shadow of britain

Chapter 576: The Star of Göttingen
Paul's questioning immediately made the tense atmosphere in the meeting hall become tense.

The citizens didn't know the reason, and they looked at each other. As for the scholars from various countries who came to attend the conference, most of them took a wait-and-see attitude.

Many people had already been convinced by Ohm's theory, and even if they had doubts in their hearts, they would not challenge it on the spot. This was because compared to the first edition of "Calculation of Electric Current" that the German scholars had access to, Ohm's speech had obviously gone through multiple versions, and the content was not only easy to understand, but the relevant data had also been checked and corrected many times.

Even the originally complex and messy mathematical analysis in the book was further improved with the help of Gauss, and the experimental design was improved and upgraded with the help of experimental physicists of the Royal Society headed by Faraday.

The only thing Ohm lacked now was the experimental demonstration that could help him make the final decision.

After taking a deep breath, Ohm slowly lifted the curtain covering the experimental table in front of him, and an exquisite bridge circuit instantly appeared before everyone's eyes.

"For most electromagnetic researchers, especially those experimental physicists, although we did not have the concept of resistance before, I believe everyone can feel the existence of resistance when conducting current experiments. In the experiment, the wire materials used are different, and the instruments connected in series are different, and the final measured current will also be different.

At first, I suspected that this was due to the unstable voltage of the voltaic pile, so I later replaced the power source with a more stable temperature difference battery, but the final result was still the same. In order to prove that my point of view is correct, I prepared two experiments today. The first one is a series circuit experiment that shows the effect of resistance change on current size. "

After that, Ohm picked up the strange device on the experimental table and showed it to the audience: "First of all, I would like to thank Sir Arthur Hastings for his great help, because the new device he invented is absolutely suitable for verifying the existence of resistance. As you can see, this is a wooden board about 30 cm long, with nickel-chromium alloy wires wrapped around it, and both ends are fixed with screws. The small metal rod with a spring on the top of the device can slide arbitrarily on the metal wire and be adjusted manually. Because of this, I can arbitrarily determine the length of the nickel-chromium alloy wire connected in series in the circuit by adjusting the metal rod, that is, changing the effective resistance in the circuit. The Sir called his new invention a sliding rheostat, and in my opinion, this name is absolutely appropriate."

As soon as Ohm said this, there was a burst of exclamations from the audience.

The electromagnetic researchers who could come to this place were no ordinary people. They immediately realized the importance of this new device to electromagnetic research.

Once the sliding rheostat is connected in series to the circuit, if the resistance really exists, then as Ohm slides the sliding rheostat, the ammeter pointer will definitely deflect synchronously.

There is no better device for proving the concept of resistance.

Thinking of this, Oster, Ampere, Arago and others all turned their eyes to Sir Arthur Hastings not far away. The Duke of Sussex, who was a little annoyed just now, also nodded slightly at him with appreciation.

But what was unexpected was that the gazes of so many top scholars did not cause the 24-year-old young man to show the slightest ripple on his face. He just sat there calmly, just like Johann Gauss, the director of the Göttingen Observatory.

Among all the scholars, only Faraday was the calmest. He just smiled kindly and said to Ampere and Oersted beside him: "I told you before that this is a young scholar with a bright future. There is no necessary connection between scientific research achievements and age."

Gauss, who became famous in Europe at the age of 19 for proving that a regular -gon could be constructed with a ruler and compass, also nodded in agreement: "I agree."

Ampere didn't have much reason to object to this.

Although he was not as talented as Gauss, he was hired as a professor of physics at the age of 26 and appointed as the chief academic officer of the University of France by Napoleon at the age of 33. He can definitely be called a typical example of early success.

Facing several young geniuses, Oersted could only joke: "You are the same type as Professor Hastings, while I am the type of Mr. Ohm. After all, I was already 30 years old when I became a professor, and I was 43 years old when I discovered the magnetic effect of electric current, which is exactly the same age as Mr. Ohm."

Faraday comforted him and said, "Hans, your achievement is not only the discovery of the magnetic effect of electric current, but you also discovered the element aluminum by electrolysis."

Upon hearing this, Oster couldn't help but laugh and said, "Originally, the honor of discovering aluminum should belong to your mentor Sir David. After all, he was the first person to report the existence of aluminum. Unfortunately, he failed in the process of electrolyzing aluminum."

When Ampere heard this, he couldn't help but think of the time when Davy "stole" the honor of discovering iodine in Paris.

He counted on his fingers and joked, "It doesn't matter. Sir David has discovered enough elements in his lifetime. He is probably the person who has discovered the most elements in the world so far, right? Let me count...potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, strontium, barium, boron, silicon, oh, yes, and iodine, which is the heaviest element."

Ampere's jokes made Faraday very embarrassed. He never cared about being attacked, but he never held a grudge against his mentor, Sir Humphry Davy, even though Davy had excluded and suppressed Faraday in his later years. On the contrary, he was always grateful to Davy.

When Faraday was unable to go to school due to his poor family background, Davy asked Faraday to come to the Royal Society to be his apprentice just because of a letter. Although the experimental work was hard, as long as Faraday had questions, Davy would answer them and teach him how to do experiments. When Davy's wife wanted to drive this poor boy away, Davy would always come up to smooth things over and defend Faraday with a smile.

It is because of this that Faraday has been able to grow step by step to where it is today.

However, although Faraday was grateful to Davy, he also understood his teacher's character. In terms of life, Davy was not only a great natural philosopher, but also a good person who cared about social issues and ordinary people. In order to prevent lights from causing mine explosions, he developed a safety lamp. Due to Napoleon's continental blockade policy, he actively conducted many free agricultural chemistry courses during the food shortage in Britain. In order to improve the dirty and messy environment of the traditional leather industry, he spent five years studying leather technology.

But even though David was such a great man, he always had weaknesses. That was David's pursuit of fame was simply crazy. He greedily wanted to take all the honors he could get, and he couldn't bear to see anyone surpass him. This character was reflected in him, that is, he was willing to risk his life to inhale nitrous oxide and water gas in order to obtain scientific research results. And it was reflected in others, such as the dispute with Gay-Lussac and others over iodine and the suppression of Faraday.

Faraday was unwilling to say anything bad about Davy, but he could not argue with Ampere against his conscience.

Because everyone knows that Ampere was criticized for several years by many French chemists because he gave iodine compounds to Davy as a gift. Gay-Lussac and others almost said openly at the time: Ampere has become a traitor to the French scientific community.

After thinking it over, Faraday could only sigh and say, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ampere, I've wronged you."

"Hahaha." Ampere had no intention of pursuing Faraday. He just shook his head and said, "If you really want to apologize, you can give me a sliding resistor later. I am more interested in that thing than iodine."

Faraday breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled and replied, "This is simple. The structure of the sliding resistor does not look complicated. I will ask Arthur for advice later. If he does not care about this patent, I will make one for you tonight."

As soon as Faraday finished speaking, he heard another exclamation in the conference hall.

As Ohm fiddled with the scale on the stage, the pointer of the rheostat, which represented the change of current, shifted to the right little by little as the metal rod of the sliding rheostat was slowly pushed.

For experimental physicists like Faraday, such results were expected.

Because although they had no concept of resistance before, they would always find something wrong after doing more experiments. So when the experimental physicists of the Royal Society saw Ohm's paper, they immediately understood that resistance actually existed.

But for theoretical physicists like Ampere who mainly rely on mathematical calculations, Ohm's discovery is indeed a novel bombshell. It can even be said that the discovery of resistance will completely reconstruct the mathematical analysis system of electromagnetism that Ampere and other theoretical physicists have just established.

The pointer of the current scale was swinging, and the people's opinions in the conference hall were also swinging.

Those experimental physicists who had originally wavered in their positions immediately put aside their doubts about Ohm the moment they saw the experimental results.

But for theoretical physicists, this experiment is not enough to convince them.

After all, for many theoretical physicists, if they accept the concept of resistance, they must deny the results of their previous years of electromagnetic mathematical analysis. As for the reason, it is obvious. Since the experimental data obtained without considering the resistance must be wrong, the mathematical analysis based on the wrong experimental data must also be wrong.

In an instant, the atmosphere in the venue gradually became subtle.

Some scholars soon figured out why Ohm was so suppressed in Germany. Academic fraud is not a new thing, and erroneous papers are occasionally published in academic journals, but why was Ohm suppressed more than other people suspected of academic fraud?

This is because the introduction of the concept of resistance would overturn the foundation of electromagnetic theory, and would destroy the research results of some people over the past ten or twenty years.

According to the practice of the German scientific community, the socioeconomic status of scholars is often linked to their scientific research results...

No wonder……

Some experimental physicists who had nothing to do with the matter looked at each other in bewilderment. They finally understood the essential problem hidden in this academic conference - George Ohm, this guy is going to destroy many people's jobs!

When German theoretical physicists saw Ohm's experiment, their faces turned pale.

After all, not everyone is a genius like Ampere and Gauss. When one theory is overturned, there are still a lot of other ones left.

Most people spent several years to write a mathematical analysis of electromagnetism and get a university teaching position, but Ohm actually tried to bring them back to square one with such a simple experiment.

Ohm did not yet understand what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into; his attention was completely focused on the bridge experiment carefully designed by Wheatstone.

"It is a little embarrassing to say that this second experiment was not done by me, but by my friend Mr. Charles Wheatstone. However, since he is not feeling well today, I will demonstrate this result on his behalf."

Charles Whetstone!
When Ohm's opponents heard this name, it was as if they had been punched in the heart.

Today, the name Wheatstone is no longer a synonym for a coward in the Royal Society.

Throughout Europe, Wheatstone's name is known to everyone, and all this is because he is the inventor of the phonograph.

And, although Mr. Wheatstone's telegraph machine was often used to send obscene words such as "asshole", you still can't deny that he was the first guy in the world to set up a wired telegraph.

"I will show you an extremely ingenious experimental device - the Wheatstone bridge. This device can not only help us measure the resistance value, but also reveal the distribution law of current in the circuit. First, let us pay attention to the core of this circuit..." No one cared about what Ohm said.

The experiment just now has proved the existence of resistance, and the Wheatstone bridge experiment used to measure resistance only provides stronger support for the previous experiment.

The opposition was in a state of confusion. As for Georg Boll, who had just stood up to accuse Ohm, his lips turned slightly pale, his forehead was sweating, his wet hair was hanging on his ears, and he kept muttering in a low voice: "It's over... It's over..."

Just then, a hand rested on his knee and patted his thigh gently.

Paul turned his head and saw his friend sitting next to him looking at him with cold eyes and shaking his head slightly, his lips trembling slightly.

The sentence is short, but it is enough to show their determination to fight to the death.

"I will never admit it!"

The German scholars were soon in a state of agitation. They whispered to each other privately, and those staunch opponents soon united their forces. And those experimental physicists who tended to agree with Ohm hesitated for a while, and most of them just nodded in agreement for the sake of their friends: "Indeed, this conclusion is incomplete, and Ohm has a history of fraud after all."

Such discussions quickly spread to other regions through the German scholar group.

The scholars’ educational backgrounds are very complex; although they have different nationalities, many of them have studied at the same university or collaborated on scientific research.

One pass ten, ten pass a hundred.

Suspicion of academic fraud and personal connections make it difficult for many people to refuse directly, so they have to agree to their "relatives and friends" in the scientific community.

Ohm hadn't noticed the movement in the audience yet. He finished demonstrating the Wheatstone bridge experiment in one go, then smiled as if relieved and bowed to the audience to express his gratitude: "This is the end of my speech. Thank you for your support today."

As soon as Ohm finished speaking, the citizens of Göttingen standing in the back row immediately burst into cheers and applause.

"Well said, Dr. Ohm!"

“Congratulations on your graduation!”

"You deserve both the flowers and the goose girl!"

But strangely, the electromagnetic scholars in the front row remained silent.

They said nothing, and sat on the chairs with their buttocks heavy, as if they were equipped with electromagnets.

Those scholars who wanted to stand up at the beginning were inexplicably pushed back by their friends.

One is cold and the other is hot, the two ends of the venue are like the tropics and the Arctic.

The smile on Ohm's face gradually froze. He looked at the scholars in the front row, but many of them turned their heads away when they saw his gaze, not daring to look him in the eye.

The citizens also noticed something was wrong, the applause gradually died down, and the cheers disappeared.

They looked at each other, not knowing what went wrong.

"Is... is there something wrong with this report?"

"Maybe it's too simple? After all, even middle school students can understand it. For a doctor, isn't it too easy?"

For a moment, discussions arose everywhere.

When Ohm heard this, he felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured down on his head. His legs went weak, and even he hesitated in his heart: "Could it be... is there really something wrong with what I said..."

The entire hall fell into a suffocating silence. No one was willing to be the first to stand up and express support. It seemed that everyone was waiting, waiting for someone to break the silence first.

suddenly!

clap clap clap!
Monotonous but powerful applause rang out again in the conference hall.

Everyone saw a young man in a scholar's robe standing up in the first row. He was the professor who had touched the children's heads that morning - Sir Arthur Hastings.

In the huge front row, he was the only one who stood up and applauded.

The applause was slight at first, but became especially loud in the silent hall.

"Sir..."

This insignificant applause seemed to be like a temperature difference battery, instantly injecting power into Ohm. Although the voltage was very small, it was barely enough to support Ohm from falling down: "Sorry... It seems that I messed up again..."

Arthur just nodded at him approvingly. He didn't say anything, but his applause seemed like a flash of lightning, breaking the dull air.

Soon, others began to respond, and gradually, the applause gathered into an unstoppable force.

People were also moved by Arthur's courage and joined in this spontaneous tribute.

Soon, another person stood up from the front row. He was a handsome middle-aged man named Michael Faraday with a smile on his face.

Immediately afterwards, Gauss, Oersted, Ampere, Arago, Berzelius, the Duke of Sussex and others stood up and applauded.

Then, scholars from the Royal Society of London, the Royal Society of Denmark, the French Academy of Sciences, and the Norwegian Academy of Sciences also stood up and congratulated Ohm with smiles on their faces: "Congratulations, Mr. Ohm, for a perfect opening academic report!"

"Congratulations. I think you will probably be able to get a university teaching position soon."

"Every time I see results like this, it makes me feel that the experiments we have done are worthwhile."

Among the German scholars, Ohm's brother Martin Ohm couldn't help but stand up and shouted: "Well done, George! You are right, I have always believed that you must be right! But your report today made me realize that someone is wrong, wrong from the beginning to the end!"

The Duke of Sussex, who had been anxious just now, now put aside his last doubts. While applauding, he smiled and invited Ohm: "It is a pity that you did not join the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. However, if you are interested, I, Augustus Frederick Hanover, would like to invite you to work in the Royal Society laboratory in the name of the President of the Royal Society."

After speaking, the Duke of Sussex looked at Faraday beside him and said, "What do you think of my proposal?"

Faraday nodded happily and said, "With such achievements, Mr. Ohm absolutely deserves the title."

Wilhelm von Humboldt, president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, glared at the group of German scholars who looked like they had lost their parents, and immediately invited them: "You are German. Although the Royal Society is a good place to go, I still want to kindly remind you that the Berlin Academy of Sciences is also a good choice."

Oster also smiled brightly and asked, "What do you think of the Royal Danish Society?"

Berzelius also smiled and said: "The only shortcoming of us in Norway is that it is too cold."

"Just a polite reminder," Arago said, "If you don't mind, I have another spot to nominate to the French Academy of Sciences this year."

"me……"

Faced with the sudden gift package, Ohm was almost dizzy. He stood on the podium for a long time, looked up at the sky outside the window, and then looked down at the audience, where there were only flowers and smiles.

Ohm was overwhelmed with emotions, his eyes welling up with tears. Finally, he took a deep breath, bowed and said, "Sorry, thank you all for your invitation, but I still like my job as a private lecturer at the University of Göttingen the most."

(End of this chapter)