Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Lunch in Academia (1)
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The presentation itself wrapped up quickly. There were no slides or anything, and dragging it out would just make people tune out. Professors are human too.
"Any questions?"
The response was explosive.
People shot their hands up and stared at me. Some with eyes promising rebuttals, some baffled, others intrigued.
Anyway, they were all looking our way. Amid the barrage of raised hands, I glanced briefly at Estina. See what I told you?
"Yes. These microparticles—what we call bacteria—are everywhere you can imagine. So not just before surgery, but before seeing any patient, you should always wash your hands."
I turned to the next questioner.
"The evidence that stained microparticles are living things is this: they react to stimuli like temperature, consume nutrients and grow, and their numbers increase over time."
A straightforward answer.
"How did you even observe that?"
"It's on about the second page of the paper. Observations of microbial colonies using culture medium. Colonies are visible to the naked eye."
Next person.
"The microscope isn't a magical tool. It uses lens refraction. Whether magic is involved in making it... I'm not sure."
It was like a new world opening up. The academic world would be buzzing for a while, observing all sorts of microbes and jotting down their traits.
"How do we know this is true? It could be fabricated or falsified."
"We might have missed something. But it's a relatively simple experiment to replicate, so I encourage everyone to try it when you have time."
The auditorium hummed with an energy unlike anything before.
"Diseases come from bad air, and the corruption or foul smells from wounds as a result are the proof. I grant you the discovery of microparticles, but it's hard to accept they're the cause of decay or disease."
Fair point. A perfectly reasonable doubt.
The evidence there was still thin.
This wasn't enough to fully prove that the bacteria we found weren't just present at disease sites, but the actual cause.
In this world, the mechanisms of bacterial reproduction, spread, or pathogenesis weren't properly understood.
Time to deflect smoothly.
"I don't see it as a perfectly mutually exclusive hypothesis. Given the size of the microparticles, it's very possible they travel through the air under certain conditions. Bad air might not be entirely wrong."
Simply put, the question was what exactly was in that bad air.
"Any more questions?"
A healer in the front row raised her hand. Violet, the Imperial Healer. Looked like the palace infirmary poker game was slow today.
"Yes."
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Professor Asterix, you're aware that much of today's claims go against the academic consensus, right?"
"Of course."
"Practices like not needing to wash before surgery, the idea that disease is spread not by particles or insects but by amorphous contaminated air. Even the common knowledge that the basic unit of the human body is the small sphere."
Instead of playing poker in the infirmary, why come all the way to hassle me at the conference?
"Not needing to wash before surgery is hard to swallow. Washing is always good."
"Yes."
"Saying disease is carried by smell is only half right. Smell is something we can sense. But plagues don't only spread when there's a smell, do they?"
Violet nodded.
"The basic unit of the body is observable under a microscope. No room for debate—just look for yourself."
"Then. Show me."
Dozens of gazes snapped to Violet, then back to me. So that's why you asked, Violet.
I could show them. Just hadn't bothered lugging the microscope here.
I looked at Estina.
"Estina. Can you fetch the microscope?"
"Uh, yeah. It'll take a bit."
This was the academy's internal auditorium. Going to the lab for the microscope wasn't impossible. Would take a few minutes, though.
"Then... go get it."
"Got it."
Estina dashed out of the auditorium. The crowd stared at me.
"Uh, Estina will be back in a few minutes. With the microscope and slides."
The auditorium fell silent in an instant. Anticipation? Using the break for personal chats? Or had curiosity waned for a moment?
"Uh, we've got some time now. Did everyone enjoy a good lunch?"
Not even a chuckle at the joke.
Violet was one of the few still watching me.
Estina returned about ten minutes later, microscope in tow—wrapped in some blanket-like thing, probably worried about dropping it.
Up it went on the stage table. I adjusted the focus. Hmm, should be visible enough.
"Alright. Everyone line up."
Estina had brought three slides.
A prepared stained colony of yellow grape-like bacteria, a human oral epithelial cell sample, and a water bear from the pond. I dragged a chair up to the microscope.
"See it?"
"Whoa. It really shows up."
"Adjust the focus."
Violet squinted.
"Oh."
"As I said. The existence of cells and microparticles is experimentally proven beyond refutation. Can't you see?"
The line was growing. Everyone was dying to check if cells and bacteria really appeared. Violet nodded.
"It's real."
"Yes."
The line at the microscope started buzzing again. I scanned the crowd.
"Something really shows up."
"How do you prepare the slides?"
"Can we run the experiment ourselves?"
Like I'd tell you not to? Academia isn't like that. It's a jungle of survival of the fittest.
"That's science, isn't it? I'll help however I can, so send letters with questions. Try everything you can."
Estina nodded beside me. The murmurs continued. The line for the microscope kept lengthening.
Time dragged on.
The conference moderator looked flustered. Rightfully so—even he was in line to peek at the microscope.
Curiosity always wins out.
"Uh, sorry. Professor Asterix's presentation has delayed us quite a bit. But with two days left in the conference, we'll postpone a few. Apologies."
The microscope demos and Q&A had overrun by a full hour past schedule. No wonder it was a mess.
"No complaints from me. I was peering through it too. Sorry, but please keep the following presentations brisk."
The crowd murmured.
A few presenters jeered at the moderator.
There's a famous anecdote about the discovery of DNA's structure. Watson, Crick, and Wilkins won the Nobel for it—posthumously for Franklin.
Why bring up Franklin?
Her research, the famous X-ray crystallography image 'Photo 51,' was shared with competitors before publication—without her knowledge. Those competitors were the Nobel trio.
Watson, Crick, and Wilkins drew inspiration from the photo to elucidate DNA's structure. Franklin died of ovarian cancer.
Her co-researchers on the paper didn't get Nobels either.
Anyway,
The point is, these folks wouldn't bat an eye stealing others' research—even from the dead. No point being stingy with textbook stuff anyway.
Above all,
Medical papers need publishing ASAP to save lives. If someone beats me to it, that's a win.
"I talked too much."
"You must be tired."
"You too. Got the microscope?"
"Yes."
Good.
"Still, glad the conference ended on a high note. I was worried your research might get buried or trashed."
"I only wrote the truth. Their loss if they can't accept it."
"Ah, right."
Better than the research getting shot down entirely. Plenty showed interest. Quite a few even wanted to build microscopes.
Professor Klaus was flipping through the conference proceedings. There it was—the paper authored by that Professor Asterix.
Wonder how the presentation went.
He expected it went well. Even setting aside the evidence quality, it was entirely novel. At minimum, rebuttal-hungry folks must have swarmed it.