Chapter 16, The Devil's Advocate - (2)
"At least for now, I haven't found any mathematical issues. His mathematical tools are quite impressive," Laplace said. "It's just that explaining light with waves still has some unexplained phenomena, like what properties the ether must possess to transmit waves as fast as light. And if he interprets light as a transverse wave, why aren't there longitudinal waves in the ether?"
"Ah, my friend, you have too many questions, and I don't think we'll see answers to any of them in our lifetime, or even hope for it," Lavosier said. "It's indeed a significant problem in the wave theory. Ether is such a unique thing, almost as mysterious as God. It can transmit light at incredible speedsif light is indeed a wave. This means it's incredibly rigid, harder than diamond by many orders of magnitude. It fills the entire universe, yet it's so rigid, but it doesn't obstruct anything in the universe. It doesn't impede even the tiniest speck of dust's movementindeed, we can't find any resistance coming from the 'ether.' It's a real puzzle... Ah, my friend, I suggest we don't think about that cursed 'ether' problem for now. Our knowledge and means are too far from it. Studying it now is like a kitten that just weaned, trying to catch a whale."
"Mr. Lavosier, a whale is not a fish," Laplace chuckled.
"I know that, of course," Lavosier also chuckled, "but... but the kitten doesn't know."
"Yes, the kitten doesn't know," Laplace said. "In fact, aren't we all kittens? We don't know either."
"So, I've always believed that experiments come first. All theories ultimately need to be tested with experiments. At least his calculations work quite well with the 'Babinet's shadow.' As for the 'ether,' or whether there are other interpretations from a particle perspective, that's up to others to decide," Lavosier said. "But even in this matter, even if he is ultimately wrong, the error itself has value."
"I agree with that," Laplace said. He then lowered his head to look at the paper and added, "I'll come up with a new explanation. But for now, please allow me to finish my calculations on this paper. Then we can take this paper to show it to Mr. Monge, Coulomb, and Mr. Condorcet..."
However, things took a different turn when they reached Monge and Coulomb.
"To be honest, those mathematical tools in this paper are interesting, and there are even more interesting things later on. It would have been a great paper if it stuck to discussing mathematics," Monge frowned, "but he uses it to prove such absurd views; it's just..."
"If he's willing to revise this paper, it would be better," Coulomb also said.
Now that he had the invitation, Joseph made preparations and dressed in formal attire that he hadn't worn in a year, taking a public carriage (mainly to avoid getting dust on his shoes). He headed toward the Louvre.
The Louvre was located on the north bank of the Seine River, dating back to the 12th century, making it one of France's oldest royal palaces. During the reign of Louis XIII, Richelieu established the Royal Academy of Sciences and placed it within the Louvre. Later, during the latter part of Louis XIV's rule, the palace was expanded, and the king moved to Versailles. From that point on, the French kings no longer resided in the Louvre, but the Academy of Sciences remained.
Arriving at the Louvre's entrance, Joseph got out of the carriage, straightened his clothes, and approached the grand entrance. In this era, the modern glass pyramid at the Louvre did not exist. Instead, the entrance was a conventional door.
Joseph reached the entrance and presented his invitation to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper, peering through his reading glasses, inspected the invitation, didn't raise his head, but glanced at Joseph through the gap in the glasses' frame. He then said, "Mr. Bonaparte, please wait here briefly. I need to verify the situation."
Joseph nodded and waited outside for a moment until a liveried servant, wearing a red coat and a wig, approached. He opened the door and gestured for Joseph to enter.
Joseph followed the servant inside the Louvre. The servant led him through one hall after another until they finally reached a small reception room.
"Mr. Bonaparte," the servant turned around and, with a slight bow, said, "Mr. Condorcet, Mr. Laplace, and Mr. Monge are waiting for you inside."
With that, he opened the door, which was covered in calf leather, indicating that Joseph could enter on his own.
Joseph walked in and found three people already sitting in the room. As he entered, they stood up. One of them, a lean middle-aged man with a high forehead, spoke, "Is this Mr. Joseph Bonaparte? I am Laplace. This is my friend, Mr. Condorcet, a member of the Academy, and this is my friend, Laplace."
Joseph exchanged greetings with each of the men. Condorcet was stockier than Laplace and had a broader face, appearing to have a gentler temperament. Laplace, the younger of the three, had a slightly hawkish nose and was the mathematician who had terrified Joseph in his previous life.
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