1840Indian rebirth

The term thermodynamics, or thermodynamics, was not something difficult for Joule to accept in 1848.

In fact, even if there is no mashao, this term will gradually replace "thermodynamic theory" in three years' time and become a more formal name for a discipline.

The two had many discussions surrounding the first law of thermodynamics.

No one else in the room could get a word in. Whether it was Dr. Mayo, Joule's wife, or her wild hair... what Ma Shao and Joule discussed was almost heavenly to them.

"Potential energy?" Joule blinked, and he heard a new term from Ma Shao's mouth.

Ma Shao explained: "The so-called potential energy is the energy stored in a system."

As he spoke, he picked up the wine glass next to him, which still had half a glass of wine in it: "For example, the wine glass in my hand, although it is stationary now, there is no doubt that as long as I let go, it will immediately gain kinetic energy.

"

"From the perspective of energy conversion, where does its kinetic energy come from? What energy is converted into its kinetic energy?"

"Obviously, it has a potential energy just because of its relative position to the earth. This energy, I call it potential energy. This potential energy is stored in the gravitational system formed by the cup and the earth."

"Potential energy, potential energy..." Joule repeated it several times, and then he couldn't help but exclaimed, "Oh, this is such an ingenious idea! Why didn't I think of it? If I could use this concept to explain my experiment,

I guess it won’t be suspected by so many people.”

Having said this, he couldn't help but sigh: "You have no idea how many people doubted my experiment at the Association for the Advancement of Science in Oxford last year, including Mr. Faraday."

He added: "The person who believes in me the most is William Thomson, but...he actually doesn't believe it very much. I spent a lot of time trying to convince him."

"William Thomson?" Ma Shao was startled.

"Have you heard of his name?" Joule smiled, "But this is normal. Although he is very young, he is much more powerful than me in academia. He became a professor at the University of Glasgow two years ago -

—He was only twenty-two years old at that time."

Of course Ma Shao had heard of William Thomson's name. However, it was not until he was stunned for a while that he realized who this person was.

The reason why I was stunned for a while is mainly because the name "William Thomson" is really a bit bad. If put in China, it would almost belong to the category of Li Ming and Zhang Wei. No matter how famous a person is, he can't afford such a name.

.

Moreover, the William Thomson mentioned by Joule also has another more well-known name, and most people have heard of this name.

Kelvin.

It is the famous Baron Kelvin, the thermodynamic temperature scale, and the protagonist of the famous scene "Two Dark Clouds on the Building of Physics".

The name Kelvin comes from his title, just like Zhuge Liang is often called "Marquis Wu".

Of course, Kelvin does not have this name yet. He is still just a rising scientific star, not the successful Baron Kelvin.

Ma Shao also knew about Kelvin's experience. In fact, Kelvin was the next target in his plan.

He nodded and said: "I have indeed heard of him, although his name is a bit too common. Although I have no chance to enter academia in the United States, I have always paid close attention to news in academia."

"In my opinion, Kel...William Thomson is also a genius, just like you, Joule, an absolute genius."

Ma Shao almost said "Kelvin", then quickly changed the subject and praised Joule.

Joule was a little embarrassed: "This is too exaggerated. I am just a physics enthusiast, a brewery owner who is busy with business, and Thomson is the youngest professor at the University of Glasgow."

"Heroes do not ask where they come from." Ma Shao said, "I believe history will give a fair evaluation. People in the future will definitely regard you as an outstanding scientist, not a brewery owner."

This sentence really touched Joule's heart, and even made him feel a little dazed and lost his mind for a moment.

Joule has always had a strong love for science, and he has had a seemingly endless curiosity since he was very young. Unfortunately, his father asked him to take over the family business, so he had to regard business as his main job.

If possible, he would rather be a university professor and professional physicist like William Thomson than a brewery owner.

Being a successful brewery owner is not bad. At least he lives a prosperous life, which is already the envy of most people. But no brewery owner will leave his name in history.

Joule stared at the empty wine glass, and after a while, he spoke again: "Actually, these words may be more suitable for you, Ma Shao, you are the real genius of 'heroes do not ask where they come from'."

"To be honest, it's hard for me to imagine that you, as an Indian, can study physics to this extent in such an environment... I think any scientist in Europe would have to be ashamed in front of you."

Ma Shao said: "My situation is actually not bad. After all, I am the chief of a large tribe. In contrast, my tribe and even other aboriginal people are in a more difficult situation, whether on the road of knowledge or on the road to knowledge."

other."

"Can you tell me about your tribe?" Joule couldn't help but said, "I have never been to the United States, and I know almost nothing about Indians."

"Of course." Ma Shao nodded, "First of all, I want to correct a statement, which is what people call 'Indians'."

"We are Native Americans, not Indians. This was Columbus's mistake. Although most people, including ourselves, are accustomed to this title, I still hope that this mistake can be corrected."

"It should be so." Joule said.

Mashao: "For a long time, the indigenous people have not been a unified entity. We have a common ancestor, but we have divided into many tribes. Specifically, I belong to a tribe called the Apache."

Joule: "I've probably heard the name 'Apache' before. You should be a big tribe."

Ma Shao: "The Apache is one of the most populous indigenous peoples in North America. There are only a few tribes larger than ours. Moreover, other tribes are often scattered and divided into many tribes and clans."

Joule asked: "Aren't the Apaches scattered?"

Ma Shao said: "It used to be the same, but not now. I merged most of the Apache tribes into one tribe, which is the Apache tribe. At the same time, most of the Apaches also gathered together and formed a city called

'Bear Sleeping City'."

He introduced his tribe to Joule.

As the saying goes, distance brings beauty. It is always easy to have good feelings for people who are far away. Just like two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire and the Han Empire, which were thousands of miles apart, both praised each other in their respective records, even though they did not understand each other at all.

.

What's more, there is also an American factor in how the British treat the Indians. The British are undoubtedly more likely to have a favorable impression of a group of strangers who make Americans uncomfortable.

The genius Joule is not immune to vulgarity. At the same time, as a rich second generation, his character is somewhat like a greenhouse flower - he is more likely to fantasize about distant things.

Therefore, under the intentional guidance of Ma Shao, Joule developed a strong sympathy and affection for the Indians, which soon overshadowed the slight prejudice he had heard from hearsay.

"You let all children go to school and learn mathematics and physics? This is really amazing." Joule said, "I believe it won't be long before anyone in the world dares to think that Native Americans are savages."

Mashao sighed slightly: "It's just Sleeping Bear City, not even the entire Apache. The situation of the Native Americans will not improve much. In fact, the Native Americans are almost going extinct. Due to the germs and the invasion of the Americans, our

The population is more than 90% smaller than it was three hundred years ago."

"Germs?" Joule didn't understand.

In this era, people are not clear about the pathogenicity of bacteria. Although they are not completely ignorant, except for some hypotheses by some biologists, most people are still unaware of it.

Joule knew little about biology, so he was confused when he heard the term.

Ma Shao: "I think diseases are caused by bacteria. Many of those tiny creatures are like poisonous insects. When Europeans came to the Americas, bacteria from Eurasia also arrived in the Americas, bringing disaster to us. We

Therefore, we frequently encountered great plagues.”

Joule thought about it for a while.

It is not difficult to understand that bacteria cause disease, but as an outstanding scientist, he quickly noticed a possible loophole: "But, according to this statement, bacteria from the Americas should also enter Europe?"

"Yes, but the bacteria exported by both sides are not equal, or even very different." Ma Shao said slowly.

"The three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa are connected into one, while the Americas are isolated."

"Furthermore, there are a large number of domesticated animals in Eurasia, so Europeans carry more bacteria and have stronger resistance to bacteria. Therefore, in this bacterial exchange, the Native Americans were completely at a disadvantage...

"

Ma Shao added: "The so-called resistance is similar to cowpox. After a person has had many plagues, he will never get them again. There is no doubt that more plagues also mean stronger resistance."

Listening to this narrative, Joule couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

After a while, he said: "Although I don't understand biology, I think what you said may have a great impact in the field of biology."

Ma Shao: "I do plan to compile many of my ideas into papers and publish them. I don't have this opportunity in the United States. I should try it when I come to the UK."

After hearing this, Joule immediately said: "At least in the field of physics, I am absolutely willing to help you. You have inspired me a lot."

"You have also inspired me a lot." Mashao smiled, "It was your research in the past few years that triggered these thoughts in me."

Joule hesitated: "Maybe we can try to co-write a paper, what do you think?"

"Of course, it's my honor." Mashao told the truth. Although he knew far more knowledge than Joule, none of it was his original creation.

After all, in the field of physics, he is still a student.

For a physics student, it is certainly an honor to co-write a thesis with Joule.

Putting this sentiment aside, co-writing a paper with Joule is also a safer choice.

For Ma Shao, Joule's current academic status can be said to be just right. It is neither too high to be able to grasp nor too low to be able to help.

So from the beginning, he planned to collaborate on a paper with Joule.

"The title of the paper is called "The First Law of Thermodynamics: Conservation and Transformation of Energy." What do you think?" Ma Shao asked.

"Excellent." Joule said without hesitation.

Of course he was very happy, after all, this would undoubtedly be an important result and the beginning of a new discipline.

The conversation between the two continued until late at night, and Joule immediately invited Ma Shao and others to stay.

The horse whistle readily agreed.

As a wealthy brewery owner, Joule had many rooms in the villa, which was more than enough to accommodate a few guests.

The next day, the two began to co-write the paper "The First Law of Thermodynamics: Conservation and Transformation of Energy."

Ma Shao mainly elaborated on the theory. He first systematically summarized the existing results on the law of conservation of energy, and then proposed new concepts such as "potential energy" to further clarify the transformation of various energies.

Then the concept of "thermodynamics" was introduced and the law of conservation of energy was established as the basic law of this discipline.

Of course, he did not include the second and third laws in this paper. After all, for him, this paper was just a stepping stone into the world of physics.

Joule is mainly responsible for the experimental part.

He has been doing experiments on the conservation of energy, and he will improve the experiments every once in a while. In the original history, he continued to improve the experiments until his later years.

With the help of Ma Shao, Joule naturally designed a more perfect experiment to complete. For physics, experiment is always the most fundamental part.

Practice is the only criterion for testing truth, and physicists deeply believe this.