly 20 years since Dr. Ohm graduated, and although he is not a doctoral student facing academic defense, this does not affect his ability to feel the simple emotions conveyed in these words.

Although he had only been here for a month, Göttingen had already completely accepted him and embraced him tightly.

As Provost Hastings said: Göttingen is a free, open and inclusive place. Göttingen belongs to all those who are determined to live for "academics".

The warm applause like a tide dispelled the chill of the German morning, vibrated Ohm's eardrums, and shocked his soul.

Ohm took a deep breath and rubbed his hot eyelids.

When he opened his eyes again, there was no more hesitation in them, only determination remained.

He swept his eyes across the seats below the stage again, and a series of strange yet familiar faces came into his sight.

As the citizens said, at this moment, he was not only representing himself, not just trying to clear his own name, but also representing Johann Gauss, William Weber, Friedrich Strohmayer... and, most importantly, Sir Arthur Hastings, who brought him here from a small town in the Bavarian countryside.

Today, he, Georg Simon Ohm, must be here and defend the academic reputation of the University of Göttingen to the death!

His blocked thoughts opened up instantly, and the experimental data recorded in countless dark nights filled his mind like snowflakes.

Almost in an instant, he seemed to have received divine inspiration.

Ohm stood straight, and his powerful voice finally rang out on the stage.

“Dear academic colleagues:

I am very honored to be here and share with you my explorations and discoveries in electric current research over the past few years.

I would summarize the topic I am going to introduce today as "Mathematical Calculation of Electric Current", which is a work that attempts to describe the laws of electric current conduction in mathematical language.

First, I would like to start with the most basic concepts.

As we know, electricity is an invisible force that is both mysterious and powerful.

Yet, as we seek to understand and control this force, mathematics becomes our language.

Mathematics not only helps us quantify observed phenomena, but also provides us with the ability to predict the unknown. During my research, I found that the flow of electric current in a conductor follows some basic principles.

I tried to measure the relationship between current intensity and voltage through a series of experiments, and based on this, I established a simple mathematical model. This model shows that the current intensity is proportional to the voltage, and the proportionality coefficient is the reciprocal of the resistance..."

As time went by, Ohm gradually gained prominence on the podium.

For Ohm, who has worked as a middle school teacher for many years, giving academic reports has never been a difficult task.

It is much more difficult to explain theorems to middle school students than to senior professors.

Today, Ohm not only wanted to prove his ability to the European scientific community, he also wanted to teach every audience present.

Whether he is a scavenger or a washerwoman, there is no room for any student who does not understand the course in Mr. George Ohm's class.

He first introduced his academic report from beginning to end in an easy-to-understand manner, and then immediately entered the question-and-answer session.

Ohm stood in the center of the stage and said loudly: "Does anyone have any questions?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a row of arms raised behind Humboldt, the president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences.

Needless to say, this group of people probably wanted to embarrass him.

But Ohm ignored this group of people, and instead raised his hand and called on a middle school student who was standing in the back row and listening to the class.

"Young sir, is there anything you don't understand?"

The middle school student originally raised his hand just to give it a try, but he didn't expect Ohm to actually call his name.

He was embarrassed and silent for a while, and then he blushed and asked amid the jeers of his companions: "Sir, what is current, voltage and resistance?"

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an immediate burst of laughter from the citizens, some of whom were joking and some were amused.

“For middle school students, the research fields of doctoral students are still too difficult.”

"But it's no big deal. If not now, when? If you ask these things clearly, the boy will be able to study in Göttingen in the future."

The citizens' laughter fell into the ears of some scholars, who could not help shaking their heads.

No matter how they looked at it, they still felt that Ohm's behavior of lighting up middle school students was too outrageous.

Even William Weber, who was sitting behind Arthur, couldn't help but pat the school supervisor on the shoulder and whispered in his ear: "Although I support Mr. Ohm, isn't it inappropriate to do this?"

"Inappropriate? What's inappropriate?" Arthur put down the academic paper in his hand and said, "I learned about current, voltage and resistance in middle school."

Arthur's words made Weber laugh and cry. He knew that the dean must be joking again, because they both knew that the concept of resistance was proposed by Ohm.

Although Arthur was probably in middle school when Ohm proposed the concept of resistance in 1825, Weber did not believe that this concept, which was criticized in Germany, had spread to Britain at that time. After all, even the book "Calculation of Electric Current" which recorded the concept of resistance was translated into English by Arthur not long ago.

Weber muttered, "I hope there won't be any problems if we continue like this..."

Unexpectedly, when Arthur heard this, he just knocked on Weber's desk with his knuckles without turning his head, and then he secretly pointed to his left hand side.

Weber looked in the direction of the finger and immediately understood who Arthur was referring to.

That was the trio of Gauss, Faraday and Ampere, except that this time, there was one more person in the group, Mr. Hans Oersted, the permanent secretary of the Royal Danish Society.

The different personalities of the four scholars can be seen just from their expressions. Gauss still had that calm expression, but Weber, who had worked with Gauss for many years, knew that this was Gauss's way of expressing affirmation, because from beginning to end, he had never seen Gauss frown.

As for Faraday, his face was always filled with his signature gentle smile. This European-renowned scholar listened to Ohm's talk about the basic concepts of electricity with great interest, and he did not show any impatience at all.

Not only that, even Oster beside him listened very carefully.

If Weber had not seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed that these two founders of electromagnetism could be so tolerant of the basic theories that they were so familiar with, and listened to the childish questions of the middle school students and Ohm's detailed answers without saying a word.

Even Ampere, who was the most active among the four, only took out a stack of calculation papers filled with experimental data and simply gestured on them for a while. Then he held his head in frustration and muttered, "Why didn't I think of this?"

The strange reactions of several people were beyond Weber's expectations, but they were all within Arthur's expectations.

Although he did not expect Ohm to prompt the middle school students to ask questions, he understood that most of the electromagnetic authorities present would never be dissatisfied with Ohm because of this matter.

It's still the same reason, because almost all the first people to make achievements in electromagnetism were experimental physicists, that is, most of them were peasants.

Faraday came from a blacksmith family, Oersted from a pharmacist family, and even Ampere, who came from the most prominent family, his father was just a cloth merchant.

As for Mr. Gauss, the chairman of the academic committee, although he was mainly famous for his mathematical achievements, his family background was the worst among mathematicians. Gauss's father had worked as a gardener, builder and merchant assistant, his mother was the daughter of a stonemason, and the whole family was illiterate.

And it was not just these academic committee members who had no objection to Ohm's approach. Scientists from the Royal Society also praised Ohm's move.

In the eyes of these members of the Royal Society, daring to go to the podium and directly answer questions from the audience is not a disrespectful act, but a manifestation of courage and strength, and even a noble virtue.

After all, holding scientific lectures to raise funds is a traditional project of the Royal Society, and every one of them has given a speech at the scientific lecture. Even Mr. Charles Wheatstone, who was the second in command of Greenwich in the East End, had made a fool of himself.

William Sturgeon, who had always admired Ohm, did not even hesitate to praise him. He lowered his head and said to Babbage beside him: "The resistance theory established by Mr. Ohm provides such simplicity that I don't even need to verify the experimental results to know that it is correct, because it is completely consistent with my previous understanding of all the phenomena of the voltaic battery."

But the appreciation of some scholars could not resolve everyone's doubts, especially those German scholars who had prejudices against Ohm.

Seeing that Ohm did not mention them by name, Georg Boll simply stood up and said, "Ohm, please forgive my offense. But I really don't see the difference between your academic report today and your previous arguments. You can stick to your opinion and put forward your concept of resistance, but we want to see direct evidence, not your experimental data that no one can guarantee is correct."

Boll's sudden attack caused the noisy meeting place to fall into dead silence. His friends sitting next to him couldn't help but persuade him: "Georg, you are too impulsive."

Bo Er shook off his friend's arm and said angrily: "Enough! My academic accomplishment does not allow me to allow a liar to stand on the podium and speak nonsense."

After that, he pointed the finger at Ohm: "Today's occasion is not to verify whether you are qualified to be a middle school teacher. Ohm, you liar, dare you take responsibility for what you said?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the citizens looked at each other in confusion. They didn't understand what had happened, nor did they understand why the scholar who suddenly stood up was different from the elegant professor they had in mind.

When Ohm heard Paul's accusation, he did not respond with anger. He just said calmly: "Paul, I understand your concerns. One of the reasons why I am standing here today is to dispel your doubts."

"Dispel my concerns?" Bo Er laughed in anger: "You can't even convince me, do you still want to convince Oersted, Ampere, and Michael Faraday?"

The meeting place was dead silent, not a single sound could be heard.

In such a scene, even Alexander von Humboldt, the president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, felt a little embarrassed: "Georg, I hope today's communication can be more friendly."

"Friendly? Dean Humboldt, do you expect me to be friendly to a liar?"

"Georg, you..."

Seeing that Bohr was so unwilling to listen to advice, Humboldt, who rarely got angry, became a little angry.

He led the Berlin Academy of Sciences to attend the conference at the invitation of his good friend Gauss, but this friendly gesture not only failed to help, but may have turned the conference into a disaster.

The Duke of Sussex, President of the Royal Society, who was sitting next to him, was also turned pale by this sudden change.

For the Duke, the University of Göttingen is actually his home court. If this event fails, it is unknown what unknown impact it will have on subsequent political reforms.

At this moment, he couldn't help but turn his gaze to Arthur who was not far away, with a look of accusation in his eyes.

If Ohm was really an academic fraud as Boll said, then the Kingdom of Hanover and the University of Göttingen would have lost all face today.

Arthur also realized the seriousness of the problem. Under the gazes of countless people, Arthur stood up and said, "George, in terms of theory, I believe everyone can understand it after your explanation. In this case, why don't you start your experimental demonstration as soon as possible? Even if there is no Wheatstone in the Wheatstone bridge experiment, it should be okay to just have a bridge, right?"

Hearing this, Ohm bowed slightly and said, "Of course, it's all up to you."

(End of this chapter)