David is not as active socially as before since he lost his strength. Sometimes he does experiments, sometimes he stays at home. It was the day before Christmas. When he got up in the morning, he had breakfast, took a magazine and leaned back on the sofa for recreation. Suddenly, a letter came from the servant, and a 368-page-thick book was written in beautiful font: Sir David's lecture notes, time and place. He jumped up from the sofa in surprise and shouted, "Which publishing house is so bold that it dares to secretly publish a book under my name?" When he looked at the inside pages again, more than 300 pages were all beautifully written, and there were many beautiful illustrations, which didn't look like machine printing. However, this kind of binding is ordinary hardcover cloth with bronzing on the spine. David fell into the fog for no reason. He read the message again. It was originally written by a young man named michael faraday (179 1 ~ 1867). I am a beginner's binding apprentice and I love chemistry very much. I was lucky enough to listen to your four speeches, and I sorted out this note. I sent it as a Christmas present. I would appreciate it if you could help me change the status quo, and so on.
David read the letter twice, holding the book in his hand, stroking it back and forth, wondering whether it was a surprise or a pleasure, sour or sweet. He remembers that in the past few years, in the upper class, he has been making friends with potbellied gentlemen or charming ladies. They threw a lot of pounds at random and left the whole table all night. My host invited me to give a speech and play, but no one really understood my findings and my knowledge. These people are just arty, chasing science and fashion. But one day, an apprentice who ordered a bookstore actually understood my idea so deeply. Look at the illustration, it's cleaner than the experiment I really did. I can't believe such a talent is hiding in the streets! It suddenly occurred to him that he was not an urchin who hunted birds and snakes from the beginning, nor had he received any formal education. Thanks to the support of Count Lunford, he entered the Royal Academy, and now he is a knight. And this young bookkeeper is still fighting his fate. Thought of here, Professor David moved with compassion and showed his love for talents. He picked up a goose feather and wrote a letter:
Sir:
Thank you for sending me a masterpiece. I am very happy after reading it. It shows your great enthusiasm, memory and dedication. I had to leave London recently and didn't come back until the end of January. Then I'll see you at your convenience.
I'm happy to help you. I hope this is what I can do.
Xiang David
18 12 12 February 24th
Sure enough, a month later, David personally received Faraday at home and arranged for him to be an assistant in the laboratory of the Royal College.
1865438+In March 2002, Faraday officially went to work at the Royal College. He is an apprentice, so he works very carefully. Although he is a handyman who brushes bottles and moves instruments in the laboratory, he can understand the experimental contents and is always handy when working with people. So it wasn't long before people in the lab didn't speak well of Faraday. David is more proud that he has introduced a good talent.
This autumn, David and his wife are going to travel to the European continent. Speaking of this lady, it's really unusual. She relies on her beautiful face and noble family background, so she usually wears jewelry at home and has to follow the servants when she goes out. If it weren't for a noble gentleman, she could have turned away and pretended not to see a visitor. When she went to someone else's house for dinner, the host became her servant as soon as she entered the door. Usually, when she is a little unhappy at home, she throws a bowl. Whenever she saw a woman wearing luxurious clothes in the street, she immediately forced David to buy her a suit. People often say that love is giving and sacrificing, but the combination of David and his wife is just the opposite, that is, they want and use each other. He wants her beauty and money, and she wants his knighthood and reputation as a scientist. David, who is a poor boy and loves wasting time, is very satisfied with such a beautiful and noble woman, so he is willing to hug and coax the baby. Now they are going to travel to Europe, and the first stop is bustling Paris, which Mrs. David has long been eager to see. But the timing they chose was really unfortunate, when Britain and France were at war. The iron-fisted emperor Napoleon threatened to annex the whole of Europe. So before leaving, David's usual two personal servants suddenly changed their minds and didn't want to go with them. They are afraid of being beheaded as spies. Without servants, that lady can't get service. So David wants Faraday, and Faraday also wants to take the opportunity to go to the European continent to see the world and talk with the two sides. Faraday will be a private secretary for the time being and hire another one as soon as he arrives in France.
10 year 10 month 13, David and his party set off. They first arrived at Plymouth Harbor by carriage, then crossed the English Channel and arrived in Paris on October 29th, 65438/KLOC-0. I stayed here for more than two months, then passed Venice, crossed the Alps to Italy, and then went to Switzerland. Faraday saw the surging waves, the vast mountains, the smoke on Mount Vesuvius and the pillars of the Pantheon in Rome, which was really an eye-opener. I met Ampere in Paris, Volta in Milan and Liv in Geneva. These were great scientists who were famous in Europe at that time. Faraday could hear their conversation, and his excitement was like the first time he entered the Royal College to listen to David's report. But there was only one thing that disappointed him, and that was David's difficult wife. We agreed to hire someone as soon as we crossed the sea, but when we got to Paris, David never mentioned it again. Faraday should take care of the instruments he carries with him, prepare experiments, arrange visitors, or take care of his wife's clothes, hats, shoes and socks, powder cakes and jewelry. On the first day of her stay in Paris, Mrs. David took off her shoes and said, "Please polish them for me and wear them tomorrow morning." Faraday can't stand this anger. He didn't speak, but turned to look at the instruments in those boxes. The lady turned into a bitch at once. Although the hotel was full of people, she cried and shouted, "Count David took this ungrateful thing away from you. A bookbinder also wants to fiddle with some instruments and place scientists. I think you are going backwards ... "David quickly pushed her back to the bedroom. This night, listening to the inner crying, there is no peace. Faraday knows that charming grandmother won't go out tomorrow unless David polishes those shoes himself. Thinking of this, he quietly took the shoes thrown outside the door to his room to polish, thinking, "This is also a solution for the teacher. David will always be my benefactor. "
Since Faraday followed David, he has really learned a lot in science, although he sometimes can't help but swallow his pride. There is a professor in Copenhagen named Oster (1777 ~ 185 1). In 1820, he found that when the current passes through the wire, the magnetic needle next to the wire will deflect. The news shocked the British scientific community, which showed that electricity and magnetism are related. Wollaston, a member of the Royal Society, is very clever. He thinks that electricity makes magnetic force move. Why can't magnetism produce electricity? He found David and designed an experiment. He put an electrified wire next to a big magnet to see if it would turn. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. What's more, wollaston just think about it. When he was in trouble, he chickened out and didn't mention it again. But opportunities are for those who are willing. The failed experiment of two authorities of the Royal Society impressed a young apprentice. Faraday stood by that day. Later, he hid in the laboratory and worked day and night. He thinks that the wire can't turn because it is pulled too tightly. He simply took a glass jar, poured a jar of mercury into it, fixed a magnetic rod in the middle, floated a cork next to the magnetic rod, inserted a copper wire into the cork, and connected it to a voltaic battery. Sure enough, the circuit was connected, and the cork floated gently and slowly around the magnetic bar. The wire turns slowly after being electrified. If a strong current passes through the coil, won't it turn very fast? Ah, it worked. This is the first and simplest motor in the world. Faraday, a quiet and gentle man who can control himself and is not excited, can't help dancing around this mercury tank in the underground laboratory of the Royal Society. The cork floated gently and he followed it happily. After several turns, he suddenly ran to the table, opened the experimental diary and wrote: "18265438+September 3, 0. ..... The results are very satisfactory, but more sensitive instruments are needed. "
Faraday is very different from his teacher David in taking notes. David's experimental notes are often scribbled and sometimes wrongly written. He simply dips his finger in ink. If the experiment is successful, it will be a big book; If you fail, you won't bother to remember. On the other hand, Faraday was born a bookbinder and received art training. He keeps a diary every day, and whether the experiment is successful or not, he numbers it in sequence until the number 1604 1 is added. Later, when he was white-haired, he consciously bound these experimental diaries and sent them to the Royal College, just like David did when he gave lectures. This is a great wealth in the history of science. It was not until the centenary of his death that it was published in seven volumes. This is another story.
Faraday discovered that wires can rotate around magnets, and then he wrote a paper, which was published in the London Science Quarterly. This caused trouble again. Wollaston said Faraday stole their work. David knew that wollaston's experiment was unsuccessful, but out of jealousy, he didn't come out to speak for the students. So the city was full of wind and rain, and it was difficult to tell right from wrong. Soon, Faraday made a chlorine liquefaction test. Before the official report of the Royal Society, David added a paragraph in the report, saying that the experiment was conducted under his guidance. The teacher wants to snatch food from the students' rice bowls. When you see pity, you enthusiastically sell it; Now you are almost successful, stop and press it quickly. David's psychology is really complicated. Fortunately, Faraday has become accustomed to resignation. He made a rule that even if a knife is on his head, he will not speak ill of his benefactor. So although a little unhappy, things can always be cleaned up. And he personally to explain to wollaston, his experiment is the wire around the magnet "revolution", wollaston's experiment is "rotation", the two are different, wollaston was relieved.
But the rafters rot first, and the trees want to be quiet and calm. If Faraday washes bottles and sweeps the floor properly, he is also a teacher, a virtuous man and harmonious. Who told him that he discovered that the wire went around the magnet and invented chlorine liquefaction? So a group of members of the Royal Society saw that he was a wizard, and out of kindness, they signed 29 signatures to recommend him as a member. David would never agree that a handyman washing bottles should be a member of the Royal Society. This afternoon, Faraday was doing an experiment in the basement when David suddenly pushed the door and came in angrily.
"Mr Faraday, I heard that you are going to enter Imperial College London recently. I advise you to withdraw your application. "
Ever since Faraday entered the teacher's door, he has been enduring anger while seeking knowledge, and has been enduring 10 years. Unexpectedly, at this critical moment, the benefactor who led him into the Royal Society would stop him at the door of the Royal Society. Without looking up, he replied in a calm and repressed angry voice, "They want to nominate. I have never submitted any application. What do you want me to withdraw? "
"Then persuade them to withdraw."
"That's their business. I don't want to interfere. "
David was afraid of making things stiff, so he relaxed his tone and said, "It's not that I don't agree with you to join the club, but you are still young, and it's not too late to join again in a few years."
"Sir David, I am still young, 3 1 year old this year, but you were 24 years old when you joined the Royal Society!"
This sentence choked David until he saw his mouth open and heard nothing. He slammed the door and left.
1824 65438+1October 8th, the Royal Society voted for Faraday's membership by secret ballot, which was successfully passed by only one vote against. This vote was cast by David. At this point, the contradiction between teachers and students reached its peak.
Faraday has suffered a lot of extravagance, and he has to show his teeth. Since Oster announced in 1820 that electricity would deflect the magnetic needle, Faraday thought that electricity must have produced magnetism, thus affecting the magnetic needle. Sure enough, by 1825, a shoemaker's electrician Stejan was able to suck up 4 kilograms of iron after electrifying a horseshoe-shaped soft rail. Soon another American improved his experiment and sucked up 300 kilograms of iron. Electricity has really turned into magnetism, so powerful. Faraday, in turn, thought, why does magnetism become electricity? If it can be turned into electricity, it will be great. He has been thinking about this problem ever since he finished the experiment of electricity revolving around the magnetic field at 182 1. He wrote the words "turn magnetism into electricity" in his notebook, and often carried a horseshoe magnet and a coil in his pocket. Think hard and keep trying. First, he touched the wire with a magnet, but the galvanometer didn't move. He wound the wire around the magnet, but there was still no electricity. Just put the magnet into the winner of the coil, connect the galvanometer, and the pointer remains motionless. Faraday went on and on, from 182 1 year to 183 1 year. For a whole year 10, I racked my brains, worn my fingers, and never changed a trace of electricity. One day, he worked in the underground laboratory for a long time, but there was still no result, so he said, "Forget it!" " "I was so angry that I threw the long magnet into the coil and sat back in the chair. But just as he leaned back and sat in the chair for a while, he suddenly saw the pointer on the galvanometer tremble to the left. He blinked quickly and then saw that the pointer was still in the middle. He thinks it may be presbyopia, because people sometimes only see the illusion of their own hope in highly concentrated experiments. With this in mind, he leaned down, took out the magnet and tried again. I don't want this pointer to move to the right again, but this time it's true. He quickly inserted the magnet back, and the pointer shifted to the left again. Oh, there is electricity, and magnetism becomes electricity. Ten years of acacia, love at first sight! Faraday kept pulling the magnet out of the coil and inserting it again. Up and down is like pounding garlic, the table is hit hard, and the pointer on the galvanometer keeps shaking from side to side like a rattle. It turns out that magnetic transformation is through movement! Just then, Faraday's virtuous and gentle wife Sarah saw that he hadn't come up for dinner by then, so she brought a plate of bread, milk and some side dishes to the basement. When I pushed the door, I saw Faraday "pound garlic" in front of the coil. She smiled and shouted, "Michael, let's eat!" Faraday raised his head, threw away the magnet, flew to Sarah like a bird, put his arms around her shoulder and made a spin on the spot. Sarah's milk, bread, vegetables and plates all fell to the ground. She shouted, "Michael, what's the matter with you? You spilled the milk and hit the plate. What are you eating? "
"No, it's nothing. There is electricity today, and there is enough electricity, as long as there is enough electricity! " He read a song "Lost" incoherently, and then turned to write a diary:
"183 1 year1October 17 days. Magnetic force finally turned into electricity ... "
Why did the luck of the great discovery of magnetic transformation fall on Faraday, a bookkeeper? There are many reasons, but one deserves our special attention. It was ten years ago that Oster turned electricity into magnetism through experiments. When Faraday heard about it, he thought in turn: Can magnetic energy be converted into electricity? This is a similar thinking.
Everything in the world is interrelated, and this connection is often manifested in various similarities between them. When we grasp this similarity, we grasp their connection, and great discoveries often begin from this. Archimedes realized the law of buoyancy from the overflow of objects in the bathtub; Newton saw the apple fall to the ground to push the earth and the apple to attract each other, and finally discovered gravity; Franklin thought of lightning from the sparks generated by fur friction, so he discovered the essence of electricity; Boyle reversed the idea of using acid mist to discolor violets to test acid and alkali, and invented a chemical reagent. It is an important method for scientific research to find the similarity between things and explore their internal relations from this similarity. It's like going into Gua Tian, taking care of its vines first. The vine is in hand, and the melon does not leak. To go to the palace for treasure, you must find the way first. Since the road is always full of treasures, new discoveries will emerge one after another. In the future, we will also see many scientists' wonderful use of various thinking methods.
It is said that Faraday discovered magnetic transformation, but he was still pursuing it. He first changed the straight bar magnet into a horseshoe shape, and the coil into a copper plate, which could be shaken constantly, so that continuous current could be obtained. This is the first generator in the world.
After the experiment was finished, he explored in theory. What is the connection between magnetoelectricity and electricity? Newton summed up the universal gravitation and thought that the function of gravitation in space is distance, and there is no speed. Faraday thought, no, there are magnetic lines around the magnet, and there are magnetic fields and electric fields around the wire. They have velocity through field interaction. However, his mathematical foundation is too poor to deduce this formula and cannot be verified by experiments at the moment. He suffered several losses on the issue of the right of invention, so he wrote this idea first, so as to avoid others coming to stir up later:
I tend to compare the magnetic force spreading from the magnetic pole to the vibration of the disturbed water surface or to the vibration of the air in the sound phenomenon; In other words, I tend to think that vibration theory will be applied to electric and magnetic phenomena, just as it is applied to sound, and it is likely to be applied to light at the same time.
I hope these ideas can be realized through experiments. But because I spend a lot of time on official business, these experiments may delay time. During the experiment, these phenomena may be observed by others first. I hope that by storing this document in the filing cabinet of the Royal College, my views will be proved by experiments in the future, and I have the right to announce that I have such views one day. As far as I know, no one knows these views except myself at present, and no one can say that they have such views.
Michael faraday of the Royal Academy.
1832 March 12