Chapter 352 The times need the voice of leaders! Science fiction masterpiece "Bugs"!
By observing a total solar eclipse, Eddington proved that light bends when passing through the sun, thus proving the first prediction of general relativity.
The bending of light is the core corollary of general relativity.
It can be said that Eddington proved the correctness of general relativity in disguise.
Of course, a theory needs to be tested repeatedly.
The road to verification of general relativity is still long.
But in any case, this move greatly inspired the physics community.
Even the entire scientific community was shocked by the news.
Because there are very few people who have not heard of the name of the theory of relativity.
And now, this shocking world theory has finally been proven.
Although there are three other prophecies left, everyone is confident that they will definitely be broken one by one.
Yerkes Observatory, Wisconsin, USA.
After Hubble returned from the UK, he immediately chose to study for a PhD at the University of Chicago.
Because his research direction is astronomy, he is not usually at the University of Chicago.
Instead, he works at the Yerkes Observatory affiliated with the University of Chicago, studying astronomy.
His doctoral supervisor was the American astronomer Professor Barnard, whose achievement was the discovery of Jupiter 5.
This is the last time that humans discovered Jupiter visually after Galileo, and subsequent satellites can only be discovered through photography.
However, facing a super top student like Hubble, Professor Barnard could not show the majesty of a professor.
After all, Hubble studied under that big shot.
Even his doctoral project was drafted with Li Qiwei's help.
Therefore, Barnard was more of a guide to Hubble in terms of astronomical literacy.
After all, astronomy still values experience. Sometimes an inconspicuous dot on a photo may be a remarkable discovery.
Although Hubble is smart, he is too young and inexperienced.
Barnard can proudly say: "I have seen more stars than you have eaten."
Although Barnard and Ridgway are completely incomparable, haha Bo still respects him very much.
Always humbly ask your instructor for advice.
Barnard guided Hubble without reservation and wholeheartedly.
Because the other party is likely to become the greatest figure in American astronomy.
How could Barnard be willing to hide his secrets, and he would even take advantage of them.
Hubble's research direction is about the distance of galaxies.
Because according to the inference of general relativity, the universe is expanding.
So naturally, the distance between galaxies should also be expanding.
Hubble needs to find absolute evidence that galaxies are shifting.
At the same time, his ambition was even greater. He even wanted to calculate the speed of galaxy displacement and other properties.
This requires extremely high levels of his astronomical literacy.
This is why Hubble came back to study for a Ph.D. under Professor Barnard.
When Hubble found Professor Barnard to apply for a Ph.D., he said:
“Professor Bruce is a theoretical astronomer. He can’t even distinguish the stars in the sky.”
"So in terms of astronomy experiments and basic knowledge, you are better than Professor Bruce."
"My work requires deep astronomical knowledge, so I want to be your doctoral student."
These two sentences made Barnard climax immediately. The little old man looked excited, his face flushed, and he immediately accepted Hubble.
Now, the teacher and students are talking about Eddington's results.
Hubble said with emotion: "Back then, Eddington, Schwarzschild and I privately called ourselves the Three Masters of Astronomy."
"Now Eddington has proven that the third The first prediction, Schwarzschild proved the third prediction, and my fifth prediction is still far away.”
Professor Barnard said with a smile:
"Hubble, you don't have to underestimate yourself."
"From an objective fact perspective, the fifth prediction of general relativity is indeed relatively difficult."
"Even the third prediction of black holes can only be said to be proof. Halfway through, this kind of celestial body has not been discovered experimentally, it only exists theoretically."
"As for the first prediction, well, Eddington's achievement is indeed great."
< br>Barnard was, after all, Hubble’s mentor and a professor of astronomy.
His professionalism allows him to understand the importance of Eddington's work.
The light bending experiment is so perfect that it is an example that can be written into astronomy textbooks.
Hubble smiled heartily and said: "Professor, you don't have to comfort me."
"I am confident in myself."
"The fifth prediction of the expansion of the universe, my potential You must win.”
Barnard was shocked when he heard this.
This is why he likes to chat with young people.
Because he can feel the majestic vitality from the other party.
It is vitality, hope and an infinite future.
"Hubble, I believe you."
"Your research direction is destined to require you to conduct a lot of basic measurement work."
"This is a process of accumulation."
"Maybe five years, maybe ten years, I firmly believe Your achievements are destined to be famous all over the world.”
Hubble smiled brightly after hearing his mentor’s encouragement.
At this time, Barnard suddenly asked again: "Hubble, can you tell me about Professor Bruce?"
"What kind of person is he?"
"The last time he came to the United States to give lectures, I couldn't catch him because of something else. I still regret it."
Hubble was startled. Muttering to himself:
"What kind of person is Professor Bruce?"
After thinking for a few minutes, Hubble said with a smile:
"I would like to use one word to describe Professor Bruce, and that is fraternity."
"Fraternity?" Barnard was puzzled.
He thought Hubble would at least describe Bruce in terms of genius, wisdom, pursuit of truth, etc.
I didn’t expect it to be a word like fraternity.
“Hubble, can you elaborate?”
Hubble said: "If you spend time with Professor Bruce, you will find that he views everything in the world as equal."
"He is never pedantic and is not opposed to patriotism."
“Everyone knows that Professor Bruce is very patriotic and would rather waste his precious time to return to China to build education.”
“Otherwise, the general theory of relativity may have been published a few years earlier.”
“But Professor Bruce’s patriotism is different from ordinary people.”
"He loves his own country, but never discriminates or hates other countries."
"This point, if you look at the war in Europe today, you will know how valuable it is."
" Some people may say that Professor Bruce is an idealist.”
“But isn’t a philanthropic idealist a wealth of mankind?”
“Professor Bruce’s eyes are always on the world. On the road to the future of mankind”
"The physics he studies will benefit everyone in the future and even allow mankind to enter the next era."
"He is a pioneer who seeks the welfare of all mankind."
"Bruce The professor’s goal is always the vast sea of stars.”
After listening, Barnard roughly understood what Hubble meant.
That is that blues has transcended the limitations of country and nation.
He represents the entire human race.
Thinking of this, Barnard sighed:
"It's a pity that although "A Letter to Scientists Around the World" is well written, ordinary people have rarely read it."
"Otherwise, it would be great if people all over the world could learn fraternity and oppose war."
Hubble also sighed slightly. After all, the circle of scientists has its own closed nature. Difficult to spread on a large scale.
Even with Professor Bruce's status, he cannot break this restriction.
What's more, now that the war is getting more intense, most scientists don't even dare to go out.
In this regard, Hubble was also helpless, and he decided to concentrate on his research honestly.
Wars will disappear, but truth will always remain.
——
War will indeed disappear, but the damage caused to the world by its existence will remain forever.
The war in Europe was beyond most people's imagination.
Not only did it not end as soon as possible, but as more countries came to the end, the whole of Europe was in chaos.
Except for small countries such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland that remain neutral, Britain, France, and Germany are fully prepared for war.
The intensity of the war has gradually increased, and various new weapons have even appeared.
Airplanes, tanks, submarines, etc.
The content of Li Qiwei’s previous article has been fulfilled.
Scientists have indeed had a great impact on war!
They can really invent weapons of great destruction.
At this moment, everyone knew why Germany detained Eddington and others.
Maybe the other party is researching a new type of aircraft.
The Chinese observation team was dumbfounded when they learned about these weapons.
The other party and the domestic military level are not at the same level at all.
If the West unites and targets Asia, the consequences will be unimaginable.
No one can resist this torrent of steel.
Fortunately for Asians, this war was fought mainly in Europe.
Countless families were broken up and their families were separated.
There are more and more voices of opposition and protest against the war from all walks of life around the world.
People are tired of war!
It was under this situation that the literary giants took action.
Geneva, Switzerland.
As a neutral country, Switzerland saw an influx of countless war-weary and anti-war people after the war broke out.
Among them is the French writer Romain Rolland.
On September 15, 1914, Romain Rolland published the article "Beyond Disputes" in the "Journal of Geneva".
In this article, he adopted a superior and detached attitude and did not stand on the local standpoint of any country.
He opposed all patriotism.
He said in the article: "I am in great pain and want to die."
"How terrible it is to live among such crazy humans and helplessly watch the collapse of civilization. "
"This war is the greatest disaster that Europe has seen in centuries."
"Our sacred hope in human fraternity is shattered."
Once the article was published, it caused a shock in the intellectual community.
Romain Rolland's opposition to patriotism has caused huge controversy.
Even his former friend, the teacher, drew a clear line with him.
He was even called a "traitor" by the French.
"Our soldiers fought bravely on the front line, but Romain Rolland actually issued a message behind his back saying that he cannot be patriotic."
"What a shameful scholar."
"Who does he think he is? Even Professor Bruce supports fighting for the country."
"This is a hypocritical scholar." For a time, Romain Rolland Being the target of public criticism, he could only hide in Switzerland.
Fortunately, he was taken care of by his friend Zweig, otherwise he might have gone insane.
Zweig was an Austro-Hungarian playwright who, like Romain Rolland, was an anti-war pioneer.
After Romain Rolland, he also published the anti-war drama "Jeremiah".
In addition to the two of them, there are many people in the literary world who have joined the anti-war ranks.
For example, Maugham and others.
However, their ideas are too extreme, or too holy.
This will anger many ordinary people who are obsessed with war thoughts.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the feelings of family and country and national justice are better than anything else.
Anyone who attempts to deny the country will be questioned and criticized.
In addition, the articles written by these literary giants are all carefully worded and logically logical.
This is of course a good thing and reflects extremely high literary quality.
But it is not friendly to many ordinary people.
Even if the logic is correct, ordinary people cannot feel it.
Therefore, these anti-war articles cannot be disseminated on a large scale.
Even next time a war breaks out, these big guys will have to write another article.
“This is why novels have more vitality.”
Ridgway muttered to himself in his beachside villa in Kuching, Borneo.
At this moment, he is sitting at his desk, thinking and writing a book.
Through the window in front of him, he could see Wang Luyao and Xiang Lan taking their children to play in the water and sand at the beach.
You can hear the crisp laughter from far away.
Li Qiwei smiled knowingly.
He will spend his whole life protecting this beauty.
The novel "Insects" has been written and only needs a few revisions.
In order to save trouble, Li Qiwei wrote the Chinese and English versions alone.
No way, he was worried that the translators would not be able to handle the many technical terms in it, which would affect the quality of the novel.
As the first person in the world of science, Li Qiwei's status determines that he must speak out and cannot pretend to be deaf and dumb.
This is the responsibility that comes with honor.
As for the Romain Rolland incident, Li Qiwei was lucky that he chose a novel instead of a didactic article.
There are too many articles on anti-war themes in later generations, and many of them are popular.
However, none of them are suitable to be published at this time.
Even the critical perspective is not appropriate.
That's why he needed to revise "Insects" and cut out a lot of irrelevant content to make it suitable for this era.
In this novel, Li Qiwei focuses on describing the war between mankind as a whole and alien civilization.
The human civilization and military strength in the novel completely overwhelm the current era.
Anyone sent by the five major countries there can even beat up the entire world.
However, even such a powerful human civilization is as fragile as paper when faced with advanced civilizations looking for habitat.
The space battleships that humans are proud of are no more than toys when faced with the weapons of alien civilizations.
The fleet was completely destroyed without even knowing what the aliens looked like.
The other party just sent a mysterious aircraft named Water Drop.
In the novel, Li Qiwei used rigorous physical theory to demonstrate the principle of preparing water droplets.
And predicted a third force besides electromagnetism and gravity: the strong force.
He used extremely sci-fi language to explain how strong force is so strong that it makes water droplets indestructible and water and fire invulnerable. (See Chapter 260)
This kind of super hard-core science fiction novel has never been seen by people in this era.
Everyone is familiar with "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", which is full of imagination but has no scientific ability.
To put it bluntly, it is the difference between soft and hard science fiction.
In the middle part of the novel, in order to fight against alien civilization and save itself, mankind selected five saviors.
In this part, Li Qiwei made major changes.
He focused on describing the actions of one of the scientists who was the savior.
This savior is the world's top scientist.
Although he is Chinese, he stands from the perspective of all mankind and thinks about how to preserve the fire of mankind.
He is not so narrow-minded that he only thinks about China's interests.
This fully demonstrates the mind of a great scientist.
This is also what Li Qiwei wants to express, that is, the goal of science is to make human beings great.
In the end, even though humans have come up with various methods, they are still beaten to death by alien civilization and are barely surviving.
The climax of this book comes just when human beings want to perish together with alien civilization.
An alien civilization that is more advanced and beyond human imagination has appeared.
The other party was just passing through the solar system and threw out an ordinary-looking "small piece of paper" from the spacecraft.
Then something happened that shocked everyone on earth.
The entire solar system was reduced from three dimensions to two dimensions under this inconspicuous piece of paper.
This unpredictable method simply surpasses everyone’s understanding.
At the end of the book, human civilization is finally completely destroyed.
Li Qiwei wants to use this cold ending to alert everyone.
Human beings are not special.
Compared with the wars in novels, the wars taking place in Europe now can make people laugh out loud.
Wealth, power, and fame are like passing clouds in front of the last piece of paper from a god-level civilization.
The narrator of the novel explains that the weapons that seem like miracles to humans are actually just cheap tools used by advanced civilizations for cleaning.
Just like children who like to hold a kettle filled with hot water and pour water into ant holes.
For alien civilization, the entire human civilization is like bugs and needs to be cleaned up regularly.
Humanity’s billions of years of evolution and tens of thousands of years of civilization look pale and ridiculous in front of a god-level civilization.
This shocking contrast is the theme that Li Qiwei wants to highlight.
Human beings should not be arrogant or fight among themselves, but should always be alert to threats from the universe.
This anti-war approach has a strange angle and does not have a large amount of preaching content.
The various scientific knowledge used in it perfectly fits the image of Ridgway's physicist.
And the scientific knowledge in the novel can even provide some inspiration and reference for the development of real science.
In short, after Li Qiwei’s magical modification, this novel has become more in line with the characteristics of this era.
Two themes in the book:
First, the responsibility of scientists is to move forward for the future of mankind.
The second is to oppose war within mankind, but should strengthen cooperation and work towards the stars and the sea.
“Huh!”
Li Qiwei stopped writing and stretched.
The novel is finally finished.
Although his writing is poor, he is not a writer after all, which is understandable.
As long as the story is interesting, readers can tolerate anything.
Li Qiwei stood up and looked out the window. He smiled slightly:
"I hope this novel can bring some changes to the world."
——
< br>
Just as Li Qiwei was preparing to publish "Insects", the 1914 Nobel Prize also arrived as scheduled.
Although the war in Europe affected many countries.
But Sweden chose neutrality.
This is also a helpless move for small countries. Their national power is weak and they can only protect themselves wisely.
However, despite having no sense of national strength, Sweden still chose to continue the Nobel Prize selection during the war.
This is respect for science and truth.
However, even if Sweden is determined, in some aspects, it has to compromise with reality.
In real history, from 1914 to 1918, the Nobel Prize selection was greatly affected by the war.
Nobel Prize in Physics: Not awarded in 1916.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry: No awards were awarded in 1916 and 1917.
Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Not awarded in 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1918.
Literature Prize: No awards were given in 1914 and 1918.
Peace Prize: No awards were awarded in 1914, 1915, 1916, and 1918.
It can be seen that war has a great impact on science.
By the time of World War II, the Nobel Prize was even more miserable.
The Peace Prize in 1917 was not awarded to an individual, but to the National Committee of the Red Cross.
In recognition of their efforts to protect the rights of prisoners of war on all sides during the First World War.
This is one of the few comforts in the war.
The Physics Nobel Prize, as the first Nobel Prize, has a huge symbolic significance. Sweden is also the most concerned about it and is less affected.
The 1914 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Laue for his discovery of X-ray diffraction in crystals.
Laue, a genius who had accumulated a lot of experience but made a sudden impact, shocked the world of physics when he proved that X-rays are electromagnetic waves.
He deserves this Nobel Prize.
X-ray crystal diffraction has been studied and used by countless physicists and chemists, and its correctness is beyond doubt.
That’s why the Nobel Prize Committee awarded Laue the award so quickly.
Germany, University of Frankfurt.
Laue resigned from the University of Zurich in Switzerland at the beginning of this year and returned to Germany.
His good friend Einstein often came to school to see him.
Now that the war has broken out, scientists have become idle.
As a result, he had more opportunities to get along with Laue.
In the campus, the two were chatting.
"Laue, you won the Nobel Prize, why don't you look unhappy."
Laue sighed softly: "Hey, how can I be happy in this situation?"
The war casts a haze on everyone's soul.
Laue said with emotion: "I really miss the time when Bruce was still there."
"I feel that life is valuable every day."
Einstein was very sad when he heard this.
War is now the center of conversation in Europe.
The theme in science, literature, all fields is war.
Einstein has publicly stated his anti-war attitude and will not join any side.
For this reason, he even secretly joined an anti-war group called the "New Motherland Alliance".
However, this group was suppressed by the German government, and Einstein had to be careful.
If you are caught at this time, you will probably lose your job, which is no joke.
Einstein sighed: "Fortunately, Bruce left early."
"Otherwise, with his strong temper, I would have been worried about his safety."
"I don't know how his novel is going, but it is said to be an anti-war novel."
"I really want to see it soon. With his influence, he should be able to cause a sensation."
Laue also said longingly: "I hope so."
"We need it now. Leaders like Bruce speak out”
(End of Chapter)