Goal-Digger's Thesis (II)

"I haven't found anything wrong with the math, at least so far. A couple of his tools are excellent as well." Laplace said, "Just explaining light in terms of waves still leaves a number of phenomena that are difficult to explain, such as what properties the Ether must have to transmit fluctuations as fast as light. And he explains light as a transverse wave, so why are there no longitudinal waves in the Ether?"

"Ah, my friend, you have far too many questions, and none of them are difficult questions that will be answered anytime soon, or even, I don't think, in our lifetimes if we have any hope of seeing them answered." Lavoisier said, "That's really a big problem with what Wave Theory said. This thing, the Ether, is so unique that it's almost as incredible as God. It can transmit light at incredibly fast speeds - I mean, if light is a wave - which means it's very hard, many times harder than diamond I don't know. It fills the entire universe and is so hard, yet it is not an obstacle to anything in the universe, it does not block the movement of even the tiniest speck of dust - in fact, we can't find any resistance from the 'Ether' at all right now. This really hurts ... Ah, my friend, I suggest that for the time being we refrain from thinking about that damn 'Ether'. Our present knowledge and means are too far from it. For us to go into it now would be like a freshly weaned calico kitten working out how to catch a whale."

"Mr. Lavoisier, whales are not fish." Laplace laughed.

"That I certainly know." Lavoisier laughed too, "But ... but kitten did not know that yah."

"Yeah, kitten did not know it." Laplace said, "Aren't we actually kittens? We don't know that either."

"So, I've always believed that experimentation comes first. All theories, ultimately, must be tested by experiment, and at least his calculations, with which 'Bonaparte's Light Spot' tested well. As to whether the 'Ether', or 'Bonaparte's Spot', 'double-slit interference', and 'Newton's Ring' aren't something else, in terms of particle explanations, that's up to the others."

"That one I agree with." Laplace said. Then he looked down at the paper and added: "I'll come up with a new explanation. But for now, allow me to finish checking this paper. Then we'll get together and take this paper to Monge, Coulomb, and Mr. Condorcet ..."

...

With Monge and Coulomb, however, the situation changed.

"Honestly, those math tools in this paper are interesting, and there's some more interesting stuff behind them. How nice it would be if this paper discussed math honestly. That would be a really worthwhile piece," Monge frowned, "But he used it to prove such an absurd point, which is really ..."

"If he's willing to revise this paper a bit, that would be great." Coulomb chimed in.

"We should make an appointment to talk to him and get him to revise this paper a little more, and then we can give him the prize money." Laplace glanced at Lavoisier and added, "After all, those few tools alone are actually worth six hundred francs."

"It's not a matter of six hundred francs." Monge said, "Rather, it's the fact that he'd actually make such a strange claim - that light is actually a wave, and that the Ether that delivers it should have crushed to pieces long ago! We'd be a joke if something this ridiculous won an award! Unless he revises this paper properly some and removes those unnecessary things, I am against awarding the prize money to him."

"I don't think it's rigorous to send the bonus out now, after all, it's not really conclusive evidence, I mean, those two experiments, there should be other, better explanations. I think we should be a little more cautious on this issue ...," Coulomb said.

"Come on, Coulomb! Do you have a better explanation? Or did you find any holes in his argument?" Condorcet glared, "Wave Theory said there are indeed many problems that cannot be solved yet, such as the one you mentioned about the Ether. But is it okay to say that the particles say it? Other than that, how do particles say to explain double-slit interference and 'Bonaparte's Spot'? One of the meanings of science is to discover the unknown and ask questions. Asking questions, especially valuable questions, is sometimes even more important than drawing conclusions! How many times since the birth of science have we seen old ideas and opinions overturned, but can we say that those now overturned ideas and opinions are worthless? Even if the ideas in this paper are, in the end, shown to be complete fallacies, and even if, first thing tomorrow morning, you, Coulomb, come up with a new explanation that completely disproves his insights, doesn't the fallacy itself inspire thought and reveal truth? So even if it is a fallacy, it has value. What's more, it doesn't have to be a fallacy! --Is Sir Isaac Newton unquestionable? Is this still the spirit of science! It would be a shame for the Academy if a paper like this couldn't even win a merit award!"

When it came to eloquence, there really weren't many people in the Academy who could match Condorcet, and naturally, Coulomb was no exception. Knowing that he couldn't argue with Condorcet in a debate, Coulomb simply shut his mouth and said nothing.

When Coulomb stopped talking, Condorcet turned back to Monge, "Monge, what do you think?"

Monge's status in the Academy of Sciences was less influential than Condorcet's, and his language skills were far inferior. But Monge was a very stubborn man, and when he heard Condorcet's question, he answered: "I can't agree to give him the merit award until I talk to him face-to-face."

Then he shut his mouth and said nothing. Condorcet also knew Monge's character and knew that this was the biggest concession he could make, so he said nothing more but turned to Laplace again: "Laplace, what about you? What do you think?"

Laplace looked at Condorcet, then at Monge and Coulomb, and then said: "I think ... just with those few math tools, this paper would have gotten a merit award ... but I also think that there are areas where he's not rigorous enough, and I also think that we should invite him in to talk about it. "

Condorcet looked at Laplace and couldn't help but shake his head. Laplace's talent is unquestionable, but his character is just a bit weak and fickle.

"So be it, then, that we ask this Mr. Bonaparte to come here. Let's talk to him, and then, let's give him the merit award." After a slight pause, Condorcet said, adding, "Is there anyone among you who thinks that someone who can write such a paper is not qualified enough to receive such an award?"

Everyone is silent. Condorcet looked around, then said, "Very well, then."

...

Although the Academy of Sciences was located in the city of Paris, the efficiency of the postal service in this era was quite low, and it was not until three days later that Joseph received this invitation. But the fact is, he got this news from Armand two days ago.

Now that he had gotten the invitation, Joseph made a few preparations, took the invitation, changed into a formal dress he might not wear once a year, and got into a public carriage. (This was mainly to avoid too much dust on his leather shoes.) and headed in the direction of the Louvre. 

Located on the north bank of the Seine River, the Louvre was built in the twelfth century and is one of the oldest royal palaces in France. By the time Louis XIV created the Academy of Science and housed this institution in the Louvre. Toward the end of Louis XIV's reign, there were frequent riots in the city of Paris. Louis XIV then expanded the Palace of Versailles outside the city and moved there. Since then, the King of France has not resided in the Louvre, but the Academy of Science has remained.

When he reached the entrance to the Louvre, Joseph got out of the carriage, straightened some of his clothes, and walked toward the Louvre's gates. This was not Joseph's first visit to the Louvre; in a previous life, as a tourist, Joseph had also visited here. In those days, the Louvre, one of the world's four major museums, housed a variety of valuable artifacts. The Louvre at this time was just a palace, and the famous three treasures of the Louvre in later years, there is only the Mona Lisa in the collection today.

Joseph walked up to the palace's main gate - in later times, the Louvre's gate was that post-modern style glass pyramid. Yet, at this point in time, such things still don't exist. The gates of the Louvre are still regular, ordinary gates.

Joseph walked to the door and showed the gatekeeper the invitation. The gatekeeper put on his old glasses, looked down at the invitation, didn't look up, just glanced at Joseph through the slit at the top of his eyeglass frame, and then said: "Mr. Bonaparte, please wait a little while. I need to verify the situation."

Joseph nodded and waited outside the door for a little while before he saw an attendant in a red coat with a wig come forward and open the door to Joseph: "Is it Mr. Bonaparte? Please come with me."

Joseph then followed this attendant into the Louvre. The attendant led Joseph through hall after hall, and finally, he stopped before a small parlor. 

"Mr. Bonaparte," The attendant turned to Joseph, bowed, and said, "Mr. Condorcet, Mr. Lavoisier, and the others are waiting for you inside."

With those words, he pulled open the chamber door wrapped in calfskin, signaling that Joseph could walk in on his own.

Joseph then walked in, and once inside, he saw three people already sitting in the room. When the three men saw Joseph walk in, they stood up as well, and one of them, a thinner, middle-aged man with a high forehead, said: "It's Mr. Joseph Bonaparte, isn't it? I'm Lavoisier. This is a member of the Academy of Sciences, my friend, Mr. Condorcet, and this is my friend Laplace."

Joseph then greeted the men one by one. Condorcet is a little stouter and has a wider face than Lavoisier. He smiled gently towards Joseph and seemed to have a relatively mild personality. The other, a little younger, with a slightly hawkish nose, was Laplace, the mathematician who had once given Joseph a run for his money in a previous life.