The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 889: Chapter 15 New Isaac Newton?_2

At this moment, he had already changed into a luxurious formal court dress. Although he wasn’t tall, the scepter in his hand still accentuated his solemnity.

Arthur smiled as he opened the mahogany box in his hand and displayed the magnificent Copley Medal to everyone present.

Thiers solemnly took the medal from the box and carefully hung it around Poisson’s neck. For a moment, everyone in the hall stood up and applauded, expressing their congratulations to Poisson.

For they knew that from today on, the name Simeon Denis Poisson would be listed alongside the dazzling stars like Stephen Gray, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Cavendish, Hans Oersted, Michael Faraday, and others who had previously received the award.

Thiers enthusiastically began his speech: ”Today we collectively witness a milestone in this great endeavor. First, I want to express, on behalf of the French Government, our deepest respect to the Royal Society and Sir Arthur Hastings, thanking you for your contributions to global scientific endeavors. At the same time, I also want to pay my highest respect to Professor Poisson.

Allow me to quote Montaigne: The most important quality in us is the sense of responsibility for our actions. Mr. Poisson’s intelligence and perseverance, along with his sense of responsibility in scientific research, have not only brought honor to France but also added immeasurable value to the treasure house of human knowledge. I sincerely hope that this transnational scientific exchange can become an eternal model for scientists from both countries, and indeed the whole world, to advance together...”

In this warm and harmonious atmosphere, in a thunderous round of applause, Ville, who had been responsible for welcoming Arthur earlier, could only stand outside the reporting hall and watch with envy.

Because there were simply too many guests present today. Not only were there many academicians from the Academy of Sciences, but even those from the neighboring Art and Literary Academy also came to join the excitement. Naturally, the seats at the front were reserved for the most esteemed Immortals.

Thus, as an ordinary assistant, Ville didn’t even have the right to obtain a seat in the hall; he could only stand quietly outside and watch.

Ville gazed at Poisson, who was surrounded by an adoring crowd, and couldn’t help but sigh.

If you asked Ville how he felt at that moment, it would be like the lyrics of a song: ”That year at the school prom, standing like a henchman. Back then, I swore with tears, everyone must see me.”

Although this wasn’t a school prom and Ville wasn’t eighteen years old anymore, as a 24-year-old mathematician, he indeed felt like an insignificant henchman at Poisson’s award ceremony.

If he had only been defeated by Poisson, Ville might not have felt so dejected.

Because, in the entire French Academy of Sciences and even the whole scientific community, the number of people who could contend with him in an arm wrestle could be counted on one hand.

What made him feel even more frustrated was the paper he held in his hand— ”On the Application of Mathematical Analysis to Electromagnetism.”

He couldn’t understand how, with just over half an hour, Sir Hastings from London could produce such a logically rigorous and flaw-free masterpiece.

Although this paper did not meet the essay criteria, simply creating such an outstanding piece in such a short time was incomprehensible, especially its definitions of potential functions and non-homogeneous differential equation functions with initial or boundary conditions, which were groundbreaking.

In short, if this was indeed written in just half an hour, it would be inhuman.

Therefore, Ville could only believe that Sir Hastings had been polishing this paper for a long time and merely rewrote it today.

Still, even so, Sir Arthur Hastings’s achievements in mathematics had surely reached a terrifying level. He was absolutely not as he claimed, a laggard in the field of mathematics; rather, he was an outstanding mathematician possessing the strength to challenge academicians of the Academy’s Mathematics Department.

But clearly, Ville had completely misunderstood Arthur’s paper running off-theme.

Arthur had never written a mathematical paper, nor had he ever composed a draft in his mind. The paper was entirely ghostwritten by the Red Devil Agares. As for why the Red Devil went off-theme, it was because he did not fully acknowledge the fundamental equations of fluid mechanics derived by Arthur.

In the view of this well-learned Duke of Hell, these fundamental equations, which could not explain all fluid phenomena, were a heap of foul-smelling garbage.

It was like Agares asking Arthur: Do you know how many ways there are to write the word ”fennel bean”?

Arthur told him: I know the word has nine strokes and starts with the ”grass” radical.

Of course, Agares couldn’t say that Arthur was completely wrong, but Arthur’s correctness was indeed very limited.

Therefore, after the Red Devil and Arthur spent quite some time nitpicking over the contract, the Duke of Hell only agreed to pay half of the reward.

Just as Arthur got half of the answer right, the Red Devil only agreed to help Arthur write one mathematical paper, regardless of whether it stayed on topic.

Still, even a paper written out of spite was sufficient to strike a heavy blow to Ville, who had been working on his paper for years.

As for the fundamental equations of fluid mechanics deemed by Agares as ’nine strokes with the ”grass” radical’, they enraged two other individuals.