"Um, you two finish this bag first, and then I'll come in."
Chen Muwu wanted to say this in his heart, but he didn't dare.
Although their teachers came from the same school, Bohr was his guest and Rutherford was his teacher.
If you really say this, it would be extremely inappropriate.
"Professor Bohr, isn't this a coincidence? We have exchanged letters many times in the past year, but we have not seen each other for such a long time since we said goodbye in Copenhagen. You came to Cambridge University this time, and I also wanted to see you. Do I have a chance to chat with you?"
While talking, Chen Muwu pretended to be casual and walked step by step behind Rutherford. He stood in front of the window and put a hand on the handle of the window: "The sky outside is really good today! Before you came, Cambridgeshire The sky has been gloomy and foggy for several days. After you came, the sun came out!
"There is a saying in China that when a noble person comes to visit, even a simple house made of bamboo and thatch can shine like a house made of gold."
After saying this set of compliments, Chen Muwu "inadvertently" pressed the handle and pushed open the window.
The fresh cold air of the winter morning finally poured into this small office.
His completely thoughtless words made Bohr sound very useful.
But after thinking briefly, Bohr felt that something was not right.
Isn't it right? Chen Muwu has been staying in London with Rutherford and himself these days? How did he know the weather in Cambridgeshire?
Rutherford saw the puzzled expression on Bohr's face, and had already heard the nonsense in Chen Muwu's words.
“Niles, you must not be deceived by him.
"Academics, sports... In all aspects, Chen performed well and was very good, except for his mouth. As long as you don't pay attention, he will start talking nonsense!
"He didn't say much truth just now. He just disliked you and me for using two big smoking guns and making the room too smokey. He wanted to open the window to ventilate the room while others weren't paying attention!"
"Chen, don't worry, after this fight none of us will smoke anymore!"
"Teacher, it's true that I hate the smell of tobacco, but this thing itself is not good for the human body. I advise you to smoke less on weekdays, so as not to cause a lot of problems to the body."
Rutherford's words made Bohr feel very sad.
He thought that one of the purposes of his trip to England to talk to Chen Muwu was to ask him why he had lied to him about superconductivity in the first place.
So Bohr also took over Rutherford's topic and continued to criticize Chen Muwu:
"Sir, you are right. In Copenhagen before, Dr. Chen also told me that he did not want to see himself in my theoretical research institute, so he deceived PeopleSoft into Leiden University in the Netherlands."
"Nishina?...Yoshio? Is that his name?" Rutherford recalled with some uncertainty, "He also spent some time in the Cavendish Laboratory before, and then left Cambridge University. I heard he was going to Gottingen, Germany? Or Hamburg? Niels, has he worked for you now?"
"I studied at the Institute of Theoretical Physics. Dr. Chen told him that the mainstream direction of physics in the future is low-temperature physics and superconductivity. Then he turned to me and said, "The mainstream direction of physics in the future is definitely It can't be low temperature physics and superconductivity, he is lying to himself!
“As a result, in the second year, Dr. Chen published three papers in a row, and two of them contained major discoveries in physics or chemistry!
"One of the purposes of my coming to Cambridge University this time is to ask Dr. Chen how to explain this matter."
Bohr deliberately tensed up his face, although he didn't care much about it in his heart.
No matter what Chen Muwu said, he would not believe that superconductivity would become the mainstream in future physics.
"Professor Bohr, am I right? If the prospects of low-temperature physics are really so good, then why did I only stay in London for more than half a year, and then returned to Cambridge University to study at Cavendish? Xu's laboratory continues to study particles..."
"Crack, click!"
"...continue studying particles."
Rutherford put two fingers on his throat and coughed twice.
In the eyes of others, Rutherford seemed to have some phlegm stuck in his throat after smoking.
Although science has no borders, the teacher has always regarded the particle accelerator as the most confidential thing in the Cavendish Laboratory.
He probably wanted the Cavendish Laboratory to be the first place in the world to build something like this.
Perhaps there is also a part of the consideration that wants to keep the confidentiality work well, and maybe make a lot of money by selling particle accelerators to others in the future.
Rutherford also specifically told Chen Muwu to inform his team members and pay attention to confidentiality, especially the unreliable American.
As a result, the unreliable American remained tight-lipped, and instead his favorite and smartest student revealed the news to his future mother-in-law.
However, Chen Muwu only told Marie Curie that they were working on an accelerator, but he did not dare to explain the principles at all.
Apart from their group, only Rutherford and Chadwick, who was responsible for managing logistics, knew about it in the laboratory.
Others may know that Chen Muwu is busy, but no one knows why he is so busy.
Even if Kapitsa asked once, Chen Muwu didn't say anything.
Rutherford allocated another area in Cambridgeshire for the construction of a particle accelerator. On the one hand, it was because the old laboratory building could not accommodate this big thing. On the other hand, it was probably due to confidentiality considerations.
The Cavendish Laboratory is crowded with people, and physicists from all over the world come here from time to time to visit and communicate.
It seems that even when facing Bohr, Rutherford did not want to disclose this matter to him.
Chen Muwu heard a different hint from the teacher's cough, which made him "forget" it immediately. There seemed to be another word behind the particles.
"Professor Bohr, there is really nothing to study in low-temperature physics. Otherwise, why would I not agree to Sir Bragg's invitation to stay in London and be the director of the soon-to-be-built Mond Laboratory?"
"But in this short period of half a year, you have published three papers. Doesn't this prove that low-temperature physics has a bright future?"
"You can't say that, Professor Bohr. How can I discover the ninth planet in the solar system in a few months? Does this mean that astronomy has a bright future? Others can also use a few months to discover it." , will we find the tenth star in the solar system again?
"No, this doesn't mean that it only means that my luck seems to be slightly better than others.
"The most intuitive point is that you said I didn't tell you the truth. I sincerely believed that low-temperature physics was easy to achieve results, so I persuaded Yoshio Nishina to go to the Netherlands.
"But if we count the time, that person has been at Leiden University for a year and a half. Has he produced any results?
"As I said before, this only means that I think a little more than others, and my luck is a little better than others."
No one believed what Chen Muwu said.
But we cannot refute him. Luck is often the key to obtaining experimental phenomena.
This is especially true for those at the Cavendish Laboratory.
If Roentgen had not been lucky enough to accidentally put a few photosensitive films on his experimental table, there would have been no discovery of X-rays.
If Rutherford and his assistants Geiger and Marston had not been lucky enough to accidentally discover that when alpha particles were bombarded with gold foil, some would deflect or bounce back, and there would be no discovery of the atomic nucleus.
The client is sitting in this office, so what if the student of the client also discovered some physics phenomena by luck?
Moreover, after discovering the magnetic effect of superconductors, Wells, who later wrote science fiction, published a recall article in The Times.
In it, he described in detail how Dr. Chen in David Faraday's laboratory discovered the magnetic effect of superconductors due to a mistake while chatting with him about space travel.
Wells was a famous writer who had long been famous. With his testimony, Chen Muwu could not make any lies at all. The key is that he did not need to make any lies.
But Rutherford discovered the other side of the matter.
"Chen, then why did you lie to yourself? In my impression, that Renke seems to be a nice young man who is polite in dealing with others."
Chen Muwu started with the dispatch of envoys to the Sui Dynasty and the envoys to the Tang Dynasty, and talked about his own Muqiang culture.
In modern times, due to the decline of the East and the rise of the West, I began to learn from the West again, but I trampled on my former teachers and completely missed the relationship between teachers and students.
If one day there is another place in the world that is more advanced than the West, I will definitely do exactly the same thing as before.
Then he explained to Rutherford what he had explained to Bohr and Heisenberg in Copenhagen.
He was still referring to the situation between France and Germany regarding Alsace and Lorraine. He also mentioned that in recent years, German scientists would not be invited to any of the world-class academic conferences.
In order to prevent the teacher from saying "Scientists have national boundaries, science has no national boundaries" like Heisenberg did, Chen Muwu even gave an example in advance: "It seems that these scientists were not directly involved in the war, but in Europe The poison gas used for the first time on the battlefield was developed on the experimental benches of these scientists."
After hearing this, Rutherford thought for a long time.
"Chen, you mean that because Ben has invaded a lot of Chinese territory, that's why he hates me and doesn't want to see them in the Cavendish Laboratory, right?"
"Teacher, that's exactly it." Chen Muwu nodded, and by the way, he mentioned that Nishina Yoshio wrote to him, recommending his compatriot Arakatsu Bunce to apply for the Cavendish Laboratory.
He asked Rutherford not to recruit this person into the laboratory and to find a reason to send him away.
"I still don't understand, Chen. It stands to reason that Russia has invaded a lot of Chinese territory, but why can you and Peter still be so close?"
Chen Muwu came up with a reasonable excuse and wanted to get over it.
But I don’t know if Rutherford was old or something else. Instead, like a middle-aged and elderly person in a hard-seat carriage who “knows astronomy and geography”, he suddenly became concerned about the international situation.
How to answer this question?
It can’t be said that Yoshio Nishina will research atomic bombs for me in the future, but Kapitsa can’t, right?
Let’s not talk about why Chen Muwu can predict history, but what is an atomic bomb?
Oh, nuclear fission...
But what is nuclear fission?
Oh, bombarded with neutrons…
What are neutrons?
Now that he dares to reveal the neutron, Rutherford dares to lock him in the Cavendish Laboratory. He will not be allowed to leave until the neutron is found!
Chen Muwu organized the conversation for a long time before he found a reason that was reasonably foolable: "Well, teacher, because I feel that I will never be content with the status quo, and they will definitely have other plans for my country in the future."
"Then how can you guarantee that Red Russia will not? They are also your neighbors."
Although Rutherford liked Kapitsa very much, this did not prevent him from being prejudiced against this emerging regime.
Talking about the color red was always taboo in the Cavendish Laboratory.
"Because Moscow is too far away from the Far East. Even if Soviet Union covets the territory of a neighboring country, it won't be the Far East. I think it might be...Poland?"
"Okay, okay," Bohr couldn't bear to see the topic getting more and more skewed, so he stopped him and acted as a peacemaker, "Sir, just agree to Dr. Chen's request, won't everything be fine? Anyway, just agree to Dr. Chen's request. Ten individuals are not as good as one Dr. Chen. If Dr. Chen does not want to be associated with an undergraduate student and leaves the Cavendish Laboratory, then I will definitely feel that Cambridge University is the first place to do so. Come, invite Dr. Chen to Copenhagen and thank you from the bottom of my heart."
He turned to look at Chen Muwu, who was still standing by the window breathing fresh air: "Dr. Chen, what have you been busy with recently? Everyone hopes that you can make some new results in quantum mechanics. The results are expected day by day. Looking forward to it day after night, there is not a single paper on quantum mechanics.
"Although our Copenhagen Institute of Theoretical Physics is on your side, Professor Einstein from Germany doesn't think so. After returning from the UK, he still insisted that quantum physics is incomplete. Although we can’t find it yet, we will definitely find evidence to support this view in the future!”
"Complete? The Germans have always been very superstitious about this. It started with Professor Hilbert, and now it has spread to Professor Einstein.
“I respect Professor Hilbert very much, but I am not very satisfied with the Hilbert plan he proposed two years ago.
"Little did he know that the foundation of his plan was not solid, and even the mathematics that mathematicians are proud of was incomplete!"
Bohr felt that he had just tried to end the conversation between Rutherford and Chen Muwu about international relations and change the topic on the right track. He had succeeded, but he had not completely succeeded.
The topic now is indeed no longer about Japan and Russia, but it is not physics either, but has once again successfully turned to the more troublesome mathematics.
(End of chapter)
