"Oh my god, a patent officer III? And on a temporary basis!?"
Planck was very surprised when he saw Li Yu's call back, "How could Li Yu, a mysterious oriental scientist who is not even a university lecturer, be so interested?"
However, since Li Yu had recommended it to him repeatedly and promised to publish a Star Wars story as soon as possible, Plank decided to give this young temporary worker a chance under such temptation.
"Mr. Einstein, my name is Max Planck. I am an academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and a professor of physics at the University of Berlin. Li Yu mentioned to me that you have used my quantum theory to study some interesting things.
Viewpoint, I hope you can send it to me for a look.”
When Einstein finished reading the telegram at home, he was so excited that he went crazy. He hugged his wife Mileva forcefully and said happily: "Oh my God! Finally a professor is willing to read my paper, and he proposes a quantum theory."
Planck himself!"
Mileva was also happy for Einstein: "You must write your paper well today. I hope the calligraphy you have practiced during this period will not be in vain."
Einstein kissed Mileva and then sat at the table: "I think I also want to send a thank you telegram to Li Yu. He has helped me a lot!"
It is very fast to send a letter from Bern, Switzerland to Berlin, Germany. After all, we are neighboring countries.
After Planck finished reading the paper, he couldn't help but take off his glasses, raised them to look at them again, and then said to himself: "What a joke! Not only did I use Planck's constant, but also Lehner's
A test of virtue!”
Planck called his assistant Laue: "Hurry up and find Professor Leonard!"
——
If you were to choose a person with the worst reputation in the history of physics, Philip Leonard would definitely be in the top three.
He was the Nobel Prize winner in 1905, but he joined Hitler's Nazi party in the second half of his life and had a close relationship with Mustache. Like Mustache, he was a staunch anti-Semite and violently attacked Einstein.
Represented by a group of Jewish scientists.
He even developed the so-called "German Physics".
Many scientists at that time, including Einstein, disdained talking about politics and thought it was quite stupid.
But Leonard has since completely mixed politics and science, completely unlike a famous Nobel Prize winner.
During the Nazi period, anti-Semitism in Germany was so terrible that even Max Planck was inexplicably proven to be "one-sixth Jewish" and said that he was spreading heresies to Jewish scientists.
If he hadn't had a huge reputation and was a German, it would have been difficult to deal with him.
In order to maintain the German Physical Society during World War II, Planck had no choice but to make huge concessions to sodium brittleness.
Fortunately, Mustache was only fifteen years old at this time, and he was still dreaming of becoming a painter. Therefore, Leonard had not yet found a political confidant, so he was relatively restrained.
Leonard is currently also an academician of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and a professor of physics at the university, so his status is not much lower than Planck.
Leonard, who was very tall, came to Planck's office and asked: "Professor Planck, are you looking for me?"
Planck took out Einstein's paper on the photoelectric effect: "I told you before that your reputation is not as low as you said. Some people are very interested in your experimental results and have done some research."
Lots of quotes.”
Leonard was not anxious to read the paper, but said: "I hope I will no longer be a mouse stealing apples."
Planck was slightly displeased: "Leonard, haven't you passed the Röntgen hurdle yet?"
Leonard said: "Why go in the past? Now everyone only knows Roentgen, Roentgen, Roentgen! The newspapers also praise him blindly! But he obviously plagiarized my results. How could he have done it without my improved cathode ray tube?
Discover X-rays!?”
Planck poured him a glass of red wine: "You should always learn to look forward. Maybe you will also win a Nobel medal in the future."
Leonard said: "The Nobel Prize jury would rather award the medal to a Polish woman than to me. Can't these people see that I am the one planting trees, and others are just picking apples!"
Without me, they wouldn’t even be able to pick apples!”
Planck picked up the cup and clinked it with him: "Take a sip of brandy first."
Leonard raised his hand and exchanged greetings with Planck, then drank it all in one gulp.
Planck smoothed things over and said: "The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences was going to award the prize to Pierre, but Pierre said that he would refuse to accept the Nobel Prize if it was not awarded to his wife at the same time, so the Swedish jury decided to
Mrs. Lee's name was added."
Last year, in 1903, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three people at the same time for the first time, in recognition of the Curies and Becquerel's breakthrough developments in radioactivity.
Leonard didn't buy it, and said angrily: "These Vikings!"
Planck patted him on the shoulder: "Don't always be so extreme. I've told you many times that scientific research should not consider too many other factors. What should be yours will always be yours."
Leonard snorted coldly and was noncommittal.
Planck picked up Einstein's paper and handed it to him: "Look at this, I thought of you immediately."
After Leonard finished reading, he immediately said: "That's complete nonsense! The energy of the photoelectric effect must come from inside the atom, how could it come from light? Oh, he also used your Planck constant. Didn't you say that quantum
Is it just a mathematical assumption that has nothing to do with physics?"
Planck said: "But I can't find any errors in it, and the magical oriental science giant Li Yu also endorsed him and personally corrected the mathematical content, and I can't find the problem.
That's why I asked you to come."
"Let me do it?" Leonard said, "If you want to listen to my judgment, I can only say that it is nonsense! He actually used the particle theory to explain light. What is the difference between his approach and reproposing the geocentric theory? Let's start history.
Reverse?”
"Don't be so excited for now," Planck said. "I didn't take it seriously at first, but after Li Yu's recommendation and careful reading, I found that this young man's physical intuition is terrifyingly good, and he is so quick-thinking.
, is a rare genius."
"Genius?" Leonard asked, "I still don't know who wrote the paper. Is it British? Those guys like to hold on to the particles so that they can overturn the verdict of their spiritual leader Newton."
What Leonard said makes sense to some extent.
If you take a longer view, you will find a very interesting phenomenon: most of the ideas about particle theory were proposed by the British.
Nearly three hundred years ago, their contemporaries Newton and Huygens were representatives of the particle theory and wave theory of light respectively.
However, since Newton, the particle theory gradually declined, and the wave theory finally won the victory.
But this is not the end. The particle theory still has a very important position in the British scientific community.
For example, Brownian motion was proposed by the Englishman Brown;
Dalton, who first proposed atomic theory in chemistry, was also British;
There are also electrons (Thomson), protons (Rutherford), and neutrons (Chadwick), all discovered by the British;
Even later, the theories of antimatter positron (Dirac) and Higgs boson (Higgs) were first proposed by the British.
On the other hand, continental Europe at the same time generally believed in the ether theory.
Lorenz was very close to the theory of relativity, but he would rather spend time demonstrating that the ether would expand and contract than give up his view of the ether.
As for Fresnel, Helmholtz, Hertz, Leonard, etc., they all believe in the ether!
In other words, Boltzmann was an "alien", but how many people on the European continent believed in his atomic theory? Historically, Boltzmann was even forced to commit suicide.
Therefore, the quantum theory proposed by two Germans, Einstein and Planck, can be said to be very deviant for the European continent, and they are under great pressure.
This also explains why Planck chose to be cautious.
He said in public more than once: "Quantum is just a pure hypothesis, and I didn't think too much about it."
This is a famous saying by Planck himself.
He indeed only regarded quantum as a mathematical hypothesis and did not dare to go further.
After all, Planck was already in his forties when he proposed the quantum theory. He did not like to be competitive, so he chose to hide his talents.
But Einstein was different.
Einstein was young and vigorous now, and he was only a temporary patent clerk. He was eager to get ahead so that he could enter university and become a physics professor of his dreams.
Planck turned the paper to the first page and said to Leonard: "The author of this photoelectric effect paper is called Einstein, and he is currently a temporary third-level patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland."
"Einstein?" Leonard thought for a moment, "Looking at the name, he's a Jew?"
Planck said: "Does it matter?"
Leonard didn't say much, but he still made his attitude clear: "I don't accept this temporary patent clerk's thesis point of view. When will he become a university professor, he will be qualified to propose shocking content, otherwise it will just be in the public eye."
It’s just grandstanding.”
Planck spread his hands: "Okay, but what if he is right?"
"Impossible!" Leonard said flatly, "I did the experiment myself, and I know best!"
It has to be said that Leonard is indeed a genius in experimental physics. Unfortunately, his theoretical foundation is a bit stretched. Although he has done excellent experiments, he can never go further.
Leonard asked again: "I heard that you recently met with people from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Who is most likely to be nominated as a candidate for this year's Nobel Prize?"
Of course Planck knew that what Leonard really wanted to ask was whether he had any hope, so he replied: "As far as I know, you were nominated. But Roentgen, Lorenz and Lord Kelvin jointly nominated Li Yu. You know
, two of them are Nobel Prize winners, and their nominations are very important."
"What?!" Leonard was very angry. "Is it possible that the most important Nobel Prize in Physics, after being awarded to a Polish woman, will be awarded to the backward Qing people? Is this still a superior Nobel Prize?!
"
Leonard really doesn’t think highly of Asians as a whole…
Planck said: "But it is undeniable that Li Yu's achievements are worthy of the Nobel Prize. Otherwise, if he is not qualified, wouldn't the Nobel Prize itself lose its authority?"
Leonard opened his mouth to say something, but in the end the words changed to: "Professor Planck, have you nominated anyone?"
Plank laughed and said: "I'm not even qualified to be nominated."
It is true that not just anyone can be nominated for the Nobel Prize, but it makes sense when Leonard thinks about it.
The people on the Nobel Prize jury are so ignorant that it is difficult for an individual to find a backdoor. Unless the Prussian Academy of Sciences goes to negotiate, a national academy of sciences will basically not do such a thing. If others find out, it will not be an ordinary shame.
However, although Planck cannot be a nominee, he can serve as an expert and write expert reports for the nominees. These expert reports will eventually be brought together to the Nobel Prize jury as the basis for the evaluation.
Leonard left Planck's office angrily not long after.
After he left, Planck wrote another letter to Einstein, hoping to meet him in person.
After Einstein received the letter, he came to Berlin without stopping.
Entering Max Planck's spacious office at the University of Berlin, Einstein was filled with envy when he saw the tall wooden bookshelves and several square-sized desks.
This was the working environment he dreamed of! Not the small desk in the patent office filled with review documents.
"Hello, Professor Planck." Einstein took off his hat and saluted.
Planck said: "Don't be formal, sit down."
"Professor Xie." Einstein sat across from his desk.
"I heard you lived in Berlin before?" Planck asked.
"Yes, Professor Planck," Einstein replied, "many members of my family are still in Berlin, including my mother."
"Then why did you go to Switzerland?" Planck continued to ask.
"Because I think the more democratic environment there than in Germany is suitable for me to do some physics research. And, to be honest, I have obtained Swiss citizenship." Einstein said truthfully.
"Are you Jewish?" Planck asked.
"What's wrong with that?" Einstein said.
"Of course there's no problem, I'm just asking," Planck said, "because I'm curious how you can write such an excellent paper besides working in a heavy patent office. A temporary patent clerk can do this
This situation is really puzzling to me.”
Einstein replied: "Professor, I think about physics problems every day. Not only this, I also have many other wonderful ideas."
"It's good for young people to be motivated," Planck said. "I've read your paper. Since Mr. Li Yu has made corrections, at least there won't be too many problems in mathematics. So I reviewed it carefully.
When it comes to the quantum part, I want to say that your formula is very beautiful."
Einstein said happily: "Thank you for your compliment, Professor!"
Planck added: "But I want to remind you that its publication may attract a lot of criticism, so you must try your best to perfect every word, because it is too shocking."
Einstein said: "I will definitely remember your teachings."
Planck finally said: "As for its publication, I will use my discretion to choose the best time."
Planck's words reassured Einstein that his trip to Berlin was not in vain.