## Chapter 47: The Duke’s Invitation
As soon as Faraday asked his question, Arthur felt a sense of unease.
A graduate of the University of London with a degree in history, he knew next to nothing about the current state of scientific advancement.
To prevent further embarrassment by explaining Lorentz force and introducing a bunch of new concepts that weren’t yet invented, he smartly employed the evasion and questioning techniques he had honed at Scotland Yard and in the Magistrate’s Court.
Scratching the back of his head, Arthur feigned embarrassment and said, “Mr. Faraday, I apologize for the misunderstanding. I’m from Yorkshire, so my accent isn’t as standard as the Londoners. What I said wasn’t ‘Lorenz,’ it was ‘Lawrence.'”
Faraday was taken aback, “Lawrence? They do sound similar.”
“Let’s not dwell on that,” Arthur replied, “was there anything else you found confusing in my explanation of the left-hand rule?”
Faraday thought for a moment, “Nothing else, things like electric charge are basic concepts. Besides, your accent wasn’t as strong in other parts, I understood everything clearly.”
Hearing this, Arthur finally relaxed.
The absence of electrons wasn’t a problem, the concept of electric charge was enough.
With his confidence restored, Arthur spoke with a more relaxed tone.
“Mr. Faraday, you should know that ‘Lawrence’ means ‘crown’ and ‘honor.’
This also reflects my view of the Lawrence force, it’s like an honor, seemingly existing but not truly existing.
Perhaps it only exists in people’s imaginations.
In other words, I speculate that it might exist, but I cannot confirm its existence. It might just be a nominal force.”
Faraday furrowed his brow in thought, “You mean, this so-called Lawrence force is just a guess of yours?”
“Exactly.”
“Then what’s your definition of it?”
Seeing that Faraday and the audience were completely swept along by him, Arthur confidently began his questioning.
“Tell me, what’s the current academic definition of electric current?”
Faraday replied without hesitation, “Electric current was first proposed by the Italian scientist Galvani. After a long debate, Mr. Benjamin Franklin discovered positive and negative charges in the 1750s. After years of discussion, the academic community finally unified and defined the direction of positive charge movement as the direction of electric current.”
Arthur finally smiled, “As you mentioned in your speech and experiment, electricity can generate magnetism, and magnetism can generate electricity. And you should know that there is an interaction force between electricity and magnetism.
Therefore, while observing your experiment, I guessed that if electric current is composed of electric charges, then those newly generated charges should also be subject to force during their movement in the magnetic field.
Ampere’s force is the force of a magnetic field on electric current, while the Lawrence force I mentioned is the force experienced by a moving charge in a magnetic field.
Although both are forces on electricity, one is macroscopic, while the other is microscopic.”
Hearing Arthur’s explanation, Faraday’s brow furrowed. After pondering for a moment, he seemed to understand something.
He asked, “So, you believe that Ampere’s force is the resultant force of this so-called Lawrence force?”
Arthur nodded, “Exactly.”
Faraday stroked his forehead and said with a smile, “I must say, it’s an interesting guess, and it sounds very logical.
However, based on current scientific research, although we know that electric charges exist, they are just point masses in our imagination that have mass but no volume or shape, an extremely idealized model.
No wonder you call this force the Lawrence force. In the current situation, it is indeed a crown and honor that we can’t see or touch but feel its presence.”
Arthur smiled, “I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you much tangible progress, it’s just a personal, unrealistic guess of mine.”
As soon as Arthur finished speaking, the Red Devil muttered under his breath, “Hey! Damn it, Arthur, you’re pretty damn accurate with your guesses.”
Although the so-called Lawrence force was just a guess, Faraday didn’t hide his admiration for Arthur.
He patted Arthur on the shoulder with a smile, “Young man, science needs guesses.
Until someone proves you wrong, you might be right, no one can easily deny you.
Before I got the experimental results, many people didn’t believe that magnetism could generate electricity, but it did. Science is so wonderful.
Maybe one day in the future, the Lawrence force you mentioned will become a reality.
By the way, I haven’t asked your name yet.”
Arthur bowed slightly, “Arthur Hastings.”
“Arthur Hastings?” Faraday was stunned for a moment when he heard the name, then he pondered, “I think I’ve heard this name somewhere.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a lady sitting not far away exclaimed, “Scotland Yard police uniform, wearing shiny epaulets, the name is Arthur Hastings, and he is also very young.
My God! He, he wouldn’t be the Arthur, the officer who saved the poor child in the Magistrate’s Court, would he?”
“The officer who was reported in the newspapers all over the place recently?”
“The embodiment of justice, the role model of the public, the strongest voice of Scotland Yard?”
“Oh! It might really be him! Young and ambitious, and so knowledgeable, only such a person could convince the jury and the Magistrate.”
For a while, the once quiet venue was once again buzzing with activity.
Everyone began to stand up and applaud, both to pay tribute to Faraday’s new discovery and to show respect for Arthur’s rich knowledge and past experience.
Seeing the audience standing up and Arthur, who rarely blushed but still maintained his composure and waved back to the audience, Faraday, the pioneer of electromagnetism, couldn’t help but laugh and say,
“Officer Hastings, who said that Lawrence represents the crown and honor? Look at these standing and applauding audiences, your surname Hastings is the true crown and honor.
Why don’t we call it the Lawrence force, let’s call it the Hastings force. Even if it’s invisible and intangible, as long as the public doesn’t deny it, your name will always be there!”
Arthur was surprised, “Is that really okay?”
“Of course,” Faraday smiled and extended his hand to Arthur, “Besides, I hope you will allow me to cite your two rules in my upcoming paper for explanation. Would you agree?”
Arthur looked at Faraday’s outstretched hand, pondered for a moment, and said,
“I can agree to your citation, but before that, I hope you will agree to a request from me.”
“What request?”
Arthur said seriously, “To be honest, I actually came here today to listen to a chemistry lecture. But…”
Faraday laughed out loud, “So that’s why, I’m more confident in chemistry than electromagnetism.
If you want to learn about it, you can come to me anytime. If I’m not here, then I must be in the Royal Society’s laboratory.
Oh, right, I can ask the President to get you a pass to the Royal Society, so you can come and go to the academy whenever you want.”
As Faraday said this, he turned to find the President.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he turned around, he saw a servant in a dark black suit running towards Arthur.
The servant bowed slightly and said to Arthur, “Mr. Hastings, the Duke of Sussex, President of the Royal Society, requests your presence.”
(End of chapter)