Kapitel 176: Chapter 177: [Sour Beer]
Ma Shao lived in Joule's villa for many days. In addition to writing papers, he also often read papers. Joule's collection of journals was very rich, at least much richer than his collection.
Reading these old journals is not without its rewards.
For example, at this time he found an interesting paper, a paper about electronics.
Yes, electronics.
The electron was not discovered until fifty years later, but in fact, some people had already hypothesized the existence of this subatomic particle and were quite close to the truth, for example, mentioning the transfer of electrons between atoms.
But unsurprisingly, no one paid any attention to this mind-blowing paper.
The author Richard Laming is just a physics enthusiast, or a folk scientist, and his main job is a doctor.
Unlike later generations, amateur scientists in the 19th century were still able to make achievements - mainly because the science of this era was relatively simple, and ordinary people with a little basic knowledge could really come up with something by just thinking about it.
However, amateur scientists are still not taken seriously. Dr. Ramin's paper is an example, as is Joule's experience of being questioned.
It sounds a bit legendary that a 19th century amateur scientist proposed the concept of electronics 50 years in advance.
But in the history of science, similar situations are quite common. Many innovative theories will have some "signs" or "omens" before they are officially born. Sudden scientific progress may be truly rare.
In the journey of exploring the truth, mankind has taken many detours.
"Joule, I think this article is very interesting. You can take a look at it." Ma Shao handed Raming's paper to Joule.
Although the book was written by Joule, he obviously had not read this article, at least he had no impression of it: "Subatomic particles?"
"Frankly, I don't think this is a very meaningful idea. It's just a hypothesis, and it's not hard to think of." He put down the journal, obviously not caring about the content of the article.
Ma Shao asked casually: "Do you think atoms are really indivisible?"
"Maybe." Joule was noncommittal. "What do you think?"
Ma Shao: "I think the segmentation itself deserves more attention. People's understanding of the process of segmentation is still very superficial."
Joule: "So you think atoms can be further divided?"
"That's right." Ma Shao nodded, "Of course, I also believe that there should be indivisible basic units in the world."
Joule: "If it is not atoms, what else can it be?"
Ma Shao: "I don't know, but it must exist. A process that can be repeated infinitely logically will definitely have an end in reality. Logically, the division can be done infinitely, taking half of it every day, and it will never end, but this is definitely not the case in reality."
These words made Joule fall into deep thought.
After a moment, he could not help but nod his head repeatedly: "A process that can be repeated infinitely in logic must have an end in reality - this sentence is wonderful! You are really a genius natural philosopher."
As he spoke, he took another bottle of beer, poured one for himself and one for Ma Shao, and then took a sip.
Then his expression twisted, as if he was wearing a mask of pain: "Damn, this bottle of beer has gone sour!"
Ma Shao didn't hear his reminder in time and took a sip as well. Naturally, he also felt the sourness and stickiness in the wine: "This taste is really... unforgettable."
"As a brewery owner, this is the thing I hate the most." Joule poured out the beer. "Why does beer turn sour?"
Ma Shao listened and said thoughtfully: "I think this may be caused by bacteria."
"Bacteria caused it?"
Ma Shao thought for a while and said, "I thought of an experiment that might prove some of my ideas about bacteria and solve the problem of sour beer."
Joule's eyes lit up: "Really?"
Compared with theory, he seemed to prefer experiments, and this experiment was closely related to his factory, which naturally made him more interested.
"What experiment?" he asked quickly.
Ma Shao: "It's very simple. Microorganisms can be killed by heating. If the sourness of beer is caused by bacteria, we can avoid this problem by simply heating it."
Joule: "But after heating the beer, the taste will inevitably deteriorate... Even if it succeeds, it seems that the gain is not worth the loss."
"We can control the heating temperature and time to minimize the damage to the taste of beer," said Ma Shao.
The experiment he talked about is actually the famous pasteurization method in later generations.
The pasteurization method originated from the solution to the problem of sour beer, and was later applied to areas such as milk.
"Well, it's at least worth a try." Joule nodded.
The two then started the experiment, and the specific operations were basically the same as the experiment designed by Pasteur in history.
First they used a microscope to observe the scene in the beer, and as expected, they saw a group of lactobacilli.
These rod-shaped microorganisms float and wriggle in the beer, looking like maggots.
Joule was obviously seeing this thing for the first time, and he was immediately disgusted: "Oh my God, what have I been drinking?"
"The microscope is a good thing." Ma Shao said calmly, "If you use it to observe things often, you will find that these disgusting-looking tiny creatures are almost everywhere, whether it is wine or water."
The two observed for a moment.
Ma Shao: "Okay, let's record all these little things and then officially start our experiment."
After recording the lactobacilli, Ma Shao divided the same batch of beer into several groups and heated them at different temperatures and times to find the balance between sterilization and consumption.
Of course, there is also a control group, which is beer that does not undergo any treatment.
After the heating was completed, they observed the scene in the beer again, and then regrouped the beer into two groups, one with residual Lactobacillus and one without.
"Now, we just have to wait." Ma Shao said, "As long as my idea is correct, these sterilized and clean beers will not deteriorate for a long time, and then we can choose the one that is least heated and tastes the best. That is the most perfect beer in the world."
While waiting, he also wrote this experiment and the theory of bacteria into a paper titled "The Harm and Treatment of Bacteria", which was then published together with the paper on the first law of thermodynamics.
Ma Shao initially wanted Joule to co-sign the paper on bacteria, but Joule refused.
"I made no contribution to this paper and should not be its author," Joule said.
Ma Shao smiled and said, "At least you provided me with beer."
Joule waved his hand and said, "These beers are not worth mentioning. If you are right, my brewery will undoubtedly benefit from it, and I should pay you some money."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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Rangliste 
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Stein