1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 226 Edison is dissatisfied: Bruce Lee plagiarized my patent
The impact of the first Bruce Conference on the scientific community exceeded Ridgway's imagination.

In 1909, although communication between countries was not as convenient as in later generations, the rapid changes were the same as in later generations.

Any great invention or major event can spread quickly and be known by countless people.

Physics is the first discipline of this era. It has spawned countless inventions and changed human life and the speed of world development.

Therefore, the influence of this conference has also spread beyond the academic circle.

West Orange, New Jersey, United States.

This is the home of the most famous laboratory in the United States, Edison Laboratory.

Although it is called a laboratory, it is more appropriate to call it a complex of buildings.

In 1887, Edison, who was wealthy, spent a huge amount of money to build this laboratory.

As his research grew and his experiments became more complex, the original studio could no longer meet his daily R&D needs.

The new laboratory consists of five buildings, including a three-story main laboratory that houses a power plant, mechanical workshop, laboratory rooms, and even a library.

The other four buildings are physics laboratory, chemistry laboratory, metallurgy laboratory, model making workshop and warehouse.

The sheer size of the laboratory allowed Edison to conduct any type of experiment and to work on a dozen projects simultaneously.

Over the years, Edison built several new manufacturing plants around his laboratory.

Currently, the total number of employees in all his companies has exceeded 5000.

It is an absolutely large company and is almost a household name in the United States.

Of course, the most important thing is Edison himself, his name is synonymous with invention in the United States.

At this moment, in the physics laboratory, in Edison's office.

Edison, who is 62 years old this year, is still vigorous and energetic, without any sign of the dullness or slowness of his age.

He was entertaining a distinguished guest, Marconi, who was now at the peak of his career in the industrial world.

In real history, Marconi and Edison had a very good personal relationship.

Marconi's invention of radio was also related to Edison.

Edison had provided him with some patents on electricity.

At this moment, Marconi had just finished touring the various facilities in the laboratory and was chatting with Edison while drinking coffee.

"Edison, it's only been a year or two since we last met, and your laboratory has expanded again."

“And a new machine shop has been added.”

"I really envy you. What's up with your brain?"

“How come there are so many ideas for inventions every day?”

Edison laughed and said, "Marconi, you have been doing well recently. You have made a great breakthrough in radio."

"But you have to be careful. I heard that General Electric has established a new radio department."

"Specializes in various applications of radio."

"Don't let them overtake you."

The General Electric Company mentioned by Edison was actually founded by himself.

In 1878, Edison founded the Edison Electric Light Company.

In 1892, American banker J.P. Morgan invested money to merge Edison Electric Company with two other companies to form General Electric Company.

Over the next hundred years, General Electric continued to grow and develop, eventually becoming a world-renowned multinational giant.

Its business areas are also very broad, and it has strong capabilities in aviation, medical care, and energy.

Its aircraft engines are especially loved by the US military and provide technical support for those famous fighter jets.

In real history, General Electric established a radio department after World War I and quickly became dominant, which shows its strength.

Although Edison no longer holds any position at General Electric, his name as a founder is still very influential.

As long as it is not particularly confidential company information, he will be the first to know it.

Marconi smiled and said, "Look, it's your fault. It was you who sold the company."

"I came here this time with the plan to expand the company's market in the United States."

“There are so many applications for radio these days.”

"One company simply can't eat such a big pie."

“I also hope to compete with American entrepreneurs.”

Edison raised his eyebrows, "Oh? Are you so confident?"

Marconi laughed, then said mysteriously: "Because I have the most powerful scientific advisor in the world."

Edison became interested and said with a smile, "Oh! Great! Your company is going to hire a scientific consultant."

"Who can make you so confident that you dare to come to the United States to do business?"

Marconi said excitedly, "Bruce Lee."

When Edison heard the name, he instantly lost his composure, the smile on his face disappeared, and his brows furrowed slightly, not knowing what he was thinking.

"Oh. So it's him."

Hearing the coldness in his old friend's words, Marconi said helplessly: "Edison, you still remember that incident."

Edison said indignantly: "Bruce Lee's patent is simply a reference to my patent."

"For the tungsten filament light bulb he invented, I restored the patent within three days after I got the Philips product."

"The technology and creativity used in it are very similar to one of my previous patents."

"Anyway, I have already explained to the officials of the US Patent Office that Bruce Lee's tungsten filament light bulb patent is not protected in the United States."

Marconi shook his head helplessly. His old friend was good in every way except that he was too stubborn.

He believed that as long as he was researching a similar field, the results would definitely be related to him.

More than 20 years ago, Tesla finally resigned because he couldn't stand Edison's temper.

In real history, later researchers believed that Tesla was buried because he and Edison had very different personalities.

Edison was good at business operations and had a business mind; while Tesla was only focused on inventing and did not consider making money from patents.

While Tesla was working for Edison, he was deceived by Edison and ultimately did not pay him.

So later, the "Current War" broke out between the two sides, which shocked the whole world at that time. Although the relationship between Edison and Tesla could not be described as that of enemies who would never have any contact with each other, there were always irreconcilable contradictions.

Edison's own arrogant and stubborn character was an important trigger.

Now, for some reason, he disliked Li Qiwei again.

Because Edison couldn't believe that a Qing Dynasty person could solve the problem that he had spent countless days and nights trying to solve.

In later generations, the story of Edison and the light bulb became known to almost everyone in China.

Through this story, the textbook tells children that as long as they work hard, they will be rewarded.

Now that Edison has achieved nothing, how can he not be angry?

Economic benefits are secondary. The key point is that he cannot tolerate someone surpassing him in electricity and light bulbs.

In Edison's opinion, Ridgway must have seen his patent from somewhere, and then after a few simple experiments, he happened to find the right process.

It's totally a blind cat catching a dead mouse.

If Li Qiwei were here, he would definitely say to Edison: Sorry, you guessed wrong, I didn’t even do the experiment.

Marconi was helpless. He had advised the other party more than once, but to no avail.

Fortunately, Edison and Ridgway were far apart.

Marconi could avoid offending both sides since the two didn't know each other anyway.

"Edison, I'm not speaking well of Bruce Lee."

"But, given his academic attainments in physics, I don't think a tungsten filament light bulb is that difficult."

"You have already done all the preliminary work. You just need the final inspiration."

"Bruce Lee is recognized as the greatest genius in physics. I think there is no need for him to take the risk of plagiarism."

"He just made some innovations based on your work."

Marconi was indeed a shrewd man. He spoke very nicely without offending either side.

Edison suddenly laughed and said, "Haha, the first genius in physics, what a great title."

"I also read the contents of the first Bruce Conference."

"It's all about academic physics, and it doesn't take our applied physics into consideration at all."

"Marconi, you are also a Nobel Prize winner in physics, why didn't he invite you to the meeting?"

"Uh," Marconi was speechless. After thinking for a while, he said, "My academic level is indeed far from that of a physicist."

"It's really not appropriate to attend this meeting."

Edison was dissatisfied and said: "Wrong, absolutely wrong."

“The level of a student’s academic performance cannot be judged solely by the academic content.”

“No matter how beautiful and great Maxwell’s equations are, without inventors like us who engage in applied physics, would people be able to use light bulbs, phonographs, and movies?”

"Not to mention telephones, telegraphs, etc."

The phonograph is Edison's proudest invention and also a very important invention to the world.

"I know you have always been grateful to Bruce Lee for proving the feasibility of your radio global transmission theory."

"But I think even without his participation, you would have tried it eventually."

"Marconi, we have known each other for such a long time, I know your character well."

Marconi said: "But no matter what, Bruce's achievements in physics are recognized by the industry."

“It really played a key role in the development of physics.”

Edison retorted: "But I cannot tolerate his prejudice against applied physics."

"I know Bruce Lee applied for a lot of patents, but they were all sold to companies in the end."

"It can be seen that he doesn't care about these things at all and thinks they are just a way for him to make money."

“And this conference, I think not inviting applied physicists is a testament to his arrogance.”

Good boy, going around in circles.

Only then did Marconi understand why his old friend was sulking.

It turned out to be this reason.

Bruce did not invite Edison to the first Bruce Conference.

This made Edison very unhappy.

When he became famous, Li Qiwei was just a little kid.

Today, Edison is a multimillionaire, inventor, entrepreneur, and physicist.

He is a household name in the United States and around the world, and his fame is no less than that of the top physicists.

But he did not receive an invitation from Li Qiwei.

What does this mean?

This suggests that Edison believed that Ridgway thought he was insignificant to physics and not worthy of participating in the grand conference that was shaping the future of physics.

Marconi figured this out and immediately found it funny.

It seems that when people get older, they tend to have childish tempers.

He was sure that Bruce had no ill intentions at all and would not think like that. It was simply Edison who was overthinking.

However, he still comforted him: "Oh, my brother, you worry too much."

"I know Bruce. He is not a loner."

“He has a lot of respect for entrepreneurs like us in the tech space.”

"He once said to me: 'I really want to meet Mr. Edison one day. His inventions changed the world.'"

Edison was a little skeptical when he heard this, "Did he really say that?"

“I am sure I remember it correctly,” said Marconi.

Edison snorted and stopped talking.

Afterwards, Marconi said goodbye to Edison as he had to travel around the United States to promote his business.

(End of this chapter)