Philippe Leonard, German physicist, winner of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Physics. He is a very famous experimental physicist, once served as Hertz's assistant, and has made great contributions to the study of the photoelectric effect.
Philip Leonard
However, Leonard, who may be more familiar to everyone, is one of the male protagonists in "The Big Bang Theory", Sheldon's roommate, and he is also an experimental physicist like Philip Leonard.
Leonard of The Big Bang Theory
Leonard of The Big Bang Theory is a roommate with Sheldon, a theoretical physicist. However, in real history, Leonard and the famous theoretical physicist Albert Einstein were a pair of sworn enemies.
This starts with the photoelectric effect.
The photoelectric effect is a magical phenomenon discovered by Hertz, in short, it is to use light higher than a certain frequency to illuminate the metal plate, which will produce an electric current. However, when the frequency of light is lower than a certain value, no matter how much energy is used to illuminate the metal plate, the current will not appear.
photoelectric effect
This phenomenon cannot be explained by classical physics at all. Classical physics believes that light is an electromagnetic wave, and light is converted into electricity, which should be related to the energy of light, but it has nothing to do with the frequency of light.
In 1905, Einstein published his famous paper, "A Tentative View of the Generation and Transformation of Light", which proposed a far-reaching quantum hypothesis of light. He believes that a beam of light is composed of a group of light quanta. The energy of a quantum of light is equal to Planck's constant multiplied by frequency. It is precisely because of these characteristics of light that the photoelectric effect is caused by the conversion of light into electricity, which is related to frequency.
Einstein's theory seemed to explain the photoelectric effect perfectly, but did physicists at the time recognize it? It's a pity – I don't recognize it.
Because in the academic community at that time, the wave theory of light had the absolute upper hand, and classical physics believed that energy should be infinitely separable and continuous. Einstein's light quantum hypothesis is equivalent to saying that energy has the smallest unit and is discontinuous, which is fundamentally contradictory to classical physics theory.
If Einstein's optical quantum hypothesis is acknowledged, then the entire edifice of classical physics will probably have to be torn down and rebuilt, and the cost and time spent are too large. Scientific research, following the Occam Razor Principle, which says, if it's not necessary, don't add something new. To put it bluntly, scientific research is also about cost, economy, efficiency, if not necessary, do not increase the cost, do not add all kinds of conceptual formulas that make physicists scratch their heads and burn their brains.
Occam Razor
Everyone's time is precious, brother you increase the concept formula to waste everyone's time, this is very unfriendly, old iron!
Einstein's light quantum hypothesis just violated the Occam Razor principle, added new conceptual formulas, and still had to tear down the conceptual formulas of the entire classical physics edifice, which would take time and cost to go to the sea, so the light quantum hypothesis would cause general resistance among physicists at that time. Indeed, the most economical way to solve a phenomenon that classical scientific theories cannot explain is to patch it.
The most famous patch in the history of physics, when the numbers are too hypothetical. The reason why this aether patch is to be fought is because the theories of Newton and Maxwell, the two great gods, have produced a serious contradiction, and in order to reconcile this contradiction, a group of mortal physicists have to go through old books and find the concept of aether to put such a twisted patch on the theoretical conflict between the two.
And the big god who stripped away the pseudo-concept of aether was Einstein himself. Einstein's achievement in physics, in simple terms, was to eliminate the aether and create the theory of relativity. He proposed the light quantum hypothesis and became one of the founders of the old quantum mechanics. This subtraction and increase created his status as a physical god.
Einstein, the god of physics
Speaking of the photoelectric effect, at that time, the person who patched the photoelectric effect was Philip Leonard.
He proposed the famous "trigger hypothesis", in simple terms, the role of light in the photoelectric effect, but a presence similar to that of a catalyst, does not participate in the energy conversion itself. Leonard's hypothesis explained the photoelectric effect well without violating classical physics, so physicists at that time generally accepted this view.
However, people who are tough with the god of physics, it seems that except for Pol, there seem to be few good endings.
Einstein's theory caught the attention of the American experimental physicist Robert Andrew Millikan, who at first disagreed with Einstein's views. In order to overthrow Einstein, he spent a decade doing various precision experiments to finally prove that Einstein's theory was correct and also calculated Planck's constant.
Robert Andrew Millikan
Millikan: Believe it or not, I believe it anyway. Brother, I stand up for you!
Although Millikan was punched in the face by experiments, he won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physics for these experiments. With the Nobel Prize, even if it is punched in the face, Millikan is willing to be willing to eat. But as another object of punching in the face, Leonard was depressed. If Einstein was right, then his interpretation was wrong.
Leonard was a narrow-minded, extremely jealous man, and he was a racist, and Einstein stabbed him deeply as his academic nemesis and Jewish identity.
In 1913, Einstein returned to Germany to become director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Physics in Berlin and a professor at humboldt University of Berlin, where he was elected a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Leonard and Einstein are in the same German scientific research circle, the two look down and do not look up, Leonard's jealousy finally broke out, began to use various means in the open and secret to hinder Einstein's research.
In 1914, Einstein applied for a six-thousand-mark grant to go to Russia to take pictures of a total solar eclipse to test his theory of general relativity. Leonard, as a member of the committee, strongly opposed it.
In the American drama "Genius Einstein", Leonard opposes Einstein's funding application
On May 29, 1919, Eddington led an observation team to the west African island of Principe to take photos of the total solar eclipse. After the photo comparison, the correctness of general relativity is verified. The Nobel Committee considered awarding the Nobel Prize to Einstein, which Leonard strongly opposed.
In the American drama "Genius Einstein", Leonard opposed the award of the Nobel Prize to Einstein
However, Einstein's fame was already very, very big at that time, and if the Nobel Prize was not awarded to him, the authority of the Nobel Prize would be questioned. In the end, Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics, and the reason Einstein won the Nobel Prize was not because of relativity, but because of Leonard's most hated light quantum hypothesis. That's tantamount to the Nobel Committee, the entire academic community, denying his past research results and punching him in the face.
He began to oppose relativity in public many times, criticizing Einstein, and advocating the so-called "German physics".
However, Einstein was already a scientific giant comparable to Newton at that time, everyone knew that everyone knew, and there was a celebrity effect blessing, like a golden body. Leonard's objections, like scratching an itch in a boot, could not shake Einstein at all.
It was not until Hitler came to power that Leonard saw the hope of bringing down Einstein, and in order to defeat his old enemies and achieve his own success, he joined the notorious Nazi Party and became Hitler's scientific adviser.
In the American drama "Genius Einstein", Leonard met Hitler and made a Nazi salute
With the help of the Nazis, Leonard was arrogant and put all kinds of pressure on Einstein. In the end, Einstein could not withstand the pressure of all kinds of surging pressures, and immigrated to the United States. In the United States, he wrote to Roosevelt in support of the development of the atomic bomb. Finally, in 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, verifying Einstein's mass-energy equation, forced Japan to surrender, and Ended World War II.
After World War II, in view of Leonard's advanced age, the United States exempted him from de-Nazismization measures, but only two years later, he died of depression.
Leonard was originally a very good experimental physicist, but because of his jealousy of Einstein, he eventually became a Nazi lackey, which cast a thick shadow over his original brilliant image of a scientist.