This article is the preface to Andrew Robinson's book The Last Man Who Knows Everything, written by Royal Astronomer Martin Reese, and introduces the erudition, humility, and social context of the British scientist and all-rounder Thomas Young, whose achievements were accompanied by the institutionalization of science itself. In today's era, our understanding of everything is broader and more far-reaching. As a result, we can never expect modern scientific generalists to span such a wide range of fields as Thomas Young did. The year 2023 marks the 250th anniversary of Thomas Young's birth, and this article honors this great scholar.
Written by |Martin Rees
Translation | leo
The ...... of the experiments I'm going to talk aboutIt can be reproduced anywhere there is sunlight, and it does not require any device other than the materials that everyone has on hand. This is the English scientist Thomas Young (1773).6.13–1829.5.10) Described the opening of his newly designed double-slit experiment to members of the Royal Society in November 1803. His experiments revealed one of the essences of light, which is one of the important cornerstones of quantum mechanics today.
Today, physics students around the world are familiar with this classic optical experiment, the Young's double-slit experiment (Young's slits), and also know his definition of elasticity - Young's modulus (Young's modulus）。But perhaps not everyone is familiar with Thomas Young's other amazing achievements in science – spanning from fluid mechanics to human vision, covering almost every field;It may not be known that Thomas Young is a trained physician and a self-taught linguist. Not only did he understand many ancient and modern languages, but he also analysed the vocabulary and grammar of some 400 languages, and was known for deciphering the text on the Rosetta Stone.
The encyclopedia would go to great lengths to sum up Thomas Young in this way: 'physicist, physician, and Egyptologist'. Physics and physiology are his forte, medicine is his specialty, and Egyptology is his hobby. But his expertise went far beyond these already vast areas (of his time). Andrew Robinson wrote of Thomas Young in his book, "The Last Man Who Knew Everything." In fact, Thomas Young's work is truly encyclopedic, and he is considered one of the most prolific and learned men in history.
The Last Man Who Understands Everything" cover.
Born in the 70s of the 18th century, Thomas Young spent his early childhood in rural England. At that time, he showed extraordinary talent. The first chapter of the book outlines Thomas Young's ability to surpass his peers in language and mathematics. Although, some "young" prodigies may become "big but not necessarily good" in adulthood, but this is not the case with Thomas Young. His youthful talent and wide range of interests were a sign of his lifelong brilliance. However, it all ended in 1829, when he died at the age of 55.
Some of the achievements of Thomas Young:
Thomas Young became famous for his demonstration of the phenomenon of interference. For this reason, he also advocated the wave theory of light, which contradicted the dominant theory of the time, that is, Newton's theory of the particles of light. A well-rounded scholar, Thomas Young gave a series of brilliant lectures to the Royal Society between 1802 and 1803, which contained insights into mechanics and thermodynamics that were not fully understood until many years later. He was the first to use the word "energy" as a modern scientific term, and he used "energy" to measure the work done by a system. Thomas Young was also the first physicist to estimate the diameter of a molecule. He even understood heat and light as the same phenomenon and proposed the modern concept of continuous radiation spectroscopy, where the wavelength of light increases with decreasing frequency. In addition to his work in physics, Young was an acclaimed physiologist, physician, and linguist, pioneering the interpretation of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Social atmosphere and spirit.
For Thomas Young, the timing was right: at the turn of the 18th century, London's social climate was vibrant and culturally inspiring. As Richard Holmes describes in his book The Age of Wonder, about science in the Romantic period: art and science are intertwined. The exploits of explorers and naturalists such as James Cook and Joseph Banks were fused with the creativity of poets such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Not only were the "two cultures" not separated, but there was a close interaction between scientists, literati and explorers.
This spirit can be traced back at least to the founding of the Royal Society in 1660. The Society's founding members, Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Samuel Pepys, and other "wise and curious gentlemen" (as they call them) meet regularly. Their motto is not to believe in authority. They conduct experiments, dissect strange animals, and observe the world through newly invented telescopes and microscopes. They even did an experiment in which the blood of a sheep was transfused into the human body (and the man survived).
In addition to satisfying their curiosity, these pioneers of science were immersed in the practical agendas of their time: improving navigation, exploring the New World, and rebuilding the city after the Great Fire of London. Some of them came from religious backgrounds, and their scientific enlightenment came from Francis Bacon. Bacon believed that scientists should pursue two goals: First, they should become "merchants of light."The second is to promote "human welfare". About a century later, the American Philosophical Society (APS) was founded in Philadelphia to "promote useful knowledge," with the erudite Benjamin Franklin as its inaugural president.
In the 18th century, the Royal Society encouraged the recruitment of young talents. Thomas Young was elected a member for his ** submitted in 1794. It is important to understand the structure of the eyeball and how the human eye "adjusts itself to perceive objects at different distances". He was only 21 years old at the time, and he was elected to membership early on the basis of only one **, which was not so unusual at the time, unlike today. Although, Thomas Young has been active in the society all his life, it may not have had much of an impact on him. In fact, many of the members at the time were wealthy amateurs and did not have much ambition for scientific achievements.
By the end of the 18th century, the Royal Society – like Oxford and Cambridge – had little vitality. In the early 19th century, London's strong scientific scene led to the establishment of other academic societies. Some are specialized, such as the Linnean Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. One of them, the Royal Institution (RI), founded in 1799, can truly rival the influence of the Royal Society.
Scientific Visualization: This 1807 ** is an illustration of Thomas Young's 1802 lecture at the Royal Academy of Sciences. The diagram illustrates several optical phenomena, including ocular anatomy and double-slit interference. Source: wiki
The Royal Academy was funded by a well-known but cynical adventurer, Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumfod), enough for the Royal Academy to build a beautiful building on Albemarle Street in central London. Ramford's most famous scientific contribution is his theory of heat, thanks to his experiments with guns and explosives. Through the study of the boring process of metal artillery, he realized that heat is not a substance, there is no such thing as "caloric", heat is the energy produced by the vibration of atoms and molecules.
Ramford envisioned that the Royal Academy was more than just a research and experimental institution, and that its mission should also include disseminating science to a wider audience. In fact, the Royal Academy is fortunate to have two outstanding chairmen, Humphry D**y and Michael Faraday. Both are outstanding scientists, and they also promote the popularization of science through weekly "lectures" and other means. These lectures attracted many of London's elite and continue to this day, albeit less popular. In 1801, Thomas Young became one of the first professors at the institution. Although his lectures were not as charismatic as Faraday's, his lectures were comprehensive and informative, and the publications of his lectures were important knowledge of the era**.
Go beyond the "gentleman scientist".
By this time, Thomas Young had decided to become a professional doctor. Although he inherited a small inheritance, he was not rich enough to be a lifelong "gentleman scientist". He studied Xi medicine in London and Edinburgh and travelled to Göttingen and Cambridge in the nineties of the 18th century for further study. His professional training allowed him to make ends meet as a doctor, and his dedication and dedication to the medical field made his scientific achievements even more remarkable.
While working in medicine, Thomas Young maintained contact with the Royal Institution and became treasurer before becoming foreign secretary in 1804. In his later years, he was asked to be president of the academy, but he politely declined because he did not like the work of the committee and official activities.
Nonetheless, he took on a number of important managerial roles, the most important of which were secretary of the Board of Longitude and, from 1819, director of the Nautical Almanac. The journal was first published in 1714 and they offered a reward of £20,000 for those who were able to determine the method of longitude of a ship at sea (within a specified margin of error). In the end, John Harrison, a carpenter and clockmaker from Yorkshire, won the prize. This council has existed for more than a century, funding expeditions and scientific discoveries. In essence, this is the first "research committee".
The Nautical Almanac is published annually detailing the positions of the celestial bodies. This kind of high-precision data is crucial for astronomers, and sailors at sea want simpler, more useful information. Their disagreements inevitably sparked heated controversy and led to the dissolution of the Longitude Commission in 1828. To be sure, this was a painful turn for Thomas Young in his later years.
This division between professionals was an early example of the fragmentation of the subject area, a trend that continues to this day. Humanity's understanding of every science has become deeper and deeper, and most research requires sophisticated equipment and team cooperation, and our understanding of everything is broader, more far-reaching, and more difficult to touch. As a result, we can never expect modern scientific generalists to span such a wide range of fields as Thomas Young did.
Oblivion, forgotten.
As Robinson describes in his book, the great 19th-century physicist and physiologist Hermann von Helmholtz;After the death of Thomas Young, they shared the credit of trichromatic vision theory) argued that "Thomas Young was" one of the most perceptive men of all time, but unfortunately he was ahead of his contemporaries. They looked at him in amazement, but were unable to follow his bold conjectures, so many of his important ideas were obliterated and forgotten in the Transactions of the Royal Society, until later generations rediscovered his discoveries and began to agree with the accuracy of his arguments and conclusions. ”
Of course, at the beginning of the 19th century, some techniques and crafts had been professionalized and developed over the centuries: the construction of cathedrals, ships and bridges, which still amaze us today;The steam engine was improved without the guidance of thermodynamic theory. However, in the field of understanding the material world and the principles in which it works, the so-called "science", we have not invested as much of our intellect in the "applied arts".
Scientific presentations. This is a cartoon published in 1802 by the English cartoonist James Gillray. It depicts Thomas Young and his assistant Humphrey David doing a demonstration experiment on "The Power of the Atmosphere" at the Royal Academy. Source: wiki
In fact, in Young's day, the word "scientist" did not exist. The term was introduced in 1833 by the erudite William Whewell, an academic empowered at Cambridge University. However, he opposed the formal teaching of science, insisting that young people should focus on the eternal truths of mathematics and theology. It was only later that science was established as a major and integrated into the curriculum of the University of Cambridge. This has also given rise to a symbiosis between "pure science" and "applied science", which has shaped the modern world.
Gifted, well-learned, and visionary, Thomas Young is also a humble and friendly man. We can imagine his sincere help and comfort to his patients, even though he knew better than anyone how limited the level of medical care was in his time. Before the invention of anesthetics or the "germ theory", much of the medical work relied on the anatomical knowledge and manipulation skills of surgeons, as well as potions prepared by pharmacists.
As a polymath (all-rounder), Thomas Young is often underestimated by posterity, both for his achievements and for his personality. But Yang himself was skeptical of erudition, writing shortly before his death: "For humans, it is better for some researchers to confine their research to a narrow confines, while others are able to explore a wider field of study more quickly." ”
As a contemporary historian with an interest in polymath, Alexander Murray of Oxford University explains: "History is not kind to polymath. No biographer wants to easily dabble in a subject whose professional competence far exceeds their own. And the rest of us, whether biographies are readable or not, do not have a corresponding place in the brain for polymato. As a result, polymath will be forgotten or, at best, compressed into a field that we can study. It's like, although Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) declared himself a scientist, he is a poet in our hearts;Although D**id Hume wrote six volumes of The History of England, he is often regarded only as a philosopher. ”
Therefore, we should be grateful to Robinson for overcoming these challenges by vividly portraying Thomas Young with a broad perspective, showing the life of this great polymath.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC 4.).0) Translated from Martin Ress, Foreword; andrew robinson, the last man who knew everything: thomas young. cambridge, uk:
open book publishers, 2023,
Original address: About the author. 
Martin Rees (1942-), British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He was the 15th Astronomer Royal, Dean of Trinity College, University of Cambridge from 2004 to 2012, and President of the Royal Society from 2005 to 2010. He has received numerous honours, including the Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal, the Albert Einstein Prize in World Science, the Michael Faraday Prize in Science Communication, the Cafford Prize, the Isaac Newton Medal, and the ICTP Dirac Medal. Rees has published more than 500 studies** and is the author of 10 popular science books, including Just Six Numbers, Our Cosmic Habitat, Gr**ity's Fatal Attraction, and more.
Producer: Popular Science China.