Previous: narodniki, part 2
Development of Technology in Russia in XIX century
Troitsky writes:
USSR stamp of Schilling
"In 1832 P. Shilling (a German in origin, but living in Russia) invented an electromagnetic telegraph; in 1834 Moritz von Jacobi constructed an electrical motor".
Widipedia writes about Jacobi: "With financial assistance of Czar Nicholas, Jacobi constructed in 1839 a 28 foot electric motor boat powered by battery cells. The boat carried 14 passengers on Neva river against the current. The boat fared at the speed of three miles for hour".
The "Yablochkov light"
In 1876 P. Yablochkov constructed an electric lamp which was used throughout the European capitals and became known as "the Russian light".
The airplane of Mozhaisky
In 1881 a Russian navy officer Alexander Mozhaisky constructed one of the first airplanes in the world which actually flew in 1882.
Troitsky continues:
"One of the most significant technical discoveries of the age was the invention of the radio. On 7th May, 1895 an obscure teacher of physics and electrical technology in 2 colleges of Kronstadt, Alexander Popov (1859-1906)
USSR stamp of inventor of radio A. Popov
has demonstrated the first in the world radio receiver".
In spite of the Tsarist regime, Russia was striving for cosmos. Troitsky writes:
"An academician Vasily Struve has discovered almost 3 thousand stars in the sky and in 1839 founded the famous Pulkov observatory, which in the middle of the century became known as 'the astronomical capital of the world' ".
A drawing of Tsiolkovsky of a space ship, 1883
Another dreamer of the times was Konstanin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935). From the age of 9 he was deaf, which forced his parents to withdraw him from school and he started on the road of self-education. In 1885, i.e. when he was 28, Tsiolkovsky made a decision to devote himself to flight.
In 1893 Tsiolkovsky developed a rocket ship. After the revolution of 1917, the Soviet government started subsidizing the experiments of Tsiolkovsky. In time, an experimental lab was developed, and we see the USSR was the first country in the world to put a man in space.
Next: Narodniki, part 4