Training the Heavens

Chapter 300 Final Result

Now that the British Empire is in its heyday, the former president of the Royal Society has become one of the most prestigious figures in the scientific community. Now even Kelvin has nominated Zhang Xingjiu, and they really don't know what to say.

To be honest, the judges were reluctant to award the Nobel Prize to Zhang Xingjiu. The reason was simple: he was a non-European and American person of the yellow race! Moreover, he was a Chinese national.

Moreover, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China just last year, and Sweden is now following other countries in shamelessly seeking compensation from the Qing Dynasty. Most people cannot accept that the Nobel Prize is awarded to a Chinese citizen at this time.

After a moment of silence, someone spoke up and said, "Professor Roentgen's discovery of X-rays is of great significance to the development of physics. Therefore, I suggest that the first Nobel Prize in Physics be awarded to Professor Roentgen."

He couldn't directly oppose Zhang Xingjiu, so he could only use other candidates to cover it up, and selected Roentgen, who was most likely to win the award from many candidates. If everyone agreed that Roentgen should win the award, things would be much easier.

Edlund interrupted him. "According to the rules, we need to review all the nominees first and select fifteen candidates. So it's a bit too early to discuss who should win the award. Let's first review the achievements of the many nominees and select the final fifteen candidates!"

The participants then began to discuss the achievements of each nominee in turn. Some people who were obviously unqualified were quickly eliminated, while popular candidates such as Roentgen, Lippmann, Becquerel, Michelson, and van der Waals were passed with almost no controversy.

Then it was Zhang Xingjiu's turn. The lively atmosphere suddenly cooled. Edlund had no choice but to knock on the table and ask, "Everyone, can Professor Zhang's achievements make the final fifteen-person list? Please express your opinions quickly."

If it is a literature prize or a peace prize, they can come up with a lot of reasons to oppose it, because literature has no unified standards, and politics can also be interpreted from multiple angles.

But this is not the case with natural sciences. Physics also has standard answers. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. Zhang Xingjiu's achievements have been recognized by the scientific community. If they insist on preventing Zhang Xingjiu from being selected, that would be a bit unreasonable.

"I think Professor Zhang's research in the field of cathode rays is very outstanding and he is fully qualified to be on the list." After hesitating for a while, a foreign academician from the UK said.

The reason is very simple. He can be regarded as Kelvin's disciple. Now Kelvin has personally nominated Zhang Xingjiu. If he does not express his position, how will he explain when Kelvin asks him when he returns to the UK?
Kelvin also had to nominate Zhang Xingjiu because he had stated many times in public that the physics building had been completed. Now Zhang Xingjiu had chiseled several large holes in this seemingly indestructible building, and the building seemed to be in danger.

If Kelvin doesn't find a way to make up for it, his reputation will be ruined when the building collapses in the future. So since listening to Zhang Xingjiu's speech in Cambridge, Kelvin has expressed his support for Zhang Xingjiu on many occasions in public.

Now he has personally nominated Zhang Xingjiu as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Physics. In this way, even if Zhang Xingjiu or other physicists build a new building in the future, he will have a good reputation for correcting mistakes in time and having a keen vision.

Someone took the lead, and another academician quickly followed suit. "Professor Zhang's contributions to the field of blackbody radiation are outstanding and irreplaceable, so I also agree that he should be included in the final list."

He was also forced to do so, as his research area was blackbody radiation. If Zhang Xingjiu didn't win the award, wouldn't that mean his research wasn't important enough? Conversely, if Zhang Xingjiu won, the status of blackbody radiation in physics would be greatly elevated. On a larger scale, if he were lucky enough to achieve a breakthrough in the future, he might even win an award like Zhang Xingjiu.

On a smaller scale, after Zhang Xingjiu won the award, he was able to apply for funding more easily with his blackbody radiation experimental plan.

So he could only express his support for Zhang Xingjiu.

"I also agree that Professor Zhang should be selected." The reason for this support was even simpler. He was an old friend of Professor Lippmann, and Lippmann had already written to him about this matter.

"I agree too." This man was an engineer by training and now worked as a senior technical manager in a company that was promoting wireless telegraphy in Sweden. If he dared to oppose it, once the news leaked, the company might lose the business.

Zhang Xingjiu's previous preparations finally came in handy. Although many people were reluctant, they had to choose to support him due to his absolute strength and the influence of many factors.

After the first round of review, Zhang Xingjiu, Roentgen and fourteen other scientists were included in the final list of fifteen candidates.

Edlund submitted the final candidate report to the Royal Academy of Sciences for further review. At this stage, no one dared to question Zhang Xingjiu's selection because his performance was so outstanding.

When it came time for the final majority vote, the discussion intensified. Unable to question Zhang Xingjiu's achievements, they could only discuss the issue from other angles. "At a time when our country and the Qing court still have many conflicts, is it appropriate to award the prize to a Qing scholar?"

"According to Mr. Nobel's will, the Nobel Prize has nothing to do with politics, and the Swedish government has no right to interfere in the selection, so your reason is invalid." Someone immediately stood up to refute. Regardless of whether this is true or not, some face has to be saved.

Although I agree with your reasons, and we can just discuss it privately and keep it as a tacit understanding, you can't say it in front of so many people! Since you said it, I can only oppose it, otherwise the reputation of the award will be tarnished.

"I actually think that awarding the prize to Professor Zhang will actually help ensure the fairness of the Nobel Prize. Just think about it, if even a scholar from the Qing Dynasty could win the prize, doesn't that just prove that we judge entirely based on achievements in the field of physics, without involving any other factors?"

"I need to remind everyone that this is the first award ceremony. If the selection causes controversy, it will probably take several times longer to make up for it in the future." The academician engineer who works as a manager in the enterprise is also willing to take risks for the benefit of the company.

If Zhang Xingjiu wins the award, it will be like a free advertisement for wireless telegraphy. When promoting wireless telegraphy, they can also say that this technology was developed by a Nobel Prize winner. How much time and money can this save!
After a long and heated debate, the time has come to reveal the final result.

(End of this chapter)