Chapter 33: Searching for the Light
Berlin Electric Company.
Located in the east of Berlin, the location here is not prominent and is a transition zone between the downtown and the suburbs. A gray-white building is the office of the Berlin Electric Company.
After the completion ceremony of the castle, Ernst returned to Berlin because the first results of the Berlin Electric Company came out.
At Ernst's reminder, the Berlin Electric Company has been focusing on one thing: experimenting with the wick material of electric lamps.
Ernst remembered the example of Edison improving the electric light. He experimented with many materials and finally chose carbonized cotton fiber. Later, he switched to bamboo fiber, which provided some convenience for the staff.
Ernst walked into the company and asked the employees. He learned that Carl von Linde was in the laboratory. Ernst came to the door of the laboratory and pushed it open.
The laboratory was full of tangled wires and various experimental equipment placed in a mess. Ernst carefully walked past the various equipment and saw Carl von Linde sitting in a chair drawing on a blueprint.
Ernst did not dare to disturb Carl von Linde. After all, the imagination of a genius is the most precious. If he accidentally interrupted Carl von Linde's precious train of thought, he would suffer a great loss.
Ernst quietly found a chair, sat down gently, and waited for Carl von Linde to finish his work.
In such a quiet laboratory, the only sounds you can hear are the ticking of clocks and the rustling of pencils on paper.
After an unknown amount of time, Ernst was about to doze off when he heard the sound of papers being tidied. Carl von Linde stretched himself and yawned.
It was only then that Carl von Linde, who had finished his work, noticed that there was an extra person in the laboratory.
"Your Highness Ernst, why are you here? I'm so sorry, I was so focused on my work that I didn't notice you coming!"
Ernst stood up and stretched his muscles, saying, "Mr. Linde, why didn't you ask someone to clean up? The lab is too messy. Will it affect your research?"
Carl von Linde explained: "Well, I can only organize my thoughts better when I am alone, so I usually don't let others enter my room. Moreover, these instruments and tools are part of the experiment. There are too few people in the company who know this, or they are not professional enough. I am worried that they will mess with the instruments and destroy some of my experiments.
Of course, I also want to work in a tidy environment, but scientific research is like this. From time to time, inspiration bursts out, and some experimental verifications make the instruments and wires more and more. Later, I simply gave up the idea of tidying up the laboratory. "Carl von Linde explained.
"So that's how it is!" Ernst suddenly realized that the world of geniuses is indeed unusual, and some people are just simply lazy.
"Mr. Linde, if you need anything, please tell me in advance. Of course, I came here today mainly to look into the electric light!" Ernst said.
When Carl von Linde heard Ernst say this, he began to show his results to Ernst.
"Your Highness Ernst, please follow me!"
So, under the guidance of Carl von Linde, the two walked through the stairs and turned into a laboratory on the first floor. Several staff members were refining something in a furnace. Ernst guessed that they were refining materials.
Carl von Linde came to the shelf and took down a box. It was full of oval spheres made of glass. Inside the spheres were strangely shaped wicks, all of which were handmade.
"Mo Gengsi, come here and demonstrate it!" Carl von Linde called over a staff member.
An employee demonstrates to Ernst how the ball works.
"Boss, this is a socket. Below this light bulb is a plug. We just plug this light bulb into the plug. When the current passes through the wick inside, it will emit light..."
As he spoke, he plugged the light bulb into the socket. The light bulb in front of him immediately lit up, the wick burned red, and emitted a dazzling light yellow.
After waiting for a while, there was no abnormality with the lighting and the staff breathed a sigh of relief.
Ernst asked, "How long will this light stay on?"
"About six hours!" the staff replied.
Carl von Linde explained: "Your Highness Ernst, the thing is, after you provided the correct ideas, we did make the finished product, but some of the hardware is still difficult to achieve with the current scientific development."
"For example, this light bulb requires a completely vacuum environment for its wick to work effectively, but the vacuum technology of the current era cannot achieve this, and there are no instruments or patents on the market that can achieve this goal, so we can only make do with it."
Ernst asked, “Is there a solution?”
"That's what I was going to say. I'm currently focusing on improving the existing vacuum technology on the market. I've been researching this over the past few days, but I haven't made any substantial progress yet."
Ernst pinched his chin with his hand and thought carefully. Although Carl von Linde had made many achievements in the field of power application, when it came to precision instruments, Lenoir and his gang studied internal combustion engines all day long. The internal combustion engines required extreme airtightness and reliability, and no mistakes could be made. The research on machinery was more professional.
So he suggested, "How about this, Mr. Linde? Vacuum technology has very high requirements for equipment. You also know that I have an energy power company under my name. Their researchers have been dealing with machinery for a long time, and they have very high requirements for the precision and quality of machinery. We can go and ask them if they have any solution for this!"
Carl von Linde agreed. After all, it was too difficult for one person to do this, and it was an area he was not very good at.
So Ernst and Carl von Linde took a carriage to the headquarters of the Berlin Energy Power Company not far away. It was afternoon and Lenoir and others had not left yet.
"Monsieur Lenoir!"
Ernst called over Lenoir and others.
"Your Highness Ernst, is there anything the company needs you to do today?"
"It's like this..."
Ernst told Lenoir and others about the situation that Carl von Linde had encountered, and introduced the top executives of the two companies to each other.
"Is that so?" After hearing this, Lenoir found a piece of paper and started drawing. After a while, he asked, "Mr. Linde, can you lend me your drawings?"
Fortunately, Ernst and Lind arrived with Lind's research papers, which they handed to Lenoir.
As time ticked by, Lenoir suddenly realized something.
"That's a good idea, Mr. Linde. This method is feasible, but we need to adjust the direction. The breakthrough point of the problem now is not in the structure, but in the research and development of materials. I happen to have some experience in this area."
So the two big men in different fields started to argue happily, and Benz and others also joined in. As the people had a heated discussion, the drawings were overturned and redrawn again and again.
Before they knew it, the group was chatting until night. The moon was already high in the sky. Ernst, a poor student, could only order a cup of coffee and wait for the big guys to finish their discussion.
"...Then the last problem is solved, Mr. Linde!" Lenoir said excitedly.
"That's great. The biggest obstacle on the road to improving the electric light has been solved. Thank you so much, Mr. Lenoir!" Lind said excitedly.
Finally, Lenoir, Linde and others concluded that the improved vacuum technology would require at least three months of experiments to turn the principle into reality, and the two sides reached a short-term cooperation.
The patent for the new technology is jointly applied for by all researchers, and the ownership belongs to the Hechingen Bank, which can enjoy a 20% share in the future.
(End of this chapter)
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