Into Unscientific

Chapter 133 – “About This

Chapter 133 “About this chapter contains a lot of popular science, so it is recommended to subscribe carefully”

When it comes to scientists whose contributions are not worthy of fame in history, a name may pop up in many people’s minds at the same time:

Tesla.

But in fact.

Although Tesla is very capable, it is far from being as outrageous as the rumored approach to God.

For example, “Einstein represents the upper limit of human beings, while Tesla is the lower limit of gods” is completely baseless YY.

Today’s Tesla is actually highly pasted, mythological and even demonized.

In layman’s terms, it means being made into a god.

Tesla’s first appearance in the public eye should be attributed to a documentary on the Science and Education Channel in 2009:

“Scientific Superman: Nikola Tesla”.

This documentary can be called the root of all evil later, endorsing Tesla’s various rumors in a serious tone, leaving many people with an inherent stereotype.

Then the director, screenwriter and producer of this film all immigrated in 15 years.

It’s now.

There are so many rumors that we can’t refute them.

This situation has far exceeded the level of “IQ tax” that can be described. Part-note that part of the description of Tesla can even be regarded as anti-intellectual.

Let’s put it this way. .

Today, more than half of the Baidu entries related to Tesla are rumors.

For example, it is rumored that in 1912 (the other said it was 1915), Tesla and Edison were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics at the same time due to their contributions to electricity.

But both refused to accept the award.

The reason is that it is unbearable to share this honor with the other party.

Some marketing accounts used this rumor as a template, claiming that in the first 30 years since the establishment of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Tesla was selected nine times alone, and twice with Edison.

And he gave up all the eleven Nobel Prizes to the virtuous, and the gods look down on the honor of mortals.

But let alone the last eleven times, even the first one is fictitious:

The 1912 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Nils Gustav Dahren, and the 1915 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg.

Throughout Tesla’s life.

He was only nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937.

This is also the only nomination in his life, and he didn’t win an award, let alone reject it.

There are so many similar rumors that I can’t count them.

It is completely false news fabricated out of thin air, or it is to deduct other people’s contributions to Tesla.

However, due to the problem of information barriers, this kind of stitching theory has been believed by many people who don’t know what it is, and it has continued to this day.

Another reason why Tesla was deified lies in Edison, because this great inventor once did two very unscrupulous things:

The first is to kill an elephant with alternating current, and then use the video camera he invented to make a video to show off everywhere. This video can still be found on the Internet today.

The second is to specifically invent the electric chair driven by alternating current, and persuade the government to use the electric chair as a tool for execution.

The killing process of this thing is extremely cruel. It is to tie people up and down with coils, and then kill them with electricity.

There are these two stains that cannot be washed off, so the reverse propaganda effect on Tesla is very good.

Objectively speaking.

Tesla is not a top basic scientist, but he can be considered a top applied scientist or engineer.

The biggest difference between basic scientists and applied scientists is that basic science discovers the natural laws of the universe, and is the most original discovery and research achievement.

is also the basis of all inventions and creations, such as Mavericks, Einstein, and now Mr. Yang are all such people.

Applied scientists or engineers turn basic scientific theories into practical technologies.

Their purpose is to invent and create new tools or improve production levels for social production and life.

all in all.

Tesla’s position in the history of human physics cannot be ignored, and his demeaning worthless remarks are not necessary. It is definitely more than enough to win one or two Nobel Prizes in modern times.

But he should never be portrayed as a god. This is unfair to many sages who really made contributions, and it is also harmful to the scientific research circle.

Compared to Tesla.

There is a person who is more suitable for the definition of the three words ‘buried’.

This person is

Cavendish.

Cavendish, this is a familiar but somewhat unfamiliar character.

most of the time.

The popularity of the character of the same name in the anime “One Piece” is much higher than that of this real character.

Most people’s impression of him is that he measured the gravitational constant with a torsion balance, and even some seldom-known classmates have long forgotten this matter.

But actually.

This man of God hides far beyond anyone’s imagination.

And ask a question:

If you had the opportunity to discover Ohm’s law, Coulomb’s law and other achievements that can be recorded in history, what would you do?

Presumably the choice of most people is to announce them and enjoy this reputation until they die.

But Cavendish is different, his approach is.

Let these theories rot in the manuscript and never publish until death, can you believe it?

be honest.

Even when Xu Yun himself knew about this when he was a Ph.D. student, he had doubts in his heart.

Naihe, the person who testified for this matter is really too big, so big that he can be called one of the top bigwigs in human history:

His name is Maxwell.

That is, the ultimate great guy who wrote Maxwell’s equations and laid the foundation of the current electromagnetic field theory.

Late 19th century.

When Maxwell was invited to build the Cavendish Laboratory, he personally found 20 bundles of dusty mysterious manuscripts in the box left by Cavendish.

Of course.

In order to add mystery, some people in later generations described the box as a password box that needs to solve certain problems to open.

In the decades after Cavendish’s death, only Maxwell could solve the mystery.

But unfortunately.

Maxwell’s opening method is not so mysterious, it just uses some physical means:

Break the box lock with an axe.

These manuscripts are now in Room 6 of the Percival David Collection of the British Museum. The Louvre even tore up with the British Museum for this in the early years.

At that time, the Louvre believed that this was a manuscript discovered by Maxwell, so it should be collected by the Louvre.

The British Museum said that you, a museum engaged in literature and art, can understand a physical manuscript of Jiba, and rejected this request.

And according to the manuscript record.

During 1772-1773.

Cavendish made an experiment called double-layer concentric spheres.

This experiment accurately measured the relationship between electric force and distance for the first time, and the index deviation did not exceed 0.02.

Later, the Frenchman Coulomb verified his discovery through experiments. From then on, the law of force between charges is called Coulomb’s law.

Compared with Coulomb’s torsion balance experiment, Cavendish’s concentric sphere experiment is not only earlier, but also more accurate.

Although it is said that the measurement accuracy of later generations has reached the order of 10 to the -16th power, the experimental principle of Cavendish is still used.

If he publishes this result, the Coulomb’s law we see today may have to change its name.

in addition.

Cavendish was also the first to propose the concept of electric potential, pointing out the proportional relationship between electric potential and electric current.

Since there was no instrument for measuring current at that time, Cavendish used his body as an experimental instrument.

Estimated the strength of the current based on the numbness of the body, and found that the potential (difference) at both ends of the conductor is proportional to the current passing through it.

This is Ohm’s law in the electricity chapter of our physics textbook.

At the same time, Cavendish and Faraday jointly advocated:

The capacitance of a capacitor varies with its medium, depending on the substance inserted into the plate.

He also proposed the concept of permittivity accordingly.

And because he did too many electrical experiments, he also proposed that there is “electricity” around every elevator, which is very close to the electric field theory.

Is it enough to be awesome?

This is not over yet:

In an occasional experiment, Cavendish accidentally discovered a situation:

Some metals react with acids to produce a “combustible air”.

This “combustible air” is hydrogen.

It was just that there was no general understanding of the gases generated by this reaction at that time. Robert Boyle uniformly called all the generated gases “artificial air”.

But Cavendish disagrees.

He insisted that this is a new substance.

So he collected some hydrogen by using the most commonly used method of drainage and gas collection.

After drying and purification, he successfully determined the density of hydrogen.

Of course.

The most important thing in this experiment is not to measure the density of hydrogen gas, but to find that the mixture of the two gases actually produces water.

This caused a lot of controversy at the time, because the chemical community generally believed that water is one of the elements that make up everything:

The “four elements theory” at that time, including water, earth, air, and fire, believed that water could no longer be decomposed.

Cavendish was even deprived of some of his titles because of this, and his annual income suddenly dropped to the equivalent of 50 to 60 million now.

Well, fifty or sixty million.

It’s such a sad story——Cavendish was born in a big family. Because he chose the right team, he was basically no different from a chaebol. That’s why Cavendish was able to do so many experiments.

What is even more unexpected is.

Cavendish also found that about 1/120 of the gases in the air hardly react, which is the rare inert gas.

And when was the inert gas really discovered?

The answer is more than a hundred years after Cavendish hiccupped:

1895, Ramsey discovered argon with yttrium uranium ore, and confirmed Cavendish’s genius speculation that year.

In addition to the above many contributions.

Cavendish is most famous for the torsion balance experiment.

But it’s more interesting to say.

On the contrary, Cavendish’s most famous torsion balance experiment has been misunderstood by the world.

The torsion balance he used was actually designed by Michelle, the aforementioned Father Michelle, Cavendish is not the real inventor.

After Michelle’s death, the installation changed hands several times before being delivered to Cavendish.

Then Cavendish made several fine modifications to the device before starting the 25-year-long measurement.

And it’s worth mentioning.

What he measured with a torsion balance is not a gravitational constant either.

He actually planned to measure the density and mass of the earth for the popular astronomical research at that time, and at the same time verify the existence of gravity.

The operation of this experiment is not complicated:

First illuminate the small mirror with light in a static state, and the light will be reflected to a far away place.

At this time, immediately mark the position where the light spot appears after the light is reflected.

Then there is gravitation between the objects, so just place two iron **** C and D with the same mass near the two iron **** A and B on the side of the torsion balance.

Then there will be gravitational force F1 between A and C, and gravitational force F2 will be generated between B and D.

The magnitude of the two gravitational forces is different, somewhat similar to the tug-of-war of later generations.

So the torsion balance will deflect slightly at this time, and the reflected far point will also move a larger distance.

According to Cavendish’s experimental records.

He calculated that the density of the earth is 5.481 times the density of water, which is 5.481 grams per cubic centimeter.

This is only a 0.65% error compared with today’s 21st century data.

As for the gravitational constant G, Cavendish did not actually calculate it, after all, the cognitive system at that time was still not fully sound.

But in his experimental records, the data for calculating G is quite complete, but it is just a conceptual cognition.

Even today’s high school students can easily calculate the gravitational constant, and it is quite accurate.

So in order to commemorate this great experimental physicist, later generations finally decided to award Cavendish the title of measuring the gravitational constant G.

In fact, with Cavendish’s talent and learning, if he chooses to announce the results, his reputation will definitely be much greater than it is now.

If you have to find the reason.

Probably because God spent too much ink and ink on describing his wisdom, so that he could not paint a better character for him.

For example, although he has a lot of money, he only wears a faded velvet coat and an outdated three-cornered hat all year round.

With a withdrawn and taciturn personality, he hardly dares to talk to strangers and the opposite sex.

Even when communicating with the butler he hired, he only passed notes and other methods to avoid embarrassment.

He is the largest depositor in the Bank of London, but he doesn’t care about property at all.

For decades, investment advisors were only allowed to buy the same stock, and it remained unchanged until death.

The servant’s parents had a fever, and he directly paid the medical expenses equivalent to 300,000 yuan for later generations.

And he complained more than once in the letters with his friends that he had too much money and didn’t know how to spend it.

In fact, there are not many big shots like Cavendish in history, for example, Gauss is also a very typical example.

Gauss left a pile of manuscripts unpublished after his death. In the next 50 years, whoever can explain his manuscripts will be a master.

The line of sight returns to the original place.

The core of the entire Cavendish torsion balance experiment, to put it bluntly, is just two words:

Zoom in.

Cavendish used a total of three amplifications in the experiment:

One is to change the force into a moment, which amplifies the force.

The second is to use the law in geometric optics that when a plane mirror rotates θ, the reflected light rotates twice θ to enlarge the angle.

The third is to use the variable angle displacement as a linear displacement, measure the displacement of the point irradiated by the reflected light with a ruler, calculate the rotation angle, and enlarge the macroscopic displacement.

These three amplifications are the innovation of this experiment.

Indeed.

Based on the tools Xu Yun can find so far, there may be large errors in the torsion balance experiment in the Northern Song Dynasty.

But don’t forget.

There is also a gap between his and Cavendish’s goals:

Cavendish’s torsion balance experiment was first to verify universal gravitation, and secondly to calculate the density and mass of the earth through data. The collected information can also deduce the gravitational constant.

At present, Xu Yun only needs to restore the phenomenon and prove that there is gravity between objects, and does not need to calculate specific values.

As for the slender light required for the experiment, it is not difficult:

Some marketing accounts in later generations said that when introducing the Cavendish experiment, he used a laser, and it seemed that there was no problem.

But as long as you know a little about the history of technology, you will know:

The principle of laser was invented by Einstein in 1916.

Therefore, Cavendish’s real operation is to first transfer the equipment to a dark room and fix it in place.

Then use the inverse relationship between the divergence angle and the spot radius of w0X2θ0=w0’X2θ0’=2λ/π as the design basis, and simply make a glass lens to get it done.

In a quarter of an hour.

The whole set of equipment has been debugged.

Xu Yun asked Mr. Xie to stand outside the house, with a device similar to a selfie stick stuck on the ground beside him.

The lens is fixed on the top of the appliance, and the lens can be easily rotated.

A few minutes later, Xu Yun said:

“The old man is in charge, you can start.”

Mr. Xie nodded, and didn’t have any opinion on Xu Yun commanding himself:

“clear.”

Then he followed Xu Yun’s previous instructions, slowly turning the lens, and began to correct the light.

Xu Yun’s gaze stayed on the mirror, closely watching the changes in the light.

After a while, he suddenly said:

“Stop! This is the location!”

Xie Lao Du Guan hastily stopped turning.

Then Xu Yun turned around and said to Xiao Zhao:

“His Royal Highness, please go to the wall and mark the position of the spot with chalk.”

Xiao Zhao obediently picked up the chalk and walked to the wall.

Draw a thumb-sized white dot on the position of the reflected light spot:

“Prince Wang, is this okay?”

Xu Yun nodded to him, and then said to Old Su:

“Sir, it’s our turn.”

Old Su Jian said that he rolled up his sleeves, picked up an iron ball from the table, and approached the small iron ball on the left side of the torsion scale.

Xu Yun picked up another iron ball and approached the big iron ball on the right.

As the iron ball approached, some invisible changes occurred.

Less than a moment.

Xiao Zhao by the wall suddenly shrank his pupils, and said in surprise:

“Young master, the light spot has moved!”

Old Su was taken aback when he heard the words, then turned around and waved to Xiao Li next to him:

“Qingzhao, hold this ball for me.”

After simply handing over the ball to Xiao Li, Lao Su hurried to the wall and carefully checked the light spots.

I saw this moment.

The light spot has disappeared from the position marked with chalk, and moved to the .

The other side is about a foot long!

Old Su’s heart suddenly twitched violently.

Before the experiment started, he had personally checked the four iron balls.

He can guarantee that there is no magnetic pole attraction between the iron balls, and there is not even a little bit of wind in the room.

At the same time, Xu Yun and he did not touch the twisted balance during the experiment.

So in theory.

The entire torsion balance combination is always in a balanced and static state, and it is impossible to deform due to the approach of the iron ball.

That is to say

After a certain trick of zooming in, they actually witnessed the existence of

Gravity!

The impact of this concept on Lao Su is much higher than the explanation of gravity—after all, Lao Su or many sages have long been curious about the situation of objects falling, and have made conjectures.

Although the conjecture proposed is somewhat different from gravity, the essence of this force is still similar.

It’s just that in the deepest part of the earth, there is no real special soil that attracts objects by magnetic force.

Thus, although the interpretation of gravity conflicts with Lao Su’s cognition, it does not reach the point where the Three Views collapse.

However, the current experiment proves that there is a weak but real attraction between any two objects on the ground—it may be a person and a person, it may be an object and an object, or it may be a person and an object. force!

This is an idea that no one has mentioned since ancient times!

The concept of gravity is like in the later life, you and your online dating partner rushed out on today’s Valentine’s Day, and you plan to show your love in your circle of friends.

After the meeting, you find out that the other person is a puppet, and the difference between his appearance and the photo is hundreds of thousands of miles, and his measurements are 120, his height is 160 and his weight is 160.

Although this kind of mental impact is a bit big, it will not make you crazy in any case.

But the concept of gravity is different.

It’s not in the range of p-picture monsters, it’s equivalent to finding out that your wife is a 6-meter-tall skeleton after running around!

This kind of series of mental shocks, most people estimate that it is easy to collapse the three views, and even be scared to death.

But on the other hand.

This is also a fact that is obvious to everyone. Even if you are really scared to death, you can’t change the nature of its existence.

Think here.

Old Su couldn’t help raising his head, and looked at the light source outside the house.

Right now.

This subtle light source is like an entrance, slightly opening up a corner of the truth of the world.

That is a field that he has never thought of or touched in the past few decades

Then he forced himself to calm down, ignored Xiao Li and Xiao Zhao who were also shocked, and asked Xu Yun instead:

“Xiao Wang, if my memory is correct, you seem to have said it before.

The earth under our feet and the stars in the world are all round? “

Xu Yun nodded and replied:

“Exactly.”

Hearing these words, Lao Su’s eyes suddenly lit up.

There was even a hint of expectation in his tone:

“Since gravity can be proved by physical objects, Xiao Wang, do you have any evidence to support the statement that the stars are round?”

Xu Yun was silent for a moment, then still nodded:

“Have.”

Note:

It’s been a long time since I wrote this kind of serious popular science chapter. In fact, it’s quite tiring to write. After all, you have to be responsible for what you say, and you can’t just make up or black people.

The popular science chapter was written several times in the previous book, and the response was not bad. New readers can rest assured that this kind of large-scale popular science chapter will not appear many times, and it will only appear once every hundreds of thousands of words.

Super Dazhang, please ask for a monthly pass

The character cards of Nanako, Xiao Li and Lao Su that you want have been activated, you can like them

(end of this chapter)