1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 67: Getting rich quickly starts with training Philips

When Ridgway was preparing for a young scholars exchange meeting, he suddenly received letters from Madame Curie and Solvay.

Marie Curie invited him to attend a conference in France, the European Congress of Radiology, scheduled for August 8th.

Inspired by the Berlin Physics Conference and the London Quantum Symposium, physicists now suddenly love holding meetings.

Li Qiwei thought to himself, this is right, there is no scientific researcher who does not hold meetings, especially those who are big names in the field of physics.

Only by holding more meetings can you enhance your influence.

Since Rutherford published the nature of radioactivity, there has been a wave of radioactive research around the world.

Becquerel and the Curies of France, the discoverers of radioactivity, saw such an exciting breakthrough and decided to hold a conference.

This idea was immediately supported by the French government, which provided both money and venue.

Countries have discovered that talent is the most valuable resource these days, especially super-high-end talent like physicists. It is a great profit to attract one.

In the letter, the Curies enthusiastically invited Ridgeway. Although he was not studying radioactivity, he was very famous and was a cross-border figure.

Li Qiwei was very happy, but he had not yet decided whether to go or not.

However, this is an opportunity to get involved in the field of radiation, uranium salts, purification, isotopes, and he is probably the only one who knows the tricks involved.

Even the next day, Rutherford wrote to him asking if he wanted to go, and if he was willing, he could go with him. Ridgway said he would let the other party know after making a decision.

As for the other news, the tungsten filament light bulb patent has finally found a partner.

Solvay introduced the company in detail in the letter. Li Qiwei took a closer look and found that it was the famous Philips!
Royal Philips, founded in Eindhoven, the Netherlands in 1891, mainly produces lighting systems, home appliances and medical systems.

Later, Philips had more than 150 employees, was headquartered in Amsterdam, and its products were sold in more than countries. It was a true multinational giant.

Well-known household products include: mobile phones, tablet computers, shavers, air fryers, coffee machines, bread machines, juicers, electric kettles, etc.

Revenue in 2023 reached $200 billion.

Especially its medical equipment, which is synonymous with high-end.

Before Li Qiwei traveled through time, China was still advocating domestic substitution in the medical field, representing companies such as Philips.

This shows the strong strength of Philips.

If Solvay had not described it in the letter, Li Qiwei would not have believed that such an awesome company actually started out making carbon filament light bulbs.

That’s right, Philips, which has just been established for ten years, is already one of the largest carbon filament light bulb manufacturers in Europe.

Its founders are Gerard and Antonio, and the company now has more than 100 employees.

However, the company’s current development has also encountered difficulties.

On the one hand, it is because the quality of carbon filament bulbs is too poor; on the other hand, the company’s products are too single and it is unable to expand more sources of income.

In real history, Philips established its first research laboratory in 1914, specializing in studying physical and chemical phenomena in an attempt to promote product innovation.

There were breakthroughs in X-ray and radio technology; but no progress in the light bulb.

Now, Gerard, one of the founders, suddenly learned about Li Qiwei's tungsten filament patent from his good friend Solvay, and he was overjoyed.

Gerard wanted to find Li Qiwei immediately, but was stopped by Solvay, who said that he would write to the other party first, and if he agreed, the two sides could make an appointment to meet.

Of course Li Qiwei agreed, and he agreed too much.

Philips now feels like a company tailor-made for him.

First, being headquartered in the Netherlands avoided the first world war that followed, as the Netherlands was a neutral country at the time and was therefore less affected.

Second, all the products produced are for civilian use, which reduces the risk of being targeted later and greatly ensures safety.

Third, Li Qiwei’s professional knowledge can help Philips upgrade almost all its products. Fourth, Philips is still a small company and does not have the arrogance of a large enterprise. It is easy for him to get the right to speak and share more benefits.

Faced with this sudden surprise, Li Qiwei did not get carried away and rush to ask the other party for cooperation. He knew a little about business negotiations.

Instead, he simply wrote a letter to Gerard, saying that if the other party was interested, he could consider meeting to discuss in detail.

As a result, on the third day he received an expedited letter from Gerard, saying that the other party was ready to visit him in Cambridge immediately.

Li Qiwei smiled knowingly. It seemed that the tungsten filament bulb patent was extremely attractive to these carbon filament bulb manufacturers.

After all, no one is a fool. The profit of this kind of product, which is obviously a generation gap, is simply unimaginable.

So, Li Qiwei asked Gerard to come to Cambridge on July 7, when he would entertain him and discuss the patent licensing issue in detail.

A few days later, Ridgeway met Gerrard in a famous cafe in Cambridgeshire.

Gerard Philips, 43 years old, has a pair of bright eyes. The name of Philips company is taken from his surname.

He was born into a wealthy merchant family in the Netherlands. He had no interest in inheriting his family's tobacco and coffee trading business. Instead, he was fascinated by science and technology.

So he went to a polytechnic school to study mechanical design. After graduation, he idolized Edison and started his own business.

Since he was making high-tech products, Gerard had great respect for scientists and wanted to get to know the big guys in the field.

So when he met Li Qiwei in person, he seemed very excited and spoke in a hurried tone, which made Li Qiwei embarrassed.

"Forgive my impoliteness, Professor Bruce, you look so young."

"Solvi told me about your great achievements. Now that I see them, I am simply astonished. I feel like I have lived in vain."

Li Qiwei was immediately happy. He was indeed an entrepreneur. He could make the clients feel comfortable just by opening his mouth. How could he not be able to negotiate a good deal?

"Mr. Gerard, you should just call me Bruce. I'm not a professor yet. I'm just a doctor at Cambridge."

"Let's get straight to the point and discuss the use of patents."

Gerard was slightly stunned. He had never seen such a direct physicist.

Many scholars I met before were shy about talking about money and instead focused on technology.

He did not dare to neglect it and asked quickly: "Dr. Bruce, what do you think?"

Li Qiwei said: "Mr. Gerard, you are an expert in the field of light bulbs. Although the market penetration rate of light bulbs is still very low, you know very well that its future is bright."

"The world's population is about 16 billion now. If everyone can afford a light bulb in 10 years, just imagine how much profit this will bring."

Gerrard couldn't help but take it seriously after hearing this, not because the 16 billion pie attracted him, but because he didn't expect that Li Qiwei actually understood business.

He thought that physicists like the other party were ignorant of the ways of the world.

Even if he wanted to make money, Gerrard was confident that he could reasonably squeeze the other party's interests through commercial means.

However, in the first two sentences Li Qiwei spoke, he did not rush to prove how advanced his technology was, but instead talked about how big the market was.

A familiar business atmosphere blows over.

Gerard began to cheer up, he knew he had met a master today.

The Li Qiwei in front of him is not an ordinary physicist, his knowledge is far beyond that of ordinary people.

Good news: PK succeeded and entered the third round of recommendations. Thank you for the strong support of all book friends. Lao Xu continues to ask for follow-up reading, and I want to go further. The protagonist is getting more and more awesome now, and it will be more and more exciting in the later stage, please rest assured.

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(End of this chapter)