Chapter 391: Chapter 210 History Took a Turn Here (Still 10,000 Words!!)_4

This was actually a little trick he played:

He didn’t tell Xu Yun the specific problem he encountered, wanting to test once more to see if this mysterious peer could give him some surprise again.

Xu Yun’s view on light properties connected directly below the content of the barrel experiment, so Little Niu quickly saw the sentence:

"Have you ever thought about....."

"Light’s attributes..."

"Could it be possible that two situations coexist?"

Upon hearing these words.

Little Niu was first stunned.

Then a tingling sensation rose from his tailbone, straight to his mind.

In Little Niu’s original thoughts.

Xu Yun might pick out some of his flaws, thereby denying his results.

He might also argue logically, clarifying support for either the wave theory or particle theory.

But now, according to Xu Yun’s statement.....

Is light both a wave and a particle?

A substance owning two properties, how can this be possible?

It’s like a person who is physiologically both male and female?

However, out of trust towards Xu Yun.

Little Niu continued to read on.

"In Asian history, there was a very famous alien predecessor named Ultraman Tiga, who liked to simmer large bones into soup."

"Once he discovered through calculation that if you place an opaque circular board in the path of a light beam."

"Due to the diffraction of light at the edge of the circular board, a bright spot should appear at the center of the shadow of the board at a certain distance."

"It’s a very challenging situation to accept, isn’t it? But it did indeed happen."

"And this is a very typical manifestation of wave theory."

"But similarly, in the phenomenon of dispersion, light’s particle theory is also irrefutable."

"Thus, Ultraman Tiga proposed a view: is it possible that light is both a particle and a wave at the same time?"

Upon reading this.

Little Niu was stunned again:

"The center of the shadow, a bright spot?"

Looking throughout human history.

When speaking of academic slaps or remarks that can be recorded in history, there are actually quite a few if you count them.

For example, William Thomson’s phrase "the building of physics is completed; what’s left is just some decorative work," can be considered one such instance.

And the most representative onsite slap in the face must be Poisson’s bright spot.

First mention something.... Or a common knowledge:

In academia, there are many theorems that start with a person’s name.

Examples familiar to everyone include Yang Hui’s Triangle, Maxwell’s Equations, Faraday’s Law, and Reader Handsomeness Principle, which are countless.

These person named theorems are mostly intended to commemorate the contributions of their proposers or inventors, belonging to the concept of ’leaving a name in the annals of time’ in ancient Huaxia.

But Poisson’s bright spot is an absolute exception.

The background of the event traces back to 1818.

Before the Nobel Prize, the most prestigious scientific awards were the Academy Essay Grand Prize of the Gaul Academy of Sciences, and the Copley Medal of the John Bull Royal Academy.

Among these, the Copley Medal was established ten years later than the Gaul’s, but its starting point was higher than Gaul’s.

This award targeted at theoretical research, demonstrated the high prestige of the John Bull Royal Academy.

With the high prestige of this award, certainly more people competed for it.

Therefore, after the establishment of the Copley Medal, it immediately overshadowed the Academy Essay Grand Prize of the Gaul Academy.

England and France were a pair of happy foes, seeing their old neighbor later outshining them, the Gaul Academy began to introspect.

After profound reflection, they also changed their strategy, discussing issues of combining theory and practice.

By 1818.

The topic for the Essay Grand Prize was set as light’s diffraction.

Before this, wave theory and particle theory had already contended for nearly a century.

The representative figure of particle theory was the amazing Old Niu, and wave theory was represented by Huygens and Hook.

Due to the lord’s status in the scientific community, particle theory was prevailing, and wave theory was declining.

And Thomas Young’s double-slit experiment seemed to bring a glimpse of dawn for wave theory, as if there was a chance to suddenly rise from the brink of death, laughing and chatting for a few more years.

The Essay Grand Prize made diffraction the topic, also carrying a bit of the significance of vindicating their old ancestor Huygens.

At that time, Fresnel had just transitioned from civil engineering to optics shortly before, had already shown prominence, and participated in this competition.

Coincidentally.

Fresnel had already considered this issue before the competition, believing that light was a wave, having diffraction phenomena.

Coinciding with this opportunity, he submitted early and awaited the decision of the expert review committee.

The chief expert of the review committee for this event was the renowned Poisson.

And Poisson was a staunch supporter of particle theory, naturally dismissing Fresnel’s answers with disdain.

He calculated that if Fresnel’s theory was correct, a phenomenon that challenged common beliefs would appear:

If you place an opaque circular board in the path of a light beam, due to diffraction at the edge of the circular board, a bright spot should appear at the center of the shadow at a certain distance.

In layman’s terms.... Ahem, simplified common language would be:

You take a flashlight and shine it on an opaque plate, a light spot would appear at the center of the shadow behind the plate.

At the time, this was an impossible situation.

Even looking at it now, it still seems a bit unbelievable.

Young Fresnel did not think prior to this that his theory would have such a miraculous result, but he eventually accepted the challenge.

After meticulous experimentation, finally, it was time to witness the miracle: