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 give the Nobel Prize to Zhang Xingjiu. The reason was simple: he was a yellow man from outside Europe and America! And he was a Chinese citizen.
Moreover, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China just last year, and Sweden is now following other countries in shamelessly seeking compensation from the Qing government. Most people cannot accept that the Nobel Prize is awarded to a Chinese citizen at this time.
So after a moment of silence, someone came out and said, "Professor Roentgen's discovery of X-rays is of great significance to the development of physics, so 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 prize from among many candidates. If everyone agreed that Roentgen should win the prize, then things would be much easier.
Edlund interrupted him and said, "According to the rules, we need to review all the nominees first and select fifteen candidates, so it is too early to talk about who should win the award. Let's review the achievements of the many nominees in turn 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 atmosphere, which was very warm just now, suddenly became cold. Edlund had to knock on the table and ask, "Everyone, can Professor Zhang's achievements make it into the final 15-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 does not have a unified standard, 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 somewhat 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 was simple. He could be considered Kelvin's disciple. Now Kelvin had personally nominated Zhang Xingjiu. If he did not express his opinion, how would he explain it to Kelvin when he returned to England? And Kelvin had to nominate Zhang Xingjiu because he had said 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 looked precarious.
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 new buildings in the future, he will have a good reputation for correcting mistakes in a timely manner and having a keen vision.
Someone took the lead, and another academician quickly followed suit, saying, "Professor Zhang's contribution to the field of blackbody radiation is outstanding and irreplaceable, so I also agree that he should be included in the final list."
He was also forced to do so, because his research field was blackbody radiation. If Zhang Xingjiu did not win the award, wouldn't it mean that his research field was not important enough? On the other hand, if Zhang Xingjiu won the award, the status of blackbody radiation in the physics community would be greatly enhanced.
In general, if he is lucky enough to make 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 and 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 and fourteen other scientists including Roentgen 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 to the final majority vote, the discussion on the spot became more and more intense. They could not question Zhang Xingjiu's achievements, so they could only discuss the issue from other angles. "Nowadays, there are still many conflicts between our country and the Qing court. Is it appropriate to give the award to a Qing scholar at this time?"
"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 maintained.
Although I agree with your reason, we can just talk about it in private and treat it as a tacit understanding, but 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 think that awarding the prize to Professor Zhang will actually help the fairness of the Nobel Prize. Just think about it, even a scholar from the Qing Dynasty can win the prize. Doesn't this just prove that we judge completely 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 may take several times longer to make up for it in the future." The academician engineer who worked as a manager in the enterprise was willing to take the risk for the benefit of the company.
If Zhang Xingjiu could win the prize, it would be like advertising wireless telegraphy for free. When promoting wireless telegraphy, they could also say that this technology was developed by a Nobel Prize winner. How much time and money could this save? After a long and heated debate, the final result was revealed.
(End of this chapter)
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