1900: A physics genius wandering around Europe

Chapter 688 Small Countries Can Also Have Great Talent! The Secret of the Atomic Bomb! The Allure of Borneo! Embracing All Rivers!

In later generations, when we discuss European and American scientists since the 20th century, we almost always refer to the four countries of Britain, France, Germany and the United States.

These four countries have the most scientific leaders, so much so that everyone can easily name a few famous ones.

They were centers of science at different times, representing advanced directions.

Other countries do not have this honor.

Although the Netherlands produced Lorentz, Denmark produced Bohr, Austria produced Schrödinger, and Italy produced Fermi
But they are often lone heroes, as if they alone have absorbed all the fortune of the motherland, and thus cannot form a true foundation.

As for those small countries, they are often overlooked.

Hungary is such a small country.

After separating from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary's status in Europe plummeted, and it became a second-rate country.

However, it was in this inconspicuous little country that several scientific giants were born.

They are: John von Neumann, Robert Wigner, Robert Szilard, von Kármán, and Taylor.

These five individuals were all participants in the Manhattan Project, and they all knew each other and had a good relationship.

John von Neumann's computer theory is the foundation of the later information age.

Therefore, he served as an advisor, responsible for the theoretical calculations of the Manhattan Project, including the use of computers.

Many people in later generations have a misconception that my country's atomic bomb was developed using an abacus.

This statement is actually inappropriate.

Because the abacus only handles a few parts of the calculations, most of the calculations are still done by a computer.

At that time, my country also had relatively advanced transistor computers that could meet computing requirements.

Szilard was even more impressive; he proposed the nuclear chain reaction as early as 1933, and in 1934 he put forward the concept of a neutron-based nuclear reactor.

Keep in mind that Fermi had only recently proposed transuranic elements, and uranium nuclear fission was still a distant prospect.

Szilard's vision far surpasses that of any physicist.

So why isn't Szilard mentioned in the story of uranium nuclear fission?
Because the concept proposed by this guy was published in the form of a patent, not a research paper.

Patents and academic papers are two completely different things.

A research paper needs sufficient theoretical derivation and experimental evidence, but a patent only needs an idea.

Szilard liked to write patents whenever he had free time, writing down all his ideas, probably hoping to become rich someday.

After he finished writing the patent for the nuclear chain reaction, he felt that uranium was a very suitable experimental subject.

He believed that uranium could be divided into two.

As for whether it conforms to Bohr's droplet model, Szilard can only say: Impossible? Go talk to my patent!
Unfortunately, he was too poor to afford uranium, which prevented the experiment from proceeding, and he died prematurely.

Otherwise, uranium nuclear fission could have occurred several years earlier.

At that time, Germany was the first to begin researching the atomic bomb.

So Szilard and Wigner hurriedly found Einstein and persuaded him to write a joint letter to the US president, hoping that he would order the development of the atomic bomb.

If Germany gets there first, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Szilard assisted Fermi in building the famous "Chicago One" in the Manhattan Project.

Then, he wrote about nuclear reactors and patented them, and crucially, he obtained authorization from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Although Theodore von Kármán was a leading figure in aerodynamics and a researcher of aircraft, he also participated in the Manhattan Project.

He was responsible for selecting the plane that would transport the little boy.

Nuclear bombs are too heavy for ordinary aircraft to transport; they require special designs.

And that's where Theodore von Kármán's research came in handy.

Through calculations, he determined that the plane would be able to escape the blast radius after the bomb was dropped.

His calculations proved correct, and the pilot returned safely.

As for Taylor, he is the famous "father of the hydrogen bomb".

He never accepted Oppenheimer's opinion.

Later, Taylor was noticed by the U.S. Navy and secretly recruited to research the hydrogen bomb. (The atomic bomb was spearheaded by the War Department.)
If there is still a lot of publicly available information about atomic bombs online, then even small countries can build them.

Therefore, all information about the hydrogen bomb is top secret; it is truly a national treasure and should not be desecrated.

The two are not the same.

There are only two configurations of hydrogen bombs in the world: the Taylor configuration and the Yu Min configuration, which is my country's own.

This demonstrates Taylor's capabilities, and it's no wonder he's defiant.

But at this point in time, Theodore von Kármán has already achieved great success, while the other four Hungarian brothers are still just young and inexperienced.

John von Neumann is 25 years old and currently a mathematics lecturer at the University of Berlin in Germany.

His research interests include mathematics and quantum field theory.

John von Neumann was extremely envious of Alpha Labs' recent breakthroughs in the field of computer science in Borneo.

He believes that his mathematical knowledge can shine brightly in computer research.

And he also had some ideas.

Therefore, he really wanted to work at Alpha Labs.

Schrödinger, the head of physics at the University of Berlin, was very fond of this young man, who had a profound understanding of quantum field theory.

Most importantly, according to the Austro-Hungarian arithmetic system, the two were from the same hometown.

During their conversation, he discerned von Neumann's thoughts and said with a smile:

"If you want to go, I can ask Professor Bruce for you."

"The professor has been recruiting all the time, and he would definitely welcome a genius like you."

"Moreover, Alpha Labs is not the kind of lab that prioritizes quick results."

"Once you're inside, you can still study the field you like without anyone interfering."

If Schrödinger hadn't been so attached to his dozen or so old flames, he would have wanted to go to Borneo.

Since he doesn't have any children, he can do whatever he wants.

Upon hearing this, von Neumann's expression immediately became excited.

He knew that Boss Xue meant what he said, and given his relationship with Professor Bruce, it shouldn't be difficult.

"Professor, thank you very much."

Schrödinger patted him on the shoulder and laughed:
"Young people should travel around and gain more experience."

In real history, von Neumann went to Princeton University in the United States as a lecturer the year after that, and then stayed in the United States.

On the other side, at the University of Frankfurt in Germany.

After graduating with his doctorate, 30-year-old Szilard followed his mentor Laue to the University of Frankfurt.

His advisor was the head of the physics department, so he easily obtained a teaching position and lived a very comfortable life.

However, he still misses his time at the University of Berlin more.

In real history, the University of Berlin at that time housed physics giants such as Planck, Einstein, and Laue.

Various physics seminars are held at the school every month.

When Szilard came here from Hungary to study, he was incredibly audacious. He often went to sit in the front row of seminars as a student.

Because he had many ideas he wanted to discuss with Einstein.

Einstein was deeply impressed by this confident young man.

Over time, the two became good friends.

Szilard revealed his true colors, frequently pulling Einstein along to write patents in addition to discussing academic issues.

Einstein reminisced about his wonderful time at the Swiss Patent Office and grew to like Szilard even more.

Not long ago, the two also jointly applied for a refrigerator patent, using a magnetic pump to drive a liquid of metal particles to replace fluorinated refrigerant, thereby improving the safety of the refrigerator.

(This patent will play an important role later.)

A German company bought the patent, produced a prototype, but found that it was too noisy and unusable.

However, the two were not discouraged and wrote dozens more patents for refrigerators. But this time, no company was willing to buy their patents.

The chairman of a company said:

"Not every scientist can create enormous value with just one patent like Professor Bruce."

Recently, Szilard has begun studying nuclear physics.

He felt that his mentor, Professor Laue, was outdated in his approach to X-ray crystal diffraction and that it lacked originality.

On that day, Szilard saw a commentary on nuclear physics published by Rutherford.

"Numerous experimental results on nuclear fission show that the mass of the atomic nucleus changes before and after fission."

"According to the mass-energy equivalence equation, this process releases energy."

"Some people believe that energy can be obtained from this phenomenon."

"But Cavendish's latest experimental results prove that this is not feasible."

"Take proton bombardment as an example."

"When a high-speed proton bombards an atomic nucleus, the energy released from the nucleus breaking apart is indeed far greater than the energy of the proton itself."

"But for a proton to reach a speed that can shatter an atomic nucleus, it needs to be supplied with energy from the outside."

"And the energy input from the outside will be greater than the energy released by the atomic nucleus."

Therefore, there is no economic benefit to using nuclear energy.

"The same principle applies to bombarding with neutrons."

After reading it, Szilard couldn't help but nod.

He believed that Professor Rutherford's analysis was correct; otherwise, it would not conform to the law of conservation of energy.

However, he, who always has ingenious ideas, suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"What if the energy generated after an atomic nucleus is bombarded could, in turn, cause the next atomic nucleus to split?"

"If we keep doing this, wouldn't we be able to obtain enormous energy?"

Szilard became more and more excited as he thought about it; he felt his idea was excellent.

So he quickly wrote up a patent.

As for how the energy released by the first atomic nucleus could trigger the splitting of the second atomic nucleus, he couldn't think of a way.

But that doesn't matter, since it's a patent anyway.

This actually shows that Ridgway's previous attempt to keep the atomic bomb concept a secret was impossible.

Because nuclear fission occurred very early, even if heavy nuclear fission has not yet occurred, people can still speculate about it.

Those true big shots can deduce this energy release mechanism from the slightest clues.

Upon learning of uranium nuclear fission, Szilard knew immediately that his patent had a chance of being realized.

That's why he immediately sought out Einstein to write a letter to the US president together.

At that moment, after casually finishing writing the patent, Szilard excitedly showed it to Laue.

"Professor, what do you think?"

Laue was completely bewildered after reading it.

I'm speechless. What on earth are you researching all this time?

However, just as he was about to say a few words of reprimand, he suddenly realized that he himself hadn't made much progress in over ten years.

Then he let out a long sigh.

“Sirard, I’m planning to send you to Borneo for further studies for a while.”

"There, you can access the latest nuclear physics."

Upon hearing this, Szilard was overjoyed.

"Wow!"

"Professor, really?"

"That's great!"

"I'm going to write more patents and see if I can convince Professor Bruce to buy a few."

"I can't understand why Elena's patent is worth $10."

Laue smiled slightly; sometimes he also liked the other person's unreliable personality.

He sent Sila to Borneo for another reason: to let her lay low for a while.

The atmosphere in China has become increasingly extreme recently.

In real history, in 1933, when the Nazis officially came to power, Szilard, who was of Jewish descent, was immediately forced to flee to Britain, and eventually to the United States.

When Laue gave his opening speech at the annual meeting of German physicists that year, he cited the historical event of Bruno being persecuted by the church for adhering to Copernicus' heliocentric theory.

He strongly protested against the attacks on Jewish physicists by some people using the claim of "German physics".

"Physics is just physics!"

However, like Planck, although he had great prestige, he lacked real power and could not even protect a few people.

Laue did not participate in any military scientific activities, including Germany's atomic bomb program.

Finally, Heisenberg led the way.

Laue and Heisenberg represent two different sets of values.

When science and the state conflict, what should be the choice?
On the other side, the University of Munich in Germany.

Sommerfeld put on his reading glasses and was carefully looking at a resume.

"20 years old, graduated from the University of Karlsruhe in Germany with a double degree in mathematics and chemistry."

"I enjoy studying quantum mechanics and hope to research related topics during my doctoral studies."

Upon seeing this, he smiled knowingly.

Which young person doesn't like quantum mechanics these days?

Five minutes later, Somfi looked up at the young man in front of him. He was handsome and very outstanding.

He couldn't help but sigh that he was getting old.

"Your Hungarian name translates to Taylor, right?"

Taylor replied respectfully:
"Yes, Professor."

Sommerfeld said:
“I’m glad you’re willing to apply for my PhD.”

"But I no longer admit graduate students."

"If you'd like, I can write you a letter of recommendation so you can pursue your doctorate under Professor Heisenberg at the University of Leipzig."

Wow!
Taylor was very excited when he heard this.

He knew that Professor Heisenberg was Professor Sommerfeld's doctoral student.

"I do, Professor!"

Under Taylor's astonished gaze, Sommerfeld finished writing the letter of recommendation in just a few seconds.

He thanked them one last time, left the office, and then opened the letter of recommendation, which contained only ten words:
Heisenberg:

“Take him in.”

"Sommelweis".

The recommendation letter from that big shot is truly impressive!
In real history, Taylor graduated with a doctorate from Heisenberg in just one year.

Then, like his fellow countryman Szilard, he was forced to flee Germany, first to England, then to Denmark to follow Bohr, and finally settled in the United States.

Taylor was a member of the Theoretical Physics Division in the Manhattan Project, specializing in the design of the atomic bomb.

After the war, when he was teaching at the University of Chicago, he had a Chinese doctoral student named Yang Zhenning.

(End of this chapter)