Chapter 305: The ripples of general relativity bring out the bright future of astronomy!
March 1, 1912, at the gate of Cambridge University.
A young man wearing a gentleman's dress looked at the familiar campus with a smile on his lips.
He looks about 30 years old, tall, with a pointed nose, a resolute face, and a pair of bright eyes.
Is a typical British gentleman dress.
The gold-rimmed glasses glowed under the sunlight, revealing an aura of wisdom.
He was dragging a suitcase in his hand. He obviously had something to do when he came to Cambridge.
Arthur Eddington murmured to himself: "Seven years have passed in the blink of an eye."
The past flashed through his mind quickly.
Eddington is 30 years old this year.
He graduated from Owens College in Manchester with a bachelor's degree in physics.
In early 1903, the same year that Li Qiwei left England, Eddington won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge University.
So, he went to Cambridge University to study for a master's degree.
In 1905, he graduated with a master's degree from Trinity College.
During his master's degree, Eddington almost learned from Li Qiwei's stories.
Throughout Cambridge University, Li Qiwei's theory was discussed every day.
Quantum theory and relativity are the most fashionable words at Cambridge University.
Eddington was very upset at the time.
In front of his master's degree, he could only stand in the audience from a distance and listen to Li Qiwei's speech.
As an undergraduate, he stood like an ant that year.
I thought I had finally arrived at the University of Cambridge, and it was Trinity College where Li Qiwei was studying.
“Now I can finally see the great God up close.”
“Maybe I will have a chance to ask Bruce for advice.”
However, Eddington’s Very bad luck.
As soon as he came to Trinity College, Li Qiwei left England.
Eddington's dream of getting up close and personal with his idol was shattered.
After arriving at Cambridge University, he realized that he was invisible to everyone.
In his undergraduate school before, Eddington was what others called a genius, very talented in physics.
However, after he graduated with a master's degree and stayed in Cavendish for 2 months, his heart was broken.
The subject of Eddington's research is thermal radiation, which is related to the second dark cloud.
As a result, after two months, Mao had not researched it.
Everyone else in the laboratory was working enthusiastically, and their papers were being published.
Eddington was disheartened and realized the huge gap between himself and others.
Not to mention, no one in the laboratory can even touch Bruce.
The difference between him and Bruce is simply like a mortal on the earth and a born star.
He eventually gave up continuing academic research in physics at Cavendish.
Instead, he went to work at the Greenwich Observatory in England.
This is a famous observatory all over the world.
The famous prime meridian (0° longitude) is the longitude where the observatory is located. It is also the starting point of the world's time zone.
Eddington's work at the observatory was mainly to observe stars.
As the saying goes, God closes a door for you, but opens another window for you.
Unexpectedly, he has no talent in basic physics, but he is very good at astronomy.
Soon, he invented a method that could effectively and accurately record the displacement of stars, and won an astronomy award for it.
Eddington immediately found his confidence and began to delve into astronomy.
Eddington couldn't help but smile as he recalled his previous research experience.
"My love Ding San is back!"
No, hard work and perseverance will always bring good luck.
That year he left dejectedly, but now he is back in high spirits.
And he was personally invited by the University of Cambridge to serve as a professor of astronomy at the school.
It turns out that not long ago, the astronomy professor at Cambridge University passed away.
And he was Darwin's second son, Francis' second brother, George Howard.
Eddington came this time to take over Howard's position.
After he completed the reporting procedures at the school, he went to visit Professor Thomson immediately without taking any rest.
The reason why he was hired as a professor of astronomy at Cambridge University was naturally inseparable from his connections.
Eddington knew this very well.
He has two noble men, one is the director of the Greenwich Observatory, Sir Dyson.
The other one is Professor Thomson.
Of course now I have to change my name to Sir Thomson.
It turns out that Thomson was awarded the Medal of Merit this year and officially became a knight. (Chapter 94)
This is several levels higher than Ridgway's lower rank of knight.
Of course it is much lower than Lord Kelvin's Baron.
Although Eddington only stayed at Cavendish for 2 months, he will never forget Professor Thomson's careful guidance.
Cambridge University is optimistic about Eddington. It is difficult to say that it has nothing to do with Thomson.
With Thomson's current status, he is completely the leader of the British scientific community.
Not only is he a physics master, but the students he brings out are more awesome than the last.
Eddington thought to himself: I am probably the best.
Outside the office of the director of Cavendish Laboratory.
Eddington knocked carefully on the door.
"Please come in."
Thomson's steady voice came.
Eddington opened the door, with a smile on his face, and said respectfully: "Hello, Professor Thomson, forgive me for interrupting."
Thomson was stunned at first, but soon he recognized Someone came.
“Oh! It’s Eddington.”
“Come in and sit down.”
“Why did you come to Cambridge University.”
Eddington sat down respectfully and replied: "I am here to serve today."
Thomson was puzzled and suddenly thought of something.
“Are you the new astronomy professor?”
Eddington smiled and nodded.
Professor Thomson's surprised look amused him.
"Hey, I heard that the school was recruiting a new astronomy professor, but I didn't expect it to be you."
"Is your Director Dyson willing to let you go?" Thomson joked.
He and Dyson are both members of the Royal Society and are very familiar with each other.
Eddington couldn't laugh or cry.
“Director Dyson told me that I am still young and only by going to Cambridge University will I have the opportunity to go further.”
"Here, I can do academic research in astronomy."
As a world-class university, Cambridge University has its own observatory.
Specializes in the academic study of astronomy.
This is very different from the Greenwich Observatory.
The latter mainly does some applied research, such as updating calendars and so on.
It’s a bit like the relationship between later design institutes and university architecture departments.
So, if Eddington wants to develop academically, he must enter a university or research institution.
Thomson nodded and said with a smile: "Yes, astronomy has developed very rapidly in recent years."
"You stay at the observatory all day long and deal with mundane things, and it's easy to lose your focus. What a talent.”
“The paper you published before is very good, I have read it, it is very innovative.”
Eddington was overjoyed.
He didn’t expect that even Professor Thomson was paying attention to him.
"Really, hehe."
"I thought I would be like when I studied thermal radiation."
Thomson smiled: "Everyone does Have your own direction.”
"Only when you find your own strengths can you use all your ingenuity."
"It seems that you are very talented in astronomy."
Eddington felt a little embarrassed when Professor Thomson praised him in person. , although he was very happy in his heart.
“Thank you Professor for the compliment.”
“Hey, it’s just a pity.”
"Although astronomy has something to do with physics, it is too far away from mainstream physics."
"My achievements pale in comparison to the Bohr-Lee model."
"Not to mention the theory of relativity." "I have studied Professor Bruce's theory of relativity for a long time."
"I really hope I have the opportunity to talk to him face to face."
< br>
Thomson smiled even happier when he heard Eddington's words.
“Haha, Eddington, don’t compare yourself to that monster Bruce.”
“As a teacher, I don’t even dare to talk about physics in front of him.”
"This is not difficult. You are also a professor at Cambridge University now."
"I will let you know when Bruce comes next time."
"However, don't be discouraged. Your astronomy may undergo huge changes in the future."
Eddington was shocked when he heard this. What does a huge change mean?
Today’s astronomy is not just about observing the movement of stars and studying their trajectories.
Competing with biology, it all depends on experience and summary.
Biology is the discovery of different species, while astronomy is the discovery of different celestial bodies.
Fortunately, there is still a law of universal gravitation supporting it.
Otherwise, we will become the bottom of the scientific contempt chain.
However, Professor Thomson in front of him said that astronomy would change.
"Professor, I don't understand, what do you mean?"
Thomson smiled: "Did you know that Bruce has an assistant named Hubble in his laboratory?"
Eddington nodded, "Well, I have been paying attention to Professor Bruce's activities and know about Hubble."
"The other party has recently published several papers on astronomy, which are quite interesting."
< br>As an astronomer, Eddington naturally knew that American astronomy should not be underestimated.
Because the United States has a developed industrial system and can produce very precise optical instruments.
This is how Michelson became famous.
The most important instrument in astronomy is the telescope, which has very strict requirements for lenses.
The material of optical lenses is usually glass.
High-end lenses require the glass to have as few impurities as possible and the glass surface to be as smooth as possible.
Only with such a glass lens, the imaging effect will be better, and the observation of celestial objects will be more accurate and clear.
And astronomy requires very large lenses.
The larger the size, the more difficult the glass is to make.
Because it is necessary to ensure that the impurities in the large volume are within an acceptable range.
This is also a relatively difficult process in later generations.
In this era, it is even more high-end technology.
The United States’ huge industrial system and developed application technology have great advantages in this regard.
That’s why the United States can get a piece of the pie in the field of physics.
Hubble from the United States was once commented in public by Li Qiwei that he has a place in the future of physics.
This is simply more awesome than publishing an article in the main issue of Nature.
After all, no matter how famous the paper is, it cannot be more famous than Professor Bruce.
So, almost everyone in the circle knows Hubble’s name.
In addition, the other party's research direction is astronomy, so Eddington is naturally particularly concerned about it.
But he didn't know what this had to do with Hubble.
Did the other party make any major breakthrough?
"Impossible. Although he has published several papers recently, they are far from changing astronomy."
At this time, Thomson explained: "This matter is still Lu Serfo told me."
"He often visits Bruce and can hear some of the latest news."
"Bruce told Hubble that his general theory of relativity may have a great impact on astronomy."
< br>“It may change the existing methods of studying the motion of celestial bodies.”
“It’s a bit like the impact of the Bohr-Lee model on atomic structure.”
“It’s just a microscopic model that governs the movement of celestial bodies. One dominates the macro”
"Of course, these are all what Bruce said. I don't know the specific situation."
"However, I think he should be fully confident based on his personality."
" Maybe you can pay attention.”
“When the general theory of relativity is published, try to study it.”
Boom!
Eddington felt thunder exploding in his mind.
His favorite theory of relativity is actually related to astronomy.
“My God, is this the luck you bring me?”
As a student majoring in physics, Eddington, Li Qiwei was his biggest idol.
Although the other party is the same age as myself, the gap in thinking is simply incalculable.
He thought he couldn't even see Professor Bruce's back.
Eddington originally had the opportunity to visit Li Qiwei after he returned to England.
Because the Greenwich Observatory is also in London, the two are very close to each other.
But he switched to astronomy, which was far from basic physics.
So Eddington was embarrassed to go to Li Qiwei.
What were we talking about during the interview?
Eddington laughed at himself: He couldn't tell Professor Bruce the story of the stars.
Therefore, although he admired Li Qiwei very much, he still took no action.
And today, he actually heard that Professor Bruce's research was related to astronomy.
Eddington instantly felt that the world had become better.
His eyes were shining, and he looked at Thomson as if he were looking at a rare treasure. He couldn't wait to ask: "Professor, is this true?"
"The general theory of relativity is actually related to the Astronomical Society?"
Thomson smiled and said: "It shouldn't be wrong."
"If you think about it, the special theory of relativity overturned Newton's three laws of mechanics."
"Then the general theory of relativity should It will target the law of gravity.”
"After all, the special theory of relativity does not yet include universal gravitation."
Thomson almost couldn't help but say that gravity does not exist.
This incredible and earth-shattering view is really difficult to talk about given his status.
And the Eddington in front of him studied astronomy.
The law of universal gravitation is simply their lifeblood, and it can be called a core theoretical weapon.
If there is something wrong with gravity.
Thomson felt that the edifice of astronomy might have to be torn down and started over.
The other party is probably very disappointed.
After receiving Thomson's confirmation, Eddington seemed to have a fire burning in his heart.
Physics in the past ten years has been extremely exciting and rare in history.
Yet it was the height of pure physics.
A discipline like astronomy does the same thing as biology under the guise of physics.
There is no sound or presence at all.
Anyway, no matter what discovery is made, it must be due to Newton's law and the law of universal gravitation.
Eddington was once considered a genius by others, so he naturally had his own pride.
Although he struggled a bit in physics, he was awesome in astronomy.
He wants to restore astronomy to the glory of Newton's era hundreds of years ago.
Kepler's three laws, the law of universal gravitation, the discovery of Neptune.
That was the pinnacle moment of astronomy.
Human beings are based on the earth and hold the entire universe in the palm of their hands.
What an overwhelming and endless glory it was.
“I, Eddington, will never be weaker than anyone else in my life.”
“I want to carry forward astronomy!”
In real history, it only takes two words to introduce Eddington. Just one example is enough.
The first one.
On May 29, 1919, Eddington led a team to observe through a total solar eclipse that light indeed bends when it passes through the sun.
The bending angle of light is exactly as predicted by general relativity.
Eddington confirmed the correctness of general relativity and the world shook.
Second.
After Eddington became famous in one battle and became world-famous, a reporter asked him when interviewing him:
"Mr. Eddington, are there only three people in the world who can truly understand the general theory of relativity?"
Eddington did not answer immediately, but was silent for more than ten seconds.
Finally he said in a cool voice: "Oh, I was wondering who the third person was."
(End of this chapter)