01/17/2012 02/12/2018 by ☭ USSR ☭

There were many outstanding figures in our country, which we, unfortunately, forget, not to mention the discoveries that were made by Russian scientists and inventors. The events that turned the history of Russia upside down are also not known to everyone. I want to correct this situation and recall the most famous Russian inventions.

1. Airplane - Mozhaisky A.F.

The talented Russian inventor Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky (1825-1890) was the first in the world to create a life-size airplane capable of lifting a person into the air. As is known, people of many generations, both in Russia and in other countries, worked on solving this complex technical problem before A.F. Mozhaisky; they followed different paths, but none of them managed to bring the matter to practical experience with a full-scale aircraft. A.F. Mozhaisky found the right way to solve this problem. He studied the works of his predecessors, developed and supplemented them, using his theoretical knowledge and practical experience. Of course, he did not manage to resolve all the issues, but he did, perhaps, everything that was possible at that time, despite the extremely unfavorable situation for him: limited material and technical capabilities, as well as distrust of his work on the part of the military-bureaucratic apparatus Tsarist Russia. Under these conditions, A.F. Mozhaisky managed to find the spiritual and physical strength to complete the construction of the world's first aircraft. It was a creative feat that forever glorified our Motherland. Unfortunately, the surviving documentary materials do not allow us to describe in the necessary detail the aircraft of A.F. Mozhaisky and its tests.

2. Helicopter– B.N. Yuryev.

Boris Nikolaevich Yuryev is an outstanding aviator scientist, full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, lieutenant general of the engineering and technical service. In 1911, he invented a swashplate (the main component of a modern helicopter) - a device that made it possible to build helicopters with stability and controllability characteristics acceptable for safe piloting by ordinary pilots. It was Yuryev who paved the way for the development of helicopters.

3. Radio receiver— A.S.Popov.

A.S. Popov first demonstrated the operation of his device on May 7, 1895. at a meeting of the Russian Physical-Chemical Society in St. Petersburg. This device became the world's first radio receiver, and May 7th became the birthday of radio. And now it is celebrated annually in Russia.

4. TV - Rosing B.L.

On July 25, 1907, he filed an application for the invention “Method of electrically transmitting images over distances.” The beam was scanned in the tube by magnetic fields, and the signal was modulated (change in brightness) using a capacitor, which could deflect the beam vertically, thereby changing the number of electrons passing to the screen through the diaphragm. On May 9, 1911, at a meeting of the Russian Technical Society, Rosing demonstrated the transmission of television images of simple geometric figures and their reception with reproduction on a CRT screen.

5. Backpack parachute - Kotelnikov G.E.

In 1911, the Russian military man Kotelnikov, impressed by the death of the Russian pilot Captain L. Matsievich at the All-Russian Aeronautics Festival in 1910, invented a fundamentally new parachute RK-1. Kotelnikov's parachute was compact. Its dome is made of silk, the slings were divided into 2 groups and attached to the shoulder girths of the suspension system. The canopy and lines were placed in a wooden, and later aluminum, backpack. Later, in 1923, Kotelnikov proposed a backpack for stowing a parachute, made in the form of an envelope with honeycombs for lines. During 1917, 65 parachute descents were registered in the Russian army, 36 for rescue and 29 voluntary.

6. Nuclear power plant.

Launched on June 27, 1954 in Obninsk (then the village of Obninskoye, Kaluga Region). It was equipped with one AM-1 reactor (“peaceful atom”) with a capacity of 5 MW.
The Obninsk NPP reactor, in addition to generating energy, served as a base for experimental research. Currently, the Obninsk NPP is decommissioned. Its reactor was shut down on April 29, 2002 for economic reasons.

7. Periodic table of chemical elements– Mendeleev D.I.

The periodic system of chemical elements (Mendeleev's table) is a classification of chemical elements that establishes the dependence of various properties of elements on the charge of the atomic nucleus. The system is a graphic expression of the periodic law established by the Russian chemist D.I. Mendeleev in 1869. Its original version was developed by D.I. Mendeleev in 1869-1871 and established the dependence of the properties of elements on their atomic weight (in modern terms, on atomic mass).

8. Laser

Prototype laser masers were made in 1953-1954. N. G. Basov and A. M. Prokhorov, as well as, independently of them, the American C. Townes and his employees. Unlike the Basov and Prokhorov quantum generators, which found a way out by using more than two energy levels, the Townes maser could not operate in a constant mode. In 1964, Basov, Prokhorov and Townes received the Nobel Prize in Physics “for their seminal work in the field of quantum electronics, which made it possible to create oscillators and amplifiers based on the principle of the maser and laser.”

9. Bodybuilding

Russian athlete Evgeniy Sandov, the title of his book “bodybuilding” was literally translated into English. language.

10. Hydrogen bomb– Sakharov A.D.

Andrey Dmitrievich Sakharov(May 21, 1921, Moscow - December 14, 1989, Moscow) - Soviet physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences and politician, dissident and human rights activist, one of the creators of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1975.

11. The first artificial satellite of the earth, the first astronaut, etc.

12. Plaster - N. I. Pirogov

For the first time in the history of world medicine, Pirogov used a plaster cast, which accelerated the healing process of fractures and saved many soldiers and officers from ugly curvature of their limbs. During the siege of Sevastopol, to care for the wounded, Pirogov used the help of sisters of mercy, some of whom came to the front from St. Petersburg. This was also an innovation at that time.

13. Military medicine

Pirogov invented the stages of providing military medical service, as well as methods for studying human anatomy. In particular, he is the founder of topographic anatomy.

Antarctica was discovered on January 16 (January 28), 1820 by a Russian expedition led by Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev, who approached it on the sloops Vostok and Mirny at point 69°21? Yu. w. 2°14? h. d. (G) (area of ​​the modern Bellingshausen ice shelf).

15. Immunity

Having discovered the phenomena of phagocytosis in 1882 (which he reported in 1883 at the 7th Congress of Russian Naturalists and Doctors in Odessa), he developed on their basis a comparative pathology of inflammation (1892), and later - a phagocytic theory of immunity (“Immunity in infectious diseases", 1901 - Nobel Prize, 1908, jointly with P. Ehrlich).

The basic cosmological model in which consideration of the evolution of the Universe begins with a state of dense hot plasma consisting of protons, electrons and photons. The hot universe model was first considered in 1947 by Georgiy Gamow. The origin of elementary particles in the hot universe model has been described since the late 1970s using spontaneous symmetry breaking. Many of the shortcomings of the hot universe model were resolved in the 1980s as a result of the construction of inflation theory.

The most famous computer game, invented by Alexey Pajitnov in 1985.

18. The first machine gun - V.G. Fedorov

An automatic carbine designed for hand-held burst fire. V.G. Fedorov. Abroad, this type of weapon is called an “assault rifle.”

1913 - prototype chambered for a special cartridge intermediate in power (between pistol and rifle).
1916 - adoption (under the Japanese rifle cartridge) and first combat use (Romanian Front).

19. Incandescent lamp– lamp by A.N. Lodygin

The light bulb does not have one single inventor. The history of the light bulb is a whole chain of discoveries made by different people at different times. However, Lodygin's merits in the creation of incandescent lamps are especially great. Lodygin was the first to propose using tungsten filaments in lamps (in modern light bulbs the filaments are made of tungsten) and twisting the filament in the shape of a spiral. Lodygin was also the first to pump air out of lamps, which increased their service life many times over. Another invention of Lodygin, aimed at increasing the service life of lamps, was filling them with inert gas.

20. Diving apparatus

In 1871, Lodygin created a project for an autonomous diving suit using a gas mixture consisting of oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen had to be produced from water by electrolysis.

21. Induction oven

The first caterpillar propulsion device (without a mechanical drive) was proposed in 1837 by staff captain D. Zagryazhsky. Its caterpillar propulsion system was built on two wheels surrounded by an iron chain. And in 1879, the Russian inventor F. Blinov received a patent for the “caterpillar track” he created for a tractor. He called it “a locomotive for dirt roads”

23. Cable telegraph line

The St. Petersburg-Tsarskoe Selo line was built in the 40s. XIX century and had a length of 25 km. (B. Jacobi)

24. Synthetic rubber from petroleum– B. Byzov

25. Optical sight

“A mathematical instrument with a perspective telescope, with other accessories and a spirit level for quick guidance from a battery or from the ground at the shown location to the target horizontally and along the levation.” Andrey Konstantinovich NARTOV (1693-1756).

In 1801, the Ural master Artamonov solved the problem of lightening the weight of the cart by reducing the number of wheels from four to two. Thus, Artamonov created the world's first pedal scooter, a prototype of the future bicycle.

27. Electric welding

The method of electric welding of metals was invented and first used in 1882 by the Russian inventor Nikolai Nikolaevich Benardos (1842 - 1905). He called the “stitching” of metal with an electric seam “electrohephaestus.”

The world's first personal computer was invented not by the American company Apple Computers and not in 1975, but in the USSR in 1968
year by a Soviet designer from Omsk Arseny Anatolyevich Gorokhov (born 1935). Copyright certificate No. 383005 describes in detail the “programming device,” as the inventor then called it. They didn’t give money for an industrial design. The inventor was asked to wait a little. He waited until the domestic “bicycle” was invented abroad once again.

29. Digital technologies.

- the father of all digital technologies in data transmission.

30. Electric motor– B.Jacobi.

31. Electric car

The two-seater electric car of I. Romanov, model 1899, changed the speed in nine gradations - from 1.6 km per hour to a maximum of 37.4 km per hour

32. Bomber

Four-engine aircraft “Russian Knight” by I. Sikorsky.

33. Kalashnikov assault rifle

A symbol of freedom and the fight against oppressors.

Physics

Andrey Geim. Photo: ITAR-TASS/ Stanislav Krasilnikov

In the new millennium, the Nobel Prize in Physics went to Russian-speaking scientists three times, although only in 2010 - for a discovery made in the 21st century. MIPT graduates Andrey Game And Konstantin Novoselov In the laboratory of the University of Manchester, for the first time, they were able to obtain a stable two-dimensional carbon crystal - graphene. It is a very thin - one atom thick - carbon film, which, due to its structure, has many interesting properties: remarkable conductivity, transparency, flexibility, and very high strength. New and new areas of application are constantly being found for graphene, for example in microelectronics: flexible displays, electrodes and solar panels are created from it.

Mikhail Lukin. Photo: ITAR-TASS/ Denis Vyshinsky

Another graduate of MIPT, and now a professor of physics at Harvard University Mikhail Lukin , did the seemingly impossible: he stopped the light. To do this, the scientist used supercooled rubidium vapor and two lasers: the control one made the medium conductive to light, and the second served as a source of a short light pulse. When the control laser was turned off, the particles of the light pulse stopped leaving the medium, as if stopping in it. This experiment was a real breakthrough towards the creation of quantum computers - a completely new type of machine that can perform a colossal number of operations in parallel. The scientist continued his research in this area, and in 2012, his group at Harvard created the longest-lived qubit at that time, the smallest element for storing information in a quantum computer. And in 2013, Lukin for the first time obtained photonic matter - a kind of substance, only consisting not of atoms, but of particles of light, photons. It is also planned to be used for quantum computing.

Yuri Oganesyan (center) with Georgy Flerov and Konstantin Petrzhak. Photo from the JINR electronic archive

Russian scientists in the 21st century have significantly expanded the periodic table. For example, in January 2016, elements with numbers 113, 115, 117 and 118 were added to it, three of which were first obtained at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna under the leadership of an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Oganesyan . He also has the honor of discovering a number of other superheavy elements and their synthesis reactions: elements heavier than uranium do not exist in nature - they are too unstable, so they are created artificially in accelerators. In addition, Oganesyan experimentally confirmed that for superheavy elements there is a so-called “island of stability.” All these elements decay very quickly, but first theoretically and then experimentally it was shown that among them there should be some whose lifetime significantly exceeds the lifetime of their neighbors in the table.

Chemistry

Artem Oganov. Photo from personal archive

Chemist Artem Oganov , head of laboratories in the USA, China and Russia, and now also a professor at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, created an algorithm that allows you to use a computer to search for substances with predetermined properties, even impossible from the point of view of classical chemistry. The method developed by Oganov formed the basis of the USPEX program (which reads as Russian word"success"), which is widely used throughout the world ("Attic" in detail). With its help, new magnets and substances that could exist in extreme conditions, such as high pressure, were discovered. It is assumed that such conditions may well exist on other planets, which means that the substances predicted by Oganov are there.

Valery Fokin. Biopharmaceutical cluster "Northern"

However, it is necessary not only to model substances with predetermined properties, but also to create them in practice. To achieve this, a new paradigm was introduced in chemistry in 1997, the so-called click chemistry. The word “click” imitates the sound of a latch, because the new term was introduced for reactions that must, under any conditions, connect small components into the desired molecule. At first, scientists were distrustful of the existence of a miracle reaction, but in 2002 Valery Fokin , graduate of Nizhny Novgorod state university named after Lobachevsky, now working at the Scripps Institute in California, discovered such a “molecular latch”: it consists of an azide and an alkyne and works in the presence of copper in water with ascorbic acid. Using this simple reaction, completely different compounds can be combined with each other: proteins, dyes, inorganic molecules. Such “click” synthesis of substances with previously known properties is primarily necessary when creating new drugs.

Biology

Evgeny Kunin. Photo from the scientist’s personal archive

However, to treat a disease, sometimes it is necessary not only to neutralize a virus or bacteria, but also to correct one’s own genes. No, this is not the plot of a science fiction film: scientists have already developed several systems of “molecular scissors” capable of editing the genome (more about the amazing technology in the Attic article). The most promising among them is the CRISPR/Cas9 system, which is based on the mechanism of protection against viruses that exists in bacteria and archaea. One of the key researchers of this system is our former compatriot Evgeniy Kunin , who has been working at the US National Center for Biotechnology Information for many years. In addition to CRISPR systems, the scientist is interested in many issues of genetics, evolutionary and computational biology, so it is not for nothing that his H-index (the citation index of a scientist’s articles, reflecting how much his research is in demand) has exceeded 130 - this is an absolute record among all Russian-speaking scientists.

Vyacheslav Epstein. Photo by Northwestern University

However, the danger today is posed not only by genome breakdowns, but also by the most common microbes. The fact is that over the past 30 years not a single new type of antibiotic has been created, and bacteria are gradually becoming immune to old ones. Fortunately for humanity, in January 2015, a group of scientists from Northeastern University in the United States announced the creation of a completely new antimicrobial agent. To do this, scientists turned to the study of soil bacteria, which were previously considered impossible to grow in laboratory conditions. To get around this obstacle, an employee of Northeastern University, a graduate of Moscow State University Vyacheslav Epshtein together with a colleague, he developed a special chip for growing unruly bacteria right on the ocean floor - in this cunning way, the scientist circumvented the problem of the increased “capriciousness” of bacteria that did not want to grow in a Petri dish. This technique formed the basis of a large study, the result of which was the antibiotic teixobactin, which can cope with both tuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus.

Mathematics

Grigory Perelman. Photo: George M. Bergman - Mathematisches Institut Oberwolfach (MFO)

Even people very far from science have probably heard about mathematics from St. Petersburg Grigory Perelman . In 2002–2003, he published three papers proving the Poincaré conjecture. This hypothesis belongs to a branch of mathematics called topology and explains most general properties space. In 2006, the proof was accepted by the mathematical community, and the Poincaré conjecture thus became the first to be solved among the so-called seven millennium problems. These include classical mathematical problems for which proofs have not been found for many years. For his proof, Perelman was awarded the Fields Medal, often called the Nobel Prize for mathematicians, as well as the Clay Mathematics Institute's Millennium Problem Solving Prize. The scientist refused all awards, which attracted the attention of a public far from mathematics.

Stanislav Smirnov. Photo: ITAR-TASS/ Yuri Belinsky

Working at the University of Geneva Stanislav Smirnov in 2010 he also won the Fields Medal. His most prestigious award in the mathematical world came from his proof of the conformal invariance of two-dimensional percolation and the Ising model in statistical physics, a thing with an unpronounceable name used by theorists to describe the magnetization of a material and used in the development of quantum computers.

Andrey Okunkov. Photo: Radio Liberty

Perelman and Smirnov are representatives of the Leningrad Mathematical School, graduates of the well-known 239th school and the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics of St. Petersburg State University. But there were also Muscovites among the mathematical Nobel Prize nominees, for example, a professor at Columbia University who worked in the USA for many years and a graduate of Moscow State University Andrey Okunkov . He received the Fields Medal in 2006, at the same time as Perelman, for his achievements connecting probability theory, representation theory, and algebraic geometry. In practice, Okunkov’s work different years have found applications both in statistical physics to describe crystal surfaces and in string theory, a branch of physics that attempts to combine the principles of quantum mechanics and relativity.

Story

Peter Turchin. Photo: Stevens University of Technology

He proposed a new theory at the intersection of mathematics and the humanities Petr Turchin . It is surprising that Turchin himself is not a mathematician or a historian: he is a biologist who studied at Moscow State University and now works at the University of Connecticut and studies populations. Population biology processes develop over a long period of time, and their description and analysis often require the construction of mathematical models. But modeling can also be used to better understand social and historical phenomena in human society. This is exactly what Turchin did in 2003, calling new approach cliodynamics (on behalf of the muse of history Clio). Using this method, Turchin himself established “secular” demographic cycles.

Linguistics

Andrey Zaliznyak. Photo: Mitrius/wikimedia

Every year in Novgorod, as well as in some other ancient Russian cities, such as Moscow, Pskov, Ryazan and even Vologda, more and more birch bark letters are found, the age of which dates back to the 11th-15th centuries. In them you can find personal and official correspondence, children's exercises, drawings, jokes, and even love letters - “The Attic” is about the funniest ancient Russian inscriptions. The living language of literacy helps researchers understand the Novgorod dialect, as well as life common people and history of Rus'. The most famous researcher of birch bark documents is, of course, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrey Zaliznyak : It’s not without reason that his annual lectures, dedicated to newly found letters and deciphering old ones, are filled with people.

Climatology

Vasily Titov. Photo from noaa.gov

On the morning of December 26, 2004, the day of the tragic tsunami in Indonesia, which, according to various estimates, killed 200-300 thousand people, a graduate of NSU, working at the Tsunami Research Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle (USA), Vasily Titov woke up famous. And this is not just a figure of speech: having learned about the strongest earthquake that occurred in the Indian Ocean, the scientist, before going to bed, decided to run a tsunami wave forecasting program on his computer and posted its results online. His forecast turned out to be very accurate, but, unfortunately, it was made too late and therefore could not prevent human casualties. Now the tsunami forecasting program MOST, developed by Titov, is used in many countries around the world.

Astronomy

Konstantin Batygin. Photo from caltech.edu

In January 2016, the world was shocked by another news: in our native solar system. One of the authors of the discovery was born in Russia Konstantin Batygin from the University of California. Having studied the movement of six cosmic bodies located beyond the orbit of Neptune, the last of the currently recognized planets, scientists have used calculations to show that at a distance seven times greater than the distance from Neptune to the Sun, there should be another planet orbiting the Sun. Its size, according to scientists, is 10 times the diameter of the Earth. However, in order to be completely convinced of the existence of the distant giant, it is still necessary to see it with a telescope.

Pythagoras (c. 580-500 BC)

Every schoolchild knows: “In a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the legs.” But few people know that Pythagoras was also a philosopher, religious thinker and political figure; it was he who introduced the term “philosophy” into our language, which means “philosophy.” He founded a school whose students were called Pythagoreans, and he was the first to use the word “cosmos.”

Democritus (460-c. 370 BC)

Democritus, like other philosophers of the Ancient world, was always interested in the question of what is the fundamental principle of the Universe. Some sages believed that it was water, others – fire, others – air, and still others – everything combined. Democritus was not convinced by their arguments. Reflecting on the fundamental principle of the world, he came to the conclusion that it was the smallest indivisible particles, which he called atoms. There are a great many of them. The whole world consists of them. They connect and separate. He made this discovery through logical reasoning. And more than two thousand years later, scientists of our time, using physical instruments, proved that he was right.

Euclid (c. 365-300 BC)

Plato's student Euclid wrote the treatise "Elements" in 13 books. In them, the scientist outlined the foundations of geometry, which means in Greek “the science of measuring the Earth,” which for many centuries was called Euclidean geometry. The ancient Greek king Ptolemy I Soter, who ruled in Egyptian Alexandria, demanded that Euclid, who explained the laws of geometry to him, do this shorter and faster. He replied: “Oh, great king, in geometry there are no royal roads...”

Archimedes (287-212 BC)

Archimedes remained in history as one of the most famous Greek mechanics, inventors and mathematicians, who amazed his contemporaries with his amazing machines. Watching the work of builders who used thick sticks to move stone blocks, Archimedes realized that the longer the lever, the greater the force of its impact. He told the Syracusan king Hieron: “Give me a fulcrum, and I will move the Earth.” Hieron didn't believe it. And then Archimedes, with the help of a complex system of mechanisms, with the effort of one hand, pulled the ship ashore, which was usually pulled out of the water by hundreds of people.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

The great Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci proved himself to be a universal creator. He was a sculptor, architect, inventor. A brilliant master, he made a huge contribution to art, culture and science. In Italy they called him a sorcerer, a wizard, a man who can do anything. Infinitely talented, he created various mechanisms, designed unprecedented aircrafts like a modern helicopter, he came up with a tank.

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)

Nicolaus Copernicus became famous in the scientific world for his astronomical discoveries. His heliocentric system replaced the previous, Greek, geocentric one. He is the first to scientifically prove that the Sun does not revolve around the Earth, but vice versa. The Earth and other planets revolve around the Sun. Nicolaus Copernicus was a versatile scientist. Widely educated, he treated people, was knowledgeable in economics, and made various instruments and machines himself. Nicolaus Copernicus wrote in Latin and German throughout his life. Not a single document written by him in Polish has been found.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

The young Florentine Galileo Galilei, who studied at the University of Pisa, attracted the attention of professors not only with clever reasoning, but also with original inventions. But the gifted student was expelled from the 3rd year because his father did not have money for his studies. But Galileo was lucky - the young man found a patron, the rich Marquis Guidobaldo del Moite, who was fond of science. He supported 22-year-old Galileo. Thanks to the Marquis, the world received a man who showed his genius in mathematics, physics, and astronomy. Even during his lifetime, Galileo was compared to Archimedes. He was the first to declare that the Universe is infinite.

René Descartes (1596-1650)

Like many great thinkers of antiquity, Descartes was universal. He laid the foundations of analytical geometry, created many algebraic notations, discovered the law of conservation of motion, and explained the root causes of the motion of celestial bodies. Descartes studied at the best French Jesuit college in La Flèche. And there, at the beginning of the 17th century, strict orders reigned. The disciples got up early and ran to prayer. Only one, the best pupil was allowed to stay in bed due to poor health - this was Rene Descartes. So he developed the habit of reasoning and finding solutions to mathematical problems. Later, according to legend, it was in these morning hours that he had a thought that spread throughout the whole world: “I think, therefore I exist.”

Isaac Newton (1643-1727)

Isaac Newton - a brilliant English scientist, experimenter, researcher, also a mathematician, astronomer, inventor, made a lot of discoveries that determined the physical picture of the world around him. According to legend, Isaac Newton discovered the law of universal gravitation in his garden. He watched a falling apple and realized that the Earth attracts all objects to itself, and the heavier the object, the more strongly it is attracted to the Earth. Reflecting on this, he deduced the law of universal gravitation: All bodies attract each other with a force proportional to both masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

James Watt (1736-1819)

James Watt is considered one of the creators of the technological revolution that transformed the world. They tried to tame the energy of steam back in ancient times. The Greek scientist Heroes, who lived in Alexandria in the 1st century, built the first steam turbine, which rotated by burning wood in a heater. In Russia in the 18th century, mechanic Ivan Polzunov also tried to tame the energy of steam, but his machine was not widely used. And only the English, or rather the Scottish self-taught mechanic James Watt, was able to construct such a machine, which was used first in mines, then in factories, and then on locomotives and ships.

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794)

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier was a multi-talented man who was successful in financial transactions, but was especially interested in chemistry. He made many discoveries, became the founder of modern chemistry, and would have accomplished a lot if not for the radicalism of the Great French Revolution. In his youth, Antoine Lavoisier participated in the competition of the Academy of Sciences for The best way street lighting. To increase the sensitivity of his eyes, he upholstered his room with black material. Antoine described his acquired new perception of light in the work he submitted to the Academy, and received a gold medal for it. For scientific research in the field of mineralogy, at the age of 25 he was elected a member of the Academy.

Justus Liebig (1803-1873)

Justus Liebig is credited with creating food concentrates. He developed a technology for the production of meat extract, which today is called a “broth cube”. The German Chemical Society erected a monument to him in Munich. The outstanding German professor of organic chemistry, Justus Liebig, spent his entire life researching methods of plant nutrition and solving issues of rational use of fertilizers. He did a lot to increase agricultural productivity. Russia, for the assistance it provided in the rise of agriculture, awarded the scientist two Orders of St. Anne, England made him an honorary citizen, and in Germany he received the title of baron.

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

Louis Pasteur is a rare example of a scientist who had neither medical nor chemical education. He made his way into science on his own, without any protégés, based on personal interest. But scientists showed interest in him, noticing considerable abilities in the young man. And Louis Pasteur became an outstanding French microbiologist and chemist, a member of the French Academy, and created the pasteurization process. An institute was created especially for him in Paris, which was later named after him. Russian microbiologist, Nobel Prize laureate in physiology and medicine, Ilya Mechnikov, worked at this institute for 18 years.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896)

Alfred Bernhard Nobel, a Swedish chemical engineer, invented dynamite, who patented it in 1867 and proposed it for use in tunneling. This invention made Nobel famous throughout the world and brought him enormous income. The word dynamite in Greek means "strength". This explosive, which consists of nitroglycerin, potassium or sodium nitrate and wood flour, depending on the volume, can destroy a car, a house, or destroy a rock. In 1895, Nobel made a will, according to which most of his capital was allocated to prizes for outstanding achievements in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and peace.

Robert Heinrich Hermann Koch (1843-1910)

Close communication with nature determined his future choice of profession - Robert Koch became a microbiologist. And it started in childhood. Robert Koch's maternal grandfather was a great lover of nature, often taking his beloved 7-year-old grandson with him into the forest, telling him about the life of trees and herbs, and talking about the benefits and harms of insects. Microbiologist Koch fought against the most terrible diseases of mankind - anthrax, cholera and tuberculosis. And he came out victorious. For his achievements in the fight against tuberculosis, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1905.

Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen (1845-1923)

In 1895, a German scientific journal published a photograph of the hand of Wilhelm Roentgen's wife, taken using X-rays (x-rays, later called X-rays after their discoverer), which aroused great interest in the scientific world. Before Roentgen, no physicist had done anything like this. This photograph indicated that penetration into the depths of the human body had taken place without physically opening it. It was a breakthrough in medicine, in the recognition of diseases. For the discovery of these rays, William Roentgen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

During his life, Edison improved the telegraph, telephone, created a microphone, invented the phonograph and, most importantly, illuminated America with his incandescent light bulb, and behind it the whole world. There has never been a more inventive man in American history than Thomas Edison. In total, he is the author of over 1,000 patented inventions in the United States and about 3,000 in other countries. But before achieving such an outstanding result, he, according to his own frank statements, made many tens of thousands of unsuccessful experiments and experiences.

Marie Skłodowska Curie (1867-1934)

Marie Skłodowska Curie graduated from the Sorbonne, the largest institution of higher education in France, and became the first female teacher in its history. Together with her husband Pierre Curie, she first discovered radium, a decay product of uranium-238, and then polonium. The study and use of the radioactive properties of radium played a huge role in the study of the structure of the atomic nucleus and the phenomenon of radioactivity. Among world-class scientists, Maria Sklodowska-Curie occupies a special place; she twice won the Nobel Prize: in 1903 in physics, in 1911 in chemistry. Such an outstanding result is a rare occurrence even among men.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Albert Einstein is one of the founders of theoretical physics, Nobel Prize laureate, and public figure. But he made a strange impression on his contemporaries: he dressed casually, loved sweaters, did not comb his hair, could stick his tongue out at a photographer, and generally did God knows what. But behind this frivolous appearance hid a paradoxical scientist - a thinker, the author of over 600 works on various topics. His theory of relativity revolutionized science. It turned out that the world around us is not so simple. Space-time is curved, and as a result, gravity and the passage of time change, and the sun's rays deviate from the straight direction.

Alexander Fleming (1881-1955)

Alexander Fleming, a native of Scotland, an English bacteriologist, spent his entire life searching for medications that could help a person cope with infectious diseases. He was able to discover a substance in penicillium mold that kills bacteria. And the first antibiotic appeared - penicillin, which revolutionized medicine. Fleming was the first to discover that human mucous membranes contain a special liquid that not only prevents the penetration of microbes, but also kills them. He isolated this substance and called it lysozyme.

Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967)

Robert Oppenheimer - American physicist, creator atomic bomb, was very worried when he learned about the terrible casualties and destruction caused by the American atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. He was a conscientious person and subsequently called on scientists all over the world not to create weapons of enormous destructive power. He entered the history of science as the “father of the atomic bomb” and as the discoverer of black holes in the Universe.

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Great scientists of Russia. Completed by: Liliya Leonidovna Podmareva.

Dare, now encouraged, to show with your zeal that the Russian land can give birth to its own Platos And quick-witted Newtons. Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov 1711-2011 the first Russian natural scientist of world significance, encyclopedist, chemist and physicist; he entered science as the first chemist who gave physical chemistry a definition very close to the modern one and outlined an extensive program of physical and chemical research; his molecular-kinetic theory of heat in many ways anticipated the modern understanding of the structure of matter and many fundamental laws, including one of the principles of thermodynamics, laid the foundations of the science of glass. Astronomer, instrument maker, geographer, metallurgist, geologist, poet, established the foundations of modern Russian literary language, artist, historian, champion of the development of national education, science and economics. He developed a project for Moscow University, which was later named in his honor. Discovered the presence of an atmosphere on the planet Venus.

Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky 1863-1945 Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky is a Russian and Soviet naturalist, thinker and public figure of the 20th century. Academician of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, one of the founders and first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. The creator of many scientific schools. One of the representatives of Russian cosmism; creator of the science of biogeochemistry. His interests included geology and crystallography, mineralogy and geochemistry, organizational activities in science and social activities, radiogeology and biology, biogeochemistry and philosophy. Laureate of the Stalin Prize, 1st degree.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky is a Russian and Soviet self-taught scientist and inventor, school teacher. Founder of theoretical cosmonautics. He justified the use of rockets for space flights and came to the conclusion about the need to use “rocket trains” - prototypes of multi-stage rockets. His main scientific works relate to aeronautics, rocket dynamics and astronautics. Representative of Russian cosmism, member of the Russian Society of World Studies Lovers. Author of science fiction works, supporter and propagandist of the ideas of space exploration. Tsiolkovsky proposed populating outer space using orbital stations, put forward the ideas of a space elevator and hovercraft. He believed that the development of life on one of the planets of the Universe would reach such power and perfection that this would make it possible to overcome the forces of gravity and spread life throughout the Universe.

Sakharov Andrey Dmitrievich 1921-1989. Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov - Soviet physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, one of the creators of the first Soviet hydrogen bomb. Subsequently - a public figure, dissident and human rights activist; people's deputy USSR, author of the draft constitution of the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 1975. One of the creators of the hydrogen bomb (1953) in the USSR. Works on magnetic hydrodynamics, plasma physics, controlled thermonuclear fusion, elementary particles, astrophysics, gravitation. In 1950, A.D. Sakharov and I.E. Tamm put forward the idea of ​​implementing a controlled thermonuclear reaction for energy purposes using the principle of magnetic thermal insulation of plasma. Sakharov and Tamm considered, in particular, the toroidal configuration in stationary and non-stationary versions (today it is considered one of the most promising - see Tokamak). Sakharov is the author of original works on particle physics and cosmology.

LEBEDEV Sergei Vasilievich Sergei Vasilievich Lebedev is a Russian Soviet chemist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1932). Born in Lublin. Graduated from St. Petersburg University (1900). In 1900-1902 worked at the St. Petersburg Fat Plant (now the L. Ya. Karpov Plant) and at the Institute of Railway Engineers. In 1902-1904. - at St. Petersburg University, in 1904-1906. - on military service in NovoAlexandria. In 1906-1916. - again at St. Petersburg University in the laboratory of A. E. Favorsky, at the same time in 1915 - professor at the Women's Pedagogical Institute. Since 1916, he was a professor at the Military Medical Academy in Petrograd and at the same time the head of the oil laboratory at Leningrad University, which he organized in 1925, which was transformed in 1928 into a synthetic rubber laboratory, the head of which he remained until the end of his life. The main scientific research is devoted to the polymerization, isomerization and hydrogenation of unsaturated compounds. For the first time (1908-1913) he studied the kinetics and mechanism of thermal polymerization of diene hydrocarbons of the divinyl and allene series, established the conditions for the separate production of cyclic dimers of the cyclohexane series, on the one hand, and polymers, on the other; determined the dependence of polymerization on the structure of the starting hydrocarbons. For the first time (1910) he received a sample of synthetic butadiene rubber.

Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov is a Russian surgeon and anatomist, naturalist and teacher, creator of the first atlas of topographic anatomy, founder of Russian military field surgery, founder of the Russian school of anesthesia. Corresponding Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The main significance of N. I. Pirogov’s work is that with his dedicated and often selfless work, he turned surgery into a science, equipping doctors with a scientifically based method of surgical intervention. A rich collection of documents related to the life and work of N. I. Pirogov, his personal belongings, medical instruments, lifetime editions of his works are kept in the collections of the Military Medical Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. Of particular interest are the scientist’s 2-volume manuscript “Questions of Life. Diary of an Old Doctor" and the suicide note he left indicating the diagnosis of his illness.

Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov is a Russian and Soviet geneticist, botanist, breeder, geographer, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and the All-Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. President (1929-1935), vice-president (1935-1940) of the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences, president of the All-Union Geographical Society (1931-1940), founder (1920) and permanent director of the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing (1930-1940) until his arrest, director of the Institute of Genetics of the Academy of Sciences USSR (1930-1940), Organizer and participant of botanical and agronomic expeditions that covered most continents (except Australia and Antarctica), during which he identified ancient centers of morphogenesis cultivated plants. He created the doctrine of the world centers of origin of cultivated plants. He substantiated the doctrine of plant immunity and discovered the law of homological series in the hereditary variability of organisms. He made a significant contribution to the development of the doctrine of biological species. Under the leadership of Vavilov, the world's largest collection of seeds of cultivated plants was created. He laid the foundation for a system of state testing of field crop varieties.

Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov is an outstanding Russian physiologist, encyclopedist, psychologist, pathologist, anatomist, histologist, toxicologist, culturologist, anthropologist, naturalist, chemist, physical chemist, physicist, biochemist, evolutionist, instrument maker, military engineer, teacher, publicist, humanist, educator, philosopher and rationalist thinker, creator of the physiological school; Transformed physiology into an exact science and clinical discipline used for diagnosis, choice of therapy, prognosis, development of any new methods of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, any new drugs, to protect humans from dangerous and harmful factors, to exclude any experiments on humans in medicine, public life, all branches of science and the national economy.

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (1907-1966) Sergei Pavlovich created the first manned aircraft in world history spaceship. The name of the ship is “Vostok”. On this ship, a man flew into space for the first time. And this man was Yuri Gagarin. Under the leadership of Korolev, the space program continues to develop, following Gagarin, Titov, Nikolaev, Popovich, Bykovsky, Tereshkova, Leonov fly into space. The rapid development of astronautics in the USSR does not end only with the development of manned spacecraft. Korolev creates several drones with scientific purposes. Satellites are launched into space to study the Earth's radiation belts. Telecommunications and radio broadcasting satellites are also launched into space.

Sergei Petrovich Botkin (1832-1889) Russian general practitioner and public figure, created the doctrine of the body as a single whole, subject to the will. Sergei Petrovich spoke about the importance of the nervous system in the treatment of heart disease, the role of the body in infectious diseases, and the origin of jaundice. Botkin discovered the role of the spleen in the circulatory system. Botkin assumed that there are several centers in the human brain - sweat, sugar, heat and others.

Mikhail Trofimovich Kalashnikov, designer of small arms, became famous throughout the world thanks to the creation of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Kalashnikov liked tanks, and soon he was able to show great intelligence and creativity. Mikhail Timofeevich proposed creating a recorder for the number of shots fired from a tank gun. Unfortunately, the Great War soon began Patriotic War, and Kalashnikov went to the front. Autumn 1941, Kalashnikov’s tank was hit, Mikhail himself was wounded.. As soon as Mikhail Kalashnikov was discharged from the hospital, he went to his friends at the Matai station, where he worked before being drafted into the army. Here, in a short time, together with his comrades, he built his first submachine gun. In 1945, Kalashnikov is working on a new automatic weapon. Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was awarded the Stalin Prize for creating the AK-47.

Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov 1810-1881 Russian surgeon and anatomist, naturalist and teacher, creator of the first atlas of topographic anatomy, founder of Russian military field surgery, founder of the Russian school of anesthesia. Corresponding Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Nikolai Ivanovich Pirogov was the largest researcher of the properties of ether anesthesia. Thanks to him, anesthesia has found wide use in hospitals and in military field conditions. In 1855, during the Crimean War, Pirogov was the chief surgeon of Sevastopol, besieged by Anglo-French troops. While operating on the wounded, Pirogov used a plaster cast for the first time in the history of Russian medicine, giving rise to cost-saving tactics for treating limb wounds and saving many soldiers and officers from amputation.

Alexander Stepanovich Popov 1859-1905. In many Western countries, Marconi is considered the inventor of radio, although other candidates are also named: in Germany, Hertz is considered the creator of radio, in the USA and a number of Balkan countries - Nikola Tesla. The claim about Popov's priority is based on the fact that Popov demonstrated the radio receiver he invented at a meeting of the physics department of the Russian Physical-Chemical Society on April 25 (May 7), 1895, while Marconi filed an application for the invention on June 2, 1896. Popov was the first to demonstrate a practical radio receiver (May 7, 1895). Popov was the first to demonstrate the experience of radiotelegraphy by sending a radiogram (March 24, 1896). Both occurred before Marconi's patent application.

Ivan Ivanovich Polzunov 1728-1766 Ivan Ivanovich Polzunov is a Russian inventor, creator of Russia's first steam engine and the world's first two-cylinder steam engine. Project of a 1.8 liter steam engine. With. Polzunov developed it in 1763. It was the world's first two-cylinder engine with the cylinders operating on one common shaft, which for the first time in the world allowed it to operate without any use of hydraulic energy, that is, even in a completely dry place, which was with a huge step forward compared to the then existing steam engines, which were unable to do without an auxiliary hydraulic drive.

Vladimir Grigorievich Fedorov (1874-1966) outstanding Russian and Soviet weapons designer, Lieutenant General of the Engineering and Technical Service, Hero of Labor. In 1906, V.G. Fedorov designed his first automatic rifle based on the Mosin three-line rifle. In 1911 - 1913 he designed automatic rifles chambered for a standard 7.62 mm cartridge and a 6.5 mm cartridge of its own design (1913), thereby anticipating the idea of ​​​​using an intermediate cartridge for automatic weapons. In 1916, already at the rank of major general, he modified automatic rifles of 7.62 and 6.5 mm caliber for continuous firing. This submachine gun later received the name Fedorov Avtomat.

Efim Mikheevich Artamonov (1776-1841) According to legend, the inventor made a successful run on his bicycle from the Ural village of Verkhoturye to Moscow (about two thousand miles). This was the world's first bicycle race. The serf Artamonov was sent on this journey by his owner, the owner of the factory, who wanted to surprise Tsar Alexander I with an “outlandish scooter.” For the invention of the bicycle, Artamonov and all his offspring were granted freedom from serfdom.

Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin (1847-1923) Russian electrical engineer, inventor of the world's first incandescent lamp. Creator of the world's first diving suit. Creator of the induction furnace.

Nikolai Afanasyevich Teleshov (1828-1895) Russian inventor, aviation pioneer, author of Russia's first aircraft project, as well as one of the world's first jet aircraft projects. Creator of the world's first jet engine.

Andrei Nikolaevich Belozersky (1905-1972) an outstanding Soviet biologist, biochemist, one of the founders of molecular biology in the USSR. In the early 30s A.N. Belozersky was the first in the USSR to begin a systematic study of nucleic acids (NA). Another object of study by A.N. Belozersky were antibiotics, the study of which he began during the Great Patriotic War.

Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov (1853-1939) Russian engineer, architect, inventor, scientist; He is the author of projects and technical manager for the construction of the first Russian oil pipelines and an oil refinery with the first Russian oil cracking units. He made outstanding contributions to the technology of the oil industry and pipeline transport. Creator of the world's first cable car.

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (1845-1916) Russian biologist (zoologist, embryologist, immunologist, physiologist and pathologist) One of the founders of evolutionary embryology, the discoverer of phagocytosis and intracellular digestion, the creator of the comparative pathology of inflammation, the phagocytic theory of immunity, the theory of phagocytella, the founder of scientific gerontology. Nobel Prize winner in physiology or medicine.

Gorokhov Arseny Anatolyevich Soviet engineer, electromechanic, designer, inventor, member of the Russian Academy of Engineering. In 1968, Arseny Anatolyevich Gorokhov patented a “programming device”. Patent number - 383005. The device in the drawings included: a monitor, a separate system unit with a hard drive, motherboard, memory, video card and other stuffing. The only thing missing was the mouse. This device had a device for solving autonomous problems and personal communication with a computer. The author himself called him “intellectual”. The invention, in accordance with the International Patent Classification, was named: “Device for specifying a program for reproducing the contour of a part.” The inventor was not given money for an industrial design. Arseny Anatolyevich is the owner of more than twenty copyright certificates.

Nikolai Gennadievich Basov (1922–2001) laser - quantum generator (1953-1954), its use: measuring the distance to the Moon, creating artificial reference stars, photochemistry, laser weapons, laser heat treatment, medicine, storing information on optical media (CD , DVD, etc.), optical communications, optical computers, holography, laser displays, laser printers, laser shows (performances) at concerts and discos, multimedia demonstrations and presentations, laser pointers, tracking systems, navigation systems.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) scientist, physiologist, creator of the science of higher nervous activity and ideas about the processes of regulation of digestion; founder of the largest Russian physiological school; winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology in 1904 “for his work on the physiology of digestion.” Creator of the science of nervous activity higher nervous system.

Vladimir Izrailevich Levkov (1895-1954) designer of the world's first hovercraft (hovercraft). In his work “Vortex Theory of the Rotor” (1925), he substantiated the possibility of creating a SVP. Tests of the first three-seater (according to other sources, two-seater) boat L-1 took place in 1935. Until 194, under his leadership, 15 experimental boats with different displacements (from 2 to 15 tons) were built. In 1939-1952 he headed the SKB.

Ivan Ivanovich Kulibin (1735-1818) Kulibin invented and manufactured many original mechanisms, machines and apparatus. Among them are a spotlight with a parabolic reflector made of tiny mirrors, a river boat with a water-powered engine moving against the current, and a mechanical crew with a pedal drive. Invented a pocket watch that showed not only the time of day, but also the month, day, week, season, phases of the moon, sunrise and sunset times

Pafnuty Lvovich Chebyshev 1821-1894 Russian mathematician and mechanic, founder of the St. Petersburg mathematical school. The main mathematical research of P. L. Chebyshev relates to number theory, probability theory, function approximation theory, mathematical analysis, geometry, and applied mathematics. Mechanisms created by P.L. Chebyshev: plantigrade machine, adding machine, rowing mechanism.

Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov (1828-1886) creator of the theory chemical structure substances (the so-called “structural theory”), which laid the foundation for the synthetic formation of new organic compounds and lies at the basis of modern organic chemistry. In 1858 he opened new way synthesis of methylene iodide and performed a series of works related to the production of its derivatives. He synthesized methylene diacetate, obtained the product of its saponification - a polymer of formaldehyde, and on the basis of the latter in 1861 he first obtained hexamethylenetetramine (urotropine) and the sugary substance "methylenenitane", that is, he carried out the first complete synthesis of a sugary substance.

Lev Davidovich Landau (1908-1968) In 1927, he introduced the concept of a “density matrix”, used in quantum mechanics and statistical physics. In 1930 he created the quantum theory of electron diamagnetism (Landau diamagnetism). In 1937, he built the theory of phase transitions of the 2nd order (transitions during which the state of the body changes continuously, and the symmetry changes abruptly; during phase transitions of the 2nd order, the density of the body does not change and no release or absorption of heat occurs).

Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov 1903-1987. In 1926, he received the law of large numbers, which is of great importance for the application of mathematical problems to natural science - many mathematicians tried to achieve this condition for several decades, but graduate student Kolmogorov succeeded. In 1932, in his work on infinitely divisible numbers, Bruno de Finetti gave a comprehensive answer to the problem. In 1933, he published “Basic Concepts of Probability Theory” in Russian and German, which laid the foundation for modern probability theory.

Sofya Vasilievna Kovalevskaya 1850-1891 In 1888 she received the prestigious Borden Prize for the discovery of the third classical case of solvability of the problem of the rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point. In view of the seriousness of the discovery, the premium was increased from 3 to 5 thousand francs. And today four algebraic integrals exist only in three classical cases: Leonard Euler, Lagrange and Kovalevskaya. She proved the existence of an analytical solution to the Cauchy problem for systems of partial differential equations. She studied Laplace's problem of the equilibrium of Saturn's ring and obtained a second approximation.

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (1845-1916) Mechnikov developed his theory of phagocytosis, which originated from observations of marine microorganisms, into a system that explains the phenomena of inflammation and immunity. Before this, medicine regarded inflammation exclusively as a process harmful to the body. Mechnikov proved that inflammation is one of the protective, phagocytic reactions to irritants (infections). The stronger the phagocytic reaction, the more successfully the body fights the disease. In modern medicine, this is one of the axioms, and that is why it is not recommended to lower the temperature during a cold. In 1901, he outlined the theory of immunity, that is, the body's immunity to infections. While studying multicellular microorganisms, Mechnikov discovered the role of white blood cells. If germs enter the body, white blood cells envelop them and kill them. This discovery underlies vaccination.

References: Golin G.M., Filonovich SR. Classics of physical science. - M.: graduate School, 1989. Remarkable Scientists. - Library "Quantum". 1980. Lishevsky V.P. Hunters for truth. - M.: Science, 1990. Gennady Prashkevich “The most famous scientists of Russia”