Joseph smiled and waved a hand. "I merely put forward a few 'simple' ideas. All the specific experiments were carried out by Mr. Kulen and Mr. Volt. Therefore, if we can win the Supreme Louis Prize, the honor should rightfully belong to them."
If he had been interested in winning awards, he could likely have monopolized every Supreme Louis Prize for decades. But that would have defeated the purpose of establishing the prize.
Kulen and Volt both looked at the Crown Prince with immense gratitude, but then the latter sighed softly.
"As for the Physics Prize, the Royal Laboratory alone has quite a few strong contenders."
Kulen nodded. "Mr. Thomas Young proved through the Double-Slit Interference Experiment that light was a wave.
"Mr. Benjamin Thompson's Cannon-Boring Experiment disproved the existence of caloric..."
Yes, these names so familiar to Joseph had now all come to France through the Talent Introduction Plan.
Of course, part of the reason was that the United Kingdom's economic situation had continued to worsen, leaving fewer and fewer people willing to fund purely theoretical research.
As for the United States and the German Territories, a trend of "going to Paris to fulfill one's scientific dreams" had taken shape—a great many scientists who had once languished in obscurity had made a spectacular name for themselves after arriving in France, producing an enormous demonstration effect.
As early as the end of last year, nearly sixty villas in the Great Scholars Palace, residences specially prepared for top talent, had all been assigned. The Talent Committee had been forced to buy a large tract of land in the Northern Suburb of Paris and build new housing.
After inviting the two masters of electricity to dessert, Queen Mary happily spent 30,000 Franc to order fourteen sets of Electric Bells for Versailles Palace.