The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 863: Chapter 6 Royal Society’s Commission_2

However, although Faraday’s speculations were quite reasonable.

Unfortunately, he had not made significant breakthroughs in the field of magneto-optics, and just last year he encountered five major failures in his experiments on magneto-optics.

Nevertheless, Faraday was not discouraged. In fact, he not only was undaunted but also shared his insights with a sharp-minded young officer from Scotland Yard, hoping that this occasionally brilliant young electrical researcher might provide some inspiration.

Mr. Arthur Hastings, after hearing Faraday’s ideas, did nothing but smoke in silence. It was not that he didn’t want to give Faraday some inspiration, but he truly didn’t know if there was any connection between light and magnetism.

As for ether, although he had heard of it, his understanding was limited to a five to ten-minute popular science video.

Although Arthur was reluctant to admit it, faced with the bloody truth, he had to acknowledge that being born two hundred years later did not mean you were any smarter.

However, though he couldn’t help Faraday much in experiments, Arthur was still very willing to be a generous sponsor of science. And he had already made some initial achievements in sponsoring scientific researchers.

If it weren’t for their close relationship, why would Mr. Charles Wheatstone, the current leader in Britain’s field of acoustics, call him ‘Asshole’?

After hearing the academic committee’s report, Faraday suddenly raised his hand and stood up: “Respected gentlemen of the committee, if the Royal Society’s financial situation is indeed difficult, I think you can reduce my salary by thirty percent. Last year, I just received a generous scientific pension from the Cabinet, so I don’t mind giving up a bit of my salary. But the wages of laboratory apprentices are already low, and it would be too much if we reduced them further.”

The academic committee just smiled and gestured for Faraday to sit down.

“Michael, everyone knows your character. When the University of London was newly founded, they offered you a high salary to be their chemistry professor, but you refused. They wanted you to be a full-time professor, but you wanted to focus more on experiments.

The previous Optical Glass Improvement Committee of the Royal Society suggested you make the largest possible optical glass and share the manufacturing technique, so your optical glass could be sold for considerable commercial gains, but you also refused. You felt that such technical work was not conducive to the overall advancement of science.

Since the electromagnetic induction experiments were published, your fame has grown, and more and more people from the business community have approached you, offering increasingly high payments. If you had taken on these jobs, earning 1000 pounds a year would have been easy, but you decided to finish them all after doing a few, because these tasks took too much of your energy, preventing you from delving deeper into your research.

Michael, you are a true natural philosopher. In order to explore the profound essence of nature, you gave up money. The joy of experimental creation is a reward worth countless times more than money.

However, although you don’t care about money, the Royal Society can’t make you rich. But at the very least, we must grant you some basic dignity. This is our respect for you, Michael, and you shouldn’t refuse.”

Faraday smiled and said, “I have already felt everyone’s respect. In my twenty years at the Royal Society, I’ve constantly felt this respect. I have food and shelter here, and I enjoy everyone’s respect. Isn’t this already a dignified life?”

“Of course it is, and I greatly envy your dignity. If there is one common point among the divided and dissenting people of Britain, it’s that they all greatly respect the name Michael Faraday.”

As soon as Faraday finished speaking, he saw a gentleman wearing a top hat and tailcoat step onto the podium. The smiling young man took off his hat and bowed slightly to Faraday: “It’s been a long time since I asked after you. Good afternoon, Mr. Faraday.”

“Arthur?”

Seeing this familiar face, Faraday felt an uncanny sense of nostalgia.

Perhaps he had shut himself in his laboratory for too long. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed, yet Faraday felt as if he had last seen Arthur just yesterday.

Faraday chuckled and said, “Arthur, did you submit an application to join the Royal Society recently? I didn’t know you had become my new colleague.”

Arthur smiled and replied, “I certainly hope to stand in the same ranks as you, but in my opinion, based on my contributions to academia, I currently do not qualify to join the Royal Society. There are many more outstanding individuals ahead of me in line. However, I am grateful for your blessings, as I sincerely hope that one day I will be able to join the Royal Society.”

Faraday jokingly said, “Then you need to come to the laboratory more often. I’m not saying the technical research you do with Mr. Wheatstone is bad, but to join the Royal Society, we actually place more value on your progress in theoretical fields.”

Arthur smiled and responded, “That day will come, but first, we need to solve the immediate problem, don’t we?”

Faraday was stunned and asked, “What problem are you referring to? Have you found the universal link between light and magnetism?”