章節 182: Chapter 183: [Mackintosh's Self-Hypnosis]
William Mackintosh was a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow, teaching physics, or to put it more classically, natural philosophy.
However, in this university full of talented people, McIntosh had nothing outstanding except for his slight qualifications.
But as a natural philosopher in people's eyes, he always gets special respect in life, and he likes this experience very much.
However, in recent days, McIntosh felt as if his dignity had fallen into a quagmire. He could not stop struggling for a moment and all his decency was gone.
The anxiety caused by this made him almost unable to sleep at night.
During the day at school, he was in a daze. From time to time, he would take out an academic journal that was opened to a certain page and stare at it blankly for a while.
The source of all this is naturally the paper on this page - "Estimates of the Age of the Sun".
Thomson once again made big news, and people inside and outside the academic community were talking about it.
Although Thomson's success at such a young age was something that aroused envy and jealousy, most people at the University of Glasgow were used to it, and even the whole of Britain did not think it was something outrageous.
After all, wasn't Newton also a young man in his twenties when he pioneered classical mechanics?
As the field that most needs fresh brains, the scientific community has too many young geniuses. At that time, Britain was still the British Empire, the center of science, and it was not difficult for geniuses to accept this.
But it is somewhat unbelievable that this paper, which caused a huge response, actually has an Indian second author.
In Europe, some people might show sympathy and friendliness towards the Indians, but no one would think that they had any connection with science.
However, now, an Indian has appeared in the media of the British Empire as a physicist - Ma Shao. This awkward transliteration name is obviously not an English name or any European name.
If that were all, Mackintosh might have just discussed it out of curiosity, like most British people.
But just a while ago, he had a contact with Ma Shao, which was an extremely bad contact for him.
"A real barbarian", these words still echo in McIntosh's ears, making him feel annoyed from time to time.
At first he was able to cover up his mistake and convince himself not to get involved with the barbarians, but after reading this paper, panic instantly filled his heart.
Although he was not completely sure whether Ma Shao was the Indian who had humiliated him that day, the incident happened right next to him and too many signs pointed to a positive answer.
"The Real Savage" once again echoed wildly in McIntosh's ears, with waves of devilish sound.
Could it be, could it be that... the barbarian is really me?
Impossible!
Absolutely impossible!
Obviously impossible!
When reason points to self-denial, people will inevitably escape from reason.
McIntosh didn't dare to think further and could only hypnotize himself over and over again, repeating the monologue in his heart: "I am obviously not a barbarian."
Hypnosis is effective.
After a few days of trance, McIntosh's symptoms worsened and his thoughts became divergent.
So he simply took the paper and went straight to Thomson, and his attitude was quite rude.
This was very unusual. Thomson was a physics genius that everyone admired, and everyone knew that he had a bright future. Although Macintosh had more experience, he still had to be polite to Thomson in the past.
"Thomson, why did you sign your paper with that Indian's name?" said McIntosh.
Thomson was stunned for a moment, and said puzzledly: "Why else? Of course, it's because he is also one of the authors."
"He's an Indian!" McIntosh said emphatically. "A half-clad Indian who hunts buffalo on the prairies with stone arrows."
Thomson smiled and said, "Strictly speaking, that was only some of the Indians, or most of them. Now we have seen another small group, or even the only one, a genius Indian physicist."
McIntosh was about to say something, but Thomson seemed to have not finished speaking yet, and then he said, "If Ma Shao is not one of the authors, what motivation do I have to let him sign the paper and share my honor with him?"
McIntosh was silent for half a second: "Maybe he paid a sum of money..."
"I am not Bernoulli," Thomson frowned, "and I am not L'Hôpital. With all due respect, Mackintosh, such groundless speculation is an offense."
McIntosh finally came to his senses. "I'm sorry, Thomson."
Thomson groaned for a moment and said, "I don't know why your reaction is so strong... But I can understand the thoughts of most people. If I hadn't communicated with Ma Shao in person, I would not have believed that such an Indian physicist existed."
McIntosh said nothing.
Thomson continued, "There will be an academic conference at Cambridge University soon, and thermodynamics will be an important topic at the conference."
"I will attend the meeting, and Ma Shao will also give a report. I think once you have listened to his report, you will no longer have any questions."
…
"Cambridge University?" Ma Shao was stunned when he heard the name.
"Sir Isaac Newton's alma mater." Thomson said with a smile, "I believe you must have wanted to visit there for a long time."
Ma Shao nodded. "Yes, giving an academic report at Cambridge University. I would never have expected that I would have such a day."
Thomson: "I believe this is a good opportunity to dispel doubts from the outside world. You may not know the extent to which some people doubt you, and even think that I gave you this honor in exchange for your money, just like John Bernoulli, which is incredible."
"No, I'm not like Bernoulli. Even if I really want to sell my research results, I won't go back on my word," he added.
In order to make money, Johann Bernoulli sold some of his research results to the French nobleman L'Hôpital, including the famous L'Hôpital's rule.
After L'Hôpital's death, Bernoulli wanted to regain his honor and exposed the transaction of that year, but was despised by many scholars.
Academic transactions themselves are shameful enough, and breaching the contract after the transaction is even worse than getting something for free.
The two chatted for a while.
"We should leave in a few days," Thomson said. "There is no direct train from Glasgow to Cambridge. We have to take a train to London first and then go to Cambridge."
"After arriving in London, we won't board the train to Cambridge right away. I still need to visit a friend of mine. And since you're new in London, you probably want to look around, too."
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