Chapter 492: The Four Great Academies of Science

The research and development of penicillin is not that easy; even if Gao Da is willing to invest a large amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, he still has to pray that these researchers possess sufficient luck.

To increase the possibility of Spain being the first to discover penicillin, Gao Da even had the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Pharmaceutical Group hire the discoverer of penicillin, British bacteriologist, biochemist, and microbiologist Alexander Fleming, several years ago.

For those who do not know much about medicine, the name Alexander Fleming sounds quite unfamiliar.

But for those who have dabbled in medicine or are familiar with the history of human medical development, the name Alexander Fleming is absolutely thunderous, and the impression is quite profound.

As the scientist who first discovered penicillin, Alexander Fleming ranked 45th in the "List of the 100 Most Influential People in Human History" written by American scholar Michael H. Hart in later generations; this aspect can also verify his contribution to humanity.

Although later generations already have more anti-infective drugs, penicillin played a pioneering role among anti-infective drugs.

If it were not for Alexander Fleming discovering penicillin first, the time for humanity to possess anti-infective drugs would have been delayed by several more years.

And penicillin played a quite important role in World War II; it can be said that the penicillin discovered by Alexander Fleming saved hundreds of millions of wounded soldiers and civilians in World War II; such a contribution is indelible.

The process of Spain inviting Alexander Fleming was almost a "buy one, get one free" deal.

Alexander Fleming was born in 1881 and is only in his early 30s so far, which is considered quite young in the scientific community.

Because he was relatively young, Alexander Fleming could not obtain sufficient external support to start his own research projects and could only serve as an assistant to his mentor, Wright, conducting some research he was interested in during his spare time while helping Wright with various studies.

In this regard, Fleming's teacher, Wright, was quite tolerant.

Although there were no strict regulations, the academic authorities of this era basically did not support their assistants in conducting independent scientific research according to their own interests.

On one hand, this is because doing so would affect their own research progress; on the other hand, it is also because they did not want their research funding wasted on their assistants.

That Alexander Fleming could conduct research he was interested in during his spare time was already quite rare for the scientific community of this era.

In the process of inviting Alexander Fleming to come to Spain, intelligence personnel also discovered the good relationship between Fleming and his mentor, Wright.

Considering that Wright himself was also a quite prestigious bacteriologist and microbiologist, the intelligence personnel simply decided to go all the way and directly invited Wright's entire research team to Spain.

When they first received the invitation from Spain, both Alexander Fleming and Wright were quite surprised and astonished.

At this time, neither Alexander Fleming nor Wright were anywhere near as famous as they would be in later generations. Alexander Fleming was just an ordinary researcher who had obtained the qualification to open an independent clinic but gave up surgery to turn to bacteriology and microbiology; his assistant salary was also among the lowest of all Wright's assistants.

Although Wright already had quite a reputation, it was limited to the scientific research field within the UK and had not reached the level of being famous throughout Europe.

Although the invitation from Spain was a bit hasty and sudden, after hearing clearly that the invitation came from the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, neither Wright nor Alexander Fleming had any contempt or indifference toward this invitation.

Every European country has organizations similar to the Royal Academy of Sciences; the UK has the Royal Society, Germany has the Prussian Royal Academy of Sciences, France has the Academy of Sciences, and Spain naturally has the Royal Academy of Sciences.

Although the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences was established relatively late among many European countries, because the Spanish royal family invested heavily in it, it also made quite a name for itself in Europe.

Coupled with the outstanding achievements Spain has made in the fields of airships, dreadnoughts, and electricity, the great name of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences has spread throughout Europe.

Currently, the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, the British Royal Society, the German Prussian Royal Academy of Sciences, and the French Academy of Sciences are collectively known as the Four Great Academies of Science in Europe, hailed as the four official academic organizations with the densest talent and the most top-tier scientists in Europe.

The current Wright and Alexander Fleming are not qualified to join the British Royal Society, and they have never imagined that they could join the Four Great Academies of Science.

Now that they have received an invitation from the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, after confirming that this invitation is real, it is difficult for them not to be tempted.

Although Alexander Fleming and his mentor Wright are both British, Europeans of this era did not place that much importance on nationality itself.

Immigration was already a very common thing in this era; population flow between European countries was very frequent, and taking up a position at an academy of sciences in another country was not a difficult thing to do.

Especially when Wright and Alexander Fleming learned of the conditions offered by the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, they immediately turned from being tempted to being excited.

There was no help for it; the conditions offered by the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences were simply too generous, making it impossible for them to refuse.

As the academic research institution that Gao Da values most, the degree of importance attached to the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences in Spain is enough to be comparable to the national defense department.

The only difference is that the military budget of the national defense department is provided by the government, while most of the research and development funding for the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences is provided by the Spanish royal family.

The "Royal" in the name of the Royal Academy of Sciences is well-deserved; the Spanish royal family also has a share in the scientific research projects developed by many scientists at the academy.

Many scientists are naturally aware of such regulations, and they are not repulsed by it. If there were no funding support from the Spanish royal family, a large portion of these scientists would not even be able to continue their scientific research.

Although after receiving funding support, the Spanish royal family has a share in every discovery and invention, isn't this also a kind of insurance measure?

If the effect and benefits of the finally discovered and invented items are not great, the entire research and development project is likely to lose money. **CHAPTER 493: Talent and Education**