Chapter 299 The Silent Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
In the conference room of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, physicists who are eligible to vote for the Nobel Prize gathered together. The host of the meeting, Academician Edlund, announced the agenda of this meeting, "Gentlemen, the deadline for nominations for this year's first Nobel Prize in Physics has arrived. We have received hundreds of nominations. Now it is time to select one or more winners from these nominations."
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has a very long history, dating back more than a hundred years. It was founded in 1739 at the order of King Frederick of Sweden, modeled after the Royal Society for the Advancement of Natural Science in London and the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris at the time.
The first president was a famous biologist, Carl von Linnaeus, who first proposed the species classification method of kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus and species. He can be said to be one of the most well-known members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
When the society was first founded, a countess was elected as a member of the Academy of Sciences because of her husband's fame. However, due to historical inertia, very few women can become members, and there is not even one in this meeting room now, so Edlund did not mention the ladies at all.
The academicians present included scientists from Sweden as well as scientists from other countries. Foreign academicians are also eligible to make the selections and even have more say, because Sweden's own scientific research level is still not as good as that of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the United States and other countries. Naturally, the words of famous academicians from these countries are influential.
Edlund had the original nomination letters and the list of nominations that had been reviewed and counted listed out, and introduced them to the attendees, "Based on the nominations and preliminary screening, the more popular candidates are as follows: Professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen of the University of Munich in Germany, who discovered X-rays."
"Professor Antoine Henri Becquerel of the Sorbonne University in France, who discovered natural radioactivity, and Dr. Pierre Curie and Dr. Marie Curie of the same institution, and their joint research on the radioactivity phenomenon discovered by Professor Antoine Henri Becquerel."
"Dr. John William Strathairn of the Royal Institution of Science, for his measurements of the densities of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, etc., and for his discovery of argon by measuring the density of nitrogen."
"Professor Albert Abraham Michelson of the University of Chicago, for his invention of precision optical instruments and his spectroscopy and metrology research with their aid, which have had a profound impact."
"Professor Gabriel Lipmann of the Sorbonne University in France, for his invention of the capillary potentiometer and his method of reproducing color in photographs using the phenomenon of interference."
"Professor Johannes-Diederik van der Waals of the University of Amsterdam, for the discovery of intermolecular forces and the formulation of the corresponding states law."
If Zhang Xingjiu was present, his expression would definitely be very interesting, because this list lacks Hendrik Anton Lorentz and Peter Zeeman of Leiden University in the Netherlands, Philipp Lenard of Kiel University in Germany, Joseph John Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, Marconi from Italy, Karl Ferdinand Braun of Strasbourg University in Germany, and Wilhelm Wien of Würzburg University in Germany.
These people all won the Nobel Prize in Physics in the next ten years, but now they have no chance because their award-winning achievements were achieved ahead of time by Zhang Xingjiu.
Until this point, the expressions of many academicians present were still relatively calm, because these nominations had long been expected by them. These were the best in the field of physics and were indeed qualified to win the award. In fact, they did win the Nobel Prize in Physics later.
But when Edlund announced the next name, they could no longer sit still.
"And Zhang Xingjiu, a doctoral student and visiting professor at the Sorbonne University in France, who is from China, discovered the error in Wien's formula through blackbody radiation experiments, and used a new formula to solve the ultraviolet catastrophe problem and proposed the Zhang Xingjiu constant."
“Through the study of cathode rays, he discovered the electron and proposed many important theories related to gas conductivity.”
"Invented the cathode ray tube and applied it to wireless telegraphy, making wireless telegraphy a new technology that could be used commercially on a large scale."
Other people's achievements are often summarized in just a simple sentence, but when it comes to Zhang Xingjiu's turn, he says so much. There is no way, Zhang Xingjiu has too many achievements that qualify him for the award.
In fact, if it weren't for him, these achievements would have been enough for nearly ten physicists to win the Nobel Prize.
"Boom!" There was an uproar at the scene. The academicians present could not accept this result for a while. How could a Chinese scholar suddenly appear among a group of European and American scientists? And he was mentioned the most when he was introduced. Was he going to be awarded the first Nobel Prize?
If this were the case, it would be embarrassing for many physicists in Europe and the United States.
"Who nominated him?" someone couldn't help but ask. They couldn't question Zhang Xingjiu's achievements, so they could only find fault with these small details.
If Zhang Xingjiu's nominees are not strong enough, this reason can be used to reduce his chances of being elected.
However, Edlund's answer disappointed them. "There are many people who nominated Dr. Zhang, including Professor Lippmann of the Sorbonne University. He is the head of the best physics department in France and even in the world. His nomination carries a lot of weight!"
“There was Professor Thomson, director of the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, who was particularly appreciative of Dr. Zhang’s achievements in the field of gas conductivity.”
“There is Professor Wilhelm Wien of the University of Würzburg in Germany, who is very grateful to Dr. Zhang for his revision of Wien’s formula and his outstanding contribution to the field of blackbody radiation.”
“.”
Many scholars whose achievements were snatched away by Zhang Xingjiu nominated him. There was nothing they could do about it, because if Zhang Xingjiu won the award, it would mean that their research field was very important. If Zhang Xingjiu ate the meat, they could also have a share of the spoils.
But if Zhang Xingjiu didn't win the award, the influence of these achievements would be limited to the academic field, and they wouldn't even get a sip of the spoils.
Moreover, they still have hope of achieving breakthroughs in these areas. Zhang Xingjiu can't always walk on the same path with them and always be ahead of them, right?
Now I will try to give him a chance to win the prize. When I make a breakthrough in the future, won't I have a chance to win the prize as well? Although this is only the first Nobel Prize, the prize money of 250,000 kronor has made the prize a worldwide attraction. You know, this amount of money is equivalent to a university professor's salary for 20 years. How many people can resist the temptation of such a good thing of fame and fortune?
"His Excellency William Thomson, Baron Kelvin, former President of the Royal Society."
When Edlund read out the name, the meeting fell silent again.
(End of this chapter)
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