Theoretical Doubts

For the next few days, Li Qiwei wrote teaching materials and a paper on the photoelectric effect.

It was time to definitively prove the correctness of Quantum theory and establish its position.

As he wrote, he suddenly remembered the incident with the telegram and how much it cost.

Li Qiwei had a sudden idea: since he was short on money, why not start his own company and make a fortune?

As a transmigrator of his caliber, inventing something casually would make earning money easy, and he'd be earning the money of foreigners at that.

A transmigrator who couldn't make money didn't deserve to be listed in the organization.

The Spark Plan would require a lot of funding in the future, and his family's wealth alone might not be enough.

It seemed that the plan to start a company and make money also needed to be put on the agenda.

As for what to sell, light industrial products? Heavy industrial products? Li Qiwei needed to consider it, but he definitely wouldn't sell anything that would increase foreign strength.

Just as he was lost in thought, Hong'er walked in, holding two letters.

"Young Master, someone just sent you two letters. They said they are very important and asked you to read them as soon as possible."

"Oh?" Li Qiwei stopped writing and opened the envelopes.

The first letter was from Lockyer, the editor-in-chief of Nature.

The letter stated that recently, a paper was published in a famous academic journal in London.

The author claimed in the paper that Quantum theory was a complete hoax, full of loopholes.

Moreover, the author provided quite a few so-called arguments and evidence.

Subsequently, other mainstream academic journals published articles criticizing Quantum theory, deeming it wishful thinking.

Many renowned physicists had also publicly declared that Quantum theory had not been experimentally verified and should not have received such accolades.

Li Qiwei was puzzled. He had only published one paper; he hadn't stolen anyone's money, and he hadn't self-proclaimed any accolades.

However, as he continued reading, he understood what was happening.

Lockyer said that since the Quantum theory paper was published, Cambridge University had spent immense effort promoting it.

The entire Britain was bombarded with news of this theory.

Led by Vice-Chancellor Caldwell and supported by a group of physics professors like Thomson, Cambridge University successfully secured a large sum of funding from the government.

Lockyer didn't mention the total amount, likely because he didn't know it either.

But according to informed sources, during the funding discussion meeting, the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University even swore out loud.

Clearly, he was very upset by Cambridge's gain, believing that a brand-new theory should not receive such respect.

Caldwell's only response was: "This will be the opportunity for the British Empire to lead the world once again in the scientific field, following the First Industrial Revolution."

This statement moved the members of the review committee and approved the funding.

Li Qiwei let out a wry smile upon reading this, never expecting so much to have happened in just over a month since he left.

At the same time, he sighed deeply with emotion.

Compared to China's attitude towards science at this time, Britain's was undoubtedly much better.

Both ordinary people and the state showed great respect for science and technology.

They had witnessed firsthand how the Industrial Revolution brought immense wealth.

The core of industry was scientific principles; without theoretical breakthroughs by scientists, there would be no invention of various industrial machines.

Moreover, Britain had another characteristic: many aristocrats or wealthy merchants enjoyed conducting scientific research in their spare time.

Therefore, when studying the history of physics in later generations, one would find that important scientists often did not research for honor.

They might have been nobles themselves, lacking neither wealth nor status, and simply pursued research out of interest in physics, even funding it themselves.

This cultural atmosphere was entirely different from other countries.

It had to be said that the prosperity of the British Empire, apart from sheer luck, had a certain substance to it.

Li Qiwei envied Britain and continued reading the letter.

The subsequent events became clear. After Oxford University was outmaneuvered, they mobilized a group of physicists who were skeptical of Quantum theory to jointly question the theory from a scientific perspective, hoping the author would respond.

Academic debates were different from military wars.

Right was right, and wrong was wrong; both sides had to prove their points through logic, experiments, mathematical formulas, and so on.

One couldn't simply destroy someone because they disliked them or thought they were wrong.

This was why various journals in Britain published papers questioning Quantum theory.

Magazine publishers loved such events; they generated high interest and significant impact, causing their sales to skyrocket.

Therefore, Lockyer mentioned in his letter that he hoped Li Qiwei would publish his paper as soon as possible, preferably with a groundbreaking result.

If this battle was won, Nature would undoubtedly gain immense fame and become Britain's premier physics journal.

Sir Lockyer, in his twilight years, was extremely invested in this matter and thus wrote to urge Li Qiwei.

After all, Li Qiwei still held the title of honorary editor-in-chief of Nature.

After reading the letter, Li Qiwei smiled. It was like a pillow arriving just when he felt sleepy.

His recently written paper on the photoelectric effect could now be published at the perfect time.

Then, he opened the second letter and found it was from Lord Kelvin.

Li Qiwei was a little incredulous. He thought Lord Kelvin would surely be furious with him after his paper was published.

Unexpectedly, the other party had taken the initiative to write to him, and even admitted defeat and apologized in the letter.

This made Li Qiwei feel that he had judged a gentleman with the heart of a villain.

The esteemed Lord Kelvin had lowered himself to admit his mistakes, and to someone from the Qing Dynasty like him.

He had to admit, the man had great magnanimity, no wonder he was so respected.

Historically, when Lord Kelvin died on December 17, 1907, almost all of Britain and scientists worldwide mourned him.

Ultimately, his body was buried next to Newton's tomb, a testament to his influence.

Li Qiwei sighed inwardly. While this was certainly Lord Kelvin's broad-mindedness, it was also due to his own strength.

If he hadn't published "Quantum" and caused such a huge sensation, the other party probably wouldn't have even glanced at him.

Equality was always built on strength. You could be proud, but you couldn't truly be weak.

Recalling his thoughts, Li Qiwei continued reading. Lord Kelvin's letter also had something to do with Lockyer.

It turned out that several senior physicists in Britain believed that academic debates in journals wouldn't lead to a clear conclusion.

It would be better to organize a conference where everyone could speak freely, perhaps becoming a beautiful chapter in the history of physics.

Thus, led by Lord Kelvin, many renowned physicists from both within and outside Britain were invited to a conference in London.

The conference had only one theme: the correctness or incorrectness of Quantum.

As the central figure, Li Qiwei was naturally the most crucial, and thus received a grand invitation. His attitude could even determine whether the conference would be held.

After reading Lord Kelvin's letter, Li Qiwei stretched his body, feeling a little happy.

Earlier, at the Berlin Physical Society, the reason Röntgen and other big shots didn't make things difficult for him or question Quantum was out of respect for Professor Planck.

They must have had intense discussions privately.

During his doctoral defense in his previous life, he had felt considerable pressure facing a few professors.

And now, he was about to debate numerous great figures alone, a battle of wits against a multitude of scholars. Li Qiwei even trembled a little, a sign of excitement.

Though facing thousands of great figures, I shall go forth!

A major climax is coming, please collect! Please follow!