1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 90 The Times Interview
In 1901, Europe already had telephones, telegraphs, and giant steel ships that could cut through the waves.

The development of science and technology has made countries on the earth no longer isolated islands, but connected as one.

British entrepreneurs can find out about the rubber harvest on the Southeast Asian island of Kalimantan, thousands of miles away, within minutes.

Capital financiers can even analyze global gold prices in real time, manipulate the market, and attempt to profit from information asymmetry.

However, these are too far away for ordinary people.

Despite the abundance of material resources, people at the bottom of society still live a hard life.

They were reluctant to spend a lot of money to communicate using telegraphs, and they didn't care what was happening on the other side of the earth.

They had the simplest and cheapest means of entertainment: newspapers.

Thanks to the development of the two industrial revolutions, the newspaper industry has prospered unprecedentedly.

It has become an indispensable necessity in the daily life of ordinary people.

Current affairs news, wealth codes, gossip, popular novels, etc.

The newspaper contains everything.

If you want to read elegant content, there are elegant newspapers; if you want to read vulgar content, there are vulgar newspapers.

It can be said that ordinary people learn about the world through newspapers.

Even in the feudal Qing Dynasty, there were major newspapers such as Shenbao and North China Daily News, which were founded with British funding.

But its influence is limited to the country.

In this era, if you had to choose the most famous and globally known newspaper in the world.

Then The Times of the British Empire is absolutely worthy of the title.

It was founded in 1785 by John Walter.

It is a comprehensive daily newspaper distributed nationwide in the UK, which has a huge and far-reaching impact on world politics, economy and culture.

It is considered to be the UK's first major newspaper.

As early as 1866, the Qing Dynasty sent people to study in England to learn about Western science and systems.

Among them, Zhang Deyi was greatly shocked after visiting The Times. The newspaper's proofreading, typesetting and printing technologies were extremely fast and efficient.

Later he wrote in his Navigation Narrative:

"The Times has been around for nearly 200 years. Its arguments are fair and its stories are accurate, so it has been read by people all over the world."

This shows the influence of The Times around the world.

Today, its publisher is the fourth generation of the Walter family: Arthur Walter, and its editor-in-chief is Buckle.

It also has a wide variety of journalists responsible for reporting news in many fields including politics, science, literature, and art.

The word "journalist" first appeared in Shenbao in 1905 and has since been passed down as a professional term.

However, people doing this kind of work have existed for a long time, but there has never been a special name for it.

Today, on the south bank of the Thames in London, at the headquarters of The Times newspaper.

Editor-in-chief Baker was using his hands and mouth to direct everyone to organize various materials and tools, because they were about to set off for an interview in Cambridge.

The newspaper owner Walter used his extensive network of contacts to finally obtain Li Qiwei's first interview rights.

This is a rare opportunity, so Buckle is ready to take on the role of interviewer himself.

By looking through the collected information, he found that Li Qiwei's experience was full of legends.

So he hoped to produce a report that would shock the world.

October 10, Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge.

Ridgway learned from Thomson that staff from The Times would come to Cambridge today to conduct an exclusive interview with him.

The other boss found Vice Principal Cardwell, and both parties had what they needed and hit it off.

So Cardwell asked Thomson to do Ridgway's job, but he thought it was not a big problem and no one could refuse the opportunity to become famous.

You have to know that whether it is "Nature" or "Science", the audience is scientific researchers, who are the elite among human beings.

But the problem is that the number of people is too small, so the influence is limited.

Even though people know Ridgway's name, they know nothing about his story or life. Besides, apart from professionals in the field, no one cares about what quantum theory is.

They just want to hear what Li Qiwei has to say, how he views his own identity, and so on.

Now, here comes The Times.

At that time, as long as Li Qiwei is given a large front-page position and a photo, he will immediately become a household name.

The reputation of Cambridge University also rose accordingly.

It's a good thing for everyone.

Li Qiwei is of course willing to be interviewed. He is now eager to increase his fame and make the Qing Dynasty afraid to act rashly.

When the newspapers with my photos are sent back to China, it will definitely cause an uproar.

He thought about this and said:
"Professor Thompson, I am happy to accept this interview."

"That's good, Bruce. You don't need to prepare anything. Just answer truthfully."

"Also, um...this..." Thompson hesitated and was embarrassed to say it out loud.

"Professor, just tell me what you want to say. Do you want me to take you to Cambridge University?"

"Haha, Bruce, you are really smart."

“Cardwell hopes that you can say something good about Cambridge University and its colleges during the interview to enhance the charm of the school.”

Li Qiwei smiled and said, "Don't worry, Professor. I have always been grateful to the school and your training."

After hearing this, Thompson smiled with great satisfaction.

At around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Buckle and his team finally arrived at Cambridge University.

In addition to the accompanying recorders and logistics personnel, he also brought a full-time photographer, which shows how much importance he attached to this interview.

Thomson warmly welcomed the arrival of Baker and others.

Everyone in the laboratory ran out to watch the fun. These days, being interviewed and appearing in the news is a rare thing.

Many teachers and students from other colleges also came over to find out what the interview was about.

There's no way. There are too few entertainment activities these days, and anything new can attract the attention of countless people.

What's more, interviewing is an activity that looks very high-end.

Even in later generations, being able to appear on news TV is a highlight moment worth getting excited about and remembering for ordinary people.

Li Qiwei also stepped forward and shook hands with Baker, showing great enthusiasm.

This made Buckle feel a little flattered.

He had been shocked since the first time he met Li Qiwei.

There was no way, the other party was too young, even one year younger than his son.

He thought that scientists were all those with gray hair and who had spent their entire lives studying hard, like the other two winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics.

But I didn’t expect that a young genius like Li Qiwei would appear.

This is no longer the era of Newton. Science is hidden in darkness and any discovery of a phenomenon can go down in history.

Therefore, as long as young people dare to think and act, it is easy for them to achieve success that surpasses the elderly.

But in today's era, all kinds of knowledge are booming, people's energy is limited, and experience becomes very important.

If Li Qiwei knew what he was thinking, he would definitely complain: We in later generations also thought the same way about the early twentieth century.

Therefore, Buckle was really curious about how Ridgway could achieve such a great achievement.

He couldn't wait to ask questions and see how this top physicist of the moment succeeded.

After some pleasantries, the two began the interview in Cavendish's conference room.

A recorder was sitting in the corner, while a photographer stood on one side, ready to capture some classic shots.

Ahem, some inappropriate content in the previous chapter was censored. Those who understand will understand, so we should still avoid skirting the line.

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(End of this chapter)