1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 202 The King Returns!
Ridgway boarded a British ship and traveled across the Indian Ocean with great anticipation.

He looked towards the distant sky, full of energy and boundless fighting spirit.

This time, he wants to stand at the pinnacle of physics!

When the European physics community learned that Bruce Lee was coming back, it caused a huge shock.

The older generation recalled those brilliant and wonderful three years, when Bruce emerged out of nowhere and suppressed everything.

Quantum theory and the theory of relativity broke the shackles of Newtonian mechanics and tore apart the two dark clouds in the sky of physics.

From then on, physics entered a vaster and more mysterious realm.

The younger generation is eager to try and compete with Bruce.

After all, the top genius in physics has been silent for six years and has not published a single paper.

Will he still be that strong?

The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded eight times.

The outcome is uncertain, you and I are both dark horses.

The Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University.

Rutherford, now 38 years old, has transformed from a handsome young man into a handsome middle-aged man.

However, age has not changed his character, but has made him more wise and calm, exuding charming charm, and occasionally a hint of playfulness.

In 1907, he returned to Britain from Canada and became the head of the Department of Physics at Manchester Polytechnic Institute in the UK.

Manchester Institute of Technology was founded in 1824. Its founder is the famous father of modern chemistry, Dalton.

Rutherford's mentor Thomson studied engineering here when he was 14 years old.

So, Thomson has a very good relationship with Manchester Institute of Technology.

Moreover, Thomson won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906, making him a big name in the physics community.

With his recommendation, Rutherford easily became the head of the physics department after returning from Canada.

He is at the same position as Thompson himself.

This is the benefit of having a great mentor.

Thomson attaches great importance to independence in the training of students.

So he did not let Rutherford come directly to Cambridge to work, but sent him to another university to independently control a physics department.

Any great physicist certainly did not achieve his achievements under pampering.

If they want to achieve world-class results, they must not rely on anyone and must think independently.

Of course, Rutherford’s ability to become the head of the physics department was also related to his own abilities.

He smiled at his mentor Thompson and said, "Teacher, Bruce will be surprised when he comes back this time."

"Our Cavendish Laboratory actually produced three Nobel Prize winners, haha."

Thomson looked strange. "Rutherford, I still don't understand what those people on the Swedish Nobel Committee are thinking."

"You are obviously a physicist, how come you won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry?"

Rutherford smiled and said, “Perhaps they thought that the hypothesis of element transformation had more to do with chemistry.”

Rutherford proposed the element transmutation hypothesis because of his in-depth and systematic research on radioactivity, for which he won the 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

The hypothesis states that "radioactive atoms are unstable and can spontaneously emit radiation and energy, which is caused by the atoms themselves splitting or transforming into another element."

"This reaction is completely different from a general chemical reaction. It is not a rearrangement of atoms or molecules, but a change in the atoms themselves."

Although Rutherford mentioned this idea at the European Radioactivity Conference, no systematic theory was formed at that time.

After returning to McGill University in Canada, he finally perfected the theory with the help of Soddy.

Based on this theory, he and Soddy discovered various new radioactive elements.

In real history, Soddy proposed the concept of isotopes based on this hypothesis a few years later.

Because this theory was so similar to the legendary alchemy and opened up new research directions in the field of chemistry, it won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Thomson nodded, the potential of radioactive research was huge.

Even though Rutherford had proposed the hypothesis of element transformation, why did elements transform? What happened inside atoms?
These remain unknown.

"Rutherford, you have to continue your research. I think there are still many unknown secrets about radioactivity."

"You are now the head of the Department of Physics at Manchester University of Science and Technology. You can consider opening up your own direction and leading the team to achieve results."

Rutherford said: "Okay, teacher, I will keep it in mind."

At this time, he suddenly asked: "Teacher, what do you plan to do with Bruce after he comes back?"

"I heard that he has already founded a university and is serving as its president in his own country."

Thomson smiled after hearing this. "The university Bruce founded is called Huangpu Polytechnic University, which was modeled after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States."

"However, the foundation of Qing is weak now. The universities there only provide undergraduate courses, and there is no real physics research."

"That must be why he came back."

"As for the arrangements for him, it depends on Bruce's personal wishes."

"If he is willing to stay at Cambridge University, then I will help him apply for a professorship."

"But I don't think Bruce is the type to want to be inferior to others. He will definitely start his own business, just like you."

"I'll have a good talk with him when he comes back."

Rutherford nodded. He also felt that Bruce would not stay at Cambridge University.

After all, there is no department head for him here.

It depends on which university they want to go to.

With his achievements, he is always a guest of honor wherever he goes.

Rutherford burst into pride: "Bruce, this time, we can finally compete synchronously."
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Bern, the capital of Switzerland. Einstein, now 30 years old, is now an associate professor of theoretical physics at the University of Bern.

He became famous for his special theory of relativity and is a leading figure of the younger generation in the Swiss physics community.

And in terms of achievements, he has long surpassed his mentor, Kleiner.

Because in addition to the special theory of relativity, Einstein also published:

"A new method for determining molecular size";
"The Motion of Particles Suspended in a Static Liquid Required by the Kinetic Theory of Heat";
"Some Examinations of Brownian Motion";
These three heavyweight papers.

It immediately caused a small stir in the academic community.

Although it is not as good as quantum theory and the theory of relativity, it is still a crushing existence among the younger generation.

At this moment, Einstein was looking towards the east, full of energy and smiling.

"Bruce, you're finally coming back!"

"Now I can catch up with you."

"But you disappeared for 6 years. Can you create another miracle?"

"General relativity is so difficult that I still have no idea what it is."

"There are only four years left in the ten-year deadline. Can you fulfill your promise?"

While Einstein was worried about Li Qiwei, he was also burning with his fighting spirit.
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Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

At the age of 24, Bohr had just obtained a master's degree in science.

The proud boy from 7 years ago has now grown into a handsome and elegant young man.

Only at this moment did he understand what Bruce's lecture meant to him.

He didn't study physics, he just knew that Bruce was awesome, countless times better than his father.

But when he became a master, he realized how awesome Bruce was.

There is simply no comparison between my father and the other party.

However, such an earth-shaking existence humbly encouraged himself and even allowed himself to challenge himself.

A smile appeared on Bohr's lips.

It can be said that it was Bruce who introduced him to the world of physics and made him realize that the world was so wonderful and magical.

Bohr was not intimidated. Instead, he became even more motivated after understanding Ridgway's position.

He always kept that challenge in mind.

Recently, Bohr has been working day and night to study Ridgway's planetary model.

His intuition told him that this theory had some problems and was not as perfect as he had imagined.

However, he could not come up with a better solution.

To this end, Bohr prepared to study in the UK, go to the Cavendish Laboratory, and apply to become Professor Thomson's doctoral student.

Because there is still a big gap between Danish physics and British physics.

Today, the Cavendish Laboratory is like a holy place in physics.

Two Nobel Prizes in Physics and one Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

What a terrifying honor this is.

Professor Thomson himself became a Nobel Prize winner, and the two students he taught are also the only examples of Nobel Prize winners.

This has become a good story in the physics community.

Countless young physics students want to become his disciples, hoping to win the Nobel Prize in the future.

Today, the Nobel Prize’s dominant position in the field of physics has been completely established and is equated with awesomeness.

However, Professor Thompson's admissions standards are very strict.

Most people were asked just one question and received the signature discouragement: "You're good, but not suitable for Cavendish."

But Bohr had strong confidence in himself and believed that he would definitely become Thomson's student.

In real history, Thomson felt that Bohr was mediocre, so he rejected him and introduced him to Rutherford.

Even big guys often make mistakes.
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At the same time, the older generation such as Roentgen, Lorentz, Planck, and the younger generation such as Madame Curie, Millikan, Langevin, Laue, Born, etc. were all looking forward to it.

They were all acquaintances of Li Qiwei and had personally experienced that legendary period.

They felt sorry that Ridgway had wasted six years, and they were afraid that the ten-year plan for general relativity would not be completed.

But as long as he comes back, with his amazing talent, he will definitely stir up a stir in the physics world again.

Although the grown-up people like Laue still respect Li Qiwei, they are more ambitious to compete with him.

Among the younger generation, several newcomers have emerged.

Schrödinger, a 22-year-old doctoral student at the University of Vienna, Austria, became extremely curious about Ridgway.

“Quantum theory is really interesting.”

Lawrence Bragg, 19, graduated last year with a bachelor's degree in mathematics.

This year he came to the UK with his father, preparing to become Professor Thomson's graduate student, just like Bohr.

And those younger generations are still ignorant teenagers at this moment.

The 17-year-old de Broglie will graduate from high school in the middle of this year and then enter the University of Paris to study literature.

Pauli, 9 years old, Heisenberg, 8 years old, and Dirac, 7 years old, are still little kids now, and it is unknown what fate awaits them.
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Before Ridgwell actually arrived, the physics community was already in turmoil.

Everyone wants to know what stories there are about this extraordinary genius who once shook the world of physics.

After his return, will he become mediocre like everyone else, or will he achieve great success after years of hard work?

But no matter what, Bruce's return can be described as: the return of the king!
(End of this chapter)