Shadow of great britain

The virtue of prosperity is moderation, the virtue of adversity is perseverance, and the latter is a greater virtue.

——Francis Bacon

George Ohm stood in the backstage of the conference hall of the University of Göttingen, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Through the remaining gaps between the dark curtains, one can vaguely see the crowded seats in the conference hall.

Due to the presence of the Duke of Sussex, president of the Royal Society, the Göttingen Police Department, which has nothing to do with academia, also took the initiative to take on the responsibility of maintaining order in the venue in order to ensure the safety of the royal family members.

Under the arrangement and command of this group of policemen wearing German steel helmets, the originally chaotic venue has become well organized.

The house where the venue is located is not far from the Göttingen City Hall, and is adjacent to Weind Street, the main road in the city of Göttingen. At this time when classes should have been held, many students even skipped today's classes just to get a chance to stand at the conference site and listen to the teachings of the top scholars in Europe.

Of course, not all students are so enthusiastic about science, and many of them are here to join in the fun.

People are born with curiosity, and even if they just see what those well-known academic figures look like here, and confirm with their own eyes whether their smart heads are larger than normal people as phrenology says, the students feel satisfied.

And the professors and lecturers did not complain about the students' collective absence from class, and many of them even announced to the students a few days in advance that classes would be suspended for one day.

For these natural philosophy researchers, this opportunity to be able to contact the world's most cutting-edge research fields on the spot must not be missed. Moreover, many of the great scholars present today are editors-in-chief or reviewers of various academic journals. Therefore, even if you just get to know them, it will be of endless benefit to your future scientific research path.

The enthusiasm among professors and students soon spread to the citizens of Göttingen. As a small town with only 10,000 people, the citizens have always been proud of having the University of Göttingen. The citizens simply believe that even dogs born in Göttingen naturally have higher academic qualifications than other dogs.

Every year when the doctoral graduation season of the University of Göttingen comes, the small town is in a carnival.

Citizens will enviously watch the doctor's parade carriage around Göttingen on the street, and watch the doctor's carriage stop in front of the Town Hall Square with blessings.

The doctor, wearing a dark academic robe and decorated with wheat ear tassels on his head, will get off the car in the square, then buy a bunch of colorful flowers from the roadside flower shop and put them in the arms of the bronze statue of the goose shepherd, and then kiss the little girl.

This is an ancient tradition that has been passed down in Göttingen for two hundred years. The mayor, the police chief, the rich and the nobles are not allowed. Only the glorious doctor of Göttingen has the qualification to present flowers and kiss the goose shepherd.

In such a social atmosphere where academics are respected, citizens naturally have an unspoken admiration for the profession of scholars.

The wisdom of scholars and their incomprehensible academic achievements make them almost regarded as great figures who have extraordinary powers and can communicate with God like priests.

Moreover, since the University of Göttingen was established by the royal family, rather than church universities like Oxford and Cambridge or folk universities like the University of London. Therefore, the professors of the University of Göttingen deserve to enjoy the state establishment. From a certain perspective, they are not only scholars but also officials.

Such a special identity also makes the profession of scholars an apostle of the world with traditional power, divine power and legal power in the eyes of the citizens of Göttingen.

In Göttingen, some people may be disrespectful to the mayor and chew the root of the tongue of the police chief Mr. Schmidt behind his back, but everyone will habitually take off their hats to salute Mr. Gauss when they see him.

Today, although most citizens don’t understand what new electromagnetism is.

But they learned from the students that it seemed that many scientific giants who could be compared with Mr. Gauss came to the conference hall today.

Therefore, many citizens had to go to the back row of the conference hall to find a good seat even if they put aside their business to admire the strange scenes that could only be seen in religious paintings.

They talked about the twelve apostles and heatedly discussed which of these scholars had a status comparable to Jesus, who was Saint Simon, who was Saint Peter and Saint Andrew, etc.

Amid the buzzing discussions of the citizens, a few complaints could be heard from time to time: "Hey! All the twelve saints of Jesus were martyred, you are simply a curse!"

But the guy who could complain like this was already lucky today, because at least he was in the conference hall.

Due to the narrowness of the conference venue, most citizens could only gather in the square outside the conference hall, and many unlucky citizens could only tiptoe through the window glass to watch the scene in the conference hall.

There were also many parents who believed the rumors spread by some charlatan and thought that if their children could breathe more air in the conference hall, they would become smarter.

Others went a step further and said: If possible, it would be best if the scholars attending the conference could bless their children one by one, just like the pastors and priests do during the mass ceremony, to help them establish a spiritual connection with natural philosophy.

It was obviously a grand meeting of natural philosophy, but the nature of the meeting was constantly evolving towards the field of theology. This not only brought pressure to the organizer of the meeting, the University of Göttingen, but also a severe test for the security force of the Göttingen Police Department.

In the eyes of Sir Arthur Hastings, who was used to seeing the ups and downs, life was really full of wonders.

When he resurrected in the church and engaged in feudal superstition, the British Privy Council insisted that this was something that could be explained by science.

And when he wanted to promote a scientific event, the citizens told him: Let's do some feudal superstition.

Seeing the crowds gathering more and more, Police Chief Schmidt was already sweating all over with nervousness.

But fortunately, he could rely on Sir Arthur Hastings, the most outstanding police commander of the Royal Metropolitan Police.

Arthur's resume well shows that he is fully capable of handling crowd gatherings of this scale.

Even if all the citizens of Göttingen were added together, they could not reach the number of participants in the largest group riot that Arthur had ever handled.

Asking Arthur to maintain order at the meeting is like asking a swineherd to manage a chicken coop. Although it is not impossible, it is also a waste of management resources.

He did not even have to use the management methods he learned at Scotland Yard, nor did he have to use his royal titles.

The status of the proctor and professor of the University of Göttingen was enough to win the trust and applause of the citizens.

What was even more incredible was that the citizens had never thought that such a noble person would actually agree to touch the child's head.

Just touching the child's head and saying a few kind words was enough to stabilize the citizens' emotions. After experiencing the gunfire in London, Arthur just wanted to praise the German people from the bottom of his heart for being easy to manage.

"His eyes are deep, and profound philosophy matches his eyes."

"His nose is not high, which makes him a good material for astronomical observation, because his nose will not hit the lens of the telescope, and the stars are closer to his eyes, so he can see more clearly than others."

"Is he very quiet? Being able to keep calm is a valuable quality, ma'am, and mathematics is perfect for him."

"Is he a troublemaker? Oh! Perfect! A natural experimental physicist!"

"He is an alcoholic at such a young age? He can distinguish the taste of many different kinds of wine? Sir, what are you thinking about? Your son is very suitable chemistry."

"What about this kid? He's young but he's a brat, and he has no other strengths except talking a lot to little girls? Oh! Madam, don't be discouraged, I sincerely recommend your son to join the Royal Navy. No kidding, I think he can become a general there, I have a friend there."

"What about you? Are you good friends with the brat in front? My God! Young man, do you know how much advantage you have taken? You have a good foundation to become a biologist!"

Under the cover of Professor Hastings, who is well-versed in history and modern times, scholars from various countries were finally not entangled by the citizens.

They smiled at each other and walked into the venue with laughter.

And Ohm, who was standing in the backstage, gradually saw the faces of the people sitting in the first row. Their names were marked on paper in front of their seats.

Sitting in the center of the seats was the Duke of Sussex, the president of the Royal Society, who was half the organizer. Sitting next to him were Dominique Jean Arago, the lifelong secretary of the Paris Academy of Sciences, and Alexander von Humboldt, the president of the Berlin Academy of Sciences, who represented the highest authority of the four major academies of science in Europe.

The only regret is that the Roman Academy of Sciences, which is also one of the four major academies of science, did not appear here.

This once the brightest pearl in the European scientific community, due to the influence of the Napoleonic Wars, basically fell into a state of stagnation in the early 19th century. Although it was not disbanded in name, it has not recruited new members for many years, and has not heard of any recent research activities.

After Volta, the most outstanding electrical researcher in Italy, died in 1827, Italy has not heard of any breakthrough in the direction of electricity for many years.

Therefore, everyone is not particularly sorry for the absence of the Roman Academy of Sciences. After all, the person who replaced the Roman Academy of Sciences here is another heavyweight in the European scientific community-Hans Oersted, the permanent secretary of the Royal Danish Society and the discoverer of the magnetic effect of electric current.

Next to Oersted was Jöns Berzelius, the president of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the originator of the electrochemical dualism.

And beside them, a group of three people were chatting enthusiastically.

They were Mr. Marie Ampère, the unit of electric current faster than the Fleet Street reporters, and Mr. Michael Faraday, the director of the Royal Society Laboratory and the pride of Britain. Of course, among them was John Gauss, the director of the Göttingen University Observatory and the heaviest cloud hanging over the European mathematical community.

It can be seen that Mr. Faraday did have many mathematical problems when he came to Göttingen this time. He even moved his seat to the side just to ask Gauss for advice. And looking at the bright smile on his face, Gauss's answer must have satisfied him very much.

Of course, not all the seats in the first row were occupied. There was still an empty seat there.

Needless to say, it belonged to Sir Arthur Hastings.

As for why he didn't take a seat quickly, it depends on one's own opinion.

However, not being able to sit in the first row does not mean low academic achievement, because even in the second row, you can still meet William Weber, William Sturgeon, Charles Babbage and Felix Savar et al.

When Ohm saw these faces, looked at the names that he had seen countless times in various academic journals, and thought of a lot of theorems named after these people, he still couldn't help but feel a tremor in his heart. The feeling of making a fuss.

Although he believed that he had done research in the field of electricity, at this moment, facing the upcoming academic report, this physicist who had not yet gained fame still felt unprecedented pressure.

He knows very well that today's audience is not just a group of ordinary listeners, but the highest level of science in the world, and no slight mistake can escape their eyes.

It is true that a perfect academic report can reshape his reputation in the academic world, but a failed academic report can also upgrade his social status from Germany to the world, and the time he will be tied to the pillar of academic shame will also be From decades to hundreds to thousands of years.

Ohm took a deep breath, trying to calm his inner tension. He repeatedly recalled the content of the speech he had prepared, replaying every data and formula in his mind for fear of making any mistakes. Although he had checked his manuscript several times, he still felt uneasy about whether he had missed some key point.

Gradually, Ohm heard the noisy lecture hall gradually return to silence, followed by a crisp and powerful sound of riding boots stepping on the podium.

A familiar warm voice came from the front desk to behind the scenes. It was Sir Arthur Hastings, who was making a welcome speech at the opening of the meeting.

Arthur's voice fell on Ohm's ears, like the rustle of a printing press. Although he knew that there must be many words written on it, he could not remember a single word clearly.

His mind was so confused that he couldn't remember even a single word.

Ohm held his head and tried to calm down: "Calm down! George, you only have this chance! Don't let down everyone who trusts you!"

Boom, boom, boom!

Someone knocked lightly on the wall. Ohm looked up and saw that it was Weber.

This guy didn't know when he ran from his seat to the backstage.

He smiled and said to Ohm: "George, relax, this is no different from your usual class. Superintendent Hastings's speech is over, it's your turn."

As soon as Weber finished speaking, he heard Arthur's solemn introduction from the stage: "Today's first academic report, "Calculation of Electric Current," speaker: Mr. George Simon Ohm!"

Suddenly, the audience burst into applause and the curtain slowly opened.

Ohm's heartbeat quickened, but he still tried his best to stay calm. He realized that this was a great opportunity to present his research results to his peers and could also be an important turning point in his career.

He thought of his persistence and hard work over the years, those lonely nights, those repeated attempts after countless failures, and those days and nights when he was accused of academic fraud. These will all become the source of strength for his speech today.

Ohm's mind gradually returned to peace. He walked slowly onto the podium, stopped in front of the podium, looked at the black heads below, and suddenly felt an atmosphere of awe.

The scientists in the venue are waiting for him, Faraday, Oersted, Ampere, Berzelius...

There was both anticipation and scrutiny in their eyes.

Ohm felt everyone's eyes focused on him, and he felt a heat welling up from the bottom of his heart, which was a mixture of confidence and determination.

He clenched his fists and began to speak, wanting to show his determination, but unexpectedly the first word came out with a vibrato: "I..."