1840 Indian Rebirth

Chapter 178 [Sour Beer]

Ma Shao lived in Joule's villa for many days. Apart from writing papers, he also often read papers. Joule's collection of periodicals is very rich, at least much richer than his collection.

Looking at these old periodicals is not without reward.

For example, at this time he found an interesting paper, a paper on electronics.

Yes, electrons.

The discovery of electrons was 50 years later, but in fact, at this time, some people had already assumed the existence of such subatomic particles, and they were quite close to the truth, such as the transfer of electrons between atoms.

Unsurprisingly, however, no one paid any attention to this mind-blowing paper.

The author Richard Lamin is just a physics enthusiast, or Minke, and his main job is a doctor.

Unlike later generations, civil science in the [-]th century could still make achievements—mainly because the science of this era was relatively simple, and ordinary people with a little foundation could really come up with something if they slapped their heads.

However, civil science is still not taken seriously. Dr. Laming's paper is an example, as is Joule's experience of being questioned.

A civil science in the nineteenth century put forward the idea of ​​electronics 50 years in advance, which sounds a bit legendary.

But in the history of science, similar situations are quite common. Many innovative theories will have some "symptoms" or "harbingers" before they are officially born, and sudden scientific progress may be really rare.

On the road of exploring the truth, human beings have taken many detours.

"Joule, I think this article is very interesting, you can read it." Horse Whistle handed Laming's paper to Joule.

Although the book is Joule's, he obviously hasn't read this one, at least he has no impression: "Subatomic particles?"

"Frankly, I don't think this is a very meaningful idea. It's purely a hypothesis, and it's not hard to think of." He put down the journal, obviously not paying attention to the content of the article.

Ma Whistle asked casually, "Do you think atoms are really indivisible?"

"Maybe." Joule was noncommittal, "What do you think?"

Ma Shao: "I think the segmentation itself deserves more attention. People's understanding of the process of 'segmentation' is still very shallow."

Joule: "So you think atoms can continue to be divided?"

"That's right." Horse Whistle nodded, "Of course, I also believe that there should be indivisible basic units in the world."

Joule: "An indivisible elementary particle, what would it be if it were not an atom?"

Ma Shao: "I don't know, but it must exist. Logically, a process that can be repeated infinitely must have an end in reality. Logically, division can be carried out infinitely. Take half every day, and it will last forever, but reality certainly does not." It will."

These words made Joule fall into deep thought.

For a moment, he couldn't help nodding again and again: "The process that can be repeated infinitely in logic must have an end in reality-this sentence is wonderful! You are really a genius natural philosopher."

While talking, he brought another bottle of beer, poured it for himself and the horse whistle respectively, and took a sip.

Immediately, his expression couldn't help twisting, as if wearing a mask of pain: "Damn, this bottle of beer is sour!"

Ma Shuo didn't hear his reminder in time, so he also took a sip, and naturally felt the sourness and stickiness in the wine: "This taste is really...unforgettable."

"As a brewery owner, this is the thing I hate the most." Joule poured out the beer, "Why does beer turn sour?"

After listening to the horse whistle, he pondered: "I think it may be caused by bacteria."

"Bacteria?"

Ma Shao thought for a while: "I thought of an experiment that might prove some of my ideas about bacteria, and at the same time solve the problem of sour beer."

Joule's eyes lit up: "Really?"

Compared with theory, he seems to like experiments more, and this experiment is closely related to his factory, which naturally makes him more interested.

"What experiment?" He asked hastily.

Ma Shao: "It's very simple. Microbes can be killed by heating. If the sourness of beer is caused by bacteria, we can avoid this problem by heating it."

Joule: "But after the beer is heated, the taste will inevitably deteriorate... Even if it can be successful, it seems that the loss outweighs the gain."

"We can control the temperature and time of heating to minimize the damage to the taste of beer." Ma Shao said.

The experiment he talked about is actually the famous pasteurization method in later generations.

Pasteurization originated from the solution to the sourness of beer, and was later used in fields such as milk.

"Well, it's at least worth a try." Joule nodded.

The two immediately started the experiment, and the specific operation was basically the same as the experiment designed by Pasteur in history.

First, they used a microscope to observe the scene in the beer, and then saw a group of Lactobacillus without accident.

These rod-shaped microbes wriggle and wriggle in the beer, looking like maggots.

Joule obviously saw this thing for the first time, and was immediately disgusted: "God, what have I been drinking?"

"The microscope is a good thing." Ma Shao calmly said, "If you often use it to observe things, you can find that this kind of disgusting-looking tiny creature is almost everywhere, whether it's wine or water."

The two observed for a moment.

Horse Whistle: "Okay, let's record all these little things, and then officially start our experiment."

After recording the Lactobacillus, Ma Shao divided the same batch of beer into several groups and heated them at different temperatures and times to explore the balance between sterilization and consumption.

And of course there is the control group, which is the beer without any treatment.

After the heating was complete, they looked at the beer again, and then regrouped the beer into two groups, one with Lactobacillus remaining and one without.

"Now, we just have to wait." Ma Shao said, "As long as my assumption is correct, these sterilized beers will not go bad for a long time, and then we will choose the one with the least heating and the best taste." One group, that's the most perfect beer in the world."

While waiting, he also wrote this experiment and the theory about bacteria into a paper entitled "Hazard and Disposal of Bacteria", which was then published together with the paper on the first law of thermodynamics.

For this paper on bacteria, Ma Shao also wanted to sign Joule at first, but Joule refused.

"I didn't make any contribution to this paper, so I shouldn't be the author of it." Joule said.

Ma Whistle smiled: "At least you provided me with beer."

Joule waved his hand and said, "These beers are worthless. If you are right, my brewery will undoubtedly benefit from it, and I should pay you a sum of money."

(End of this chapter)