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Vladimir Vernadsky is a Ukrainian scientist who is compared to Newton and Einstein
Vernadsky Vladimir Ivanovich was born on March 12, 1863 in St. Petersburg, died on January 6, 1945 in Moscow. Ukrainian philosopher, thinker, naturalist, founder of a number of natural sciences, the theory of the noosphere, the doctrine of the biosphere, as well as the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
The famous philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer defined the difference between genius and ordinary talent in setting goals, which the scientist puts. A talented person knows how to very accurately hit the goals predetermined by geniuses, those who set tasks so large-scale, global and promising that they are often initially invisible to anyone else. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the great Ukrainian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky can be safely considered a genius, and it is not without reason that his scientific achievements are compared with the achievements of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein. The discoveries of Vladimir Vernadsky (1863-1945) were too global for all humanity. In addition to the fact that he is the author of more than 700 scientific papers, he is famous as:
1. Founder of the entire science of biogeochemistry, studying the chemical composition of living matter and geochemical processes occurring in the Earth's biosphere, on the basis of which Vernadsky opened the world's first biogeochemical laboratory (currently the V. I. Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences).
2. Founder of geochemistry– science about the chemical composition of the Earth and the planets around us, about the objective laws of movement of elements and isotopes in various geological environments and the processes of formation of soils, rocks and water on earth.
3. Author of the term and new science - nuclear geology (radiogeology), discovered by him... in 1935, studying patterns. nuclear transformations occurring in nature and their manifestation in geological processes. After his initiative, the search for natural deposits of uranium and radium began on the territory of the USSR.
4. Creator of a whole philosophical movement of cosmism– theories about the birth and evolution of the Universe, according to which the cosmos is not chaos, but a “structurally organized world,” in which a person is not a citizen (slave, apprentice, worker) of some country, but a “citizen of the world.”
5. The largest scientist in at least 12 (!) branches of science, who made the most important discoveries that are relevant to this day. Namely: in crystallography, geology, radiogeology, meteoritics, paleontology, soil science, biogeochemistry, mineralogy, geochemistry, biology, as well as philosophy and history.
The Soviet encyclopedia called him "the great Soviet scientist" modern Wikipedia - “the greatest Russian scientist,” forgetting that he was a Ukrainian, having created the first national Academy of Sciences in independent Ukraine in 1918 during the time of the hetman, academician of the Academy of Sciences of France, Czechoslovakia, the USSR and other states.
Vernadsky is the founder of several new directions in humanity’s study of the surrounding world. He founded geochemistry, biogeochemistry, radiobiology, as well as the study of the biosphere. Vernadsky considered it expedient to study the nature surrounding humans in the context of its relationship with the history of mankind. It is this approach that is basic in the scientist’s worldview and his scientific activity.
Vernadsky's interest in literature, fine arts and music was no less. The scientist read art in another way, with the help of which it is possible to gain a deeper understanding of nature, man and the cosmos. Scientists retained their interest in understanding the world around them until old age. His thoughts arouse the interest of his contemporaries, and his name is an integral part of the history of the development of human thought.
As a naturalist, Vernadsky is the founder of the doctrine of the bio- and noosphere. Under the concept of “noosphere,” the scientist considered the sphere of the human mind, thoughts, feelings and aspirations. The thinker argued that any, even the most seemingly insignificant movements of human thought do not disappear without a trace, but leave their own mark forever on the expanses of the noosphere.
Achievements of Vladimir Vernadsky.
The doctrines about the bio- and noosphere created by Vernadsky had a strong influence on the formation of world humanitarian thought in the 20th century. Vladimir Ivanovich determined his goal to be the harmonization of relations between individuals, man and society, the search for an optimal mechanism for interaction between man and nature, as well as the entire boundless Universe. It was this ideal that the scientist remained faithful to throughout his long life.
Undoubtedly, many people who are familiar first-hand with the rhetoric of the Soviet-era media space may doubt that Vernadsky is a Ukrainian genius. Soviet propaganda, despite Vernadsky’s membership in the Central Committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party and involvement in two revolutions, called him a “great Soviet scientist.” A more detailed study of the scientist’s life and views makes it possible to understand that he should be called a great Ukrainian:
This material was written by the scientist during his stay in Shishaki in the Poltava region in the period 1915-1916. This time period is characterized by strong accents of an imperial-chauvinist nature. In the publication, the scientist gives his own assessment of some moments from Ukrainian history, which demonstrates his deep knowledge. One of the main ideas expressed in the article is a sharply negative attitude towards mossy chauvinistic dogmas.
In particular, Vernadsky condemns the concepts of “common history” and “single Slavic space”, which in practice are non-Slavic, Russian. The scientist writes that there is no point in classifying Ukraine as a single Orthodox Slavic civilization, since the country is an integral part of the European space. Undoubtedly, the rhetoric about the unity of the Slavs is well known to modern Ukrainians, since for many centuries the verbal constructions used by propagandists have remained unchanged.
The thoughts that Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky expresses in this article can easily be called the most effective antidote to the fight against lies. It is possible that this feature of the presentation of argumentation is the main reason for the refusal to publish the article during the author’s lifetime. Apparently, Vernadsky considered his main audience when writing the publication to be the liberal Russian intelligentsia, close in views to the scientist himself, who tried to resist the influence of chauvinism.
Vernadsky gives a critical assessment of the model of relations between Russians and Ukrainians in the publication. The scientist focuses on the constant desire of Russians to dominate. After a whole century has passed since the author wrote the article, the meaning of the material presented does not lose its relevance. Rather, on the contrary, history has provided plenty of evidence that Vernadsky was right, which has greatly exacerbated the scientist’s anti-chauvinist rhetoric.
After graduating from the University in St. Petersburg with the scientific degree of Candidate of Sciences, Vernadsky remains at the university to further receive a professorship. During practical classes in natural history, the scientist visits Ukraine and also takes part in the activities of one of the St. Petersburg discussion circles. One of the circle participants then characterized Vernadsky with the formulation “Stubborn Ukrainian, on his own mind.”
During the period of the first Russian revolution, Vernadsky worked in Moscow and was already a well-known scientific figure. Along with his scientific work, the authorities were well aware of the views of the scientist, who did not hesitate to openly express his support for democracy and freedom of thought in all its manifestations. The imperial leadership did not like Vernadsky's public activities very much. As a sign of protest against the total control of the authorities over the scientific environment, he moved to St. Petersburg, where he continued his scientific and political activities.
The further course of revolutionary events leads the scientist to work in the Provisional Government. However, even after the October Revolution, Vernadsky did not abandon his position. Among others, he signed an appeal, the text of which declared his intention to put an end to the prevailing state of violence. By order of Stalin and Lenin, the signatories of the appeal became targets of persecution.
To avoid a sad fate, Vernadsky moves to Poltava; the situation in Ukraine will soon change dramatically. After Hetman Skoropadsky came to power and declared an independent Ukrainian state, the scientist was invited to Kyiv. In the Ukrainian capital, with the help of a number of other scientific figures, Vernadsky founded the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. The academy is located in the Levashova women's boarding house, and Vernadsky becomes its first rector.
As part of the development of the scientific potential of Ukraine, the scientist also organizes the first National Scientific Library, which now bears his name. The first book fund of the library included books by the academician himself, donated by Vernadsky to the library. The scientist enthusiastically accepted the initiative to form the Academy, which largely determined the success of the initiative of the intellectuals.
Realizing that the task of organizing the work of the Academy of Sciences did not promise to be easy, Vernadsky agreed. The scientist later recalled about the activities of that time that he really liked the idea of creating the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. In their work, scientists are guided primarily by fundamental beliefs and share their thoughts with famous colleagues. Vernadsky’s argumentation was presented in a letter to Agathangel of Crimea.
In the message, the scientist wrote that he considered the creation of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences important from the point of view of the revival of the nation. Vernadsky focused on the fact that the Ukrainian revival is actually important for him. In addition, from a universal point of view, we are talking about the creation of a large research center, which is undoubtedly important.
Of no less interest is the correspondence between Vladimir Vernadsky and, within the framework of which there was also a discussion of various issues, one way or another related to the creation of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Vernadsky defended the opinion of forming an analogue of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in Ukraine, with which Grushevsky did not agree. The first president wrote that outside of Ukrainian studies there are not enough Ukrainian scientists to create an entire Academy of Sciences.
Grushevsky considered it advisable to turn to the Russians for help, since it would take a long time to wait for a sufficient number of their own scientists to appear. Vernadsky did not support Grushevsky's point of view. He argued that it was important to create a strong center for the subsequent study of the Ukrainian people, their history, language, and the nature of the country.
A great many scientists worked on the development of the charter of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Nevertheless, it was Vladimir Vernadsky who played the main and leading role in the creation of the project. In the charter, the scientist outlined patriotic, humanistic and universal ideological principles that relate to the direction of work and structure of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. According to Vernadsky's plans, these principles in the future were to become the basis for the construction of similar scientific institutes in all countries that were part of the USSR.
After being appointed president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Vernadsky refused to belong to the “cadet” party. He considered the combination of scientific activity and its political overtones unacceptable.
Over time, the situation changed greatly - the scientist realized the weakness of the new government, and the upcoming victory of the Bolsheviks became obvious. Nevertheless, despite many difficulties, Vernadsky continues to work on the development of science in Ukraine. After Kyiv was taken under control by Denikin's troops, the Academy was closed. With the arrival of the Red Army in the city, the scientist travels to Rostov-on-Don, the center of the “white” movement, with a request to protect Kyiv from the arrival of the Bolsheviks.
When it became clear that the Bolshevik occupation was inevitable, the academician left for Crimea, where he took the position of rector of Tauride University, then named after Vernadsky. Historians testify that Vernadsky had the opportunity to easily go to London or Serbia, where even Russian diplomas were recognized, but the scientist did not do this. As one of the explanations, historical sources point to Vernadsky’s state of health at that time. Typhus nearly took the academician's life, but he managed to avoid premature death.
In Crimea, he helps save about 200 people from death. The “white” officers received student cards from Vernadsky, which helped them save themselves from inevitable death. After some time, Vernadsky created the Radium Institute in Leningrad, which he headed until 1939. Often the scientist gave lectures in French, German, and English; his wife Natalya Egorovna edited the speeches.
At the same time Vernadsky's talents as a teacher formed long before the start of revolutionary events. After graduating from the university in 1885, the scientists remained to work at Moscow University as a curator in the mineralogical office. During this period, he actively worked on the study of mineralogy, crystallography and other related fields of knowledge. In the spring of 1888, a young researcher went on an internship abroad as a university student. For 2 years, Vernadsky has been visiting Germany, France, Austria and Italy, where he works in various scientific institutions.
After completing his foreign internship, Vernadsky was appointed head of the department of mineralogy at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University. In 1891, the scientist became a private assistant professor at the same university, and after another 6 years he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation. At the age of 35, Vernadsky became a professor of mineralogy and crystallography. It is during this period that it is recorded intensive scientific activity Vernadsky.
Exploring the principles of genetic mineralogy, the scientist comes to the conclusion about the need to create a new science, which he called geochemistry. Vernadsky explores the soil on the territory of Left Bank Ukraine, the Urals, Crimea and Poland. A busy work schedule allowed the scientist to also engage in social activities.
For example, in 1895, together with colleagues from the teaching staff and students of Moscow University, Vernadsky raised money to help peasants fight hunger. It is also known that teachers resigned in protest against the policies of the Ministry of Education and the arbitrariness of the police, of which students were victims. The simultaneous dismissal of professors and teachers had the desired effect.
People who personally knew Vernadsky claim that the scientist treated the Poltava region with special trepidation. In this area, he studied the soil as part of a soil science expedition, led by Vladimir Ivanovich’s teacher and mentor Vasily Dokuchaev. During the first expedition, the versatility of his scientific interests and organizational skills became obvious. In addition to direct study of the soil, Vernadsky was interested in the issue of the geological structure of the area. During the expedition, the academician compiled a map of the location of ancient burial mounds scattered across the steppe.
Among other scientists who took part in the expedition, Vernadsky compiled a map of soils in the Poltava province under the leadership of Dokuchaev. In addition, the young scientist discovered a site of primitive people of the Paleolithic period near the town of Gonzi. Vernadsky spoke about the find in the text of the publication, which Dokuchaev recognized as very important for science.
It is noteworthy that while working in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Vernadsky traveled abroad almost every year. Nevertheless, for almost 30 years, starting in 1889, he always spent some part of the summer with his family in Poltava. In 1913, the academician’s family used a country house near Shishaki in the Poltava province for vacation.
After returning to Petrograd in 1921, Vernadsky held the position of director of the Radium Institute. During the period from 1922 to 1926, at the invitation of colleagues, the scientist visited France, where, among other things, he lectured on biochemistry at the Sorbonne. After returning to Leningrad, the scientist published the monograph “Biosphere”, “Essay on Geochemistry”, and became the founder of the department of living matter at the USSR Academy of Sciences. Also during this period, the academician organized and headed the Commission for the Study of Heavy Water. After moving to Moscow in 1935, Vernadsky took part in organizing a number of commissions and was engaged in the study of life in space.
During the war years, the famous scientist was evacuated to the village of Borovoe in the Kokshetau region. The academician published his last scientific work in 1944, it was called “A few words about the noosphere.” In general, Vernadsky’s diverse creative heritage provides interesting material for research. Crystallography and mineralogy occupied a special place in the scientist’s scientific activity. At the dawn of mineralogy, the academician identified the main tasks of this science, including the topic of studying the genesis of minerals.
In addition to scientific works, Vernadsky also wrote philosophical works. Over time, the potential inherent in the scientist's philosophy only strengthens as a source of thought that thanks humanity as a whole with its goodness. First of all, Vernadsky believed in the immortality of the individual. Following the example of his father, the academician called himself a pantheist, because he believed in the divine origin of everything earthly.
Interesting facts about Vladimir Vernadsky
The Vernadsky family has very deep roots in Ukrainian history. During the liberation war of 1648-1654, the scientist’s ancestor, then known as a Cossack named Verna, fought on the side of Bohdan Khmelnitsky, his children served as Cossack elders. Great-grandfather Vasily received the nobility for his faithful service, and since then the family has been named after the Vernadskys.
The father of the famous scientist Ivan Vasilyevich Vernadsky was born in Kyiv, at the age of 28 he became a professor of statistics and political economy, taught at the universities of Moscow and Kyiv, and became the author of the first textbook on the history of political economy. Since 1856, Vladimir Vernadsky’s father has held the position of professor at the Main Pedagogical Institute at the Alexander Lyceum in St. Petersburg.
The area that Ivan Vernadsky studied is lending in agriculture, creating effective capital and reforming land relations. At the end of his life, the scientist’s father became paralyzed after suffering a stroke. Ivan Vernadsky's wife and Vladimir's mother Anna belonged to the ancient noble family of Konstantinovich, she had a beautiful voice and sang in Balakirev's choir.
The uncle of Vladimir Vernadsky’s mother, Nikolai Gulak, was a candidate of sciences in the field of jurisprudence and belonged to the founders of the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood. Both Nikolai Gulak and Ivan Vernadsky were familiar with Maksimovich. Vladimir Vernadsky's father published the magazine "Economic Index", maintained creative ties with Nikolai Chernyshevsky, and personally knew Leo Tolstoy.
As a child, his father’s stories about the activities of the Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood and the struggle of the Ukrainian people for their independence awakened within the future academician an interest in history, philosophy, political economy and other sciences. Ukrainian folk songs performed by their mother were often heard in the Vernadsky house.
Vladimir Vernadsky kept a diary for 68 years; from the entries you can learn a lot of interesting things about the scientist’s thoughts, his assessment of modern times and events in the history of the country and humanity in general.
According to one opinion, the creation of the doctrine of the noosphere is not an achievement of Vernadsky. This term was first proposed by French scientists E. le Roy and T. De Chardin, but the theory has not yet been created. However, there is no doubt that Vernadsky’s works contributed to an increase in the migration of the biogenic fourth form, directly related to conscious human activity throughout the 20th century. The academician's works forced humanity to seriously think about the mechanism of social control over nuclear potential.
In 1885, the scientist met with Natalya Egorovna Staritskaya, a person close in spirit and with the same interests. Deep mutual respect and friendly feelings soon grew into love. The wedding of the young couple took place in September 1886. In the Staritsky family, Vernadsky was received with warmth and affection. The next year after the wedding, the couple has a son, named Georgiy, and a year later the family is replenished with a daughter, Nina (in her adult life she worked as a psychiatrist).
The Vernadskys, infinitely devoted to each other, lived together for 56 years. Correspondence between the spouses has been preserved, which consists of thousands of letters. From the text of the messages we can conclude that over the years the spouses managed to preserve their feelings, and the family was based on complete mutual understanding.
The son of Vladimir Vernadsky, Georgy (George), is also well known to science as a Russian and American historian and lawyer. He specialized in the history of Rus' and Russia, studied the history of the Tatar-Mongols, worked at a number of European universities, and died in 1973 in New Haven (Connecticut, USA).
From the diary entry one can also learn that some properties of the scientist’s consciousness frightened him. He writes that in dreams and in reality he could sometimes communicate with loved ones who were not around at that time, but Vernadsky saw them surprisingly clearly. The scientist did not understand the nature of this feature of his consciousness, so he chose to suppress it in early childhood. Nevertheless, this amazing property sometimes returned to Vernadsky, mainly in crisis situations.
During a period of being on the verge of life and death (when he fell ill with typhus), the scientist had a vision. Like footage from a newsreel, the scientists saw the future in front of them, including the day of death.
In 1943, the scientist had a feeling that his life would soon end, so Vernadsky began to take stock. He pays maximum attention to writing a chronicle of life, the history of the emergence and subsequent development of ideas.
On February 3, 1944, the academician’s wife Natalya Egorovna dies, Vernadsky continues to work on summing up the results.
On December 24, 1944, the last entry in the scientist’s diary was made; the next morning he had a stroke. The worst fears were confirmed, and after the stroke Vernadsky was speechless, repeating the fate of his father, which he had always feared. On January 6, 1945, Vladimir Ivanovich died and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
Some time before his death, Vernadsky donated his memoirs to the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The text of the entries reads, among other things: “I believe in the great future of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.”
During the scientist’s lifetime, many of Vernadsky’s works were not published in full. Some works were first published only in the 90s of the last century; the scientist’s followers are still working to develop the ideas of the scientist. Vernadsky’s thoughts still retain practical importance, since they became a scientific revelation that humanity was able to understand only decades later.
Biography of Vladimir Vernadsky.
Perpetuating the memory of Vladimir Vernadsky.
Vladimir Vernadsky on social networks.
On Youtube for the query “Vladimir Vernadsky” there are 131 results:
How often do Yandex users from Ukraine look for information about Vladimir Vernadsky?
To analyze the popularity of the query “Vladimir Vernadsky”, the Yandex search engine service wordstat.yandex is used, from which we can conclude: as of March 22, 2016, the number of queries for the month was 2,582, as can be seen in the screenshot:
Since the end of 2014, the largest number of requests for “Vladimir Vernadsky” was registered in September 2014 – 14,060 requests per month.
(12.03.1863-1945)
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky is a famous Soviet biologist, geologist, chemist, and thinker.
One of Vernadsky's main merits is that he created the doctrine of the biosphere, in which he showed that living organisms influence sedimentary rocks. In the development of this teaching, Vernadsky also considered the noosphere - the biosphere in which humans live.
Detailed biography
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was born on March 12, 1863 in St. Petersburg. His father, Ivan Vasilyevich Vernadsky, worked as a professor of economics at St. Petersburg University.
Five years after the birth of Vladimir Ivanovich, his family moved to Kharkov.
In this city, Ivan Vasilyevich Vernadsky began working as the manager of the State Bank office.
In Kharkov, Vladimir Ivanovich entered the First Classical Gymnasium.
In 1876, the Vernadsky family returned to St. Petersburg. Vladimir Ivanovich continued his studies at one of the best in Russia, the First St. Petersburg Gymnasium.
In 1881, Vladimir Vernadsky entered the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. At that time, Mendeleev, Butlerov, Sechenov, and Dokuchaev taught there.
Here Vernadsky conducted his first research (under the leadership of V.V. Dokuchaev). It was dedicated to gophers. Vladimir Ivanovich found out that the movement of earth carried out by these animals is quite large.
In 1886, Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky graduated from the university and remained there to continue his scientific work, and he became interested in mineralogy.
In 1898, Vladimir Vernadsky headed the department of mineralogy and crystallography at Moscow University.
At that time, mineralogy was mainly concerned with the description and systematization of minerals. Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky put forward the idea of the evolution of minerals (connection with the environment, changes in minerals over time). Vernadsky presented the results of his experiments and reflections in his work “History of Minerals of the Earth’s Crust.”
Since 1905, Vernadsky became a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party, which advocated democratic reforms in Russia.
In 1911, Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky left (along with other professors) from Moscow University (in protest against the actions of the Minister of Education Casso).
After leaving Moscow University, Vernadsky returned to St. Petersburg and began scientific work. He dealt mainly with those areas that were between the generally accepted scientific disciplines (chemistry, geology and biology), as a result of which new sciences emerged - geochemistry and biogeochemistry.
Biogeochemistry of Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky dealt with geochemical processes on the surface of the Earth, in which living beings - representatives of the biosphere - play a very important role. He showed that the biosphere is a natural result of the development of the Earth.
Vernadsky expanded the concept of “biosphere” (introduced in the 19th century), calling with this term the shell of the Earth, including the lower part of the atmosphere, almost the entire hydrosphere and the upper part of the lithosphere, to the existence of which living organisms make a significant contribution. This interpretation was not new, but Vernadsky was able to show that most sedimentary rocks are the result of the activity of living organisms.
Vernadsky divided the biosphere into two parts - modern or active (where all sorts of organisms now live) and passive, including the area of life activity of long-dead organisms.
Using the elements he studied, Vladimir Ivanovich showed how living organisms participated in their formation and migration. At the same time, Vernadsky found out that living organisms are concentrators and accumulators of scattered rare substances and chemical elements.”
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky outlined his doctrine of the patterns of connections between chemical elements in his work “Paragenesis of the chemical elements of the earth’s crust.”
In the last years of his life, Vernadsky came to the conclusion that the biosphere is transforming into the noosphere (the term “noosphere” was coined by the French geologist E. Leroy).
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky defined the noosphere as the shell of the Earth in which the activity of the human mind takes on the character of a geological process. He considered the noosphere to be one of the states of the biosphere, the biosphere of people.
Vladimir Ivanovich was one of the organizers of the Cadet Party, and was a member of the Provisional Government in 1917 as a fellow minister of public education.
After the October coup, when Lenin declared the Cadets “the party of enemies of the people,” Vernadsky left for Ukraine. There, in 1918, before the Reds came to Kyiv, he founded the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.
In 1920, Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky organized the Tauride University in Crimea.
In 1921, Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky returned to Russia. He had no problems in Soviet Russia (possibly on Lenin's instructions). One of the reasons for this could be that Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky attended the same student People's Will circle as Alexander Ulyanov (Lenin's brother).
Vladimr Ivanovich’s son Georgy was a private associate professor at St. Petersburg University, then Tauride University, head of the press department in the Wrangel government of the South of Russia, and in 1927 he began working in the United States. He was even a professor at Yale University, heading the department of Russian history.
The academician's daughter, Nina, married Baron Toll, the son of a famous traveler, and went with him to Prague, then to America.
In the thirties, Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky was “developed by the NKVD” (in connection with the “case of the Russian National Party”), but it never came to arrest.
In the summer of 1940, Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky received a letter from his son, to which was attached a newspaper clipping. It reported that his acquaintances, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, split the nucleus of a uranium atom by bombarding it with neutrons.
Vernadsky appreciated the potential of this experiment. Therefore, on his initiative, a commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences was created, which included I.V. Kurchatov and Yu.B. Khariton - the future creators of the Soviet atomic bomb.
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky died in 1945, six months before the bombing of Japanese cities.
V. I. Vernadsky
Introduction
At present, civilization has come to the end of a certain stage of development, when it gained enormous experience in the sciences. For the most part, most of the greatest discoveries were made in the 20th century. It was in this century that the expression became popular in the media: “This discovery can turn the whole world upside down...”. As a result, humanity has accumulated a huge potential of thoughtless and thoughtless products of innovation. Problematic tension is observed in all sectors of human activity. Civilization as such is capable of not only self-destruction, but also destroying everything around it.
Civilization has only two ways: self-destruction and comprehension of all its experience and the transition to a new level of consciousness. Today we are faced with many global problems: maintaining peace on earth, ecology, food problems, overpopulation, poverty of most of humanity. All the difficulties of humanity are intertwined into one tangled ball - they are interconnected and complement each other.
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky devoted most of his life to solving one of these problems, environmental. The true greatness of Vernadsky is only now becoming clear. It is in his deep philosophical ideas, looking into the future and closely affecting the destinies of all humanity.
Biography
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky (1863 – 1945). Born on March 12, 1863 in St. Petersburg, in the family of Professor I.V. Vernadsky and A.P. Vernadskaya. Five years later, the Vernadsky family moved to Kharkov, where the formation of Vernadsky’s personality was influenced by his cousin, E.M. Korolenko, a retired officer who was fond of scientific and philosophical research. Most of all, he was interested in problems related to the life of each person and humanity as a whole. Using his father’s example and under his influence, Vernadsky understood the importance and necessity of systematic education and in-depth study in a certain area of activity. Having learned to read early, Vladimir spent many hours with books, reading them indiscriminately, constantly rummaging through his father’s library.
Foreign languages, history, and philosophy were well taught at the St. Petersburg Classical Gymnasium. Subsequently, Vernadsky independently studied several European languages. He read literature, mostly scientific, in fifteen languages, and wrote some of his articles in French, English and German. Vernadsky entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. During his student years, Vernadsky was greatly influenced by V.V. Dokuchaev. He suggested that his student study mineralogy and crystallography, although he himself, while teaching these sciences, found his calling in soil science.
Vernadsky had an exceptionally wide range of interests, deep intuition and a truly prophetic gift for new ways of developing scientific thought. Vernadsky laid the foundations for a complex of currently new, rapidly progressing scientific directions and concepts. First of all, these are genetic mineralogy, geochemistry, biogeochemistry, radioecology, the study of living matter, the biosphere and noosphere, the division of geographical and biological sciences, meteorology, history of science and scientific worldview, science of science, history of philosophy. As a naturalist, he was a typical researcher of natural history. However, his consideration of it was in close connection with the history of human society. This is what ultimately constituted the basis of V.I. Vernadsky’s scientific creativity and worldview.
For a long time he worked within a narrow specialization. The Lomonosov tradition of Russian mineralogy became his scientific direction, but this was not an end in itself for him. He prepared himself for professional scientific activity, but at the same time continued to be interested in everything, to reflect on the essence of knowledge of nature and the nature of scientific knowledge, on the synthesis of knowledge, on the unsolved mysteries of the earth and life.
Later, Vernadsky defended his doctoral dissertation, “Phenomena of Sliding of Crystalline Substances,” and became a professor at Moscow University. In 1906, Vernadsky was elected a member of the State Council from Moscow University. And two years later he becomes an academician. He also became the chairman of the scientific council at the Ministry of Agriculture, while Vernadsky continued scientific research, publishing articles on mineralogy, geochemistry, minerals, the history of natural science, and the organization of sciences.
He lived in Ukraine, where he actively participated in the creation of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and was elected its president. He spent three years abroad, mainly in France, conducting extensive research and teaching work. His lectures on geochemistry, articles on mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, biochemistry, marine chemistry, the evolution of life, as well as on geochemical activity and the future of humanity are published. One of the main reasons for working in France is the research in the Curie laboratories of the “new” radioactive element “Parisia”, which remains a mystery to this day.
Having lived to a ripe old age, Vernadsky died in Moscow on January 6, 1945, just a few months before the victorious end of the Great Patriotic War. He had to survive three revolutions in Russia and two world wars.
Vernadsky's philosophy
Vernadsky's creativity is extensive and today is far from fully revealed. It awaits its researcher, or rather, researchers, because in our time of narrow specialization, it is unlikely that anyone will dare to embrace the full breadth of the scientist’s heritage. Although, on the other hand, only taken as a whole can it reveal the characteristics of this person as a scientist, the logic of his work, his ideas.
For Vernadsky, as a real researcher, it was extremely important to consider the subject of study from different angles. “I am interested in more than just the practical side, although a coherent presentation of the very progress of the development of science, according to the latest data, is important. I am attracted by the idea of the possibility of generalizations in this area and the possibility ... historically to penetrate deeper into the understanding of the foundations of our worldview than is achieved through philosophical analysis or other abstract means."
Vernadsky saw in man not just a contemplator, but a creator of nature, called upon, in the end, to take a place at the very helm of evolution. At the beginning of the 20th century, Vernadsky’s fundamental view on the problem of the relationship between philosophy and science was basically formed. The scientist turns to Western European philosophy, to thinkers of the East, mainly India and China. Since the beginning of the 20s, the philosophical richness of special natural science works, closely intertwined with ideological, social, humanitarian and environmental issues, has sharply increased. Vernadsky's relationship with Soviet philosophers who advocated dialectical materialism was difficult. During these years, his works devoted to living matter, biogeochemistry, and the doctrine of the biosphere were more than once subjected to sharp criticism.
The originality and novelty of Vernadsky's ideas are all the more valuable if we remember that in his time the theoretical problems of the history of the development of science were not seriously posed by anyone. He talks about the role of man, his mind in the entire Universe. Its significance for our civilization has long been underestimated. And the main reason for this, paradoxically, was, apparently, the very successes of classical science, culminating in the creation of the general theory of relativity by A. Einstein in 1916.
Vernadsky was not a specialist in any one science or even in several sciences. He knew a dozen sciences brilliantly, but he studied nature, which is immeasurably more complex than all the sciences combined. He reflected on natural objects and their relationships.
Vernadsky's key idea is that the transition of the biosphere that emerged on Earth to the noosphere, that is, the kingdom of mind, is not a local episode on the outskirts of the endless Universe, but a natural and inevitable stage in the development of matter.
Man and the biosphere
Vernadsky connected the doctrine of the biosphere with human activity, not only geological, but also in general with the diverse manifestations of the existence of the individual and the life of human society: “In essence, a person, being part of the biosphere, can only judge the universe in comparison with the phenomena observed on it. He hangs in the thin film of the biosphere and only with thought penetrates up and down.” All of us, people, are an inextricable part of living matter, attached to its immortality, a necessary part of the planet and the cosmos, continuers of the activities of life, children of the Sun. Vernadsky considered the biosphere itself as a special geological body, the structure and functions of which are determined by the characteristics of the Earth and space. Living organisms, populations, species and all living matter are forms, levels of organization of the biosphere. Vernadsky's biogeochemical principles affirm the high adaptability of living matter, plasticity, and variability over time.
The central theme of the doctrine of the noosphere is the unity of the biosphere and humanity. Vernadsky in his works reveals the roots of this unity, the importance of the organization of the biosphere in the development of mankind. This allows us to understand the place and role of the historical development of mankind in the evolution of the biosphere, the patterns of its transition to the noosphere.
Sometimes you can hear the opinion that the concept of the noosphere introduced by Vernadsky does not contain anything new and is exhausted by the doctrine of the geographical habitat of mankind. However, such an identification is hardly fair. The categories “geographical environment” and “noosphere” do not refer to coinciding things; they do not overlap in meaning. The geographic environment is that shell of the Earth that affects the living conditions, production, culture, and everyday life of people. The noosphere is the shell of the Earth, which is affected by production, culture, and everyday life of people; This also includes former buried layers of the Earth that have changed under the influence of past anthropogenic influences and are not included in the current geographic environment. The noosphere reflects the planetary impact of social production on the upper shells of the Earth; not all of these changes enter directly into the geographic environment. The destruction of the ozone layer by organic solvents and refrigerants is already underway, but has not yet become an element of the geographic environment, since it does not yet affect production, culture, or forms of human communication. This is a fact of the noosphere, and not of the geographical environment.
One of the key ideas underlying Vernadsky’s theory of the noosphere is that man is not a self-sufficient living being, living separately according to his own laws, he exists within nature and is part of it. This unity is due, first of all, to the functional continuity of the environment and man, which Vernadsky tried to show as a biogeochemist. Humanity itself is a natural phenomenon and it is natural that the influence of the biosphere affects not only the environment of life, but also the way of thinking.
But not only nature has an impact on humans, there is also feedback. Moreover, it is not superficial, reflecting the physical impact of man on the environment, it is much deeper. Vernadsky wrote especially vividly and inspiredly about the impact of human activity on nature in his work “A Few Words about the Noosphere,” created in 1943: “The face of the planet - the biosphere - is chemically dramatically changed by man, consciously and mainly unconsciously. The air shell of the land is changed physically and chemically by man. , all its natural waters. As a result of the growth of human culture in the twentieth century, the coastal seas and parts of the ocean began to change more and more dramatically (chemically and biologically) ... Moreover, new species and races of animals and plants are being created by man.”
This is proven by the fact that planetary geological forces have recently become noticeably more active. "... We see the geological forces around us more and more clearly in action. This coincided, hardly by chance, with the penetration into scientific consciousness of the belief about the geological significance of Homo sapiens, with the identification of a new state of the biosphere - the noosphere - and is one of its forms expressions, of course, primarily with the clarification of natural scientific work and thought within the biosphere, where living matter plays a major role." So, recently the reflection of living beings on the surrounding nature has changed dramatically. Thanks to this, the process of evolution is transferred to the field of minerals. Soil, water and air are changing dramatically. That is, the evolution of species itself turned into a geological process, since in the process of evolution a new geological force appeared. Vernadsky wrote: “The evolution of species passes into the evolution of the biosphere.”
Here the conclusion naturally arises that the geological force is actually not Homo Sapiens at all, but his mind, the scientific thought of social humanity. In “Philosophical Thoughts of a Naturalist,” Vernadsky wrote: “We are just experiencing its bright entry into the geological history of the planet. In recent millennia, there has been an intensive increase in the influence of one species of living matter - civilized humanity - on changes in the biosphere. Under the influence of scientific thought and human labor, the biosphere is changing into a new state - into noosphere".
We are observers and implementers of profound changes in the biosphere. Moreover, the restructuring of the environment by scientific human thought through organized labor is hardly a spontaneous process. The roots of this lie in nature itself and were laid millions of years ago during the natural process of evolution. "Man... is an inevitable manifestation of a large natural process that naturally lasts for at least two billion years."
From here, by the way, we can conclude that statements about the self-destruction of humanity, about the collapse of civilization, do not have any compelling basis. It would be, at least, strange if scientific thought, a product of a natural geological process, contradicted the process itself. We are on the threshold of revolutionary changes in the environment: the biosphere, through processing by scientific thought, is moving into a new evolutionary state - the noosphere.
Populating all corners of our planet, relying on state-organized scientific thought and its generation, technology, man created a new biogenic force in the biosphere, supporting the reproduction and further settlement of various parts of the biosphere. Moreover, along with the expansion of the area of residence, humanity begins to represent an increasingly united mass, since developing means of communication - means of transmitting thoughts - envelop the entire globe. “This process—the complete settlement of the biosphere by humans—is conditioned by the course of the history of scientific thought and is inextricably linked with the speed of communication, with the success of transportation technology, with the possibility of instant transmission of thought and its simultaneous discussion everywhere on the planet.”
At the same time, man for the first time really understood that he is an inhabitant of the planet and can and should think and act in a new aspect, not only in the aspect of an individual, family or clan, states or their unions, but also in the planetary aspect. He, like all living things, can think and act in the planetary aspect only in the area of life - in the biosphere , in a certain earthly shell, with which he is inextricably, naturally connected, and from which he cannot leave. Its existence is its function. He carries it with him everywhere. And he inevitably, naturally, continuously changes it. It seems that for the first time we are in the conditions of a single geological historical process that simultaneously covered the entire planet. The 20th century is characterized by the fact that any events occurring on the planet are connected into a single whole. And every day the social, scientific and cultural connectedness of humanity only intensifies and deepens. “The increase in universality and cohesion of all human societies is constantly growing and becomes noticeable in a few years, almost every year.”
Thus:
Man, as he is observed in nature, like all living organisms, like every living substance, is a certain function of the biosphere, in its certain space-time.
Man in all his manifestations is part of the biosphere.
The breakthrough of scientific thought was prepared by the entire past of the biosphere and has evolutionary roots. The noosphere is a biosphere processed by scientific thought, prepared by the entire past of the planet, and not a short-term and transient geological phenomenon.
Vernadsky repeatedly noted that “the civilization of “cultural humanity” - since it is a form of organization of a new geological force created in the biosphere - cannot be interrupted and destroyed, since it is a great natural phenomenon that corresponds to the historically, or rather, geologically established organization of the biosphere. Forming the noosphere, it is connected with all its roots to this earthly shell, which has not happened before in the history of mankind to any comparable extent.”
Opinion about science
Vernadsky's approach to science is somewhat unusual. He viewed it as a geological and historical force that changes the biosphere and the life of mankind. It is the main link through which the unity of the biosphere and humanity deepens.
Vernadsky devotes a special place to the science of the 20th century. It was at this time that it experienced an unprecedented flourishing, a kind of explosion of scientific creativity. Science becomes universal, world science, covering the entire planet.
Vernadsky paid great attention to the humanistic content of science, to its role in solving the problems of mankind, to the responsibility of scientists for the application of scientific discoveries. These and many other ideas of Vernadsky about the role of science in the development of humanity, in the transition of the biosphere to the noosphere are of current importance for our time.
Vernadsky viewed science as a means of human development. Therefore, it is very important that science does not take the form of an abstract entity that has its own independent existence. Science is a creation of humanity and should serve for the benefit of humanity. “Its content is not limited to scientific theories, hypotheses, models, and the picture of the world they create: at its core, it mainly consists of scientific factors and their empirical generalizations, and the main living content in it is the scientific work of living people...” So science - social all-human education, which is based on the power of facts, generalizations and, of course, the human mind.
We are observing how science is beginning to change the Earth’s biosphere more and more deeply; it is changing living conditions, geological processes, and the energy of the planet. This means that scientific thought itself is a natural phenomenon. At the moment we are experiencing the creation of a new geological force, scientific thought, the influence of living matter in the evolution of the biosphere is sharply increasing. The biosphere, being processed by the scientific thought of Homo Sapiens, passes into its new state - the noosphere.
The significance of the changes taking place on the planet in the 20th century is so great that processes of equal importance can only be found in the distant past. At the moment, it is hardly possible to assess the full scientific and social importance of this phenomenon, because to understand scientifically means to put the phenomenon within the framework of real cosmic reality. But what we can see is that science is being rebuilt before our eyes. Only our distant descendants will be able to really see the biogenic effect of the work of scientific thought: it will appear brightly and clearly only after hundreds of years.
The emergence of the mind and the result of its activity - the organization of science - is the most important fact in the development of the planet, perhaps even exceeding everything observed to date. Scientific activity has now acquired such features as a fast pace, coverage of large territories, depth of research, and the power of the transformations being carried out. This allows us to foresee a scientific movement, the scope of which has not yet been seen in the biosphere.
Man is inseparable from the biosphere, he lives in it and only its objects can be explored directly with his senses. “He can penetrate beyond the biosphere only with constructs of the mind, based on relatively few categories of countless facts that he can obtain in the biosphere by visual examination of the vault of heaven and by studying in the biosphere the reflections of cosmic radiation or extraterrestrial cosmic matter entering the biosphere...” Thus , the scientific thought of mankind, working only in the biosphere, in the course of its manifestation, ultimately turns it into the noosphere, geologically embraces it with reason. Only now has it become possible to scientifically isolate the biosphere, which is the main area of knowledge, from the surrounding reality.
From all of the above, the following conclusions can be drawn:
Human scientific creativity is a force that changes the biosphere.
This change in the biosphere is an inevitable process that accompanies scientific growth.
But this change in the biosphere is a spontaneous natural process that occurs regardless of human will.
The entry into the biosphere of a new factor of its change - the human mind - is a natural process of transition of the biosphere into the noosphere.
By constantly improving, science can advance further in the study of the environment.
The emergence of geochemistry and biogeochemistry met the needs of a holistic, synthetic consideration of the phenomena of the organization of the biosphere, the relationships between living and inert matter. These sciences are also of paramount importance for the study of the unity of the biosphere and humanity. Thus, geochemistry and biogeochemistry connect the sciences of nature with the sciences of man. The center of such an integrated science, according to Vernadsky, is the doctrine of the biosphere.
In modern conditions, the task of paramount importance is the revival of the ideas of biosphere natural science, the continuation of the scientific development of problems of biogeochemistry.
Tasks for creating the noosphere
The process of transition of the biosphere into the noosphere inevitably carries within itself the features of consciousness, purposeful activity, and creative work. Vernadsky saw the tasks of enormous importance facing humanity in creating the noosphere. From the standpoint of these tasks, he noted the groundlessness of judgments about the possibility of the collapse of civilization. Let us consider the prospects for the development of humanity from Vernadsky’s point of view.
Vernadsky justifies the indestructibility of civilization with the following theses:
Humanity is on the path to creating a noospheric shell of the Earth, increasingly strengthening its ties with the biosphere. Humanity becomes a Universal category.
Humanity in its development has become a single whole due to the fact that the interests of everyone, and not individuals, become a state task.
Global problems of humanity, such as conscious regulation of reproduction, prolongation of life, victory over diseases, are beginning to be solved.
The task is to spread scientific knowledge to all humanity.
Vernadsky wrote: “Such a set of universal human actions and ideas has never happened before, and it is clear that this movement cannot be stopped. In particular, scientists are faced with unprecedented tasks for the near future of consciously directing the organization of the noosphere, from which they cannot move away.” , since the spontaneous course of the growth of scientific knowledge directs them towards this.”
Confidence in the future is thus based on the growing importance of joint human actions in the development of humanity. Vernadsky, of course, could not foresee the current severity of global problems of world development. But they also only strengthen the importance of jointly solving problems of conscious direction of organization of the noosphere.
One of the most important problems in the formation of the organization of the noosphere is the question of the place and role of science in the life of society, and the influence of the state on the development of scientific research.
Vernadsky spoke out for the formation of a unified (at the state level) scientific human thought, which would be a decisive factor in the noosphere and would create better living conditions for the coming generations. The primary issues that need to be resolved along this path are “the question of planned, uniform activity for mastering nature and proper distribution of wealth, associated with the consciousness of the unity and equality of all people, the unity of the noosphere”; the idea of a state unification of the efforts of mankind.
Noosphere at the end of the twentieth century: forecasts and realities
In the book “Scientific Thought as a Planetary Phenomenon,” V.I. Vernadsky analyzes the geological history of the Earth and argues that there is a transition of the biosphere into a new state - into the noosphere, under the influence of a new geological force, the scientific thought of mankind. However, in the works of Vernadsky there is no complete and consistent interpretation of the essence of the material noosphere as a transformed biosphere. In some cases, he wrote about the noosphere in the future tense (it has not yet arrived), in others - in the present (we are entering it), and sometimes he associated the formation of the noosphere with the appearance of Homo sapiens or with the emergence of industrial production. R.K. Balandin writes: “It should be noted that when, as a mineralogist, Vladimir Ivanovich wrote about the geological activity of man, he had not yet used the concepts of “noosphere” and even “biosphere.” He wrote in most detail about the formation of the noosphere on Earth in his unfinished work “Scientific thought as a planetary phenomenon,” but mainly from the point of view of the history of science.”
So, what is the noosphere: a utopia or a real survival strategy? The works of V.I. Vernadsky allow a more reasonable answer to the question posed, since they indicate a number of specific conditions necessary for the formation and existence of the noosphere. Let us list these conditions, scattered throughout the pages of the book “Scientific Thought as a Planetary Phenomenon” and partly in other publications by V. I. Vernadsky:
human settlement of the entire planet;
a dramatic transformation in the means of communication and exchange between countries;
strengthening ties, including political ones, between all countries of the Earth;
the beginning of the predominance of the geological role of man over other geological processes occurring in the biosphere;
expanding the boundaries of the biosphere and entering space;
discovery of new energy sources;
equality of people of all races and religions;
increasing the role of the masses in resolving issues of foreign and domestic policy;
freedom of scientific thought and scientific research from the pressure of religious, philosophical and political constructs and the creation in the state system of conditions favorable for free scientific thought;
a well-thought-out system of public education and an increase in the well-being of workers. Creating a real opportunity to prevent malnutrition and hunger, poverty and greatly reduce disease;
a reasonable transformation of the primary nature of the Earth in order to make it capable of satisfying all the material, aesthetic and spiritual needs of a numerically increasing population;
exclusion of wars from the life of society.
In St. Petersburg in the family of an economist professor.
In 1868, the Vernadsky family moved to Kharkov. In 1873, Vladimir Vernadsky entered the Kharkov gymnasium. In 1876, the Vernadskys returned to St. Petersburg. From the third grade, Vernadsky studied at the St. Petersburg Classical Gymnasium. In 1881, after graduating from high school, Vladimir Vernadsky entered the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University.
Among his teachers were the creator of the periodic table of elements, Dmitry Mendeleev, and the founder of soil science, Vasily Dokuchaev. After graduating from the university in 1885, Vernadsky remained at the university to conduct scientific work and was the keeper of the mineralogical cabinet.
Along with scientific work, Vernadsky took part in public life. He worked in the student scientific and literary society, was the chairman of the united St. Petersburg community, and also took part in a circle for the study of literature for the people.
In 1888, Vernadsky was sent to Europe, interned in Munich (Germany) with the crystallographer Paul Groth and in Paris (France) with Henri Louis Le Chatelier at the Paris Mining School of Ferdinand Fouquet at the Collège de France.
From 1890 to 1911, Vernadsky, as a private assistant professor and then a professor, taught mineralogy and crystallography at Moscow University. In 1891, Vladimir Vernadsky defended his master's thesis (“On the sillimanite group and the role of alumina in silicates”).
The scientist traveled extensively throughout Central and Eastern Europe and Russia, conducting geological surveys. In 1897 he defended his doctoral dissertation (“Phenomena of sliding of crystalline matter”). In 1905 he was elected assistant rector of Moscow University.
Vernadsky was an innovator in the method of teaching mineralogy. The scientist emphasized how important it is to study minerals in their co-occurrence, that is, in “paragenesis”. Vernadsky also introduced a new view into the theory of isomorphism.
In 1905, Professor Vernadsky became one of the leaders of the Kadet (constitutional democratic) party, which united the liberal-minded intelligentsia.
On March 4, 1906, Vladimir Vernadsky was elected adjunct of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in the Physics and Mathematics Department, specializing in mineralogy. And on April 5, 1908 - an extraordinary academician.
Since 1906, Vernadsky was the head of the Mineralogical Museum of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Lived alternately in St. Petersburg and Moscow. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, Vernadsky’s scientific school in the field of geology and mineralogy emerged.
Realizing the importance of radioactive substances as a source of energy and, possibly, a means of creating new chemical elements, Vernadsky actively began practical work mapping deposits of radioactive minerals and collecting samples. In 1909, through the efforts of Vernadsky, the Radium Commission was established. The following year, in search of deposits of radioactive substances, the scientist visited Transcaucasia, Transbaikalia, Fergana, and the Urals. The first geochemical laboratory was organized in St. Petersburg, and later a special radiological department was formed under it, headed by Lev Kolovrat-Chervinsky.
At the beginning of 1911, in protest against police brutality, 21 professors and more than 100 teachers, including Vladimir Vernadsky, left Moscow University. After a twenty-year period of teaching at Moscow University, Vernadsky moved to St. Petersburg, and on March 12, 1912, he was elected an ordinary academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. In 1914, Vernadsky became director of the Geological and Mineralogical Museum of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg.
After the February Revolution of 1917, Vernadsky was the chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture and a fellow minister of public education in the Provisional Government. After the October Revolution of 1917, he was engaged exclusively in scientific activities. In May 1918, Vernadsky left for Ukraine, where he began work on organizing the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. On November 27, 1918, the first General Meeting of Academicians was held, where Vladimir Vernadsky was unanimously elected president.
In December 1921, Vernadsky received an offer from the rector of the University of Paris to teach a course in geochemistry in Paris. The scientist agreed and went abroad on June 1, 1922, staying in Paris and Prague (Czech Republic) until 1926. At this time, he lectured at the Sorbonne and published the book “Geochemistry” in French (in Russian the book was published in 1927 under the title “Essays on Geochemistry”). Worked in the laboratory of Marie Skłodowska-Curie. Having received a grant from the Rosenthal Foundation, he prepared a report “Living Matter in the Biosphere” and an article “Autotrophy of Humanities.”
In March 1926, Vernadsky returned to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). The scientist took the initiative to restore the Commission on the History of Knowledge, again became director of the Radium Institute and head of the Commission on Natural Productive Forces (NEPF). At KEPS, Vernadsky organized the Department of Living Matter, and then in 1928 the Biogeochemical Laboratory (BIOGEL).
Since 1927, Vernadsky often traveled abroad, to Germany, France, the Netherlands and other countries, giving lectures and working in scientific centers. Vernadsky's international recognition grew, and his articles began to appear in many European scientific journals. Vernadsky was elected a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences in Mineralogy.
At the end of the 1930s, Vernadsky headed the Committee on Meteorites and Cosmic Dust, the Commission on Isotopes, and participated in the work of the International Committee on Geological Time. In June 1940, the scientist initiated the creation of the Uranium Commission. In the same year, “Biogeochemical Essays” was published (the work “Scientific Thought as a Planetary Phenomenon” was put on the table and was published with banknotes only in 1977).
After the start of the Great Patriotic War in July 1941, the evacuation of the Academy of Sciences began, Vernadsky and his family went to Kazakhstan to the village of Borovoe, Akmola region. Here, for two years, Vladimir Vernadsky worked on his largest, most general work, “The Chemical Structure of the Earth’s Biosphere and Its Environment.” In 1943, Vernadsky returned to Moscow, and in 1944 his last work, “A Few Words about the Noosphere,” was published.
On January 6, 1945, Vladimir Vernadsky died. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
In total, Vernadsky published more than 700 scientific papers. Vladimir Vernadsky was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and was a laureate of the Stalin Prize, 1st degree (1943) for outstanding work in mineralogy and geochemistry. He donated half of this prize to the needs of the Red Army.
In September 2005, a solemn ceremony for the great Russian scientist took place in the village of Vernadovka, Pichaevsky district, Tambov region.
On February 1, 2013, the Bank of Russia issued a commemorative silver coin dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Vernadsky, in the series “Outstanding Personalities of Russia”.
Vernadsky was married to Natalia Egorovna Staritskaya (1862-1943), with whom he lived for more than 56 years. Their family had two children: son Georgy (1887-1973), a famous researcher of Russian history, daughter Nina Vernadskaya-Toll (1898-1985), a psychiatrist. Both died in exile in the USA.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
My message is dedicated to the life and scientific work of Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky. This is a great scientist, naturalist who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. His contributions to science are enormous and varied. He worked in the field of various sciences and made discoveries in them.
Beginning of life and scientific activity
The life of a scientist was long and eventful. He was born in 1863 in Ukraine into an educated and talented family. His second cousin - prose writer Vladimir Korolenko, who wrote "Children of the Dungeon", "The Blind Musician" and other famous works. Vernadsky's dad was a professor.
First, the family moved to St. Petersburg, but did not stay there long and went to Kharkov, where they lived for several years. Then again to St. Petersburg, where Vladimir Ivanovich graduated from high school and entered the university. Here he studied natural sciences, and his teachers were famous people, including.
After graduating from the university, Vernadsky studied geology and mineralogy, and then taught these sciences at Moscow University. However, when several professors were fired on political charges, Vernadsky also left the university.
Study of radioactive substances
The great naturalist became interested in radioactive substances; He devoted many years of his life to this work, went on expeditions, and sought to create research stations in the Urals.
Vernadsky continued his work after the 1917 revolution. He went to teach in Ukraine: first to Kyiv, then to Simferopol, where for some time he was the rector of the university. But then Vladimir Ivanovich returned to St. Petersburg and continued his active scientific work and research of radioactive substances.
To him managed to organize an expedition to the site of the Tunguska meteorite fall. Under the leadership of V.I. Vernadsky and V.G. Khlopin, a plant was created in Tatarstan, where for the first time it was possible to obtain highly enriched radium.
The doctrine of the noosphere
Vladimir Ivanovich’s activities were not limited to the study of uranium and radium. He owns creation of the doctrine of the noosphere. The scientist believed that the noosphere would replace the biosphere. In the biosphere, he counted 7 types of substances: living, biogenic, that is, arising from living things, and so on, down to scattered atoms and substances of cosmic origin. He believed that living things are eternal, and man, in the process of evolution, will become the most important of living things. More and more people will study science, people will come to power, a space information network will be created, and atomic energy will give people the opportunity to change the biosphere. Then the biosphere (the space of life) will move into the noosphere (the space of the mind). Scientist looked into the future with optimism and faith in the human mind.
The last years of the scientist's life
During the Great Patriotic War, already quite old, eighty years old, he was evacuated to Kazakhstan. His wife, with whom he lived for 56 years, died here. Vernadsky survived her by only one year and died in January 1945 from a stroke. He had a son and daughter who lived abroad.
Scientist's contribution to science
Vernadsky's greatest contributions to science are considered to be research in the field of geology, mineralogy, the creation of the science of biogeochemistry and the doctrine of the noosphere.
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