1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 509: Traveling around the world! Instructing de Broglie! Shocking ideas! Can electrons have wave properties?

The way that man can conquer nature proposed by Li Qiwei deeply shocked everyone present.

The differences between Eastern and Western cultures are fully reflected at this moment.

Westerners and Easterners have completely different attitudes toward God.

Westerners believe in God, and they truly believe in it.

They are afraid that because of the sins they committed in this world, they will be dragged to hell after death.

Therefore, they were very pious to God.

But Orientals believe in God for the sake of their own future.

The one who can bless me with promotion and wealth is a good god, and I will worship you.

God who can’t bring me any benefits, just go and have fun.

There is no difference between these two beliefs in terms of high or low, right or wrong, they just have different cultural cores.

Western gods are born gods and are superior to mortals.

Most of the gods in the East are humans who have practiced cultivation.

Therefore, Li Qiwei could shout out: Man can conquer nature!

It is absolutely impossible for European scientists to say such a thing.

Although they also do not believe in the existence of God, they will never think of becoming God or surpassing God.

From this we can see how shocked the Pope and others were when they heard these words.

Li Qiwei and the Pope’s ways are completely different!

One is God over man, the other is man over God.

Neither of them could convince the other.

In the end, the discussion turned into a dispute of faith!
But faith cannot determine victory or defeat.

Pope Pius XI laughed a few times, breaking the silence in the room.

The result of the discussion made him very satisfied!
Professor Bruce's ambitions far exceeded his imagination.

The other party did not directly deny the existence of God like other wise men.

Instead, it acknowledges the existence of God and firmly believes that man can surpass God!

Such magnanimity is admirable.

Of course, if Li Qiwei's words were put in the Middle Ages when Christianity was at its peak, it would be considered treason.

I'm afraid he will find it difficult to leave the Vatican today.

However, Christianity today is no longer what it once was.

With the Renaissance's release of human nature, the influence and control of religion has disappeared.

Apart from being a constraint on believers, it has no meaning at all for non-believers like Li Qiwei.

Then Pius XI lamented:

"Professor Bruce, thank you for bringing us Eastern ideas."

“I’ve never heard that view.”

At this moment, he developed a deep curiosity about Chinese culture.

Li Qiwei smiled when he heard this:

"The concept of man conquering nature was proposed by our Chinese thinker Xunzi."

"The era he lived in was roughly equivalent to the ancient Greek city-state era in the West."

Wow!
Everyone exclaimed!
The ancient Greek era was almost equivalent to the beginning of European civilization.

Ancient Greece worshipped a variety of gods.

But at the same time, China had actually begun to believe that man could conquer nature.

This huge cultural difference makes everyone sigh.

Pope Pius XI looked at Li Qiwei as if he were looking at a rare treasure.

The man in front of me is a master of both Chinese and Western culture.

Not only has he reached the pinnacle in the field of science, he is also not weak in the field of thought.

“I really don’t know where his future will go.”

The discussion can be said to have ended.

God is above man and man can conquer nature. This is a difference in belief and there is no right or wrong.

No matter which angle you discuss from, it will only provide more evidence for your point of view.

Because there are two cornerstones for the discussion.

For a debate to be victorious, both sides must agree on only one thing.

For example, which one tastes better, sweet or salty?

Unless there is a clear definition of delicious, there will be no conclusion to the debate.

The pragmatic criterion proposed by Ridgway can only attack the Pope's argument for the five-fold epistemology.

But if you want to directly refute the Pope's foundation, there is no way.

Because there is no standard for "delicious".

Soon, accompanied by the Pope and a group of bishops, Li Qiwei left the church and reunited with Wang Zhengyang and others.

Before leaving, Pius XI suddenly shouted:
"Bruce, I have something else to say to you."

Li Qiwei stopped when he heard this.

He saw an inexplicable look in the other person's eyes.

So he walked forward and came to the side of Pope Pius XI.

At this moment, the two were more than ten meters away from the crowd.

Pius XI smiled first, then asked in a low voice:
"Bruce, how would you counter your last point if you were me?"

Li Qiwei was stunned and looked a little strange.

He didn't expect the other party to ask such a question.

What would happen if the two parties switched identities?
Will he still insist that man can conquer nature?

Li Qiwei thought of a lot at this moment.

Finally, he smiled calmly.

He took a step forward, closer to Pius XI.

Then he whispered:
"I can."

The expression of Pius XI is most wonderful.

First he frowned, then he was shocked, and then his face was full of disbelief.

His eyes sparkled, his mouth opened slightly, and he took a breath.

"Oh, God!"

Finally, he laughed out loud.

Seeing this, Li Qiwei also started laughing.

Everyone around looked confused.

I don’t know what the two bosses are laughing at.

Under the earnest gaze of Pope Pius XI, Li Qiwei and his entourage left the Vatican.

Years later, when historians studied the content of this discussion, they all sighed:

"Professor Bruce spent his entire life practicing what he believed in."

“There’s no doubt he succeeded.”

"The ultimate winner of this debate is Professor Bruce."
-
In February 1922, before leaving Italy, Ridgway visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

His arrival excited the scientific community in Pisa.

With the introduction of Fermi, the president of the Higher Normal School of Pisa personally served as a guide to introduce the history of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to Ridgevich.

This world-famous leaning tower looks ordinary from the outside.

But it witnessed the classic experiment of Galileo, the great father of science: the free fall experiment.

"The two balls fell to the ground at the same time" overturned Aristotle's theory.

From then on, experiment became the second cornerstone of science after logic.

Li Qiwei did not make an enthusiastic speech. He just looked at the top of the tower and said to everyone in a deep voice:
"Thanks Galileo."

In March, Ridgway visited Switzerland.

He was warmly received by Guillaume, the Nobel Prize winner in Physics.

The other party came all the way from France just to fulfill the duties of a gracious host.

"Professor Bruce, without you I wouldn't have the Nobel Prize."

While recuperating in the Swiss ski resort of Davos, Ridgway had a burst of inspiration and achieved a major local breakthrough in the Theory of Everything.

He was on the top of the snowy mountain, looking up to the sky and laughing.

"I, Li Qiwei, will definitely surpass Newton and become the greatest human being of all time!"

In April, visited France.

While visiting Madame Curie's home, Ridgway discussed the nature of the world with Eve.

"Uncle Bruce, I believe the world is made of strings." "Different vibration states of the strings produce different atoms."

Eve's physics foundation is too poor. What she actually meant is to produce different elementary particles.

Madame Curie saw the famous Professor Bruce discussing physics with a young girl who studied music.

Suddenly crying.

"Bruce, please stop teasing her."

However, Li Qiwei smiled and said:

"Madame Curie, I think Eve's idea is very interesting and bold."

“Maybe in a few decades, Eve’s theory will become popular in the physics community.”

When Eve heard Uncle Bruce's praise, she smiled brightly and shook her mother's arm.

Soon, Eve exaggerated the incident among her friends:
"Professor Bruce said my theory is a hundred years ahead of the physics community."

Next, Ridgway gave a lecture on quantum theory at the University of Paris.

After the speech, he was invited by Duke Maurice to visit his private laboratory.

During this period, Li Qiwei met de Broglie again.

Morris took the opportunity to say:
"Professor Bruce, I beg you to guide my younger brother."

"He has been studying your theory of the wave-particle duality of light for several years, but has come up with nothing."

"I'm a little worried that he won't even be able to finish his PhD."

Li Qiwei smiled slightly when he heard this.

He had a long conversation with the de Broglie brothers for an hour.

"De Broglie, regarding the wave-particle duality, I've actually been having an idea lately."

"It's just that I don't have time to think about it in depth."

"You can try to learn from my ideas."

Morris was overjoyed. Professor Bruce's idea was simply precious.

De Broglie could not hide his excitement.

In recent years, the rise of young talents such as Pauli and Wu Youxun has made him feel a lot of pressure.

At the age of 30 this year, he no longer belongs to the young generation.

At the beginning, he was influenced by the first Bruce Conference and was eager to give up literature and pursue science.

I thought I was a genius, but I didn't expect to suffer setbacks one after another.

“Physics is too difficult!”

During this period, de Broglie felt very bitter.

No wonder Professor Lang Zhiwan didn't think highly of him at the time.

It turns out that genius is just the entrance ticket to physics.

Although it would be easy for him to graduate with a Ph.D., he just needed to find a simpler topic.

Professor Lang Zhiwan would certainly not make things difficult for him.

But he is de Broglie, the future heir to the Dukedom.

He has his own pride!
"I would rather never study physics than waste my time on a water paper."

At this moment, he listened attentively to Professor Bruce's sharing.

"The wave-particle duality of light proves that light has both wave and particle properties."

"Then, can we think about it the other way around?"

"Electrons, like light, are microscopic entities."

“Although the electron is a particle, could it also have wave properties?”

“Is it possible that electrons also have wave-particle duality?”

boom!
After Li Qiwei expressed this idea, the brothers Morris and De Broglie were shocked.

If the person in front of him wasn’t the famous Professor Bruce.

I'm afraid the Duke will fire us immediately.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Electrons are clearly material entities, so how can they have wave properties?"

"If electrons have wave properties, doesn't that mean humans also have wave properties?"

"I am Bo?"

"Isn't this nonsense?"

"This is even more incredible than a fairy tale!"

Morris was so surprised that he didn't know what to say.

Although he knew that Professor Bruce's ideas were always wild and imaginative.

But the conjecture that electrons are also waves is still a bit too scary.

This is beyond the limits of imagination.

After a long while, Morris carefully organized his words and tentatively asked:

"Um, Professor Bruce, isn't your idea a bit too advanced?"

Morris finally thought of the right word to describe how he felt.

Li Qiwei felt a little amused when he saw that a duke could be so humble.

"Dr. Morris, why do you think it's impossible?"

"Since light has particle properties, why don't electrons have wave properties?"

“The natural world is perfect, and I think that just captures the beauty of it.”

Morris smiled awkwardly.

"It's very beautiful. Very beautiful."

His physics level was so high that he had difficulty even submitting a paper to a Nature journal.

Facing the legendary Professor Bruce, he really didn't have the courage to refute.

Even though the other person's ideas sound shocking, if you tell them to others, you will probably be considered a lunatic.

However, when he saw his brother de Broglie's expression, he was shocked.

"My dear brother, you don't really want to study this idea."

"Listen to my advice, choose an X-ray topic, and graduate quickly."

Of course, Morris could not understand de Broglie's feelings.

It’s like a person who has been walking in the dark for who knows how long, and suddenly sees a beam of light shining down on his head.

That is the light of salvation, the light of hope!
At this moment, after listening to Professor Bruce's ideas, a huge wave of emotion rose in de Broglie's heart.

This is the theoretical physics research he has always been pursuing!

The ideas are wild and the imagination is out of the blue.

In comparison, he felt that Professor Lang Zhiwan’s research content looked a bit cute.

It's totally not on the same level.

At this moment, he finally realized the terrifying strength of Professor Bruce.

He pondered and studied the wave-particle duality of light for several years, but could not find a good breakthrough.

But the man in front of him, just a casual remark from him, shocked him to the extreme.

De Broglie looked excited and his mouth was dry. He felt that Professor Bruce's ideas were very much to his taste.

However, he quickly calmed down and said:
"Professor Bruce, this idea will surely shock the physics community."

“It’s going to be a blockbuster result.”

"But this topic is yours, and I cannot accept it."

Ridgeway was very satisfied with de Broglie's answer.

He really wanted to say directly: No, this is yours, not mine.

"Haha, de Broglie, this is a normal academic exchange."

“Everyone’s ideas do not represent the final actual results.”

"If you can prove my idea, I will be very happy."

"Nowadays, there are only a few people studying the wave-particle duality theory."

“Perhaps, you can bring some new changes and breakthroughs.”

Upon hearing this, de Broglie was immediately filled with respect.

Since he entered the academic circle, he has seen many people who like to cherish their own things.

I always feel that my ideas are earth-shattering, but once I share them, they will be stolen by others.

But the end result often proves to be just a joke.

Professor Bruce in front of him only has academic research in his heart.

As for the honor attached to academics, the other party never takes it to heart.

This is the real academic master!

(End of this chapter)