1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 212 The First Bruce Conference! The Physics World is Shocked!
Three days later, Ridgway officially announced that Bohr and seven others had all passed the doctoral entrance examination.

Li Qiwei recruited seven doctoral students at once, which immediately caused a sensation in the Department of Physics at King's College.

It’s not easy to get a PhD these days.

Although bigwigs like Thomson even had more than 10 doctoral students, that was because Cavendish had a strong foundation.

It seems that the Physics Department of King's College does not have so many subjects.

Everyone guessed that perhaps Professor Bruce's research direction was broad and could be divided into many different sub-topics.

However, soon, an event that shocked the physics community made everyone realize that no matter how many doctoral students there were, they had nothing to fear.

On the morning of May 1909, 5, Nature magazine published an exclusive cover article by Ridgway.

In the article, Ridgway briefly summarized the new phenomena and new theories that emerged in the field of physics from 1900 to 1909.

At the same time, he also pointed out that there are still many problems in physics that need to be clarified and solved.

Therefore, as the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, he invited the world's top physicists to gather together to discuss cutting-edge physics.

The meeting was to be held in London on October 1909, 10.

The theme of the conference is: Classical Physics and Modern Physics.

The conference was hosted by Pioneer Investment Group, which named the conference the "First Bruce International Physics Conference."

It was later referred to simply as the "First Bruce Conference".

Only a few people knew about the relationship between Pioneer Group and Li Qiwei, and most people thought that it was sponsorship brought in by Li Qiwei.

In addition, Li Qiwei also claimed that he would invite Professor Lorenz, the second Nobel Prize winner, to serve as the host of the conference.

At the end of the article, Li Qiwei apologized and said that considering the purpose of this meeting, he would adopt a strict invitation system for participants.

That is: anyone who has not received an invitation letter from Li Qiwei is not eligible to attend this meeting.

boom!
Once the article was published, it instantly caused an 18-magnitude earthquake in the physics community.

"Oh my God, this is mind-blowing!"

All the physics practitioners did nothing else that day and focused on discussing the shock brought about by this incident.

There are also two distinct attitudes towards this matter.

Those who agree believe that:
“Physics really needs to be sorted out.”

"The development of physics has entered a period of explosive growth. The results achieved in one year are equivalent to those achieved in the previous ten years."

"Only after the big guys summarize the most cutting-edge issues can more physics researchers grasp the key points and avoid deviations in their research directions."

"Given Bruce's status and position in the physics community, he is fully responsible for the results of the conference and guarantees its authority."

However, the main point of attack by opponents was the invitation system proposed by Ridgway.

"What a joke! Can Bruce let anyone he wants to participate? How can he judge everyone's level?"

"Nature magazine has published so many articles in recent years. Has Bruce read them all?"

"When Professor Roentgen discovered X-rays, it was ignored by the great physicists of the time. Why does Bruce think he can be right?"

"For example, in my research on thermal science, I found a way to break through absolute zero, which I think is a Nobel Prize-level achievement."

"But Nature rejected my article. It's really blind and a waste of talent."

What's worse, some people directly question Li Qiwei's own ability.

“Bruce hasn’t published a new paper in six or seven years. Can he identify the most cutting-edge results in physics?”

Chris and others couldn't stand it anymore and immediately published an article to fight back.

"Based on the achievements of my mentor, even if he does not have any new results in the next few decades, it will not affect his status."

"Also, my mentor's research is so difficult that progress is slow."

“When his results are published, you doubters probably won’t even understand the paper.”

The heated arguments among the juniors in the physics journals actually brought more fame to the first Bruce Conference.

Many mathematicians envy with resentment: "We don't even have anyone to question us."

Physics journals even delayed publishing papers to focus on the battle over Bruce.

No matter how heatedly the young people discussed, the real physicists were left out at this moment.

They have their own identity and pride, and even if they are questioned, they will not resort to such verbal warfare.

Many people even wondered in their hearts: Will Bruce invite me?
After all, with the specifications and goals of this conference, if you are selected by Li Qiwei, it means that you are someone who can influence the development of physics.

This kind of honor is extremely lethal to physicists, and it is like a magic medicine to physicists.

Wilson even complained to Rutherford: "If Bruce dares not invite me, I will rush to King's College and stay there."

As the discussion grew, the first Bruce Conference became more and more heated.

Li Qiwei is a bit overwhelmed by himself.

In this case, the physics masters finally came to an end!

Of course, they actually discussed this with Li Qiwei in private.

Five days after the news of the first Bruce Conference broke, the journal Nature published several articles.

All the articles support Li Qiwei's ideas and express high expectations and blessings for this meeting.

The authors of these articles have raised this conference to an unimaginable height, making it the number one conference in the natural sciences! They are:
The first Nobel Prize winners in physics in 1901: Roentgen and Planck;

The second Nobel Prize winner in physics in 1902: Lorentz;

The third Nobel Prize winner in physics in 1903: Marie Curie;
The fourth Nobel Prize winner in physics in 1904: Lord Rayleigh;
The sixth Nobel Prize winner in Physics in 1906: Thomson;
Michelson, the winner of the seventh Nobel Prize in Physics in 1907
The 1908th Nobel Prize winner in Physics in : Lippmann;

The 1908th Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry in : Rutherford;

Nine Nobel Prize winners publicly supported Li Qiwei, which instantly caused a sensation in the physics community again.

boom!
This time, no one dared to question Li Qiwei anymore.

His appeal in the field of physics is simply terrifying!
With his efforts, he impressed almost all Nobel Prize winners in physics.

As for the fifth Nobel Prize winner in physics, the bosses knew that he and Li Qiwei did not get along and looked down on each other.

So naturally the other party will not publicly express support.

In addition to the Nobel Prize winners mentioned above, people such as Einstein have publicly published articles to support Li Qiwei.

This made the meeting full of suspense before it even started, and captured everyone's attention.

Countless people are looking forward to what kind of shock the world will experience on October 10th.

And now, the most important thing is who will receive Bruce's invitation and become the focus of world attention.

Some are full of confidence, some are uneasy; some are confident, some are self-aware.

Countless people sighed: Bruce, you really know how to stir up trouble.

Even before a single paper was published, it had already caused a stir in the field of physics and became known to everyone.

The hearts of thousands of scholars are in your hands.

At this moment, Bruce, whom they both hated and loved, was racking his brains in his office.

Li Qiwei not only had to prepare the speech, but also had to consider who to send invitations to.

This speech is not some warm welcome cliché, but an examination of physics from the highest perspective.

It can be said that there are few people in the world today who can do this job.

Even if Li Qiwei had a soul in the future, it would not be an easy task to summarize a physics context that is consistent with the current development of physics and has clear logic.

He needs to consider and think carefully.

As for which people to invite, it is relatively easy. With the information of the big guys in mind, there should be no mistakes.

However, he decided to hand this matter over to his doctoral students, which would be a test for them.

"Gregory, Bohr, Chris, Qian Wushi, Qian Huzhou, Deng Huaining, Yu Yin."

"The seven of you go down and discuss among yourselves and divide the work and cooperate."

“In two months, summarize all the new physical theories that appeared from 1900 to 1909.”

“Sort out the papers and authors that are relevant to this new stuff.”

"Then send it to me after you have sorted it out for reference."

"Later, I will let you guys be responsible for sending out the invitations."

"Gregory is solely responsible for this matter."

Everyone agreed in unison. As the eldest brother of the group, Gregory had worked at Nature magazine for so many years and must be very experienced in doing this kind of thing.

Moreover, thanks to his connections, he can get first-hand resources, so he is the only one who can be in charge, and everyone is convinced.

Gregory agreed excitedly: "Okay, professor, I will complete the task on time."

Although this task is not a specific research topic, its importance is even greater than doing a year-long experiment.

If they really sort it out carefully, it would be equivalent to understanding all the new physics.

This will be of great benefit for future specific research.

Most importantly, organizing these papers sometimes requires contacting the authors.

As Li Qiwei's doctoral students, they can easily gain the other party's trust and gain connections for themselves.

How important are connections?

Just look at Professor Bruce.

He wanted to hold a conference, and nine Nobel Prize winners were willing to support him unconditionally.

This has nothing to do with the size of your achievements.

No matter how awesome you are, if you are introverted, difficult to get along with, and have poor popularity, why would others bother to show their affection for you?

No matter how awesome you are, it has nothing to do with me.

Therefore, if you want to really get ahead in the world, in addition to having strong personal abilities, you must also be good at dealing with others.

This is a great opportunity for Gregory and others.

Under normal circumstances, if you want to contact these big guys, they may not have the time to pay attention to you.

Li Qiwei also took this opportunity to familiarize several people with the frontiers of physics and prepare for the selection of subsequent topics.

(End of this chapter)