Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 447

Chapter 447: Chapter 20, Scientific Research
 

The setting sun dipped below the horizon, and the colorful clouds rose, casting Vienna in even more splendid hues.

The busy people had no time to appreciate this beautiful scene. Orabefer was an exception, as the laboratory had recently assigned him an easy task, which was akin to a vacation.

Bathed in the twilight, Orabefer did not forget the work in his hands. He picked up what seemed to be an earpiece and somewhat resembled a mouthpiece and shouted loudly into it.

Indeed, this was his day’s work. Since it was a vacation, there wasn’t much else to do. Three telephone tests each day comprised his daily work.

At first, the tests were conducted just outside the laboratory, but the distance incrementally increased. Now, Orabefer was over twenty kilometers away from the laboratory—if he went any farther, he would be leaving Vienna.

Orabefer had been working at the Royal Academy of Sciences for five years, and without any surprises, overtime was commonplace at scientific research institutions.

In five years, Orabefer’s longest vacation had never exceeded three days. A so-called “long vacation” merely meant a transfer to a more relaxed position to ease the pressure.

Telephone research has always been one of the key projects of the laboratory. The term “telephone” has been around in Europe since the 18th century, and in 1860, Antonio Meucci from Italy had invented the telephone.

However, the device was not very practical, or it simply didn’t work. Historically, it’s recognized that the invention of the telephone was credited to Bell in 1876, mainly because Bell’s improvements made it practically valuable.

Of course, waiting that long was out of the question. This relatively easy-to-conquer technology had long been targeted by Franz.

From the testing distance, it was clear that the Royal Academy of Sciences had already taken the first step in telephone research and was not far from success.

If one disregarded call quality, phones were already capable of “intra-city voice chatting,” which had a certain commercial value.

The birth of the telephone was intended to facilitate communication. Just tens of kilometers of call coverage clearly wasn’t enough to meet Franz’s requirements.

Improving call quality became the biggest challenge. Should voice transmission technology breakthrough, expanding the calling distance would be convenient.

Worst case, resort to manual switching—Franz did not hold such high expectations as to assume an immediate realization of intelligent switching.

Oscar, on the other end of the line, exclaimed in surprise, “Orabefer, keep it down, I’m not deaf.”

A joyous feeling rose in Orabefer’s heart as the call quality had improved. Almost daily, they would replace equipment and test various bits and pieces of innovation.

Inventing and innovating can often be tedious; only through the wild ideas of research personnel, coupled with extensive experimentation, can one achieve the final results.

Naturally, luck was also crucial. Nearly all scientists acknowledge that research requires good fortune; those unlucky tend not to suit scientific endeavors.

In high spirits, Orabefer retorted, “I got it, Oscar. If you were deaf, you wouldn’t be complaining about my loud voice.

However, I think your focus should not be on that right now. It seems the call quality has improved this time; success isn’t far away.”

Improved call quality did not equate to success. After all, it was only a dedicated phone line, which didn’t carry economic value in practical applications.

But the laboratory had this advantage—it could divide the work and research multiple technologies simultaneously, with each technology being tackled by several teams.

They pursued a quantity-driven approach, which was vastly more advantageous compared to individual researchers.

Take telephone research as an example; this priority project involved participation by hundreds of people. It was divided into dozens of teams working on areas such as voice quality, telephone exchanges, telephone lines, and more.

Any technological advancement was crucial to this project. Bonuses were naturally forthcoming, and in this regard, Franz was always generous.

Love alone can’t power science; that little bit of electricity can’t sustain an entire industry. Austria’s scientific field had been developing quite well in recent years, with the Royal Academy of Sciences playing a significant role.

Investment of millions of Divine Shield each year became the driving force behind the progress of Austrian science and technology.

Compared to the telephone, phonograph technology was more mature, and the related patents had all been registered. Market sales were expected to commence after this year’s Christmas.

Well then, another of Edison’s patents was snatched away. If this continued, Franz seriously doubted whether this inventor would be able to come up with any new ideas in the future.

These inventions and creations no longer fixated Franz on fame. It was proven that as long as one was willing to invest, these technologically feasible and conceptually ready inventions and creations could all be hammered out.

Given these circumstances, Edison’s value significantly decreased. It’s much easier to allure a scientist than to woo a merchant; instead of spending a tremendous amount to chase after a successful “merchant,” it is better to support hundreds of scientific researchers with the same money.

These are the ones who truly strengthen a nation’s power. Since modern times, behind any powerful country, there has always been a group of scientific researchers and engineers.

Without industrial support, the grand ideas of scientists would always remain just ideas. To turn them into reality, one must look to basic industries.

Even scientific and technological progress is closely related; while people focus on titans like Edison and Einstein, they often overlook the quiet foundational researchers behind them.

These individuals lack fame and haven’t made inventions that impact people’s lives; however, all inventions and creations are inseparable from their contributions.

Since the 19th century, most scientific inventions have been concentrated on the European Continent, which reveals a significant issue.

It’s not that other regions lack geniuses, but due to the absence of basic industrial support, these geniuses cannot carry out inventions and creations and must instead take a different path.

In a corner of the scientific research institute, the internal combustion engine project team was still struggling hard.

The technology originated quite early; in the 17th century, the Dutch physicist Huygens had conducted research on using gunpowder explosions to obtain power but failed due to immature gunpowder technology and uncontrollable outcomes.

In 1794, the British inventor Street proposed obtaining power from the combustion of fuel and was the first to put forward the concept of mixing fuel with air.

In 1833, another British inventor, Wright, proposed a design that directly used combustion pressure to drive a piston to do work.

By the mid-19th century, scientists had perfected the theory of converting the heat produced by burning coal gas, gasoline, and diesel into mechanical power, laying the foundation for the invention of the internal combustion engine.

Since the 1860s, the piston internal combustion engine has become a relatively refined machine after continuous improvements and development.

In 1860, the French inventor Lenoir imitated the structure of the steam engine and manufactured the first practical gas engine.

These were external factors that promoted the establishment of the internal combustion engine project. Since the foundation was already laid, Franz naturally would not overlook this epoch-making invention.

Technically speaking, the internal combustion engine could have emerged as early as the 18th century. Of course, scientific research isn’t so straightforward, and in the original timeline, it was delayed until the late 19th century before a breakthrough occurred.

Franz’s drive merely accelerated this process; the internal combustion engine was already born in the laboratory two years prior.

However, because it produced too little power and had no practical value, it could only be displayed in museums. Currently, the second generation of internal combustion engines is in development.

As for when it could be applied in daily life, that would depend on luck. After all, laboratory achievements and commercial application are two different concepts.

In the Royal Academy of Sciences, many “black technologies” still exist that, for various reasons, cannot be introduced. This is most common in medicine and biology, where many effective drugs simply cannot be mass-produced.

It’s not only because industrial technology can’t keep up, but often because the raw materials are too scarce. Especially those drugs processed from herbs that take hundreds of years to grow— even the laboratories themselves lack the raw materials.

Without doubt, the behind-the-scenes supporter of these disorderly researched projects is Franz.

The projects researched in Vienna are still quite decent, but some of the laboratories in Africa are truly horrifying. There was even an incident where lab wastewater discharge led to the extinction of several African tribes.

It can be said to be among the earliest of biochemical weapons, and fortunately, Franz had the foresight to place the laboratories on the African Continent; otherwise, the consequences would have been grave.

Franz has always believed that every outstanding scientist is an adept at courting death. They dare to conduct research directly on many things they don’t fully understand—admiration is almost mandatory.

Many slipshod research projects have led to unimaginable consequences. If Franz were willing, he could be manufacturing biochemical weapons by now.

It is evident, however, that peace-loving Franz has not done so. No one knows how severe the unintended outcomes of scientific research might be once released; Franz is even less willing to try.

In this era, medical technology is limited; releasing an unknown virus could directly decimate humanity, which is not an impossibility.

In this regard, scientists are still quite aware of the importance; after collecting data from each experiment, they handle the waste generated from research with great care.

If one wanted to harm others, collecting these waste materials and sending them away for safekeeping would be quite effective. But of course, such a despicable act is something Franz never engages in.

To deal with laboratory waste, he also had paid a great price. Typically, the waste is incinerated at high temperatures before being transported to secluded places for burial, ensuring it would never remain within the country.