Trinity College

Cambridge University, founded in 1209, was one of the oldest universities in Britain.

Its famous alumni included Newton, Maxwell, and Darwin.

More than a hundred Nobel laureates had come from here. It was downright terrifying.

Of course, the Nobel Prizes were still being prepared. They would not be awarded for the first time until next year, 1901.

Cambridge University was located in Cambridgeshire, a small town with a population of tens of thousands. The university was scattered casually throughout the town.

The university had more than thirty colleges, each highly autonomous and responsible for its own admissions exams.

This was very different from later Huaxia, where colleges were divided by academic discipline.

Li Qiwei was at the famous Trinity College, where Sir Newton had studied.

To this day, that famous apple tree associated with Universal Gravitation still grew on the grounds.

It practically radiated divinity!

Following his memories, Li Qiwei had just reached the college gates when a large crowd suddenly poured out, making a noisy commotion.

Leading them was a tall, muscular British young man with shoulder-length hair and an arrogant look in his eyes.

Li Qiwei recognized him. His name was Raymond, and supposedly his family was one of Britain's wealthy magnate families. He was the typical spoiled rich kid.

Raymond often took advantage of his status to tease and mock the original owner.

The reason was none other than Li Qiwei's identity as a Qing Dynasty man.

Previously, the original owner had avoided making trouble wherever possible and tried not to get into conflicts.

But now, Li Qiwei merely smiled, calm and collected as he walked toward the crowd.

"Hey, guys, come take a look! Cambridge's genius is back!" Raymond called out in his irritating voice.

A crowd of students gathered around, whispering about Li Qiwei.

When Li Qiwei had first arrived, he had attracted some attention.

But because he had deliberately kept a low profile, people had gradually lost interest in him.

Now, however, he had done something so sensational that he had naturally come back into the spotlight.

Li Qiwei looked at Raymond. Given his maturity, he saw the other man as nothing more than a little brat—the spoiled kind.

So he paid no heed to the other man's sarcasm and simply asked, "What is it? Need something?"

Raymond grinned, circled Li Qiwei, and needled him:

"Bruce, I heard you're going to challenge Lord Kelvin. Where'd you get that confidence?"

"That doesn't seem to have anything to do with you," Li Qiwei replied coldly.

Raymond's expression darkened. He hadn't expected the other man not to get angry, so he continued, "Go on, keep pretending. I bet you don't even know how to spell 'physics,' hmph!"

Li Qiwei couldn't be bothered to argue. Trading barbs with Lord Kelvin could elevate his standing; bickering with Raymond was simply a waste of time.

So he pushed past him and headed for the classroom on his own.

Seeing how arrogant Li Qiwei was, Raymond ground his teeth in hatred, wondering how he could teach him a lesson.

By the time Li Qiwei reached the classroom, it was already packed, with well over a hundred people by his estimate.

Soon, a young man of about thirty, with a receding hairline, stepped up to the lectern.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Charles Wilson. You may also call me Dr. Wilson."

"I'll be studying and discussing Newton's Classical Physics Introduction with all of you."

Although the people below looked calm, Li Qiwei was incredibly excited.

Information about the young man surfaced in his mind:

"Charles Wilson, born in Britain in 1869."

"Graduated from Cambridge University in 1892 and earned a doctorate in physics in 1896."

"Became a lecturer in physics at Cambridge University in 1900."

"In 1927, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics alongside Compton for inventing the Cloud Chamber."

A future celebrity—definitely a T4-level figure!

Wilson began his lecture, explaining the material clearly and patiently.

"As everyone knows, physics has by now developed into a complete theoretical framework, with Newton's absolute conception of space and time reigning supreme."

"All mechanical phenomena can be explained by Newtonian mechanics; all electromagnetic phenomena can be explained by Maxwell's Equations; and thermal phenomena can be explained by thermodynamics and statistical mechanics."

"The three pillars of physics are unshakable—magnificent and imposing."

"Now..." Wilson had just begun to continue.

At that moment, Raymond suddenly interrupted him. "No, no, Dr. Wilson, physics isn't complete yet. If you don't believe me, ask Bruce. That's what he said."

The classroom immediately erupted in laughter.

Everyone looked at Li Qiwei. Some were friendly, some hostile, but there was more mockery than admiration.

Wilson also looked at the "famous" young man.

As someone in the field, he naturally knew what had happened in London the day before.

An up-and-coming Oriental physicist had publicly challenged Lord Kelvin!

But Wilson had been born into a poor family and devoted himself to scientific research, so he didn't think much about racial differences.

As a result, he had little prejudice against Li Qiwei and was instead more curious about him.

Could this young man really have some brilliant ideas?

So he smiled and said, "I've heard about Bruce's situation too. He's a very brave young man."

After speaking, he gave him an encouraging look. Li Qiwei nodded in reply, which made Raymond furious.

Wilson continued, "This is a good opportunity to explain what these so-called Cloud Problems are."

"The first cloud is the Aether problem."

"We know that water waves need water as a medium to travel, and sound waves need air as a medium. So what medium does light need to travel?"

"The current mainstream view holds that light needs 'aether' as a medium, and that it fills all of space."

"But the latest experimental results indicate that aether does not exist, and that the speed of light is constant."

"So we must either abandon the aether theory or give up electromagnetic theory and many phenomena of light."

"The second cloud is Blackbody Radiation."

"We know that all objects absorb energy and radiate energy outward."

"A blackbody is an ideal object that absorbs all incoming radiation, without reflecting or transmitting any of it."

"But experiments have found that the energy of blackbody radiation is discontinuous. This result is incredible."

"Classical Physics simply cannot explain this phenomenon."

After he finished, the students below stared at him in a daze, as if they were listening to a heavenly scripture.

Even Wilson couldn't help smiling as he said:

"I know that some of you may not understand what these two problems mean, but don't be discouraged."

"These are the most cutting-edge topics in physics today. There are probably only a handful of people in the whole world who can make sense of them."

After hearing Wilson's explanation, everyone finally understood just how vast and complex physics was.

If you didn't know it, you didn't know it.

At the same time, they were even less convinced that Li Qiwei could solve the Cloud Problems.

Raymond might have been a spoiled rich kid, but he wasn't stupid. He understood the implication of Wilson's words too.

So he looked at Li Qiwei with glee, hoping to see a disappointed expression on his face.

But unfortunately for him, he was the only one disappointed.

Li Qiwei watched Wilson, marveling inwardly.

The other man kept saying the subject was too advanced, yet he had recited its details like the back of his hand and clearly had studied it extensively.

That showed he was unwilling to settle for the ordinary and kept abreast of the latest developments in physics.

No wonder he would go on to win the Nobel Prize.

Wilson saw Li Qiwei's gaze drift and gave up on asking him to share his views.

Perhaps the young man had just acted on impulse.

But on second thought, maybe he really did have the ability.

So Wilson came up with an idea and thought of a way to verify it.

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