Chapter 231 British Association for the Advancement of Science
On February 1, 1910, more and more people were rushing towards Cambridgeshire from all sides of the UK.
Because the annual British Science Association will be held on February 10th at the University of Cambridge.
Based on the number of participants, the British Association for the Advancement of Science was probably the largest conference in the UK and even the world at that time.
In 1869, more than 2,000 tickets were sold for the conference.
That was 2,000 people in the 19th century. It was definitely considered a large meeting.
Even now in 1910, there are probably not 1,000 physicists in the world.
Since there are not so many scientists, how can the conference attract so many people.
Because the British Association for the Advancement of Science is not just open to scholars in various fields, it is also open to general audiences.
That’s why so many people attended the meeting.
It is also the only scientific conference that currently allows scientists and ordinary people to participate on an equal footing.
The founders of the conference believed that if the public were more interested in science, it would inspire the British government to allocate more funding.
Before the creation of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the scientific agent of the British government was the Royal Society.
Later, many private scientists felt that the Royal Society was ineffective and unresponsive, so they prepared to resist.
You must know that those who could enter the Royal Society at that time were basically nobles or upper class.
Civilian scientists could only rely on the power of the emerging industrial bourgeoisie to establish the British Association for the Advancement of Science to confront the Royal Society in the scientific field.
Because the Society catered to civilians, it soon became more famous than the Royal Society.
Later, the two sides gradually integrated, and today there is no discrimination.
Orthodox official scientists will also attend the meeting.
The British Association for the Advancement of Science held meetings in every city in Britain, even in the colonies, and held public debates.
The most famous of these was undoubtedly the debate between Huxley and Bishop Wilberford at Oxford University in 1860, on the topic of science and religion.
With these two words together, you can smell the smell of gunpowder just by looking at the words.
It can be said that the origin of science in Britain is far from being as simple as imagined.
The reason why science in the UK can maintain its independence and not be controlled and interfered by the British government is the result of the joint resistance of countless scientists.
By around the middle of the 19th century, science had been institutionally recognized by the British government.
That is to say, such an organization that is at the same level as the government is allowed to exist.
The 79th British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1910 was held at the University of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire.
The conference includes conference speeches and branches in various fields, which are held simultaneously.
Conference speeches are prepared for debates or speeches by famous figures. People in the audience clapped their hands and shouted 666.
This is also in line with the characteristics of Western countries that like speeches and campaigns.
The branches are specially prepared for the 17 branches of science.
Including agricultural sciences, anthropology, biochemistry, botany, chemistry, economics, education, engineering, forestry, geography, geology, physics and mathematics, physiology, psychology, society Science, zoology.
And this session is destined to be unusual.
Because the current president of the British Association for the Advancement of Science is Thomson.
Physics Nobel Prize winner, director of Cavendish Laboratory, knighthood, academician of the Royal Society.
Any title is beyond the reach of ordinary people.
The most important thing is that he also has an incredible student, Bruce Lee.
Bruce's name is a household name in the UK, and the blessing of synthetic ammonia is too great.
However, this conference is, after all, a conference where various disciplines are intertwined, with more than a dozen disciplines.
Even if Li Qiwei is famous again, it is in the field of physics.
Big guys in other fields think they are no worse than others.
So, no matter how active physics is during this period, it is only one of the disciplines in the Association for the Advancement of Science.
In terms of fun, physics is really not as intuitive as anthropology and zoology. You can see various animals or fossils.
This kind of meeting is destined to let a hundred flowers bloom.
In the Cavendish Laboratory, Thomson, Wilson, and Ridgway were talking.
Thomson smiled and asked: "Bruce, do you want to go up and give a speech at the conference this time."
"As the president, I still have this power."
"With you With his identity, he is fully qualified to give a speech.”
“Maybe he will be welcomed by everyone.”
“And this meeting is different from the previous ones.”
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"Whether it is a quantum theory or relativity conference, the participants are all people in the field of physics, and the worst are undergraduates."
"The Association for the Advancement of Science is mainly ordinary people, who are interested in points and scholars They are different."
"You have to speak very plainly and directly to make them understand what you mean."
"It's just a good way to practice your abilities."
Li Qiwei smiled when he heard this and said, "Professor, I am here mainly to study."
“I want to know more about other fields.”
“So, it’s better not to be in the limelight.”
“This kind of scientific conference facing ordinary people is my shortcoming. I'm afraid I can't control myself, and I use professional terms."
Thomson and Wilson laughed and expressed their understanding.
Wilson said: "That's such a shame, Bruce."
"I also hope that you can use your sharp tongue to teach some people who don't know the heights of heaven and earth."
"I've listened to it several times before, good guy, some people don't even know basic physics. I don’t even have common sense, yet I dare to talk nonsense there.”
“It’s a pity that I don’t know how to quarrel, so I can only walk away in despair.”
Thomson explained with a smile: “That’s right. It used to be.”
“Conferences are becoming more and more formal now.”
“But at every conference, very few physicists are willing to come.”
“Because the audience is not interested in physics, or in other words, they are not interested in cutting-edge physics.”
< br>“They just want to watch small experiments that are very boring in the eyes of physicists.”
“So, I didn’t invite many physicists this year, mainly those from the Royal Society. ."
Li Qiwei nodded to express his understanding. Even in later generations, middle school teachers still like to do some simple experiments to attract students in class.
Purely theoretical and mathematical things are really unfriendly to ordinary people.
But truth often needs to be expressed through mathematics.
On February 10, 1910, the largest venue at Cambridge University was already crowded.
According to Thomson's statistics, more than 4,000 people came to this meeting.
This is a very scary number.
Luckily the University of Cambridge is large enough to accommodate so many people easily.
Under Wilson’s introduction, Li Qiwei felt a strong scientific atmosphere.
Wilson shouted loudly to ensure that Li Qiwei could hear:
"In the past, as long as the conference was not held in a city near Cambridge, I would basically not go."
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"The main reason is that it's too noisy and there's no order."
"Did you see the podiums on both sides?"
Li Qiwei looked in the direction of Wilson's finger and asked, There is a high platform on both sides of the venue.
The shape looks a bit like a later newsstand, just big enough for one person to stand there and give a speech.
There is amplification equipment inside to ensure that the speaker's voice can be heard clearly by thousands of people in the audience.
There are no seats for the audience, they can only stand on the ground.
But this does not affect their enthusiasm at all.
After all, ordinary people don’t have many opportunities to come into contact with science.
Although you need to buy tickets for the conference, they are very cheap.
For such a small amount of money, you can learn so much cutting-edge knowledge, which is profitable no matter how you look at it.
Li Qiwei looked at it for a while and suddenly said, "Oh shit, isn't this the exposition of later generations?"
It just turns various products into scientific theories.
The only difference is that the meeting has a debate session, which is very exciting.
European culture is inherited from ancient Greece.
The ancient Greeks liked and were good at debating thousands of years ago.
Because the truth becomes clearer with more debate.
There are only two kinds of science in this world.
One is reasonable and the other is unreasonable.
As long as it is science that is reasonable, it must accept debate.
As long as both parties accept a common benchmark, right and wrong will definitely be determined in the end.
That's what debate is about.
Li Qiwei found it interesting for a while.
In the Qing Dynasty, it was impossible for him to see these things.
Are you kidding me, do you still need to argue with me?
You will have to thank God if I don’t beat you up and dare to retaliate.
Of course, don’t think too much of Britain at this time.
When Huxley debated with the bishop, even though he had grasped the scientific truth, he still could not convince the other party.
To put it bluntly, people cannot be persuaded.
If he can be persuaded, then he won't need you to convince him, he can figure it out by himself.
The reason why he was not convinced was because the purpose of his debate was not for the truth, but to punish you.
This is true at all times and in all countries.
Therefore, Li Qiwei had little interest in this kind of debate.
If the two of them sat down to discuss alone, he would still be interested in proving himself theoretically.
But in this kind of public situation, what the audience needs is not precision, but excitement.
Whoever has the more powerful opinions will receive the most applause.
This is the same as later university debates, which have lost the original intention of debate and turned to pleasing the audience.
After all, if you say something, the audience will not react at all; but if the other person says something, the audience will burst into applause.
Don't worry about whether others are right or not, you will lose based on your momentum.
At this time, Li Qiwei, who was thinking wildly, suddenly heard cheers from the audience.
He looked towards the stage and found an old man, but he looked energetic and full of energy.
Li Qiwei only vaguely heard something about "evolution", and then it caused a sensation in the stadium.
So, he asked Wilson, "Who is that old man?"
Wilson looked at him in surprise and smiled: "Bruce, are you kidding me? How many years have you been at Cambridge University? , You don’t even know him?”
Li Qiwei was confused. Is the other person awesome? Why should I know him?
Wilson said: "His name is Francis, and he is currently a professor of botany at Cambridge University."
"His father is the famous Charles Darwin."
Li Qiwei was surprised, no wonder Wilson was surprised.
It turns out that the other party is Darwin's son, so he does have awesome assets.
However, he had always focused on physics before, so he really didn’t know anything about other subjects.
So, even though Francis was in Cambridge, Li Qiwei had never met him.
And the other party has never approached Li Qiwei.
Obviously, although Li Qiwei was extremely talented in the field of physics, he was hailed as the number one genius.
But compared with Darwin, it may be slightly inferior.
After all, a late boss once said that the three major discoveries of natural science in the 19th century were: cell theory, law of conservation of energy, and theory of evolution.
This shows Darwin’s status.
Ridgway became curious and wanted to see what the status of evolution was in this era.
(End of this chapter)