1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 149 Congratulations, Dr. Li Qiwei!
When several bigwigs on the defense committee tried their best but failed to stump Li Qiwei, others didn't dare to hope anymore, not even the members of the Royal Society.

Everyone understands that in the academic field of physics, there are very few questions that can stump each other.

There have been several cases in later generations where students crushed the professors who were evaluating them during their defense.

The most famous of these is the philosopher Wittgenstein.

When he was defending his doctoral dissertation, he told the defense team: "You will never understand my thesis in your lifetime."

Then he passed the defense.
The leader of the defense team at that time was the famous Russell.

It can be seen that the graduation defenses of geniuses are all unique.

Now, facing Li Qiwei's high-spirited spirit, everyone deeply understood this feeling.

However, this is just a defense meeting. If things really don't work out, you can still rely on your seniority.

Swan's aged voice instantly attracted everyone's attention.

"Bruce, your doctoral defense was amazing."

"To be honest, after reading your paper, I always feel that we old guys can't keep up with the times."

"My former strengths in mechanical analysis and electromagnetic field calculations are no longer useful."

"Sometimes I really want to go back to my youth, when I had endless energy to explore the mysteries of physics."

Li Qiwei smiled and said, "Mr. Swan, you are too modest."

"It is precisely because of the foundation laid by older generations like you that physics is flourishing today."

Swan smiled and said, "Bruce, I have a question. It's not about your paper, but about one of your patents."

"I have studied your tungsten filament patent. I am curious, how can you be sure that tungsten filament is more suitable for light bulbs without any verification experiments?"

"I don't think the people at the Cavendish Laboratory would lower themselves to study the mechanism of the light bulb."

"So, Bruce, do you have any special skills?"

Li Qiwei appeared calm on the surface, but he was actually very panicked inside.

It turns out that time travelers should never look down on people from any era, especially the big guys.

As long as Li Qiwei reveals the slightest clue, someone will always find something unusual.

He could deceive Philips founder Gerard because the other party didn't know what experiments Ridgeway was doing.

But as a veteran physicist like Swan, who has extensive connections and good access to information, it was easy for him to find out about Li Qiwei's situation in the laboratory.

If he had not done any testing on tungsten filaments and had directly thought of using tungsten filaments to make light bulbs and improve them, that would be too shocking.

After all, there is no theoretical support for this, it is purely based on experimental results.

Li Qiwei did not show any panic, but smiled and said, "Mr. Swan, this is complicated to explain."

"It goes back to when I was in the Qing Dynasty. I became interested in science when I was a child."

"Although the Qing Dynasty was isolated at that time, my family background allowed me to be exposed to a lot of Western knowledge."

"Especially Mr. Edison's light bulb, which left a deep impression on me."

“So I built my own lab at home and did a lot of testing.”

"Of course, I didn't have much basic knowledge of physics at the time, so a lot of things seemed plausible."

“However, this experience left a deep impression on me.”

"Later, I came to Cambridge to study abroad and studied physics systematically, which allowed me to integrate the original experiments."

"I just realized that I had experimented with a material called tungsten."

"So, through theoretical analysis of materials science, I concluded that tungsten filament is a feasible material for light bulbs."

“As for some of the data, it’s my experience at that time.”

After the explanation, no matter whether others believed it or not, Li Qiwei himself believed it.

Moreover, he is fearless. If you have the ability, go and investigate the Qing Dynasty.

Swan was stunned by Li Qiwei's intimidation, and he believed him for the time being and nodded slightly.

In this case, there is no need to delve further.

However, this incident reminded Li Qiwei that he should think carefully before doing anything in the future.

After Swan, members of the Royal Society of London also asked questions.

These older generation physicists did not overly challenge Ridgway, but only spoke to the point. Among them, Heaviside's questions were the most interesting.

"Bruce, I don't want to compete with you for credit, but I discovered the existence of a substance in the atmosphere that can reflect electromagnetic waves almost at the same time as you did."

"However, I didn't publish it at the beginning. Oh, I should have published it earlier."

Several of Heaviside's good friends couldn't help but sigh, because they knew that the other party had studied this issue.

Li Qiwei could only smile bitterly. If his brain memory had not been enhanced, he would not have known there was such a person as Heaviside.

"I don't think this is much of an achievement, Mr. Heaviside."

"Based on the atmospheric science developed from it, maybe that's what we should pay attention to."

"After all, perhaps physicists had made this guess long before you did."

"I just had nothing better to do, so I did some theoretical calculations."

“The process wasn’t particularly complicated.”

"Professor Thomson regarded this result as an achievement and attributed it to me because he liked me."

Li Qiwei's humor successfully resolved the embarrassment and made Heaviside feel relieved.

At this point, the defense was basically coming to an end.

After all, graduating with a PhD is a significant moment in life.

There's no need to nitpick when Li Qiwei is already so good.

It would be better to make the entire graduation process more perfect.

So, after Thomson gave the last reminder as a mentor, no one asked any more questions.

Li Qiwei took a deep breath, even though he knew his doctoral defense would go smoothly.

However, when that moment really came, he couldn't help but feel excited.

This is a PhD from Cambridge University in 1903, and its value is far beyond that of later PhDs.

He may even be the first Chinese to obtain a doctorate, an honor that no one can match.

With a PhD in physics from Cambridge University, he will return to China to create greater glory.

At this time, Professor Thomson walked forward and shook hands with Li Qiwei vigorously.

There seemed to be a thousand words in his heart, but when it came to his mouth, only one sentence remained:

"Congratulations, Dr. Ridgeway!"

When Li Qiwei heard this name, he suddenly felt a palpitation.

Thomson did not say Dr. Bruce, but Dr. Ridgway, which shows the love and respect hidden deep in his heart.

He respected Li Qiwei's choice and appreciated his dedication to the country.

I even felt a little admiration for Li Qiwei, not because of his academic achievements, but because of his ideals and ambitions.

Li Qiwei could certainly understand the meaning of this, so he was very moved.

At this moment, he felt infinite gratitude towards Thomson.

The other party treats me with absolutely everything he has.

Thomson was a pure physicist.

Even though Ridgway and Rutherford complained about him advising people to marry later, they were just joking.

As a scholar, Thomson's qualities are worth learning from for everyone.

So, Li Qiwei nodded heavily to him, his complex eyes full of all the information.

Finally, amid the applause of everyone present, Li Qiwei's doctoral dissertation defense was successfully completed.

All that remains is the grand doctorate awarding ceremony.

However, it is basically just a glorious formality to let people feel the academic atmosphere.

From this moment on, Li Qiwei finally completed his gorgeous transformation of identity.

He is no longer the Bruce Lee that others call him, nor is he the Bruce Lee that others call him.

But it’s Dr. Li.

(End of this chapter)