Chapter 1141 Pasteur's Appeal (First Update, Please Subscribe)
"I, the Emperor Shengde of the Ming Empire, after serious consideration, hereby announce that the following are the requirements for the establishment of the Emperor Shengde Foundation:
I hereby request the executor of the foundation to dispose of the 20 million Ming Yuan cash I donated in the following manner: Invest the above cash in a safe and reliable manner; Use this money to establish a foundation, and award the interest generated by the fund to those who have made outstanding contributions to mankind in the previous year. Divide this interest into five equal parts and distribute them as follows:
One award is given to the person who has made the most significant discovery or invention in physics;
One prize is given to the person who has made the most important discovery or improvement in chemistry;
One award is given to the person who has made the most important discovery in medicine and physiology;
One award is given to the person who has made the most significant breakthrough or outstanding discovery in mathematics;
One prize is given to the person who has produced the best work of ideal tendency in the literary world;
The Physics Prize and the Chemistry Prize are selected by the Imperial Academy of Sciences; the Medicine and Physiology Prize is selected by the School of Medicine of the University of South China; the Literature Prize is selected by the College of Arts of Yingtian University; and the Mathematics Prize is selected by the Imperial Mathematical Society.
The nationality of the award candidate will not be considered at all, that is, no matter whether he or she is a Ming Empire citizen or not, whoever meets the most conditions should receive the prize. I hereby declare that it is my urgent wish to award the prize in this way..."
A single stone can send a thousand ripples flying. At the end of 1882, such a scientific award caused an unprecedented sensation around the world. After all, no scientific award in the world could compare with it.
"Based on the Ming Empire Bank's 5.01% deposit interest rate this year, the total bonus this year will be no less than 1 million Ming Yuan, and each bonus will be no less than 200,000 Ming Yuan. Although there were 185 millionaires in the United States in 1882, it is certain that even the richest millionaire would have to pay no less than 200,000 yuan in cash..."
Whether in the United States or the United Kingdom, not only ordinary people were surprised, but even many wealthy people were shocked by this huge sum of money. While they were surprised that the royal family of the Ming Empire was so wealthy, almost everyone was paying attention to who would win this huge prize.
From the end of 1882 to the beginning of 1883, almost all newspapers in Europe and the United States were discussing this topic. After all, in this age where money is paramount, people also highly respect science.
Now science can even bring huge wealth.
How could this not excite people?
In the past, people often discussed scientists from their own country, and never discussed foreign scientists. But now, public opinion circles in various countries will discuss it openly in newspapers, and scientists from all over the world are also paying attention to the winner of this award.
The huge wealth reward has filled everyone with great enthusiasm. This is not only a glory for the scientists themselves, but also a glory for the country. With the publicity of the media, almost the whole world is paying attention to this award.
In France, in Paris,
Almost immediately after the news of the establishment of the "Emperor Seidel Prize" was announced, the public opinion and scientific community in Paris unanimously said that French scientist Louis Pasteur would win the Medicine Prize. Not only the French, but even the British, who always oppose France, had no doubts about this. After all, it is well known that he is not only the founder of microbiology, but also opened up the field of microbiology and created a set of unique basic research methods in microbiology. In 1881, he improved the method of reducing the virulence of pathogenic microorganisms and successfully developed a variety of vaccines such as chicken cholera vaccine and anthrax vaccine. His theory and immunization method have caused major changes in medical practice.
These two pioneering studies have long earned Pasteur unprecedented reputation. His work in microbiology also successfully saved France's troubled brewing, sericulture and animal husbandry industries, and benefited the whole world.
As the most outstanding scientist in France of this era, he was naturally the most likely to win the award, so much so that his laboratory was always crowded with journalists who always hoped to get some news from him, such as whether he had been nominated or his feelings about winning the award.
In short, all French people believed that Pasteur was bound to win this award, and no one doubted it.
Once again, after finishing a day's work, Pasteur was surrounded by a group of reporters as soon as he walked out of the laboratory.
"Dear Mr. Pasteur, have you received any notification about the candidates for the Emperor Shengde Prize today? It is said that the selection committee has already drawn up the candidates..."
"Mr. Pasteur, how would you feel if you won the award?"
...Facing the reporters surrounding him, Pasteur, who was already a little annoyed, thought for a moment and then said.
"Gentlemen, perhaps I need to make a statement."
Reputation!
Mr. Pasteur is about to make a statement!
The reporters who had been waiting for several days suddenly became excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood. They excitedly took out their pens and prepared to record this big news.
"Gentlemen, first of all, we need to thank His Majesty Emperor Shengde of the Ming Empire for his generosity. The award he established to encourage the scientific progress of mankind will surely bring new impetus to the scientific progress of mankind. But gentlemen, please note that this award is awarded to "those who have made outstanding contributions to mankind." And this is not just me."
Pasteur, standing on the steps of the laboratory, looked at the reporters around him and asked.
"Raise your hands if you have ever had surgery!"
Soon more than a dozen people raised their hands.
"Who has ever received a blood transfusion?"
After asking these two questions in succession, Pasteur said.
"As early as 1862, Emperor Shengde made a lot of improvements to surgical operations. The aseptic technique and sterile concept pioneered by His Majesty were promoted in Nanhua, and methods such as steam sterilization of surgical instruments were once ridiculed by the outside world. However, before the application of aseptic surgery, postoperative infection was considered normal almost throughout the middle of the 19th century. After its application, the incidence rate dropped sharply from 21% to 0.5%. Almost at the same time, he discovered that when blood from different people was mixed, blood cells sometimes coagulated. Thus, the concept of blood type was proposed, and the cross-matching test was proposed, which turned blood transfusion from a gamble of life and death into a safe treatment method. This epoch-making discovery provided an important guarantee for safe blood transfusion in the future, gentlemen."
Looking around at the reporters, Pasteur took off his hat and said.
"Maybe he wears the imperial crown, but in fact, as early as twenty years ago, he had already won the crown of major progress in human medicine. In the past twenty years, all of humanity has benefited from his discoveries, and his discoveries have saved countless lives. I think the Medicine and Physiology Award should be awarded to His Majesty Emperor Shengde to recognize his outstanding contributions to mankind! It is well-deserved for His Majesty the Emperor to receive this award!"
It was not until this time that reporters realized that the person who established this award was a scientist himself, and a very outstanding scientist, which almost everyone ignored. His contribution to medicine alone was enough for him to win this award.
"Please allow me to appeal to the selection committee here - to award this award to the greatest and most low-key scholar of this century, who deserves this honor..."
Why did Pasteur make this call?
This is because as a scientist, he knew very well that the emperor's achievements in the field of medicine and the help he provided to the world were definitely not inferior to his.
If he can receive this award, then His Majesty the Emperor also deserves it. For Pasteur, perhaps he desires honor, but this honor must be fair.
If the winner is not the emperor, then there is no doubt that the award is unfair. Of course, it will also be a blow to his reputation...
(End of this chapter)
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