Chapter 517: Tesla's Small Step, a Giant Leap for Mankind
Chapter 517: One small step for Tesla, one giant leap for mankind
Shao Quanzhong scratched the back of his head. "Can electronic computers be made now? I remember when you and Old Mac told me about it, you said it would be difficult for me to see it in my lifetime."
Babbage shook his head with difficulty. "What Maxwell said was the popularization of computers among civilians. That will be fast in another fifty or sixty years."
"What we are building now is still a major national weapon, and it is still far from being able to drive everything with a computer. However, computers constructed with electronic components are much faster than mechanical computers."
"The most skilled operator of my analytical engine can perform one calculation per second, but ENIAC can perform 1 calculations per second, so we can use it to calculate integrals."
Shao Quanzhong didn't like meeting scientists because he just couldn't understand what they were talking about. "What is integral?"
Babbage was an old and cunning man. He knew what Shao Quanzhong liked to hear and explained it to this "young man" with a smile.
"If you can calculate the integral, you can accurately calculate the trajectory of artillery shells and missiles. With radio control, Shao, your missiles can be launched from hundreds of kilometers away and accurately hit the target enemy's head."
Shao Quanzhong understood and was overjoyed. "That's exactly what we want. Now that V2 has terminal wireless guidance, its accuracy is still only within a radius of one kilometer. This is OK. Moreover, can missiles replace heavy artillery and be installed on warships?"
"It's up to you."
"Hahahaha!"
Shao Quanzhong laughed wildly, "Now my aircraft carrier fleet is a force that can destroy a country and is equivalent to a hundred thousand mechanized regular troops. Tell me how much it costs to build this ENIAC. I will pay even 100 million taels."
"It won't take that much. 20 taels of silver will be enough."
"Huh? Why is it so cheap this time? Can't even a small country do it?"
"No. The reason why it's cheaper this time is because the components are electronic and don't require advanced technicians to process. But the manpower has become PhDs and masters, and they must be professionals who study electromagnetism."
"You have invested 27 million taels of silver in the research of electromagnetism. Electromagnetism experts from all over the world are now in the Cavendish Laboratory."
"It's hard for foreign countries to find someone who can understand our design drawings, let alone gather a group of electromagnetic experts to build a computer."
Well, so this computer made with 20 taels was actually the result of million taels of investment. Without the previous investment, there would be no computer.
Other countries do not have a brain like Shao Quanzhong, and they simply cannot gather computer talent.
"This time you have to reward the young man named Niu Shangzhou. He invented the vacuum triode, which gave us the materials to make electronic computers."
Niu Shangzhou Shao Quanzhong remembered that the college student who wound the coil for Popov invented the crystal radio two and a half years ago.
Shao Quanzhong has awarded dozens of inventors of this level, but I can't remember most of their names. I can remember Niu Shangzhou because he is the first Chinese, and his name is easier to remember than that of foreigners...
"Isabel, allocate 250,000 taels of special funds to the computer project led by Mr. Babbage. At the same time, arrange my schedule and find time to go to Hailing University to give the award to Niu Shangzhou. He should be a junior now."
Shao Quanzhong personally pushed Babbage's wheelchair all the way to the back seat of a Maybach that was customized with extra-wide doors and specially designed for disabled experts.
"Mr. Ba, please don't get too tired. Just let the young people do more work and you can guide them. Don't be afraid to spend money. If it's not enough, just send someone to ask Isabel for it. I'll give you whatever you want."
A 92-year-old man was qualified to let Shao Quanzhong push the cart himself. Babbage narrowed his eyes and said, "Shao, you are the ruler I know of, from ancient times to the present, who respects science and talents the most."
“Science will never let down those who truly respect it. I am sure you will be able to create greater miracles in this world.”
Looking back, Babbage began to talk to himself, mumbling, and fell into the reminiscences that old people often have.
"It's a pity that my Ada didn't live to meet the wise ruler Shao. The assembly language she compiled will never become obsolete even if it is used on ENIAC. I want to name this assembly language ADA to commemorate her..."
Babbage is the father of computers. His confidante Ada is the daughter of the great poet Byron, but she is known to later generations as the mother of computer language.
The assembly language program she compiled for the Babbage Analytical Engine to solve functions is still in use in the 21st century. Tens of millions of programmers cannot write more concise and effective code...
When Shao Quanzhong returned to the study, Tesla was already waiting there.
"Has that old fellow Babbage finally passed away? Old people tend to be long-winded. He has delayed you for so long. I have no objection to the disabled old man waiting in front of me, but I was very busy, so I came in before others."
Tesla is a very busy man and he doesn't even have time to find a girlfriend. He is really busy. For such a busy man to come all the way from Gaoyou Lake to Shao Quanzhong, there must be something important going on.
Shao Quanzhong didn't dare to talk to Tesla about inventions, as he didn't understand. "Don't come to me if you need money. I've approved you to spend money freely."
"I'm not short of money. Money is meaningless to me. I've made some small progress in my research, and you might be able to use it."
Tesla's small step is a giant leap for mankind. Shao Quanzhong did not dare to take the "small" progress he mentioned lightly. "Could it be that you have developed some kind of long-distance power transmission?"
Tesla waved his hand. "That requires finding the law of the Earth's magnetic field. It requires a lot of experiments. It's still early. However, I received feedback from the experiment of transmitting electromagnetic energy to a receiving tower 200 kilometers away."
"I discovered that the feedback electromagnetic waves can basically measure the mass and speed of distant metal objects..."
The mass and speed of metal objects? Shao Quanzhong was confused. Tesla patted his forehead, thought for a while, and finally said something that Shao Quanzhong could understand.
"So, I spent half a day making you a device that can detect the movements of enemy warships and aircraft from a long distance - a radar."
"This thing doesn't work on wooden ships—"
Shao Quanzhong was really enlightened. He had never heard of radar before. In fact, the concept of radar was proposed by Doppler in 1842. Shao Quanzhong was simply uneducated... Isn't this the clairvoyance and hearing? Tesla made it in just a short time?
It doesn't matter if wooden boats are ineffective, why should I care about wooden boats. Now the battlefield has become one-way transparent, but any qualified general knows what this means.
"Also, that guy named Niu Shangzhou invented the triode. With that device, we no longer need to build large iron towers to receive and transmit wireless signals."
"The remote-controlled torpedoes and drones I invented for you earlier can be used independently, and their application scenarios will be greatly expanded."
"Most importantly, the terminal guidance of the V2 rocket no longer needs to be carried out by building iron towers in enemy-occupied areas. Instead, a single spy can be controlled on-site by radio waves, and with the help of radar, the accuracy can be controlled within a radius of several meters."
My goodness, a ton of explosives falling within a radius of a few meters, what's the difference between this and hitting someone on the head? No wonder Tesla came in person.
Huh? Niu Shangzhou's invention seems to be very important. Once the triode was invented, computers could be made, and drones and remote-controlled torpedoes were all developed. It seems that I have to increase the reward.
Tesla casually gave Shao Quanzhong four "simple inventions" - radar, drone, remote-controlled torpedo, and rocket radio control, and hurried back to Gaoyou Lake to study his Wanli power transmission. This is called planting melons and getting beans. Shao Quanzhong actually had no interest in the big melon of Wanli power transmission, but during the research and development process, Tesla casually picked up some beans, and Shao Quanzhong picked up a bowl full of beans, and was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.
The next person invited in by Shao Quanzhong was Lorenz. Foreigners were given priority, and the remaining two were taken care of by his own people.
"Xiao Luo, have you spent all the 20 million taels? We still have as much as you want."
Shao Quanzhong has tasted the sweetness of investing in electromagnetics. This thing is starting to pay off, and each return is surprising.
Lorenz waved his hand. "How can it be spent so quickly? I'm here to resign from you."
Shao Quanzhong was shocked. "Xiao Luo, you can't leave. Who bullied you? I promise to beat him so hard that he can't take care of himself."
Although Shao Quanzhong didn't know what Lorentz was doing, he knew that this was a scientific master of the same level as Maxwell.
Lorenz smiled, "No one bullies me, and I'm not leaving. I won't leave Xiaoxiang Cliff."
“After I became the director of the Cavendish Laboratory, I found that administrative work had a great impact on my research.”
"But no one was able to take over before, so I just tried my best. Now I have found someone who can take over for me, and I plan to let him take over as the third director of the Cavendish Laboratory so that I can concentrate on my theoretical research."
"Another capable person has appeared?"
Lorentz nodded. "That's right. This young man went to university to study engineering at the age of 14, and entered Trinity College, Cambridge to study mathematics at the age of 20. He also excelled in physics research and was elected a fellow of Trinity College while studying for his master's degree..."
While he was still studying here, he was hired as an academician of the school there. The school was the most prestigious Trinity College in Cambridge. He was undoubtedly a very outstanding person.
"His name is Joseph John Thomson. He just graduated with a master's degree from Cambridge this year. However, he has been hired as a professor at Cambridge and can supervise doctoral students. He does not need to study for a doctorate..."
Well, people are always competing with each other, and this is another top-notch expert who is easily the target of top universities.
"But he rejected Cambridge's offer to stay and teach there, and came to the Cavendish Laboratory, where the research conditions are world-class."
"As soon as he arrived here, he used the equipment in the Cavendish Laboratory to conduct a vacuum tube cathode ray experiment, proving the existence of electrons. This is a breakthrough in the basic theory of electromagnetism. I hope you can reward him handsomely."
“In addition, he is better at communicating with people than I am. He is an excellent teacher and more suitable to lead the electromagnetic advancement project.”
Lorentz was different from Edison, Bell and Nobel. He was not keen on fame and fortune. He was a true scientist who valued scientific research more than being an official.
As a leader, Shao Quanzhong liked this kind of cattle and horses the most and praised them highly. "I will go to Xiaoxiang Cliff to meet and commend the successor you nominated."
Lorenz said goodbye, and Xu Shou and Shao Quanren were called in together.
This is a real family member, so there is no need to play the superficial game. Shao Quanzhong held Xu Shou's hand and said, "Old man, what good news do you have?"
"The battlefield intercom you've been eyeing has finally been designed, thanks to the invention of the triode, which can amplify the signal—"
Huh?
Before Shao Quanzhong could sigh, Quanren's voice came from behind him, "Brother, we at Daxia Telecom have already started designing a real radio that can tune channels and is of better quality."
"Soon, many private commercial radio stations will appear in Daxia. This is also due to the emergence of triodes..."
Niu Shangzhou's weight in Shao Quanzhong's heart continued to increase. Hearing this, Shao Quanzhong shouted, "Isabelle, go to Hailing University immediately. I want to reward Niu Shangzhou now."
That’s right, the conclusion Shao Quanzhong drew from the influx of new results was correct. The triode, like alternating current, was a milestone invention in electromagnetism.
Alternating current ushered in the electrical age, and the triode ushered in the "electronic age".
……
"Because of the invention of the triode, which has a key and important value in the computer project, torpedo project, drone project, radio project, walkie-talkie project, V2 project, and ship-borne missile project, Niu Shangzhou is awarded the Third Class Jiahe Medal, the First Class Baronship, and a bonus of million taels of silver."
Niu Shangzhou, who received the award for the second time, felt awkward, "Marshal, the award is too great. My scientific research level is far inferior to that of Lorenz, Tesla and other great men."
"I am a student of Professor Thomson, a new professor in Cambridge. As an assistant, I helped the professor conduct cathode ray experiments using vacuum tubes. I was inspired by his vacuum tubes, and I also had the diode as an example."
"I just added a grid between the two electrodes of the diode, and learned from Professor Thomson to make the new component into a vacuum tube."
Shao Quanzhong patted the young man on the shoulder and said, "This reward is not a reward at the level of a reward. It is the same as the military merit reward of my Qing Dynasty. The things you invented are very useful, so this is a reward for your merit."
That’s right, when ordinary people have a flash of inspiration, the things they invent are not necessarily worse than those invented by people with high IQs.
Cai Lun's invention of paper is certainly much less difficult than discovering Newton's three laws and the theory of relativity, but his contribution to mankind is no less...
After moving from Hailing University to Xiaoxiangya, Shao Quanzhong promoted Lorentz to the third-class earl as a reward for his hard work and contribution during his tenure as director of the Cavendish Laboratory.
At the same time, Thomson, the third director of the Cavendish Laboratory, was promoted to the third baron and was rewarded with 200,000 taels of silver for his discovery of the electron.
The new director immediately started working. "Your Majesty, our laboratory has started two new projects. In the near future, you will be able to see images and videos being transmitted like telegrams. These two projects are called telex and television."
An expert was called to Shao Quanzhong.
This is a Slav named Nipkov, but he immigrated to Germany before and was hired to Xiaoxiangya as a German expert.
Because he invented the disc scanning method not long ago, which simply means dividing the image into a dot matrix, with each coordinate assigned a number to represent the color, so that the image becomes a group of numbers.
Director Thomson was full of energy. "I will personally lead the team to work with Nipkow to use the cathode ray tube I invented to reproduce the digital image signal invented by Nipkow..."
When Shao Quanzhong returned from Xiaoxiangya, eleven scientific research projects including computers, televisions, faxes, new adjustable-channel radios, wireless-controlled torpedoes, drones, radars, walkie-talkies, ship-borne missiles, full wireless control of V2 missiles, and large missile destroyers were launched and their designs began at the same time.
Humanity is about to run into the electronic age.
(End of this chapter)