1840 Indian Rebirth

Chapter 177 [Co-writing Papers]

Thermodynamics, or thermodynamics, the term was not difficult for Joule in 1848.

In fact, even if there is no horse whistle, this word will gradually replace "hot theory" in three years and become a more formal name of a discipline.

Around the first law of thermodynamics, the two had a lot of discussions.

No one else in the room could get in.Whether it's Dr. Mayo, Joule's wife, or messy hair... the content discussed by the horse whistle and Joule is almost a book for them.

"Potential energy?" Joule blinked, and he heard a new term from the whistle.

Ma Shao explained: "The so-called potential energy is the energy stored in a system."

As he spoke, he picked up the wine glass beside him, which still had half a glass of wine in it: "For example, the wine glass in my hand, although it is still now, there is no doubt that as long as I let go of it, it will immediately gain kinetic energy. "

"From the perspective of energy conversion, where does its kinetic energy come from? What energy is converted into its kinetic energy?"

"Obviously, it has a potential energy only because of its relative position to the earth. I call this energy potential energy. This potential energy is stored in the gravitational system formed by the cup and the earth. Falling is the process of converting potential energy into kinetic energy .”

"Potential energy, potential energy..." Joule repeated several times, and then he couldn't help admiring, "Oh, this is really a clever idea! Why didn't I think of it, if I could use this concept to explain my experiment, I guess it won't be suspected by so many people."

Speaking of this, he couldn't help sighing: "You have absolutely no idea how many people doubted my experiment at the Oxford Association for the Advancement of Science last year, including Mr. Faraday."

He added: "William Thomson believed me the most, but...he didn't really believe it. I spent a lot of effort trying to convince him."

"William Thomson?" Horse Whistle was taken aback.

"You've heard of his name too?" Joule smiled, "But it's normal. Although he's young, he's much better than me in the academic world. He became a professor at the University of Glasgow two years ago— —he was 22 at the time.”

Horse Whistle has of course heard the name of William Thomson.However, it wasn't until he was stunned for a while that he realized who this person was.

The reason why I was stunned for a while was mainly because the name "William Thomson" is really a bit of a bad name. If it were put in China, it would almost belong to the category of Li Ming and Zhang Wei. No matter how famous people are, they can't afford such a name. .

And this William Thomson in Joule's mouth has another more widely known name, and most people have heard of this name.

Kelvin.

It is the famous Baron Kelvin, the thermodynamic temperature scale, and the protagonist of the famous scene "Two Dark Clouds on the Physics Building".

The name Kelvin comes from his title, which is similar to how Zhuge Liang is often called "Marquis Wu".

Of course, Kelvin doesn't have that name yet.Now he is just a rising scientific star, not the successful Baron Kelvin.

Horse sentry is also aware of Kelvin's experience, in fact, Kelvin is the next target in his plan.

He nodded and said: "I have indeed heard of him, although his name is a bit too common. Although I did not have the opportunity to enter academia in the United States, I have always followed the news of academia very much."

"It seems to me that Kale...William Thomson is also a genius, just like you, Joule, an absolute genius."

The horse whistle almost said "Kelvin", and quickly changed the subject, boasting to Joule.

Joule was a little embarrassed: "This is too exaggerated. I am just a physics enthusiast, a brewery owner who is busy with business, and Thomson is the youngest professor at the University of Glasgow."

"Heroes don't ask where they come from." Ma Shao said, "I believe that history will give a fair evaluation. People in the future must regard you as an outstanding scientist, not a brewery owner."

This sentence really reached Joule's heart, and even made him a little dazed, lost in thought for a moment.

Joule has always had a strong love for science. From a very young age, he has had a seemingly endless curiosity.Unfortunately, his father asked him to take over the family business, so he had to make business his main job.

If he could, he would have preferred to be a university professor and professional physicist, like William Thomson, rather than a brewery owner.

Being a successful brewery owner is not too bad, at least living a prosperous life, which is the envy of most people.

But no brewery owner will go down in history.

Joule stared at the empty wine glass, and after a while, he spoke again: "In fact, these words may be more suitable for you, Ma Whistle, you are the real genius of 'Heroes don't ask where they come from'."

"To be honest, it's hard for me to imagine that you, as an Indian, can study physics to such an extent under such an environment...I think, in front of you, any scientist in Europe would have to be ashamed."

Ma Shao said: "My situation is actually not bad. After all, I am the chief of a large tribe. In comparison, my tribe and other aborigines are in a more difficult situation, whether it is on the road of knowledge or other."

"Can you tell me about your tribe?" Joule couldn't help but said, "I have never been to the United States, and I know almost nothing about Indians. The news about Indians that I occasionally hear regards you as uncivilized savages, which now appears to be manifestly false."

"Of course." Horse Whistle nodded, "First of all, I want to correct a statement, which is the 'Indians' in people's mouth."

"We are Native Americans, not Indians, and it was Columbus' mistake. Even though the vast majority of people, including ourselves, are used to this term, I hope this mistake will be corrected."

"As it should be," Joule said.

"In addition...the Native Americans are savages. This statement cannot be said to be wrong." Ma Shao said, "Most aborigines in North America are still in a stone society, without the ability to make metal tools, and without writing. In civilization We are indeed thousands of years behind Eurasia, or even longer."

Joule pondered: "Perhaps backwardness does not necessarily mean barbarism."

"Advancement has nothing to do with civilization, but backwardness is no different from barbarism." Ma Shao took a deep breath, "Many aborigines refuse to admit to barbarism, and even refuse to admit to backwardness. People always like to boast. Civilization has a beginning, but no end. The verge of arrogance on which a people, complacent in its own barbarity, has come to the verge of a little civilization, is more terrible than barbarism itself."

Joule was silent for a while: "You are right."

"You're the great chief of the aborigines, right?" He thought for a moment.

Horse whistle: "The aborigines are not a unified entity. We have a common ancestor, but we are divided into many tribes. Specifically, I belong to a tribe called Apache, and I am the great chief of the Apache people."

Joule: "I have probably heard the name 'Apache', you should be a big tribe."

Horse Whistle: "Apache is one of the most populous Native Americans in North America, and there are very few tribes larger than ours. And other tribes are often scattered and divided into many tribes and clans."

Joule asked: "Isn't Apache decentralized?"

The horse sentry said: "It used to be, but not now. I merged most of the Apache tribes into one tribe, the Apache tribe, and at the same time most of the Apache people also gathered and formed a city called 'Sleeping Bear City'..."

He introduced his tribe to Joule.

Collisions always happen at close range, and it is often easier to develop good feelings for strangers who are far away.

What's more, there is an American factor in how the British treat the Indians.Brits are undoubtedly more likely to warm to a group of strangers who make Americans uncomfortable.

Joule of genius is not exempt.At the same time, as a rich second generation, his character has a bit of the characteristics of a greenhouse flower-it is easier to have fantasies about distant things.

Therefore, under the deliberate guidance of the horse post, Joule developed a strong sympathy and affection for the Indians, which quickly overshadowed some prejudices from hearsay.

"You're getting all the kids into school and learning math and physics? That's a big deal," Joule said. "I don't think it'll be long before anybody in the world thinks Native Americans are savages."

Horse Whistle sighed slightly: "It's just Sleeping Bear City, not even the entire Apache. The situation of Native Americans will not be improved much because of this. In fact, Native Americans are almost going extinct. Due to the invasion of germs and Americans, our The population is more than 300% smaller than it was 90 years ago."

"Germs?" Joule didn't understand.

In this era, people are not clear about the pathogenicity of bacteria, although they are not ignorant, but except for some hypotheses of individual biologists, most people still have no knowledge of it.

Joule knew little about biology, so when he heard the term he couldn't help but bewildered.

Horse whistle: "I think diseases are caused by bacteria. Many of those tiny creatures are like poisonous insects. When Europeans came to America, bacteria from Eurasia also arrived in America, bringing disaster to us. We Therefore, they frequently encounter great plagues.”

Joule pondered for a while.

Bacteria causing disease is not difficult to understand, but as an outstanding scientist, he quickly noticed a possible loophole: "But, according to this statement, the bacteria in America should also enter Europe, right?"

"Yes, but the bacteria exported by the two sides are not equal, or even very different." Ma Whistle said slowly.

"The three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa are connected as one, while the Americas are isolated."

"And Eurasia has a large number of domesticable animals, so Europeans carry more bacteria and have stronger resistance to bacteria, so in this bacterial exchange, Native Americans are completely at a disadvantage... "

Ma Shao added: "The so-called resistance is similar to cowpox. Many plagues, people will not get it again after they have passed it. There is no doubt that more plagues also mean stronger resistance."

Listening to this narration, Joule couldn't help but fell into deep thought.

After a while, he said: "Although I don't understand biology, I think what you said may have great repercussions in the field of biology."

Ma Shao: "I do plan to organize many of my ideas into papers for publication. I don't have this opportunity in the United States, but I should try it when I come to the UK."

After hearing this, Joule immediately said: "At least in the field of physics, I am absolutely willing to help you. You have inspired me a lot."

"You are also a great inspiration to me." Ma Shao smiled, "It is your research in the past few years that triggered my thinking about physics."

Joule thought for a while and said, "Maybe we can try to write a paper together, what do you think?"

"Of course, it's my honor." Horse Whistle told the truth.Although he knew far more knowledge than Joule, none of it was original to him.

After all, in the field of physics, he is still a student.For a physics student, it is certainly an honor to co-author a thesis with Joule.

Putting this feeling aside, co-writing a paper with Joule is also a safer choice.

For Mashao, Joule's current academic status can be said to be just right, neither too high to cling to, nor too low to help.

So from the very beginning, he planned to collaborate with Joule on a paper.

"The title of the thesis is called "The First Law of Thermodynamics: Conservation and Transformation of Energy". What do you think?" Ma Sen asked.

"Excellent." Joule said without hesitation.

Of course, he is also very happy, after all, this will undoubtedly be an important achievement, the beginning of a new discipline.

The conversation between the two lasted until late at night, and Joule immediately invited Mashao and others to stay.

Horse whistle readily agreed.

As a wealthy brewery owner, Joule also had a lot of rooms in the villa, which was more than enough for a few guests.

The next day, the two began to co-write the paper "The First Law of Thermodynamics: Conservation and Transformation of Energy".

Horse Whistle mainly expounds the theory. First, it systematically summarizes the existing results of the law of energy conservation, and then puts forward new concepts such as "potential energy" to further clarify the transformation of various energies.

After that, the concept of "thermodynamics" was introduced, and the law of conservation of energy was established as the basic law of this subject.

Of course, he did not include the second and third laws in this paper. After all, for him, this paper was just a stepping stone into the world of physics.

Joule is mainly responsible for the experimental part.

He has been doing experiments on energy conservation all the time, improving the experiments every once in a while. In the original history, he continued to improve the experiments until his later years.

With the help of the horse whistle, Joule naturally designed a more perfect experiment to complete.For physics, experiments are always the most fundamental part.

Practice is the only criterion for testing truth, and physicists take it for granted.

(End of this chapter)