In 1951 Lion Feuchtwanger described the scientific achievements of the late 18th century:
“During this five-year period, people have developed a new large piece of their planet. The United States of America tried to attract settlers and for this purpose established offices and societies that sold land plots on preferential terms - at a dollar per acre - and provided long-term loans. On the same fifth anniversary Alexander von Humboldt undertook a long journey through Central and South America for scientific purposes, as a result of which his “Cosmos” appeared and the world became more accessible to understanding and exploration.
During this five-year period, many major political upheavals took place throughout the world, and especially in Europe. Old monarchies collapsed, and new state formations, mostly private republics, arose in their place. Many spiritual possessions have undergone secularization. The pope was transported to France as a prisoner; the Doge of Venice became engaged to the sea for the last time. The French Republic won many battles on land, England many battles at sea; England also completed its conquest of India. By the end of the century, England entered into an alliance with almost all of Europe in order to prevent the further victorious march of the French Republic and the spread of advanced ideas.
In total, during the entire previous century there were fewer wars and violence in the world than in this last five-year period, and in the same five-year period the German philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote his work “On Eternal Peace.”
In private life, the military leaders of the divided world did not pay attention to the gossip of the mob and newspapers. On this fifth anniversary Napoleon Bonaparte married Josephine Beauharnais, and Admiral Horace Nelson knew and fell in love with Emma Hamilton.
During this fifth anniversary, people threw off their former, heavy and formal attire, and the line between the dress of the privileged and the lower class was erased. In France, under the influence of the artist Jacques-Louis David, simple clothing imitating the chitons of the ancients came into fashion - la merveilleuse; men began to wear long pants - pantaloons, and this costume quickly spread throughout Europe.
On this fifth anniversary, in the Egyptian city of Rosetta, Arab Reshid, a stone covered with writing was found, which made it possible Champollion decipher hieroglyphs. Antoine Condorcet laid the foundation for the collectivist-materialist philosophy of history. Pierre-Simon Laplace scientifically explained the origin of the planets. But a man who did not recognize that the world, as the Bible teaches, was created in six days - from September 28 to October 3, 3988 before Christmas Christ's, - such a person could not hold public office either in the Kingdom of Spain or in the Habsburg Monarchy.
On this fifth anniversary Goethe wrote in “Venice Epigrams” that the most hated things in the world “are four: the smell of tobacco, bedbugs, garlic and the cross.” And Thomas Paine worked on the textbook of rationalism, “The Age of Reason.” At the same time Schleiermacher wrote his book “Speeches on Religion to Educated People Who Despise It,” Novalis- his “Theodicy”, and the French poet Chateaubriand became an adherent of romanticized Catholicism. The book "The History of the Decline and Collapse of the Roman Empire", in which Edward Gibbon with wit and cold irony, he depicted the emergence of Christianity as a return to barbarism, was hailed as the most significant historical work; but no less successful was the "Apology" - a book in which Bishop Richard Watson tried to object in restrained and elegant terms Gibbon and Payne.
During this five-year period, significant physical, chemical and biological discoveries were made, important sociological principles were established and proven, but the discoverers and heralds of the new were met with hostility, ridiculed, and thrown into prison; New scientific remedies were tested, but the clergy and healers cast out demons from sick people and healed them with prayers and incense.
Philosophical statesmen and greedy businessmen, silent scientists and loud market charlatans, power-hungry priests and serfs, artists responsive to everything beautiful, and stupid, bloodthirsty landsknechts - all lived together in a limited space, pushing and crowding each other, both smart and stupid, and those whose brains were hardly more developed than those of primitive man, and those whose brains gave birth to thoughts that will become accessible to most only after another ice age; those who were marked by the muses and receptive to everything beautiful, and those who were not touched by art, embodied in word, in sound or in stone; energetic and active, inert and lazy - they all breathed the same air, came into contact with each other, and were in constant, close proximity. They loved and hated, waged wars, concluded treaties, violated them, waged new wars, concluded new treaties, tortured, burned, cut up their own kind, united and gave birth to children, and only rarely understood each other.
A few smart and gifted people strived forward; a huge mass of the rest pulled them back, poisoned them, shackled them, killed them, and tried in every way to get rid of them. And, in spite of everything, these gifted few moved forward, albeit with inconspicuous steps, resorting to all sorts of tricks, agreeing to all sorts of sacrifices, and they dragged the whole mass along with them and at least a little bit pulled them forward.
Limited ambitious people, taking advantage of the inertia and stupidity of the majority, tried to preserve outdated institutions. But the fresh air of the French Revolution blew over the world, and Napoleon, which ended the revolution, was preparing to put an end to what had become unviable.
And no longer with an idle sound -
Became an effective force
Radiant idea
Brotherhood, equality, freedom.
Even though sometimes it’s still unattractive,
Young and inconspicuous
But this idea
Having paved the way for myself,
Became a tangible Fact, a vital law,
And by the end of five years,
To the very end of the century,
The world has become a little more
The mind whose it was at its beginning.”
Lion Feuchtwanger, Goya, or The Hard Path of Knowledge / Collected Works in 12 volumes, Volume 10, M., “Fiction”, 1967, p. 407-411.
The 19th century laid the foundations for the development of 20th century science and created the preconditions for many of the future inventions and technological innovations that we enjoy today. Scientific discoveries of the 19th century were made in many fields and had a great influence on further development. Technological progress advanced uncontrollably. To whom are we grateful for the comfortable conditions in which modern humanity now lives?
Scientific discoveries of the 19th century: Physics and electrical engineering
A key feature in the development of science of this period of time is the widespread use of electricity in all branches of production. And people could no longer refuse to use electricity, having felt its significant benefits. Many scientific discoveries of the 19th century were made in this area of physics. At that time, scientists began to closely study electromagnetic waves and their effect on various materials. The introduction of electricity into medicine began.
In the 19th century, such famous scientists as the Frenchman Andre-Marie Ampère, two Englishmen Michael Faraday and James Clark Maxwell, and the Americans Joseph Henry and Thomas Edison worked in the field of electrical engineering.
In 1831, Michael Faraday noticed that if a copper wire moves in a magnetic field, crossing lines of force, an electric current arises in it. This is how the concept of electromagnetic induction appeared. This discovery paved the way for the invention of electric motors.
In 1865, James Clark Maxwell developed the electromagnetic theory of light. He suggested the existence of electromagnetic waves, through which electrical energy is transmitted in space. In 1883, Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of these waves. He also determined that their propagation speed is 300 thousand km/sec. Based on this discovery, Guglielmo Marconi and A. S. Popov created a wireless telegraph - radio. This invention became the basis for modern technologies for wireless information transmission, radio and television, including all types of mobile communications, the operation of which is based on the principle of data transmission via electromagnetic waves.
Chemistry
In the field of chemistry in the 19th century, the most significant discovery was D.I. Mendeleev's Periodic Law. Based on this discovery, a table of chemical elements was developed, which Mendeleev saw in a dream. In accordance with this table, he suggested that there were chemical elements then unknown. The predicted chemical elements scandium, gallium and germanium were subsequently discovered between 1875 and 1886.
Astronomy
XIX century was the century of formation and rapid development of another field of science - astrophysics. Astrophysics is a branch of astronomy that studies the properties of celestial bodies. This term appeared in the mid-60s of the 19th century. At its origins stood the German professor at the University of Leipzig, astronomer Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner. The main research methods used in astrophysics are photometry, photography and spectral analysis. One of the inventors of spectral analysis is Kirchhoff. He conducted the first studies of the spectrum of the Sun. As a result of these studies, in 1859 he was able to obtain a picture of the solar spectrum and more accurately determine the chemical composition of the Sun.
Medicine and Biology
With the advent of the 19th century, science began to develop at an unprecedented speed. There are so many scientific discoveries being made that it is difficult to track them in detail. Medicine and biology are not lagging behind in this regard. The most significant contributions in this area were made by the German microbiologist Robert Koch, the French physician Claude Bernard and the microbiological chemist Louis Pasteur.
Bernard laid the foundations of endocrinology - the science of the functions and structure of the endocrine glands. Louis Pasteur became one of the founders of immunology and microbiology. The technology of pasteurization is named after this scientist - this is a method of heat treatment of mainly liquid products. This technology is used to destroy vegetative forms of microorganisms to increase the shelf life of food products such as beer and milk.
Robert Koch discovered the causative agent of tuberculosis, anthrax bacillus and Vibrio cholerae. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of the tuberculosis bacillus.
Useful article:
Computers
Although it is believed that the first computer appeared in the 20th century, the first prototypes of modern machine tools with numerical control were built already in the 19th century. Joseph Marie Jacquard, a French inventor, came up with a way to program a loom in 1804. The essence of the invention was that the thread could be controlled using punched cards with holes in certain places where the thread was supposed to be applied to the fabric.
Mechanical engineering and industry
Already at the beginning of the 19th century, a gradual revolution in mechanical engineering began. Oliver Evans was one of the first to demonstrate a steam-powered car in Philadelphia (USA) in 1804.
At the end of the 18th century, the first lathes appeared. They were developed by English mechanic Henry Maudsley.
With the help of such machines, it was possible to replace manual labor when it was necessary to process metal with great precision.
In the 19th century, the principle of operation of a heat engine was discovered and the internal combustion engine was invented, which served as an impetus for the development of faster means of transportation: steam locomotives, steamships and self-propelled vehicles, which we now call cars.
Railways also began to develop. In 1825, George Stephenson built the first railway in England. It provided rail links to the cities of Stockton and Darlington. In 1829, a branch line was laid that connected Liverpool and Manchester. If in 1840 the total length of railways was 7,700 km, then by the end of the 19th century it was already 1,080,000 km.
The 19th century is the century of the industrial revolution, the century of electricity, the century of railways. He had a significant impact on the culture and worldview of mankind and radically changed the human value system. The appearance of the first electric motors, the invention of the telephone and telegraph, radio and heating devices, as well as incandescent lamps - all these scientific discoveries of the 19th century turned the lives of people of that time upside down.
Famous inventions of the 18th century gave impetus to the technological revolution of the next century with the use of machinery and devices for the progress of human society.
Boiler, cylinder and piston
18th century English inventor Thomas Newcomen and his assistant John Calley, a glassblower and plumber, are progressing with some potentially lucrative experiments. They are aware of the high cost of pumps that lift water from copper and tin mines, so they are working on improving the steam pump.
They combine two elements that were separately invented: the piston of the 17th century French inventor Denis Papin and the steam pump of the English mechanic Thomas Severi. In the simplest Newcomen engine, the piston is connected by a chain to a large rocker arm, like a double-armed lever. The pump was connected through a chain to the opposite end of the rocker arm. During the working stroke, the piston rises under the action of steam.
After this, the cold water poured in from outside condenses into steam and creates a vacuum. The vacuum forces the piston down into the cylinder. The chain pulls down one end of the rocker arm, activating the pump at the other end.
As often happens in the development of science and technology, it was the accident that gave the new invention the impetus for further improvement. A crack appeared in one of the seams of the cylinder. This caused some cold water to flow out into the cylinder. She created a vacuum so fast and so strong that there was energy capable of moving the rocker.
With this event, another feature of the steam engine is revealed. In all the newly developed engines which were soon to be put into operation in the mines of England, the steam was condensed by a stream of cold water injected into the cylinder.
The first working engine was installed in 1712 in a coal mine near Dudley Castle. It has operated successfully here for many years, as the first of many in the UK mining districts. The machine undoubtedly violates the patent of the mechanic Thomas Severi, because it cannot be denied that it works “by the motive power of fire.” But Thomas Saveri's invention did not have much commercial success. The 18th century inventors came to a settlement, the details of which are unknown.
Even with the improvements of the inventors, these machines are only suitable for slow, tireless work in the mines. Evidence of the wider potential of the steam engine would have to await the inventive genius of James Watt. In 1774, James Watt built the first steam engine more efficient than the Newcomen engine.
Mercury thermometer
Gabriel Daniel Fahrenheit, a German glassblower and instrument maker working in Holland, is interested in improving the design of a thermometer that has been in use for half a century. Alcohol expands rapidly as temperature increases, with a completely irregular rate of expansion. This creates inaccurate measurements and the technical challenge of blowing glass tubes with very narrow openings.
By 1714, Fahrenheit had made great strides on the technical front, creating two separate alcohol thermometers that were relatively accurate in indicating heat. In the same year, he became acquainted with the research of the French physicist Guillaume Amonton on the thermal properties of mercury.
Mercury expands less than alcohol (about seven times less at the same temperature increase), but it does so more consistently. He builds the first mercury thermometer, which later becomes standard.
The problem that remains is how to calibrate the thermometer to show degrees of temperature. The only practical method is to select two temperatures that can be set independently of each other, mark them on the thermometer, and divide the intermediate length of the tube into several equal values.
In 1701, Newton proposed the freezing point of water for the lower scale and human body temperature for the upper limit. Fahrenheit, accustomed to the cold winters of Holland, wants to turn on the temperature below the freezing point of water. So he takes the temperature of blood for the high end of his scale and the freezing point of salt water for the lower extreme.
The measurement is usually made in multiples of 2, 3 and 4, so Fahrenheit divides its scale into 12 sections, each of which is divided into 8 equal parts. This gives him a total of 96 degrees, zero being the freezing point of brine, and 96° (in his somewhat inaccurate reading) the average human blood temperature. With his thermometer calibrated at these two points, Fahrenheit can give readings for the freezing point (32°) and boiling point (212°) of water.
More logical was the Swede Anders Celsius, who proposed his own scale in 1742. Its centigrade scale shows the freezing and boiling points of water as 0° and 100°. In many countries, this less complex system has been implemented for more than two centuries. It was . 
Chronometer
The inventions of the 18th century were ripe in terms of location determination. Two centuries of ocean voyage, since the first European discoveries, have made it increasingly important that ship captains, whether in the maritime or trading business, can accurately calculate their position on any of the world's seas. Using the simple and ancient astrolabe, the stars show latitude. But on a rotating planet, longitude is more difficult to determine. To determine longitude, you need to know what time it is before you can know what place it is.
The importance of this becomes clear when the British government in 1714 offers a huge prize of £20,000 to any 18th century inventor who can come up with a clock that can keep time at sea.
The conditions were quite harsh at that time. To win the prize, a chronometer (the solemn scientific term for a watch, first used in the document) must be accurate enough to calculate longitude within thirty nautical miles at the end of the voyage to the West Indies. This means that in rough seas, damp salty conditions and sudden changes in temperature, the instrument should lose or gain no more than three seconds a day - a level of accuracy unmatched at this time by the finest clocks in the calmest London drawing rooms.
Self-taught Lincolnshire carpenter and watchmaker John Harrison (1693-1776) accepts the challenge. It took him almost sixty years before he won money. Luckily he lives long enough to take them.
By 1735 Harrison had built the first chronometer, which he considered to meet the necessary standards. Over the next quarter of a century, he replaces it with three improved models before officially passing the government test. His innovations include bearings that reduce friction, weighted balances connected by coil springs to reduce the effects of movement, and the use of two metals in the balance spring to cope with expansion and contraction due to temperature changes.
Harrison's first "sea clock" in 1735 weighs 33 kilograms and almost a meter in all dimensions. His fourth example, made in 1759, is more like a round clock with a diameter of 15 cm. This particular chronometer withstands sea trials. 
Inventor Laennec and the stethoscope
René Laennec, a physician at the Necker Hospital in Paris, specialized in chest diseases. Two events in 1816 give him insight into his significant contributions to medical practice.
While walking in the courtyard of the Louvre, he sees children playing an acoustic game with a long branch. The boy scratches one end of the tree, his friend with the other end applied to his ear clearly hears the sound. 
Shortly afterwards, Laennec is visited by a patient too plump for her heartbeat to be easily discernible, but too young for him to press his ear to his chest with decency. Following the boys' example, he rolls a piece of paper into a tube. He gently places one end on the lady's chest and the other on the ear.
Laennec is surprised to find that through the tube he can hear the heart with much greater clarity than with the ear on the patient's chest. He came across an 18th century invention - the principle of the stethoscope (from the Greek stethos - chest, scopein - to observe).
Laennec now constructs a hollow wooden tube about 20 centimeters long with the ends designed to fit snugly around the chest and ear. He spends three years analyzing the strange and often violent sounds that reach him when patients breathe. At first he cannot interpret them. But he notes the variety of sounds heard in terminally ill patients and monitors the condition of their lungs and hearts.
With this tool, Laennec is able to identify and describe the characteristic sounds of the various stages of bronchitis, pneumonia and - increasingly important as one of the most common diseases of the 19th century - tuberculosis. Laennec's research was published in 1819 in Traité de l'auscultation médiate (Treatise on Mediating Auscultation). Auscultation, or listening to the body for diagnostic purposes, has until now always involved the doctor's ear being pressed against the patient's body. The stethoscope becomes a mediating instrument.
Later, an invention of the 18th century proposed a rubber tube as more convenient. And in 1852, the familiar modern version was introduced, allowing the doctor to use both ears. 
Contact lenses
German physiologist Adolf Fick grinds glass lenses in 1887 to a very precise and unusual shape. They must precisely fit the surface of the patient's eyes. These 18th century inventions are like a pair of glasses that instead of being supported on the nose, cling to the eyes. 
Contact lenses remained an oddity (and no doubt very disturbing) until they started being made from plastic in the 1940s. Since then, the German physiologist's bold, simple idea has proven its worth in a staggering range of adaptations—such as soft lenses, extended-wear lenses, disposable lenses, eye color change lenses, and even bifocal replacement lenses.
The 19th century was revolutionary for the evolution of technology. So, it was during this period that mechanisms were invented that radically changed the entire course of human development. Most of these technologies, although significantly improved, are still used today.
What technical inventions of the 19th century changed the entire course of human development? Before you now will be a list of important technical innovations that have brought about a technical revolution. This list will not be a ranking; all technical inventions are of equal importance for the global technical revolution.
Technical inventions XIX.
1.
Invention of the stethoscope. In 1816, the French doctor Rene Laennec invented the first stethoscope - a medical device for listening to the sounds of internal organs (lungs, heart, bronchi, intestines). Thanks to it, doctors can, for example, hear wheezing in the lungs, thereby diagnosing a number of dangerous diseases. This device has undergone significant changes, but the mechanism remains the same and is an important diagnostic tool today.
2.
Invention of the lighter and matches. In 1823, the German chemist Johann Döbereiner invented the first lighter - an effective means of producing fire. Now fire could be lit in any conditions, which played an important role in the lives of people, including the military. And in 1827, the inventor John Walker invented the first matches, based on the friction mechanism.
3.
Invention of Portland cement. In 1824, William Aspdin developed a type of cement that is used today in almost every country in the world.
4.
Internal combustion engine. In 1824, Samuel Brown invented the first engine that had an internal combustion system. This important invention gave rise to the development of automobile manufacturing, shipbuilding and many other mechanisms operating with the help of an engine. As a result of evolution, this invention has undergone many changes, but the operating system has remained the same.
5.
Photo. In 1826, the French inventor Joseph Niepce invented the first photograph, based on a method of fixing an image. This invention gave an important impetus to the further development of photography.
6
. Electric generator. The first electric power generator was invented in 1831 by Michael Faraday. This device is capable of converting all types of energy into electrical energy.
7.
Morse code. In 1838, the American inventor Samuel Morse created the famous coding method called Morse code. This method is still used in naval warfare and in navigation in general.
8
. Anesthesia. In 1842, one of the most important medical discoveries took place - the invention of anesthesia. Its inventor is considered to be Dr. Crawford Long. This allowed surgeons to perform operations on an unconscious patient, which significantly increased survival rate, since before this they operated on patients in full consciousness, from which they died from painful shock.
9.
Syringe. In 1853 there was another important medical discovery - the invention of the familiar syringe. Its inventor is the French doctor Charles-Gabriel Pravas.
10.
Oil and gas drilling rig. The first oil and gas drilling rig was invented in 1859 by Edwin Drake. This invention marked the beginning of oil and natural gas production, which led to a revolution in the fuel industry.
11.
Gatling gun. In 1862, the world's first machine gun, the Gatling gun, was created by the then famous American inventor Richard Gatling. The invention of the machine gun was a revolution in military craft and in subsequent years, this weapon became one of the most deadly on the battlefield.
12.
Dynamite. In 1866, Alfred Nobel invented the famous dynamite. This mixture completely changed the foundations of the mining industry and also laid the foundation for modern explosives.
13
. Jeans. In 1873, American industrialist Levi Strauss invented the first jeans - trousers made of incredibly durable fabric, which have become a staple type of clothing for more than a century and a half.
14
. Automobile. The world's first automobile was patented by George Selden in 1879.
15.
Gasoline internal combustion engine. In 1886, one of the greatest discoveries of mankind was made - the gasoline internal combustion engine. This device is used all over the world on an incredible scale.
16.
Electric welding. In 1888, a Russian engineer invented the well-known and used throughout the world electric welding, which makes it possible to connect various iron parts in a short time.
17.
Radio transmitter. In 1893, the famous inventor Nikola Tesla invented the first radio transmitter.
18.
Cinema. In 1895, the Lumiere brothers shot the first world film - the famous film with the arrival of a train at the station.
19.
X-ray radiation. Another important breakthrough in medicine was made in 1895 by the German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen. He invented an apparatus for filming using X-rays. This device, for example, can detect a broken human bone.
20.
Gas turbine. In 1899, inventor Charles Curtis invented a mechanism, or rather a continuous internal combustion engine. Such engines were significantly more powerful than piston engines, but also more expensive. They are actively used in the modern world.
21.
Magnetic sound recording or tape recorder. In 1899, the Danish engineer Waldemar Poulsen made the first tape recorder - a device for recording and playing sound using magnetic tape.
Here is a list of some of the most important technical inventions of the 19th century. Of course, during this period there were a very large number of other inventions, in addition, they are no less important, but these inventions deserve special attention.
Scientific discoveries and technical inventions in Russia in the 18th century.
Gvozdetsky V. L., Budreiko E. N.
BERING VITUUS JONASSEN (1681–1741). Navigator, captain-commander of the Russian fleet, a native of Denmark.
On behalf of Tsar Peter I, at the head of the 1st Kamchatka Expedition (1725–1730), he walked through all of Siberia to the Pacific Ocean, crossed the Kamchatka Peninsula and established that in the north the Siberian coast turns to the west. Bering's first expedition was the prologue to further exploration of northeast Asia. Realizing this, he wrote: “America, or other lands lying between it, are not very far from Kamchatka... It would not be without benefit to find out the Okhotsk or Kamchatka water passage, to the mouth of the Amur River and further, to the Japanese Islands... ". And Bering was appointed leader of the 2nd Kamchatka (Great Northern) expedition (1733–1743), during which the Siberian coast was accurately explored, the coast of the Alaska Peninsula and a number of islands of the Aleutian ridge were discovered. Having fallen ill during the winter on the island, the captain-commander ended his life on December 19, 1741. Nowadays the island where the brave navigator found eternal peace is called Bering Island. On all maps of the world, the semi-closed sea in the North Pacific Ocean, through which he sailed, is named after him - the Bering Sea, and the strait located between the continents of Eurasia and North America and connecting the Arctic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean - the Bering Strait. And the islands on which his schooner "St. Peter" washed up are called Komandorskie.
The 2nd Kamchatka expedition was completed after Bering's death by his assistant, captain-commander Alexei Ilyich Chirikov (1703–1748), who approached the shores of America on the sloop "St. Paul".
BETANKUR AUGUSTIN AUGUSTINOVICH (1758–1824). Mechanical and construction engineer.
Under the leadership of Betancourt, a number of important works were completed: the Tula Arms Plant was re-equipped, steam engines created according to his design were installed; the Manege building was constructed in Moscow, covered with wooden trusses of unique span (45 m), etc. On the initiative of Betancourt, the Institute of Railways was established in St. Petersburg in 1810, which he led until the end of his life.
VINOGRADOV DMITRY IVANOVICH (1720?–1758). Inventor of Russian porcelain.
He studied at the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy in Moscow. In 1736, together with M.V. Lomonosov and R. Reiser, he was sent abroad, where he studied chemistry, metallurgy and mining. Upon his return, he was sent (1744) to the “Porcelain Manufactory” established by the Russian government (then the State Porcelain Factory named after M.V. Lomonosov). Since the methods for producing Chinese and Saxon porcelain were kept secret, Vinogradov began work without any information about the production technology.
He developed production technology and received the first samples of porcelain made from domestic raw materials (1752). He spoke about his experiments in the manuscript “A detailed description of pure porcelain, how it is done in Russia near St. Petersburg, together with the testimony of all related works.”
GENNIN VILIM IVANOVICH (1676–1750).
Outstanding mining production manager and machine tool builder. The time of Gennin's management (1722–1734) was an important period in the history of industry in the Urals. Under his leadership, important measures were taken in the field of organization, improvement of equipment and production technology. He also managed the Sestroretsk and Tula arms factories.
GEOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE TERRITORY OF RUSSIA
At the beginning of the 18th century. searches for minerals led to the discovery of the Alopaevskoye copper deposit (1702), refractory clays (1704), mineral waters near Petrozavodsk (1714), coal on the Don and in the Voronezh province (1721), coal in the territory of the modern Kuznetsk basin (1722), gems in Transbaikalia (1724).
In 1768–1774 academic expeditions took place that studied the geological structure of Russia: the routes of the expedition of Ivan Ivanovich Lepekhin (1740–1802) covered the Volga region, the Urals, and the north of European Russia; the expedition of Peter Simon Pallas (1741–1811) explored the Middle Volga region, Orenburg region, Siberia to Chita and compiled a description of the structure of mountains, hills, and plains; the expedition of Johann Georg Gmelin (1709–1755) reached through the Astrakhan region to Derbent and Baku, etc.
DEMIDOVS. Russian factory owners, landowners, scientists, educators, philanthropists.
Their ancestry goes back to the Tula blacksmiths, from 1720 - nobles. At the end of the 18th century. entered the circle of high officials and nobility, founded over 50 factories that produced 40% of the country's cast iron. The most famous:
Nikita Demidovich Antufiev (1656–1725) - founder and organizer of the construction of metallurgical plants in the Urals.
Pavel Grigorievich Demidov (1738–1821) - founder of the Demidov Lyceum in Yaroslavl - a higher educational institution for children of nobles and commoners in 1803–1918. In 1918 it was transformed into a university.
Pavel Nikolaevich Demidov (1798–1840) - honorary member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, founder of the Demidov Prizes, awarded in 1832–1865. Academy for works in science, technology, art. These prizes were considered the most honorable scientific award in Russia.
KOTELNIKOV SEMYON KIRILLOVICH (1723–1806). Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
A talented Russian scientist, a student of M.V. Lomonosov and L. Euler, the author of “The Book Containing the Doctrine of Equilibrium and Motion of Bodies” - the first Russian textbook on mechanics, the most serious of all the original and translated works on mechanics published in Russia in XVIII century
KRAFT GEORG WOLFGANG (1701–1754). Physicist, mathematician, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
Author of the first Russian book on mechanics, “A Brief Guide to the Knowledge of Simple and Complex Machines” (1738), as well as the book “A Brief Introduction to Geometry” (1740) and several textbooks. He did a lot for teaching and popularizing mechanics in Russia.
KRASHENINNIKOV STEPAN PETROVICH (1711–1755). Founder of Russian scientific ethnography, researcher of the nature of Kamchatka.
The scientist’s work “Description of the Land of Kamchatka,” published in 1756, was not only the first Russian work that described one of the regions of Siberia, but also the first in Western European literature.
It consisted of 4 parts. Part one - “About Kamchatka and the countries that are in its neighborhood” - contained a geographical description of Kamchatka. Part two - “On the benefits and disadvantages of the land of Kamchatka” - is devoted to a natural-historical description of Kamchatka: flora, fauna, mammals, birds and fish inhabiting the land, prospects for livestock farming. Part three - “About the Kamchatka Peoples” - is the first Russian ethnographic work: a description of the life, customs, and language of the local population - the Kamchadals, Koryaks, Kurils. The fourth part is devoted to the history of the conquest of Kamchatka.
Krasheninnikov was called "the Nestor of Russian ethnography" for his book.
KULIBIN IVAN IVANOVICH (1735–1818). Outstanding mechanic-inventor.
From 1749, for more than 30 years, he headed the mechanical workshop of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He developed a project for a 300-meter single-arch bridge across the Neva with wooden lattice forms (1772). In the last years of his life, he made a lantern-spotlight with a reflector from the smallest mirrors, a river “machine” vessel moving against the current, a mechanical carriage with a pedal drive.
He became famous as the author of an amazing watch made as a gift to Empress Catherine II, which had the appearance of an Easter egg. “A curiosity in appearance and size between a goose and a duck egg,” which showed the time and struck the hours, half and quarter hours, contained within itself a tiny automatic theater. As each hour passed, the doors opened and a theatrical performance unfolded. The clock mechanism "consisted of over 1,000 tiny wheels and other mechanical parts." At noon the clock played a hymn composed in honor of the Empress. In the second half of the day they performed new melodies and poetry.
KUNSTKAMERA (From German: Kunstrammer - cabinet of curiosities). The first Russian natural science museum.
Opened in 1719. It housed anatomical, zoological and historical collections collected in many regions of Russia, as well as collections acquired by Peter I in Western Europe, his personal collections of weapons and works of art. In the 30s XVIII century turned into a comprehensive museum with departments of art and ethnography, natural history, numismatics and historical materials (the office of Peter I). By the beginning of the 19th century, when a huge number of diverse collections had accumulated, museums that still exist today were separated from it into independent institutions: the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
LOMONOSOV MIKHAIL VASILIEVICH (1711 – 1765)
The first Russian natural scientist of world significance, a poet who laid the foundations of the modern Russian literary language, artist, historian, champion of national education, the development of Russian science and economics.
Born into the family of a Pomor peasant. Wanting to get an education, at the end of 1730 he went on foot to Moscow. Here, posing as the son of a nobleman, in 1731 he entered the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. In 1735, among the best students, he was sent to St. Petersburg to the university that had just opened at the Academy of Sciences, and then to Germany to continue his education. In 1741 he returned to the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Since 1745, the first Russian academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
“Wise sciences” constitute the natural and technical direction of his activity: chemistry and physics, astronomy and mineralogy, geology and soil science, mining and metallurgy, cartography and navigation. He was the first to distinguish between the concepts of “corpuscle” (in the language of modern science - a molecule) and “element” (atom), formulated the principle of conservation of matter and motion, and made other discoveries, some of which belong to the golden fund of world science. Literature, history and the national language - this is what the scientist’s research was connected with in another, humanistic direction of his activity. He created “Russian Grammar” (1756), “Ancient Russian History” (1766). It is no coincidence that V. G. Belinsky called him “Peter the Great of Russian literature.” The scientist’s scientific and organizational activities were also fruitful: the opening of the first chemical laboratory in Russia (1748), the development of a project for the reconstruction of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. On Lomonosov's initiative, Moscow University was founded (1755), now bearing his name.
