As the sun sets, the moon rises, and a breeze blows in the London sky.

A group of ladies and ladies in long dresses and a group of colonels and generals of the Royal Navy surrounded the iron cage, which had been improved by Farah for the second time after Arthur's suggestion, their eyes full of curiosity.

Of course, a cage is not worth their curiosity, what makes them curious is why the young master of the Carter family is locked up in it.

Elder blushed, and although his agitation was not visible in the night, the newly installed gas lamps on the side of the road still showed a hint of blush on his face.

"Arthur, Arthur!" Elder lowered his voice and urged, "Fuck, that's not what we said!" Didn't you say you're inside and I'm outside? ”

Arthur turned the hand-cranked generator, and the discharge pole flashed with an arc of electricity, and Elder could see that his hairs stood on end.

"Are you sure there really won't be a problem? This thing isn't going to electrocute me, is it? ”

"No, it won't." Arthur said calmly: "At most, he can use electric hemp, you can just slow down for a while." ”

"Huh?" Elder turned green when he heard this: "Didn't you say that this thing is absolutely safe in theory?" ”

Arthur replied, "Yes, it's absolutely safe in theory. But you know, Elder, theory is theory, reality is reality. All I can tell you is that it didn't go wrong the last time. And even if something goes wrong, you don't have to be too nervous, it's not a big deal. Therefore, even if you are electrocuted, please bear with it and never make a sound. ”

Elder frowned, "Why can't you make a sound?" Do you want me to prove my fearless courage? ”

Arthur calmly turned the generator: "No, it's to prove that my experiment is not wrong." ”

"Arthur, you ......"

But Arthur didn't intend to give Elder a chance to curse, and he turned around, already with a hearty smile on his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your willingness to brave the evening breeze in the courtyard and listen to me introduce you to another important breakthrough in the field of electromagnetism in Britain at the present time—the phenomenon of electrostatic shielding."

With that, Arthur carried a kerosene lamp and presented a rag to the guests, and he presented it to every gentleman and lady present.

"As you can see, it's a plain, unused rag from a tailor's factory in Lancashire, and it's as tough and durable as any other cotton product in Lancashire. However, this rag, which can be used for years or even decades in the home, is vulnerable in the face of electricity. ”

Arthur retrieved the rag from the guests' hands and hung it on the prepared clothesline.

I saw him turn the hand-cranked generator on his back, and a sinuous electric tongue burst out of the discharge rod in an instant, hitting the surface of the rag.

The bright light flashed, and the current instantly pierced through the rag, leaving only a small black hole on its surface, and as the current continued to output, it didn't take long to see sparks rising on the surface of the rag, and then the rising flames swallowed the rag into the nothingness of the night.

The ladies and ladies all covered their lips with fans: "Oh my God! So, are you going to use this thing to call Mr. Carter in a cage? ”

Arthur replied with some regret: "In fact, the current output power of the hand-cranked generator is still on the small side. I was going to bring over the Royal Society's oversized voltaic stack, which was about the size of a room and could output more than 100,000 units.

If I could use it as a demonstration, it would make it clearer for you to understand the destructive power of electricity.

But Mr. Faraday told me that he had agreed to lend me the voltaic stack, but that if I broke it during the transport, then I would have to fix it. I thought about it for a while, but finally I had to give up the idea of borrowing a stack. ”

A lady in white lace gloves, an off-the-shoulder silver-white brocade dress, a braided hair, and a pale yellow shawl was slightly surprised.

"I ...... I've heard in the past that researchers in electricity are crazy, and the more accomplished researchers in the field of electricity, the more dangerous they are, but it seems that this is really not a rumor. ”

Arthur looked at this lady's twisted hair and couldn't help but joke: "Madam, your hairstyle is also very dangerous, maybe you can also consider studying electricity." But your impression of the electricity researcher is quite correct, that this is a very dangerous area of study.

I know that all the gentlemen and ladies present here have a certain amount of knowledge in the field of science, so you must know Father Jean-Antoine Nolet, a French researcher of electricity, right? He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, President of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and patron of the invention of the early capacitor Leyden bottle.

In order to find out how fast the electric current was, Father Norette made a set of large Leyden bottles.

Then he summoned two hundred priests from the monastery and had them line up in a column about a mile long with iron chains. Finally, Father Norlett releases the Leyden bottle, and amazingly, the priests are knocked to the ground almost simultaneously by electric shock within visual range.

Since then, Father Norlet has understood that the speed of the current is more than two hundred priests per second, and that the speed of the current is directly proportional to the rate at which the French priest consumes, and the French priest grows at an inverse rate with the frequency of Father Norlet's experiments. This is the well-known French law of conservation of Norette and Fathers. ”

As soon as Arthur's words were finished, all the gentlemen and ladies present laughed, and the atmosphere at the scene became a lot more harmonious.

Seeing that everyone was in high spirits, Arthur couldn't help but add: "Of course, Father Norlet's research results don't stop there. As a great researcher of electricity, he also did many interesting experiments.

For example, if you hang a young man from the ceiling with an insulated silk thread and charge it into his body, you will find that the surrounding objects such as paper and coins will involuntarily attract him, and when someone approaches him, it will even cause electric sparks.

Or if a person with an electric body cuts himself, the wound will not bleed normally, and the blood will only spurt out of the wound like an electric current. ”

Arthur chatted with the crowd more and more, but Elder in the cage only felt cold from head to toe.

He thought that being a science assistant was a beautiful mistake, not only did he not have to work hard to learn scientific knowledge, but he could also be in the limelight at banquets.

But now he finally understands that whether you are greedy for beauty or averse to science, sooner or later you will hurt you.

After Arthur said this, he picked up the discharge rod and walked up to Elder and comforted, "Don't worry, aren't you an insulator who claims to be science?" If that's the case, Sir Isaac Newton's gravitational pull won't help you, and it doesn't matter if you jump off a building or anything. Held, just a little current, relax. ”

"Arthur, ...... the"

But before Elder could finish his statement, Arthur was already speeding up the hand generator.

The air flickered with an arc of electricity, and only a crackling explosion could be heard, and a series of electric currents struck the Faraday cage like a silver snake.

Elder had just reacted to what was going on, and he was about to be afraid, but he was stunned for a while, and then he realized that he didn't feel like he had been electrocuted at all.

Not only that, but a pleasant breeze hung from the cage, blowing his unpressed hat to the ground.

Elder suspiciously touched the inner wall of the cage, and when he was sure that he really had nothing to do, his courage instantly grew.

Elder picked up the hat on the ground and smiled lightly, "Gentlemen, ladies, as you can see, I...... Uh, Arthur, what's that phenomenon called? Well? Electrostatic shielding? Oh! Right! Gentlemen and ladies, I'm blocked! ”

As Elder said, he was indeed shielded because all eyes were on Arthur.

The crowd shouted in amazement, and the ladies and ladies' eyes widened, completely unaware of why Elder had not been shocked.

And some of the guests who had a dislike for Elder couldn't help but show a slight look of disappointment, and with the previous foreshadowing, they thought that the goal of Arthur's verification today was to prove how high the consumption rate of the hand-cranked generator would be for Held.

And the focus of the generals is clearly on the operational side.

General Corcoran was the first to ask, "Mr. Hastings, does this mean that electricity is not lethal to the medieval can knights?" ”

General Smith pinched his chin and pondered, "It was obviously not windy just now, but why was Elder's hat blown to the ground?" Elder is your kid messing around in there? ”

Mrs. Codrington, who was the hostess, was smiling, and she was very pleased with Arthur's presentation of results tonight: "Mr. Hastings, people say that you are the second researcher of electromagnetism in Britain below Mr. Faraday. But in my opinion, you may be a little inferior to Michael Faraday in terms of research, but when it comes to humorous explanations and presentations, that's definitely number one. Now, are you going to tell us about the profound principles of this? ”

Arthur just smiled: "Actually, this is not an esoteric thing, about the study of this 'Faraday cage', Mr. Faraday and I are just inheriting the results of his mentor Sir Humphrey Davy." ”

At this time, Mrs. Cooper, who had only watched with wide eyes and curiosity, finally couldn't help it, because Faraday's mentor, Sir David, was not only an outstanding scientist, but also a former British socialite, and Mrs. Cooper, as an important figure in London's high social circles, had certainly maintained a good friendship with him.

Taking this opportunity, Mrs. Cowper, who had been quiet, asked, "Mr. Hastings, what does this cage have to do with Sir Davy?" Could it be his posthumous work? ”

When Arthur heard this, he only smiled and picked up the kerosene lamp in his hand: "Sir Davy's name is like thunder, so I think you must be familiar with this invention of his. ”

Colonel Elliott leaned down to look at the kerosene lamp covered with a layer of copper mesh, and suddenly patted his head and asked, "Is this a Davy lamp?" There was a mine on my father's land, and the workers there were equipped with this stuff for their lighting. ”

Arthur nodded slightly: "That's right, this is the Davy lamp." In 1814, thousands of miners were killed or injured in several gas explosions caused by lamp flames in Britain's coal mines in Newcastle and Caldifo.

When Sir David learned of this, he immediately turned his research to the improvement of miner's lamps. After several months of research, he found that if the outside of the kerosene lamp was covered with a layer of copper wire mesh, even if the explosive gas penetrated into the kerosene lamp, the gas deflagration could be confined to the copper wire mesh, so that the flame would not overflow and cause the explosion of the entire mine.

At the time, Sir David believed that this was due to the good thermal conductivity of the copper wire mesh, which directed away the heat generated by the combustion of the oil lamp flame, so that the flammable gases in the external mine could not reach the temperature above their ignition point, thus suppressing the probability of an explosion in the mine.

But after the advent of Faraday cages, which are similar in principle, I think the interpretation of the Davy lamp will need to be adjusted somewhat. Because if it is really the copper wire mesh that absorbs the heat, then the copper wire mesh will sooner or later be heated to the ignition point temperature of the combustible gas as the burning time of the lamp increases. So, I don't think it makes sense to just elaborate on this issue from a macroscopic perspective of thermodynamics. ”

As Arthur said this, suddenly, a lady of her age, wearing a black wide-brimmed hat, who looked to be her age, suddenly asked, "What do you want to say about Mr. John Dalton's atomic theory?" ”

When Arthur heard this, he was a little surprised. Although he knew that the ladies of the Blue Sox Society had always been keen on scientific research, he did not expect that their knowledge was so broad.

He looked at the lady and was about to ask, but suddenly remembered the rule that you should not ask for a lady's name, and his half-open mouth became slightly stiff.

But Mrs. Codrington, who was the hostess, soon noticed his strangeness, and she came up to Arthur's aid with a smile, and said, "Mr. Hastings, I have to blame for this, I forgot to introduce you to all the guests who have visited to-day. Standing next to me is Mrs. Mary Somerville, an astrophysical researcher who also studies magnetics.

A few years ago, she had also published a paper in the proceedings of the Royal Society entitled "The Magnetizing Power of the Sun's rays that are more easily refracted by the sun", but for reasons of her status, she had not yet given a scientific lecture at the Royal Society. Mr. Summerville did it for him. ”

As soon as Arthur heard the name, he immediately knew who the other party was, because not long ago, Faraday had given him an English translation of Laplace's "Celestial Mechanics" that was about to be published, and the translator of "Celestial Mechanics" was the same Lady Mary Somerville in front of him.

He took off his hat and nodded and saluted, "Madam, I really didn't expect to see you here." ”

Mrs. Somerville just smiled, "Mr. Hastings, I've always wanted to see you. I want to tell you that I think Mr. George Airy's criticism of you is simply unfounded!

Whether it's the concept of the 'line of force' that you and Mr. Faraday agree on, or your Hastings force, it's quite a feat.

The reason I guessed that you intended to explain Faraday cage and Davy lamp in terms of atomism was because you were the proposer of the Hastings force, and I knew that you would certainly find out how these things were connected in the microcosm.

So, what exactly have you discovered, Mr. Dalton's atomic theory, which states that all matter in the world is made up of atoms, and do you intend to add anything to this theory? ”

Arthur nodded: "That's right, through the Davy lamp and Faraday cage, I boldly guess that matter is not only made up of atoms, but I am honored to announce to the world that all atoms in this world are electrically charged." The Davy lamp may not be as simple as it seems, but it is more than just a superficial combustion reaction. Just a few days ago, when I went to Mr. Faraday to borrow something, I proposed the idea to him, and the two of us simply experimented with it. ”

When Mrs. Somerville heard this, she seemed to think of something, and she asked in surprise, "Do you mean ......?"

Arthur smiled, "With unremitting efforts, Mr. Faraday and I used an electrometer to find the potential difference in the Davy lamp burning in the methane environment. ”

(End of chapter)