The Great Scientist of Rebirth Chapter 1 Predecessor ** Xu Zaipan

As soon as the new substance was discovered, Yale University sent a telegram to Sun Yuanqi from McGill University in Canada. This discovery was expected by Sun Yuanqi, and he was not too excited, but just sent a telegram of celebration to his colleagues.

When the postman sent the telegram to his hand again, his laboratory colleagues had confirmed that this new substance was the legendary "missing" element, and Sun Yuanqi was still as indifferent as ever, calling back in addition to the congratulations, hoping that they could increase their research efforts on the new element on the one hand, and on the other hand, they would continue to build larger-scale cyclotron particle accelerators, such as those with a diameter of more than 60 centimeters.

When a reporter from Montreal learned that the scientist who discovered the new element was temporarily living at McGill University, he hurried to the campus to interview him, and finally met Sun Yuanqi, who was called "the greatest young scientist of the early 20th century" in Rutherford's office.

When the reporter made his intentions clear, Rutherford learned that Sun Yuanqi had discovered a new element and congratulated him repeatedly.

During the casual conversation, the reporter asked a question that also interested Rutherford: "Professor Johnson, we know that our colleagues in the Elemental Laboratory you lead have discovered radon in 1900, lutetium in 1901, actinium in 1902, and now they have discovered obstacles. Excuse me, do you have any ingenious ways to discover new elements? ”。

"Clever way? No, no, new elements don't have to be discovered. Speaking of this, Sun Yuanqi pointed to his head: "According to the knowledge and theory I have, the new element should be there, so it is there." ”

Sun Yuanqi meant that he knew the full version of the periodic table, and it was unknown what Rutherford and the reporter thought.

After sending off the reporters and returning to the office to sit down, Rutherford suddenly said: "Yanke, maybe you will win this year's Nobel Prize!" “

"Nobel Prize?" Sun Yuanqi was stunned for a moment, in his impression that the Nobel Prize has always been the patent of the big and small bullaurs, and in his own century, how many Chinese people dreamed of it, but in the end, he waited for a few unexpected peace prizes, which really made the government disgraced. When I came to this world, I also dreamed of it, but I was overwhelmed by many problems in real life and quickly forgotten.

Rutherford thought that Sun Yuanqi had not heard of the Nobel Prize, so he hurriedly explained: "The Nobel Prize was founded by the famous Swedish chemist and inventor of nitroglycerin explosives. Mr. Nobel devoted his life to the research of explosives, and made significant achievements in the research of nitroglycerin. He was engaged not only in theoretical research, but also in industrial practice, accumulating a huge fortune.

Nobel died in Italy in 1896. A year before his death, he left a will establishing the Nobel Prize.

In his will, he proposed that part of the estate be used as a fund, and the interest of which would be divided into five prizes: physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace, to be awarded to scholars from all over the world who have made significant contributions to mankind in these fields. Accordingly, the Swedish government approved the establishment of the Nobel Foundation in 1900, and the Nobel Foundation was awarded for the first time the following year. Since then, the awards have been presented annually on this day in Stockholm, Sweden and Oslo, Norway, and have been presented three times to date. Rutherford spoke endlessly, and seemed familiar with the award.

"So, how much is the Nobel Prize prize?" Sun Yuanqi suddenly asked.

"The Nobel Prize consists of a gold medal, a certificate, and a cheque for the prize......," Rutherford replied, "and the amount of the prize depends on the income of the foundation, which at the moment is about $1,000, or $31,000." ”

"Oh, it's only $30,000.........." Compared with the more than one million dollars in his previous life, 30,000 dollars is indeed a little less, so Sun Yuanqi was a little disappointed.

"Johnson, you shouldn't care too much about the amount of the bonus." Rutherford was dissatisfied: "What is more important is the recognition of your academic achievements by scientists in the world, which is a great honor for a researcher." ”

Is there a difference between one chasing fame and the other pursuing profit? Sun Yuan scolded in his stomach. However, he had always regarded Rutherford as a mentor and friend, so he replied respectfully: "Isn't that the construction of a school that requires a lot of money?" Hehe. Then again, which scientists have won the Nobel Prize over the years? ”。

"I don't care much about the three prizes of physiology or medicine, literature, and peace, so I don't know ......," Rutherford paused, "and as for the rest, I've heard of them." The three Physics Prizes were awarded to Mr. Roentgen for the discovery of X-rays, Mr. Zeeman for the discovery of the effect of magnetism on light Muman, Mr. Lorenz for the founding theory, the Curies for the discovery of the radioactive elements polonium and radium, and Becquerel for the discovery of natural radioactive phenomena. The Chemistry Prize was awarded to Fantohov, who created the laws of chemical kinetics and osmotic pressure, Fischer who synthesized purines and their derivatives, peptides, and Arrhenius, who established the theory of ionization of electrolyte solutions. ”。

"Roentgen, Zeeman, Lorenz, the Curies, Becquerel, Arrhenius............ Ah, they are all celebrities, destined to appear in future generations of university textbooks......" Sun Yuanqi couldn't help but sigh, of course, telling the truth.

"Haha, what about you? You know, many scholars now think of you as the first person after Newton! ”。 Rutherford looked at him jokingly, "Röntgen, the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, mentioned your understanding of the structure of the atom in his acceptance speech: Professor Lorentz and the Curie couple later said that your theory has an important guiding role in the development of science." Of course, Arrhenius is also full of praise for your new understanding of chemical reactions, and has publicly stated that his theory is not as comprehensive and systematic as yours. Because of this, when he won the chemistry prize last year, there was still some criticism in the academic community, and most scholars thought that his ionization solution theory was only a part of what you explained in "Chemical Principles", but it was not as penetrating as you explained. If he can win the prize, then you should also win the award, and you can't just favor one over the other just because he is ......... Swedish."

In this regard, Sun Yuanqi could only laugh.

Generally speaking, science has no borders, but scientists have national boundaries, so it is inevitable that there will be disputes in terms of awards, writing the history of science, etc.

Taking Arrhenius as an example, American professor of the history of science Friedman wrote in his 2005 book "Conspiracy: Behind the Scenes of the Nobel Prize in Science" that in 1906, the Nobel Prize Chemistry Committee approved Mendeleev's nomination, but Arrhenius, as a member of the Physics Committee, took the lead in criticizing and belittling Mendeleev's work at the Royal Academy of Sciences.

Through a survey of the Nobel Prize archives before 1950, Friedman also found that the German physicist Nernst, who was also the founder of physical chemistry, was continuously nominated by the Nobel Prize jury from 1901 until 1921. It is said that one of his students challenged Arrhenius, and Arrhenius made it difficult in the selection process. Nernst received 22 of the 55 nominations that year before the committee agreed to award him the Chemistry Prize, which had not been awarded in 1920. Ostwald, one of the founders of physical chemistry, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 with the strong support of Arrhenius.

Of course, it cannot be said that Arrhenius is cautious, after all, there are very few selfless people.

“………… So, in this year's Nobel Prize selection, many professors from the Royal Society, the German Physical Society, and even the United States, France, and Canada nominated Yankee, so you are the most likely to win the prize. Rutherford looked at Sun Yuanqi proudly.

"So, you're my nominee too?" Sun Yuanqi stared at Rutherford.

"What do you say?" Both of them burst out laughing at the same time.

After laughing for a while, Sun Yuanqi asked tentatively, "Then do you recommend me to win the physics prize or the chemistry prize?" ”

This is a pertinent question.

You must know that at the beginning of the establishment of the Nobel Prize, the Swedish royal family wanted to award it only to researchers in their own country, but the plan was rejected. So he sent Sweden's most famous scientist, Arrhenius, to participate in the competition, hoping to win glory for his country. In 1901, when the first Nobel Prize was chosen, Arrhenius was one of the 11 nominees for the Physics Prize, but unfortunately he was not selected. In 1902 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he was not selected. In 1903, Arrhenius made a comeback. In the first two selections, Sweden actually did not receive any grains, which made the country lose face, and this time it is a must-win. The jury had already decided on Arrhenius, but there was disagreement as to whether he should receive the Physics or Chemistry Prize.

The theory of ionization plays an important role in both physics and chemistry, and it is difficult to determine which prize he deserves. The Nobel Prize Committee in Chemistry proposed to give him half of the prize in physics and half of the prize in chemistry, but this plan was too peculiar and was rejected. He also proposed that his award be postponed to the next year, which was naturally ruthlessly vetoed. Finally, Arrhenius was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1903.

Similarly, the current physics giant was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1908 for his "research on the metamorphosis of elements and the chemistry of radioactive substances".

"Oh, I've thought about that too...... Rutherford nodded, "according to your published papers, your focus is mainly on the relationship between radiation intensity as a function of light wavelength, the relationship between mass and energy, and physics such as quantum mechanics and radio technology. However, these results have not yet been widely recognized by the academic community, and they need to be tested by time and experiments. In contrast, you are more widely known about the structure of the atom, the periodic laws of the elements, the principles of chemical reactions, and discover a new mode of reaction: nuclear reactions. All these have directly changed the theoretical basis of chemistry today. On this basis, you have discovered three elements: radon, lutetium, and actinium. So, I nominated you to the Nobel Prize Committee for the Chemistry Prize. ”

"Chemistry Prize.........." Sun Yuanqi couldn't help but smile bitterly. Do graduate students in physics department win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry? That's a bit of a joke, isn't it?