1840 Indian Rebirth

Chapter 205 [Celebrities]

"Knight?" The horse whistle was taken aback.

Queen Victoria: "As a reward for scientific work, I will, if you wish, make you a knight of honour."

Knights are the lowest rank in the British title system and cannot be hereditary, and are mostly used as rewards for civilians.

Many outstanding figures have been knighted, such as Bacon and Newton, such as the future Kelvin, Thomson and even Bill Gates in the 21st century.

Now, Horse Whistle is also going to be one of them.

Although this title is only an honorary title and does not bring any direct material benefits, its role is still huge.

For Ma Shao, with this status, it will be much easier for him to do anything in England.Not only in England, the King of England is the most powerful monarch on this planet, and the title of knight she confers will not be ignored casually anywhere in the world.

Naturally, it was impossible for the horse whistle to refuse the medal.

"It is a great honour, Her Majesty." He readily accepted.

The queen smiled: "The canonization ceremony will be held soon. Before that, you have to learn some necessary etiquette. But don't worry, I will send someone to guide you."

The canonization ceremony took place at St James's Palace.

St James's Palace has fallen out of favor since the Queen moved her residence to Buckingham Palace, but it remains ceremonially important.

The ceremony was quite grand, and many celebrities were present, including almost all famous physicists who could be present.

As the recognized father of thermodynamics, Ma Shuo is highly respected by the physics community.

Others are far more subtle than physicists.

These prominent people would not be rude at the canonization ceremony, but Ma Shao could still feel that a considerable number of people disapproved of him.

Like Prime Minister John Russell.

He barely concealed the arrogance in his eyes. If the queen wasn't present, Ma Shuo would definitely believe that this short and fat guy would yell at himself like a servant.

It is hard to imagine that this vulgar old man was Bertrand Russell's grandfather.

Horse Whistle knew he would never be able to please the likes of John Russell, so he wisely refrained from communicating with them.

In fact, he was still only happy in the circle of scientists.

He was accompanied by Darwin, who was born in a wealthy family and was very experienced in dealing with such situations. He was also a scientist who made good friends with him, so he acted as a guide.

An elegant and beautiful lady approached the horse whistle enthusiastically: "Oh, it's a great honor to meet you, Sir Horse Whistle!"

Horse Whistle hasn't been formally sealed yet, but she's already willing to call him that.

"Hello." The horse whistle greeted politely.

Darwin introduced him: "This is Ada, Countess of Lovelace, daughter of Byron."

Ada?

Could it be the Ada known as "the first programmer in history"?

Darwin's next words confirmed his guess: "Ada is a genius mathematician, and he once collaborated with Babbage to build the Difference Engine."

Differential machine.

A purely mechanical computer.

Before the birth of electronic computers, many scientists and engineers were keen on making mechanical computers, Charles Babbage was a famous one.

He did produce a finished product with a calculation accuracy of six decimal places, which impressed the British government and enabled his subsequent research to receive national financial support.

At first, it was believed that Babbage could build a more powerful mechanical computer and "make logarithmic tables as cheap as potatoes"—an irresistible temptation for seafaring civilizations, after all, accurate logarithms can be to save the ship.

But after the British government burned 15 pounds and only got a [-]% defective product, few officials were willing to support Babbage.

The cost of this defective difference engine was more than [-] pounds, because Babbage's family was well-off, and he himself put a lot of money into it.

Babbage also attended today's ceremony. At this time, he was chatting and laughing with a man with messy hair not far away.

"Mr. Darwin, I didn't make a difference engine, I just solved some problems about 'computation'." Ada corrected.

Darwin was a little puzzled, he obviously didn't know much about it: "Operation?"

Ada proudly explained: "Any process that changes the relationship between two or more things can be called an operation."

Darwin was still scratching his head.

At this time, Ma Shao said: "Dear Madam, I actually know about your work."

"Really?" Aida's eyes lit up when she heard this.

Horse Whistle nodded: "I still have a little bit of my own opinion, or I have found a word that may better describe your work."

Ada couldn't wait to ask: "What is it?"

"Algorithm." Horse Whistle said this extremely important concept to computer science. According to the original historical track, the word algorithm was not endowed with such a connotation until a century later, "I think this word is more appropriate, you What do you think?"

Ada repeated the word several times, then nodded repeatedly, and couldn't help admiring: "That's great, Sir Horse Whistle, no wonder people say you're a genius!"

Ma Shao smiled, ready to chat with this beautiful and smart lady about computer knowledge.

Unexpectedly, at this time, two greasy middle-aged men walked over - strictly speaking, one should be an old man and the other a middle-aged man.

Ada took the initiative to introduce: "This is Charles Babbage, my partner."

"This is Charles Dickens, a great writer." She introduced the younger man, who also looked greasy and shabby.

"I have admired you for a long time." What Ma Shao said was obviously the truth, but he did not expect that the person in front of him was the famous Dickens.

After some courtesies, Babbage suddenly said to the horse whistle: "I have a better design for the computing machine. I wonder if you are interested in cooperating?"

Whistle smiled politely, then declined Babbage's invitation.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Babbage, although I am very interested in your work, but I don't have that much time and energy. You know, I am still the great chief of a tribe, and the tribe needs me." This reason is unassailable.

But in fact, there was only one reason why Horse Whistle rejected Babbage: the project had no future.

A purely mechanical computer would not have played a big role, let alone Babbage's plan.

Babbage's abilities were undeniable, but his character and way of working are too difficult to describe.

When he was young, Babbage was famous for his bad mouth, and he suffered a lot of criticism for his public blasphemy. He also complained that his father was closed-minded and stingy enough to only give him three hundred pounds a year, and he claimed that Newton's micro The credit symbol is Alzheimer's...

When manufacturing the Difference Engine, Babbage was also extremely restless, modifying the design every now and then, and passionately confronting the craftsmen who made the parts for him.

Even the British government, which provided him with financial support, Babbage was sometimes disrespectful.

What's more terrible is that Babbage's design has many impractical places.

Therefore, it can be said that his failure was largely self-inflicted.

Following Babbage's development of mechanical computers, Mashao was really full.

Actually he has a better choice - Kelvin.Kelvin was also interested in mechanical computers, and Kelvin was clearly a more suitable partner than Babbage.

And even if it was Kelvin's plan, the horse whistle was not particularly cold.

To those who have seen electronic computers, these toy-like machines have little appeal.

But Babbage refused to give up easily, and continued to persuade: "I can guarantee that the new machine will be a hundred times stronger than that failed product, and it will be easier to manufacture..."

Ada also hopes that the horse whistle can join: "Sir horse whistle, don't you want to make this great plan come true with your own hands?"

In the end, the horse whistle had no choice but to say: "Well, I have a friend, George Bull, who works as a teacher in Lincolnshire. If you have time, you can communicate with him. I think you and Bull will be inspired by it."

"Okay." Babbage sighed.

"Mr. Dickens, I have read many of your works." Horse Whistle was going to have more exchanges with Dickens.

Dickens asked: "In America?"

Ma Shao smiled and said: "Yes, but I think it should be a pirated version, so I always feel that I owe you a sum of money."

Dickens also smiled helplessly: "I know. When I went to the United States a few years ago, I realized that the piracy there was too rampant. It was beyond my imagination. In fact, I didn't even expect to encounter genuine copies in the United States." reader."

Horse Whistle: "Mr. Dickens, can you tell me what new great work you are working on?"

"The ceremony is about to begin." At this moment, a servant of the royal family came to remind him.

(End of this chapter)