And interesting facts about the priests. Alexander Stepanovich Popov. Biographical note. Biography score

Russian physicist and electrical engineer, professor, inventor

short biography

Alexander Stepanovich Popov(March 4, 1859, the village of Turinskiye Rudniki, Perm province - December 31, 1905, St. Petersburg) - Russian physicist and electrical engineer, professor, inventor, state adviser (1901), Honorary electrical engineer (1899). One of the inventors of radio.

Alexander Stepanovich Popov was born on March 4, 1859 (March 16, 1859) in the Urals in a settlement at the Bogoslovsky plant, Turinskiye Rudniki, Verkhotursky district, Perm province (now the city of Krasnoturinsk, Sverdlovsk region).

In the family of his father, the local priest Stepan Petrovich Popov (1827-1897), besides Alexander, there were 6 more children, among them his sister Augusta, a well-known artist in the future. They lived more than modestly. The cousin of the future inventor, Pavel Popov, held a professorship at Kiev University, and his son Igor Popov (1913-2001) was engaged in seismology in the USA.

• Father - Stefan Petrov Popov (1827-1897). Born July 27, 1827 in the village. Rozhdestvensky Kungursky district of the Perm province. In 1846 he graduated from the Perm Theological Seminary in the second category. His Grace Arkady (Fedorov), Archbishop of Perm and Verkhoturye, was ordained a priest at St. Nicholas Church with. Pikhtovskoye, Okhansky district. Since 1855, he was transferred by the rector of the Maximovskaya church with. Turin mines of the Bogoslovsky district of the Verkhotursky district of the Perm province (now the city of Krasnoturinsk). From 1861 to 1870 taught the Law of God at a free girls' school in his own home. He was awarded a bronze pectoral cross in memory of the war of 1853-1856, a gold pectoral cross from the office of the Holy Synod. He was repeatedly elected as a deputy for judicial affairs. In 1881 he was transferred to the Bogoslovsky Plant as rector of the Church of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian, where he spent the last years of his life. He died in 1897. He was buried behind the altar of the Church of St. John the Theologian.
  • Grandfather - Peter Nikolaev Popov (1785-1860), was a priest of the Transfiguration Church with. Rozhdestvenskoye, Kungursky district, Perm province (now the village of Sylvenskoye).
    • Great-grandfather - priest Nikolai Petrov Popov, served in one of the churches in the city of Kungur, the son of a priest.
• Mother - Anna Stefanova Ponomaryova (1830-1903), the seventh child in the family of Stefan Ioannov Ponomaryov (1795-?), who, at the age of 13, in 1808, was ordained a surplice and left as a psalmist. Having become a widower, he remarried, for which the diocesan authorities referred to repentance in the Verkhotursky St. Nicholas Monastery. He served in the St. Nicholas Church until 1858, after which he was removed from the staff.
  • A. S. Popov’s great-grandfather, Archpriest John Gavriilov Ponomarev (1767-?), served as rector of St. Nicholas Church in the village. Shogrish, Irbit district. It is known that he devoted his whole life to the construction of a stone temple in this village.
• Brother Raphael (1849-1913), taught Latin language
• Sister Catherine (1850-1903)
• Sister Maria (1852-1871), married Levitskaya
• Sister Anna (1860-1930), physician
• Sister Augusta (1863-1941), in the marriage of Kapustina - an artist, a student of I. Repin.
• Sister Kapitolina (1870-1942)

Wife - Raisa Alekseevna Bogdanova (May 28 (June 9), 1860-1932), daughter of a barrister. The wedding took place on November 18, 1883 in the church of Cosmas and Damian of the Life Guards of the engineer battalion. A. S. Popov met her while preparing her for admission to the Higher Women's Medical Courses at the Nikolaev Military Hospital. At the end of the course (second graduation in 1886), she became one of the first certified women doctors in Russia and practiced medicine in the Udomel hospital all her life.

• Son Stepan (October 15, 1883-1920), one of the organizers and first teachers of the Udomel secondary school (named after A. S. Popov).
• Son Alexander (February 25 (March 9) 1887-January 14, 1942), worked in the Gorstroyproekt of Leningrad
• Daughter Raisa (June 24, 1891-1976), doctor
• Daughter Ekaterina Popova-Kyandskaya (January 16, 1899-1976), Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR

At the age of 10, Alexander Popov was sent to the Dalmatov Theological School, where his older brother Raphael taught Latin, where he studied from 1868 to 1870. In 1871, Alexander Popov transferred to the third grade of the Yekaterinburg Theological School. At that time, his elder sister Maria Stepanovna lived in Yekaterinburg with her husband, priest Georgy Ignatievich Levitsky. His father, Ignatius Alexandrovich, was a very wealthy man (he had three houses in the city) and held a responsible post in the diocesan school board. In 1873, A. S. Popov completed the full course of the Yekaterinburg Theological School in the highest 1st category.

In 1873 he entered the Perm Theological Seminary. After graduating from general education classes at the Perm Theological Seminary (1877), Alexander successfully passed entry exams at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. The years of study at the university were not easy for Popov. There were not enough funds, and he was forced to earn extra money as an electrician in the Electrician office. During these years, Popov's scientific views were finally formed: he was especially attracted by the problems of the latest physics and electrical engineering.

Having successfully graduated from the university in 1882 with a candidate's degree, A. S. Popov received an invitation to stay there to prepare for a professorship in the department of physics. In 1882 he defended his dissertation on the topic "On the principles of magneto- and dynamoelectric DC machines." But the young scientist was more attracted to experimental research in the field of electricity, and he became a teacher of physics, mathematics and electrical engineering at the Mine Officer Class in Kronstadt, where there was a well-equipped physics room. In 1890 he received an invitation to teach physics at the Technical School of the Naval Department in Kronstadt. At the same time, in 1889-98, in the summer, he was in charge of the main power plant of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. During this period, Popov devotes all his free time to physical experiments, mainly to the study of electromagnetic oscillations. In 1899 he was awarded the title of Honorary Electrical Engineer.

Since 1901, Popov has been a professor of physics at the Electrotechnical Institute of the Emperor Alexander III. Popov was also an Honorary Electrical Engineer (1899) and an honorary member of the Russian technical society(1901). In 1901, Popov was awarded the civil (state) rank of V class, State Councilor.

In 1905, the academic council of the institute elected A. S. Popov as rector. In the same year, on Lake Kubycha, three kilometers from the Udomlya station, Alexander Stepanovich Popov bought a summer house, where his family lived for many years after the death of the scientist.

In 1902, A. S. Popov was elected an honorary member of the Imperial Russian Technical Society (IRTS), and in 1905 - Chairman of the Physics Department and President of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society (RFCS), positions that he was supposed to take from January 1, 1906 .

The grave of A. S. Popov on the Literary bridges of the Volkov cemetery in St. Petersburg

Alexander Stepanovich Popov died suddenly on December 31, 1905 (January 13, 1906) from a stroke. He was buried at the Literary bridges of the Volkovsky cemetery in St. Petersburg.

In 1921, the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR decided (at the suggestion of Prof. V.P. Vologdin at the first All-Russian Radio Engineering Congress in Nizhny Novgorod) to provide the family of A.S. Popov with lifelong assistance.

On January 3, 1906, Petersburgskaya Gazeta published an obituary: “On the last day of the old 1905, Russia lost one of its outstanding people. A. S. Popov, director of the Electrotechnical Institute, died relatively young, at the 47th year of his life, spent in tireless scientific papers. Russia can be proud of him as the inventor of the wireless telegraph, although, alas, the unfortunate fate of Russian inventors was fulfilled on it too ...

Only in 1901, in December, at the XI Congress of Naturalists and Physicians, A. S. Popov’s merits were recognized by representatives of scientists from all over the world, and even Marconi himself kindly left him the primacy of the invention. But these generous confessions of the “European inventor” did not extinguish any of the rays of glory he had gained and did not add a ray to the glory of the Russian professor ... Russian people overlooked, as usual, their compatriot, waited for a similar invention abroad, and A. S. Popov, probably , I read with bitterness in my heart how not only the foreign, but also the domestic press, in every way praised the belated inventions of a foreigner, despite the fact that in the affairs of one of the Russian special societies this invention had already been registered for a Russian person, for A.S. Popov. ... He did not follow the example of Yablochkov and did not sell his invention abroad, he loved Russia and worked for her ... "

Popov's scientific research

A. S. Popov’s ship radio station of the 1901 model was designed for tape and ear reception. Many ships of the Black Sea Fleet were equipped with such receiving stations. During the general fleet maneuvers on September 7, 1899, it was possible to maintain radio contact with the ships George the Victorious, Three Saints and Captain Saken, which drifted 14 km from the coast. In memory of this, it was named Radiogorka in Sevastopol.

The device of A. S. Popov arose from the installation for the educational demonstration of Hertz's experiments, built by A. S. Popov with learning goals back in 1889; Hertz's vibrator served as a transmitter for the scientist. At the beginning of 1895, A. S. Popov became interested in the experiments of O. Lodge (who improved the coherer and built a radio receiver on its basis, with the help of which he managed to receive radio signals from a distance of 40 m in August 1894), and tried to reproduce them by building his own modification of the Lodge receiver .

The main difference between the Popov receiver and the Lodge receiver was as follows. The Branly-Lodge coherer was a glass tube filled with metal filings, which could sharply - several hundred times - change their conductivity under the influence of a radio signal. To bring the coherer to its original state for detecting a new wave, it was necessary to shake it in order to break the contact between the filings. At Lodge, an automatic drummer was attached to a glass tube, which hit it constantly; A. S. Popov introduced automatic feedback into the circuit: a relay was triggered by a radio signal, which turned on the bell, and at the same time a drummer was triggered, hitting a glass tube with sawdust. In his experiments, A. S. Popov used a grounded mast antenna, invented in 1893 by Tesla.

For the first time, he presented his invention on April 25 (May 7, according to a new style), 1895, at a meeting of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society in the Jeu des Paumes building (a room for sports exercises) in the courtyard of St. Petersburg University. The theme of the lecture was: "On the relation of metal powders to electrical vibrations." Until recently, it was erroneously believed that the first publication in which a description of a wireless telegraph was given was the publication of minutes 15/201 of this meeting - in the December 1895 issue of the RFHO magazine (the actual state of affairs is discussed below, in the part devoted to priority). In the published description of his device, A. S. Popov noted its usefulness for lecture purposes and for recording perturbations occurring in the atmosphere; he also expressed the hope that “my device, with further improvement, can be applied to the transmission <на деле - к приёму> signals over distances using fast electrical oscillations, as soon as a source of such oscillations with sufficient energy is found ”(later, from 1945, this event will be celebrated in the USSR as Radio Day). Work in the Maritime Department imposed certain restrictions on the publication of research results, therefore, keeping this oath promise not to disclose information constituting classified information, Popov did not publish new results of his work.

A. S. Popov connected his device with the writing coil of the Richard brothers and thus received a device for recording electromagnetic oscillations in the atmosphere; after learning about this modification after the RFHO meeting from his assistant G.A. Lyuboslavsky, a student of Alexander Stepanovich, the founder of the Physics Department of the Forestry Institute D.A. his meteorological station, where the first registrations of electrical discharges of the atmosphere were obtained. However, when the first information about the invention of Marconi's radiotelegraph appeared in the press (he demonstrated the transmission of radiograms over 3 km on September 2, 1896), A.S. Popov began to make statements that the priority in radiotelegraphy belongs to him, and that his device is identical to Marconi's. Nevertheless, on October 19 (31), 1897, Popov spoke in a report at the Electrotechnical Institute: “A device for telegraphy has been assembled here. We were unable to send a telegram, because we had no practice, all the details of the instruments still need to be developed. On December 18, 1897, Popov transmitted, using a telegraph device attached to the device, the words: "Heinrich Hertz." The receiver was located in the physical laboratory of St. Petersburg University, and the transmitter was located in the building of the chemical laboratory at a distance of 250 m. The literature, however, states that this experiment was carried out on March 24, 1896 (that is, before Marconi's application). The minutes of this meeting only say: "... 8. A. S. Popov shows instruments for a lecture demonstration of Hertz's experiments ...".

However, a note on April 25, 1895, during a report at a meeting of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society at St. Petersburg University, an experiment in transmitting radio signals over a distance without wires with a full description of the experiment itself was published in the newspaper "Kronstadt Bulletin" dated April 30, 1895 (original the receiver and a note from the Kronstadt Bulletin can be seen at the A. S. Popov Central Medical Center in St. Petersburg).

From 1897, Popov conducted experiments on radiotelegraphy on ships of the Baltic Fleet. In the summer of 1899, when Popov was in Switzerland, his assistants - P.N. Rybkin, D.S. Troitsky and A.A. excitation, converts the amplitude-modulated high-frequency signal into a low-frequency one, so that it becomes possible to receive its signals by ear. Upon learning of this, Popov modified his receiver by putting telephone receivers instead of a sensitive relay, and in the summer of 1901 he received Russian privilege No. dispatches sent by any source of electromagnetic waves in the Morse system.

After that, the Ducrete company, which already produced receivers of his design in 1898, launched the production of telephone receivers. Among the first ships equipped with Popov's radiotelegraph was the Yermak icebreaker.

The question of Popov's priority in the invention of the radio

In many Western countries, Marconi is considered the inventor of radio, although other candidates are also named: in Germany, Hertz is considered the creator of radio, in a number of Balkan countries - Nikola Tesla, in Belarus, J. O. Narkevich-Iodka. The statement about Popov's priority is based on the fact that Popov demonstrated the radio receiver he invented at a meeting of the physical department of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society on April 25 (May 7), 1895, while Marconi filed an application for the invention on June 2, 1896. In Russia, this is accompanied by direct or indirect accusations of Marconi of plagiarism: it is assumed that his works of 1895 were not reflected anywhere (more precisely, they are known only from persons close to him, whose impartiality is considered doubtful in Russia), at the same time in the application he used a scheme similar to Popov's receiver, the first description of the prototype of which was published in July 1895 with the release of the 2nd edition of "Fundamentals of Meteorology and Climatology" by D. A. Lachinov, which outlines the principle of operation of the "Popov discharge gauge" Popov himself from the beginning of 1897 G. (that is, from the appearance of the first newspaper reports about the successes of Marconi) began to actively defend his priority, supported in this by relatives and colleagues. In the 1940s in the USSR, its priority (including among scientists) was considered indisputable.

May 7 has been declared Radio Day in the USSR since 1945. On this day in 1995, UNESCO held a solemn meeting dedicated to the centenary of the invention of radio. The Board of Directors of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) noted A.S. Popov's demonstration as a milestone in electrical and electronics engineering. An article in the "History" section on the official IEEE website claims that A. S. Popov was indeed the first, but was forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement related to teaching at the Marine Engineering School. An inscription is cast on the Milestone memorial plaque, which reads: “A. S. Popov’s contribution to the development of telecommunications, 1895. On May 7, 1895, A. S. Popov demonstrated the possibility of transmitting and receiving short and long signals over a distance of up to 64 meters using electromagnetic waves using a special portable device that responded to electrical vibrations, which became a defining contribution to the development of wireless communication. A similar memorial plaque has been erected in Switzerland. It testifies that Marconi began his experiments with wireless telegraphy on September 25, 1895.

Popov's priority is also justified by the fact that on March 25, 1896 (that is, two months before Marconi's application), he conducted experiments with radio telegraphy by connecting his apparatus to a telegraph and sending a two-word radiogram at a distance of 250 m: "Heinrich Hertz." At the same time, they refer to the memoirs of Popov's relatives, as well as to the report of Professor V.V. Skobeltsyn at the Electrotechnical Institute dated April 14, 1896 "A.S. Popov's device for recording electrical oscillations." The report (which appeared before Marconi's first patent) explicitly states:

“In conclusion, the speaker made an experiment with a Hertz vibrator, which was placed in a neighboring wing on the opposite side of the yard. Despite the considerable distance and the stone walls located in the path of the propagation of electric rays, with every signal by which the vibrator was activated, the device's bell sounded loudly.

The entry refers to the meeting of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society on March 24, 1896; the record clearly states that it was the signals that Popov transmitted over a considerable distance, that is, in fact, this was the very device that Marconi would patent in a few months.

However, already in the minutes of the meeting on March 25 it is said: “A. S. Popov shows devices for the lecture demonstration of Hertz's experiments. On October 19/31, 1897 (that is, already after the creation of a radio station by Marconi, which transmitted at 21 km), Popov spoke in a report at the Electrotechnical Institute: “A device for telegraphy has been assembled here. We were unable to send a telegram, because we had no practice, all the details of the instruments still need to be developed. The transmission of the first radiotelegrams by the Popovs, according to documentary evidence, took place on December 18, 1897.

Proponents of Popov's priority point out that:

• Popov was the first to demonstrate a practical radio receiver (May 7, 1895)
• Popov was the first to demonstrate the experience of radiotelegraphy by sending a radiogram (March 24, 1896).
• Both happened before Marconi's patent application.
• Popov's radio transmitters were widely used on ships.

Critics object to this that:

• There is no documented evidence that Popov tried to seriously engage in the introduction of radiotelegraphy until 1897 (that is, before he learned about Marconi's work).
• In his lecture (lecture topic: “On the relation of metal powders to electrical vibrations”), Popov did not touch upon the issues of radiotelegraphy and did not even try to adapt a radio receiver for it (the device was adapted to capture atmospheric phenomena and was called a “lightning detector”).
• Popov's goal was to improve the experiments of O. D. Lodge, and his radio receiver was an improved modification of Lodge's coherer receiver.

Supporters of Popov's priority, however, explain the lack of documentary evidence of Popov's experiments with radiotelegraphy before 1897 (contemporary to the experiments themselves, and not in later memoirs) by the fact that since Popov served in the naval department, his experiments were military, and therefore secret, in documents were deliberately vague.

Thus, according to some critics, the "father" of radio in the broad sense of the word is Hertz, the "father-distributor" of radiotelegraphy - Marconi, who adapted Hertz's transmitter and Popov's receiver to practical task- transmission and reception of radiotelegrams, connecting the first one with a telegraph key, and the second one with a printing telegraph machine. But on the whole, posing the question of the invention of radio in general (and not of radiotelegraphy and other specific forms of its application), according to Nikolsky, is just as absurd as posing the question of the "invention" of gravity.

During the 20th century, in many Western countries, especially in Italy and England, the slogan “Marconi is the father of radio” was promoted, and Popov and his inventions were deliberately kept silent, while in the USSR and the socialist countries everything was exactly the opposite. For example, in the Soviet encyclopedic dictionary» 1955 article about Marconi is missing, and it says about Popov: "Radio was invented by the Russian scientist A. S. Popov in 1895". In Soviet literature, Popov is also credited with the invention of the antenna, although Popov himself wrote that "the use of the mast at the station of departure and at the station of reception for transmitting signals using electrical oscillations" is the merit of Nikola Tesla. Popov was also credited with the creation of a coherer. At the same time, not only the experiments of Oliver Lodge, but his very existence was hushed up, just as Tesla's early experiments were hushed up. So, in the 3rd edition of the TSB, Tesla's work in the field of radio is dated to the era after Popov: "The work of T. on wireless transmission of signals in the period 1896-1904 (...) had a significant impact on the development of radio engineering."

Awards and prizes

• Order of St. Anne 2nd class (1902)
• Order of St. Stanislaus 2nd class (1897)
• Order of St. Anne, 3rd class (1895)
• Medal "In memory of the reign of Emperor Alexander III"
• In the summer of 1900, the World Industrial Exhibition took place in Paris, at which A. S. Popov’s lightning detector, made in the Kronstadt workshop of E. V. Kolbasiev, and a ship radio station manufactured by the Parisian company Ducrete under the brand name “Popov-Ducrete-Tissot” were demonstrated in action . Popov, as a participant in the exhibition, was awarded a nominal gold medal and a diploma.
• By the highest Decree, he received a reward of 33 thousand rubles for continuous work on the introduction of wireless telegraph in the navy (April 1900)
• IRTO Prize "for a receiver for electrical oscillations and devices for telegraphy at a distance without wires" (1898).

Memory

A small planet (No. 3074), a crater on the far side of the Moon, museums, educational institutions, institutes, enterprises, streets, a motor ship, awards, medals, diplomas are named after A. S. Popov. At least 18 monuments and busts were erected to him in Russia and abroad. Since 1945, the USSR Academy of Sciences has been awarding the A. S. Popov Gold Medal for achievements in the development of methods and means of radio electronics. Six museums are engaged in perpetuating the memory of the inventor.

Alexander Stepanovich Popov (1859 - 1906) - Russian physicist and electrician, professor. From 1905 to 1906 he was the director of the St. Petersburg Imperial Electrotechnical Institute of Alexander III (now St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI")

April 25 (May 7), 1895- at a meeting of the Physics Department of the RFHO, held in the Physics Auditorium of the University of A.S. Popov read the report "On the Relation of Metal Powders to Electrical Vibrations". During the report, with the help of an assistant P.N. Rybkina Popov demonstrated in action the equipment for wireless transmission of electrical signals of various durations.

7 May 1945 The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decided: taking into account the crucial role of radio in the cultural and political life of the population and for the defense of the country, in order to popularize the achievements of domestic science and technology in the field of radio and encourage amateur radio among the general population, to establish May 7th is the annual "Radio Day".

The creation and public demonstration by Alexander Stepanovich Popov of a radio communication system on May 7, 1895 gave impetus to the emergence and development of many completely new scientific directions and creative ideas. The first ten years from 1896 to 1906 radio engineering in Russia developed under the leadership of A.S. Popov and with his active participation. The invention of radio communication was that significant step, thanks to which he, a teacher of physics, higher mathematics and electrical engineering of the Mine Officer Class (IOC) of the Maritime Department, became a world-famous scientist. The first serial radio equipment according to the system of A.S. Popova for the ships of the Russian and French fleets was produced since 1899 by the French company Ducrete. In 1900 A.S. Popov most actively participated in the creation of the Kronstadt Radio Workshop, the first enterprise in the domestic radio industry. Since 1904, he actively worked with the firms "JSC Russian Electrotechnical Plants" Siemens and Halske "and the German Wireless Telegraphy Society Telefunken, who recognized the importance of his ideas and organized at their enterprises a branch of" wireless telegraphy according to the system of Professor Popov and the Wireless Telegraphy Society " Telefunken".

Radio engineering as a field of knowledge and practical human activity was born at the very end of the 19th century and in more than a hundred years of its development has come a long way - from the first wireless signal transmission system to modern terrestrial and space radio systems.

Popov A.S. - short biography

Born on March 16, 1859 (all dates are indicated according to the new style) in the Northern Urals, in the mining village of Turinskiye Rudniki, in the family of a priest, rector of the Maximovskaya Church Stepan Petrovich Popov (1827-1897) and his wife Anna Stepanovna (1830-1903), middle of seven children. The family was very friendly. The elders - brother Raphael (1849-1913) and sisters Ekaterina (1850-1903) and Maria (1852-1871) always helped the younger ones. Alexander, in turn, took care of his younger sisters - Anna (1860-1930), Augusta (1863-1941) and Kapitolina (1870-1942). In addition to the main service of S.P. Popov worked almost all his life free of charge “teaching children to read and write and the law of God" in mining school and at home school for girls, which he maintained at his own expense. For his diligent and useful service, he was awarded many thanks, bronze (1857) and gold pectoral crosses (1877) and the Order of St. Vladimir 4th degree (1986). Anna Stepanovna also taught needlework to schoolgirls for free, for which she received gratitude from the spiritual consistory.

Alexander's interest in technology was promoted by the fact that in the circle of acquaintances of the Popov family there were many engineers, graduates of the St. Petersburg Mining Institute. He visited mines and workshops with interest, he himself tried to make various mechanisms. All his life Popov was grateful to the husband of Ekaterina's sister V.P. Slovtsov (1844 - 1934), a priest, like his father, who taught him carpentry, plumbing and turning. Alexander received his primary education at the Dalmatovsky (1869−1871) and Yekaterinburg (1871−1873) religious schools. In 1873 Popov entered the Perm Theological Seminary. In these educational institutions, education for children of the clergy was free, which was essential for the large Popov family. Religious education instilled in Alexander Popov high moral qualities, repeatedly noted by people who knew him.

The general education classes of the seminary, which provided knowledge in the volume of a classical gymnasium with the right to enter the university, Popov graduated with honors in 1877.

In September 1877, Alexander Popov entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. In St. Petersburg, where at that time Raphael lived, who graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, he came with his sisters Anna and Augusta. (Anna received a secondary medical education, and Augusta graduated from the Academy of Arts.) Alexander Popov received a scholarship only in the first and third years and his financial difficulties solved by tutoring.

Among the teachers-professors of Popov in these years were mathematicians P.L. Chebyshev and A.N. Korkin, physicists F.F. Petrushevsky, P.P. Van der Fleet, I.I. Borgman and O.D. Khvolson, chemists A.M. Butlerov and D.I. Mendeleev. From Borgman's lectures, Popov learned about the electrodynamic theory of the English physicist D.K. Maxwell, whose fundamental work "Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" was published in 1873.

In 1880, the VI (Electrotechnical) Department was created in the Russian Technical Society. At the end of March 1880, the First Electrical Exhibition was opened in Salt Town on the banks of the Fontanka. Student A. Popov was invited to work at the exhibition as an "explainer", thanks to which he studied everything related to the development and state of electrical engineering of that time. The demonstration of communication equipment (Schilling and Jacobi, Morse, Siemens and Wheatstone telephones, Bell, Golubitsky and Okhorovich telephones) aroused great interest among the public. The exposition presented almost all types of dynamos and alternators developed by that time. Here Popov met the leading electrical scientists D.A. Lachinov, A.N. Lodygin, V.N. Chikolev, P.N. Yablochkov, listened to their public lectures. In May 1880, the first issue of the Electricity magazine was published. In the same year, the Association "Electrotechnician" was organized, which carried out work on electric lighting of streets, gardens and public institutions in St. Petersburg. Popov worked in the Partnership as a fitter. In the 4th year, he helped the professor of physics as an assistant. Thus, by the end of his studies at the university, Popov had mastered not only very extensive fundamental theoretical knowledge, but also gained solid practical experience.

In November 1882 A.S. Popov graduated from the university and after defending his dissertation on the topic "On the principles of direct current dynamoelectric machines" (January 1883) received a candidate's diploma. His first scientific article based on the dissertation materials was published in the September issue of the journal "Electricity" for 1883. By decision of the Academic Council, A. Popov was left at the university to prepare for a professorship.

Petersburg Scientific and Physical School, led by prof. F.F. Petrushevsky, instilled in students the desire for the practical application of the achievements of world science, the results of their own research. Popov always strove for serious scientific work, for which necessary conditions were the availability of an appropriate laboratory base and their own stable financial situation.

In the summer of 1883, he accepted an invitation to take the position of teacher and head of the physics office in the Mine officer class in Kronstadt, which had a well-equipped physics office and a good library. Popov began his work as a freelancer with a salary of about 100 rubles. per month, led practical classes in galvanism, lectured on higher mathematics. Working with naval officers, Alexander Stepanovich realized that in the conditions of the rapid development of the fleet, the solution of the problem of information exchange became more and more urgent.

November 18, 1883 in the church of Cosmas and Damian of the Life Guards of the sapper battalion A.S. Popov married Raisa Alekseevna Bogdanova (1860-1932), the daughter of a barrister. He met her while preparing her for admission to the Higher Women's Medical Courses at the Nikolaev Military Hospital. At the end of the course (second graduation in 1886), she became one of the first certified women doctors in Russia and practiced medicine all her life.

In July-August 1887 A.S. Popov participated in the RFHO expedition in Krasnoyarsk to observe a total solar eclipse. He developed a technique for photometric research, designed and manufactured a photometer for photographing the solar corona.

By tradition, the instructors of the Officers' Classes gave public lectures at the Naval Officers' Assembly on the latest achievements of science. Lectures by A.S. Popov's works were notable for their topical content and excellent demonstration of physical experiments, which made an unforgettable impression on the listeners.

Thanks to the high erudition in solving technical issues, A.S. Popov soon became one of the leading specialists of the Maritime Department, a member of the Marine Technical Committee and was regularly involved in solving complex practical issues.

From 1889 to 1898, during the summer months, free from classes at the IOC, A.S. Popov was in charge of the power plant serving the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. For the season, he received 2,500 rubles - twice the annual rate of an IOC teacher. With his arrival, the work of the station has improved markedly. Experience at the Nizhny Novgorod power plant gave Popov material for compiling a textbook on electrical machines, published in 1897 by the Naval Department.

At the opening of the XVI art and industrial exhibition (1896), held in the presence of Emperor Nicholas II, all those present were greatly impressed by the festive illumination. A.S. Popov was a member of the jury of the electrical department of this exhibition, for which he was awarded the gratitude of the Minister of Finance S.Yu. Witte. In addition, he himself was a participant in the exhibition - his lightning detector was awarded a diploma.

In December 1890, Popov began to combine work at the IOC with the work of a full-time teacher of physics and electrical engineering at the Technical School of the Maritime Department, located near the IOC. The position gave the right to chinoproizvodstvo and pension for seniority. Upon enrollment in the service at the school, he signed an oath, in other words, he took an oath "to serve faithfully and without hypocrisy and to keep every entrusted secret firmly."

Start of work A.S. Popov in the field of wireless communication dates back to 1889. In 1887, two articles by the German physicist G. Hertz were published on the results of his experimental work, which confirmed the validity of Maxwell's theory. In the 1890s A.S. Popov read a series of lectures on the propagation of electromagnetic waves with a demonstration of Hertz's experiments, united under the general title "The latest research on the relationship between light and electrical phenomena."

The demonstration of experiments was so vivid and convincing that the command instructed him to give a lecture in St. Petersburg at the Admiralty for a wider range of students - naval officers. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Popov already at that time spoke about the use of "Hertz rays" or "rays of electrical force" for signaling at a distance without wires.

From May 2 to July 4, 1893, Alexander Stepanovich was in Chicago, where he was sent to the World Exhibition dedicated to the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America.

Along the way, he stopped in Berlin, London and Paris. Joined the French Physical Society. In America, in addition to the exhibition and enterprises of Chicago, he visited New York and San Francisco, inspected the construction of a powerful power plant at Niagara Falls. At the exhibition, he personally saw the achievements of N. Tesla, an American inventor of Serbian origin, whose experiments with a high-frequency transformer he brilliantly repeated in his lectures. Upon his return, Popov made presentations: in Kronstadt - on the electrical department of the World Exhibition and in St. Petersburg - on the "teleautograph" of I. Gray.

But the greatest interest for Popov at this time is the task of creating a system for transmitting signals without wires for the fleet. The source of high-frequency damped electromagnetic oscillations - the transmitter - in Popov's experiments was a Hertz vibrator modernized by him with a spark gap fed from a Ruhmkorf coil (high-frequency transformer). A special device - an interrupter - ensured the supply of a sequence of current pulses to the coil with the frequency necessary to generate a series of high-frequency damped oscillations. Many scientists in the world worked on the problem of creating a device capable of detecting the presence of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation, including A.S. Popov.

In 1890, the French scientist Branly created a "radio conductor" - a device that was a tube with metal filings, the resistance of which changed under the influence of high-frequency vibrations. The disadvantage of this device was the loss of sensitivity after a single irradiation.

The English physicist O. Lodge improved the Branly device (1894) by connecting to it a mechanical device for periodically shaking sawdust, calling it a coherer (from the word "cohesion" - adhesion).

However, these shakings were carried out without any connection with the sendings. electromagnetic radiation, therefore, such a solution did not provide the possibility of reliable reception of a sequence of signals transmitted using electromagnetic waves.

Popov invented a new scheme for automatic recovery of the sensitivity of the coherer. A relay was included in the circuit with the coherer, which ensured the connection of an actuator - an electric bell, the hammer of which hit the tube, shaking the sawdust and restoring the resistance of the coherer after receiving each sending of damped electromagnetic oscillations. Depending on the closure of the telegraph key of the breaker, the message could be short or long. The task of providing wireless communication was fundamentally solved.

In the spring of 1895 A.S. Popov and his assistant P.N. Rybkin (1868-1948) carried out experiments on the transmission and reception of signals at a distance of 30 sazhens (64 meters) in the IOC garden. A wire raised by balloons to a height of 2.5 meters was used as the receiver antenna.

On May 7, 1895, at a meeting of the Physics Department of the RFHO, Popov made a report "On the relation of metal powders to electrical vibrations", in which he outlined the results of his research and demonstrated the ability of the device he invented to receive the sequence "short and long signals", that is, in essence, to produce the transmission of elements of Morse code.

In fact, the system created and tested in action by A.S. Popov, contained all the essential elements and their connections that are inherent modern concept"radio transmission line".

Information about the report was published in the newspaper "Kronstadt Vestnik" on May 12, 1895, indicating the ultimate goal of the work:

“Dear teacher A.S. Popov ... combined a special portable device that responded to electrical vibrations with an ordinary electric bell and was sensitive to hertz waves in the open air at distances of up to 30 fathoms ... About these experiments, A.S. Popov reported last Tuesday at the Physics Department of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society, which was received with great interest and sympathy. The reason for all these experiments is the theoretical possibility of signaling at a distance without conductors, like an optical telegraph, but with the help of electric rays.

The device of the receiver with details sufficient for its reproduction is set out in the minutes of the meeting of the RFHO, published in the August issue of the RFHO Journal (1895, vol. 27, issue 8, pp. 259−260).

During the first tests of the receiver, its susceptibility to atmospheric discharges was noticed. A.S. Popov designed a special device, later called a lightning detector, for round-the-clock reception of electromagnetic oscillations of natural origin with automatic recording of them on a paper tape of a self-recording device. Since July 1895, the lightning detector has been used practically: for meteorological observations - at the Forestry Institute and for the study of atmospheric interference to radio reception - in the IOC laboratory.

Thus, in the spring of 1895 A.S. Popov realized almost simultaneously two types of radio communication, which are still successfully developing: from person to person and from natural object to person.

A complete description of the world's first radio communication system was published in the January issue of the RFHO Journal under the title "Instrument for detecting and recording electrical oscillations" (1896, vol. 28, Issue 1. pp. 1-14).

In the winter of 1895−1896. Popov was engaged in the improvement of radio equipment. In January, he spoke at a meeting of the Kronstadt branch of the IRTS, demonstrating the operation of a portable receiver with a symmetrical antenna, similar to the transmitter antenna (in his words, "to achieve resonance"). The representatives of the Maritime Department, who listened to the report, understood that a fundamentally new means of communication had been invented. The dissemination of information about this was undesirable. Popov used equipment with directional reflector antennas during a report on March 24, 1896 at a regular meeting of the RFHO. At that time, between the buildings of St. Petersburg University, at a distance of 250 meters, Morse code and the words Heinrich Hertz. However, only one phrase about Popov's demonstration was recorded in the minutes of the meeting. "devices described previously". On April 14, ETI physics teacher V.V. Skobeltsyn Popov's equipment was shown in action already within the walls of ETI. Now this equipment is exhibited in the Memorial Museum of A.S. Popov at the St. Petersburg State Electrotechnical University "LETI" them. IN AND. Ulyanov (Lenin) (SPbGETU).

As a physicist A.S. Popov was interested scientific discoveries in all areas of application of electricity. By the beginning of 1896, his work in the field of newly discovered X-rays belongs. Already in February, he made one of the first X-ray machines in Russia, took pictures of various objects, including a picture of a human hand. With his support, an X-ray room was equipped in the Kronstadt Naval Hospital in 1897; subsequently, some warships were equipped with X-ray machines. It is known that after the battle in the Tsushima Strait on the cruiser "Aurora", which had such an installation, 40 wounded sailors were assisted.

In the second half of 1896, the Western and then the Russian press reported on the demonstration in London of experiments on wireless telegraphy by the Italian inventor G. Marconi. The device of the devices he designed was kept secret.

This information, of course, forced Popov to work more intensively on the development of wireless telegraphy equipment. During the 1896−1897 academic year A.S. Popov was preparing experiments for telegraphy without wires. In January 1897, in the Kotlin newspaper, he published an article "Telegraphy without wires", and in March 1897 he gave a lecture "On the possibility of telegraphy without wires" at the Naval Assembly of Kronstadt. The lecture was held with a large crowd of people: "admirals, generals and officers of all arms, ladies, private individuals and students"(Kotlin newspaper, April 13, 1897) Already in the spring of 1897, experiments began on signaling without wires in the Kronstadt harbor, where a range of 300 sazhens (about 600 m) was reached. During the summer campaign of 1897, a number of studies were carried out. Between the ships of the Mine Training Detachment in the Gulf of Finland, a communication range was obtained at distances of up to 5 kilometers. In the course of the tests, the reflection of radio waves by a foreign metal body (the Lieutenant Ilyin cruiser) was detected, which fell on a straight line between the ships on which the transmitter (Europa transport) and the receiver (Afrika cruiser) were installed. This is a property of radio waves, studied by A.S. Popov back in 1890 in the laboratory, the scientist suggested using it to determine the direction to a working transmitter for radio beacons and radio direction finders, to solve navigation problems.

On June 4, 1897, in London, W. Preece, chief engineer of telegraphs in Great Britain, made a report in which he first revealed the technical structure of G. Marconi's equipment. The activities of G. Marconi have always had a pronounced commercial focus. He filed a preliminary brief application for an invention entitled "Improvements in the transmission of electrical impulses and signals and in apparatus for this" on June 2, 1896. Since his arrival in England, he received very serious engineering support from specialists from the British Post and Telegraph Office. Under the British patent law of the time, which did not require examination for worldwide novelty, Marconi received a patent valid only in the UK. In the same year, his company was founded. In Russia, France and Germany, he was denied patenting with reference to the publications of A.S. Popov.

A.S. Popov did not ignore Preece's speech and the publication of Marconi's patent. In his articles in the Russian and English (Electrician magazine) press, he pointed out that the Marconi receiver does not differ significantly from his receiver and lightning detector, the device of which was published 1.5 years earlier. At the same time, Popov paid tribute to the work of Marconi, who « the first had the courage to take a practical stand and reached great distances in his experiments. Indeed, Marconi's vigorous activity had an accelerating effect on the development of radio engineering.

In the autumn of 1897, Popov made presentations on wireless telegraphy with a demonstration of a radio communication system in front of various audiences: at the Kronstadt Naval Assembly (March), at the 4th Consultative Congress of Railway Electrical Engineers in Odessa (September), in St. Petersburg - at the IRTO (September), at the Electrotechnical Institute (October), at St. Petersburg University (December).

At the same time, the French engineer and owner of the workshop of physical instruments E. Ducrete (1844−1915), using the published works of A.S. Popov, created the first equipment in France for telegraphy without wires and demonstrated it at a meeting of the French Physical Society. A business partnership was established between Popov and Ducrete, which made it possible in 1898 to start serial production of radio stations. In 1898-1905. Ducrete constantly used the written consultations of A.S. Popov. In May 1899, during a business trip abroad, Popov visited the Ducrete firm. The Russian Maritime Department gave an order for the supply of 50 ship radio stations within five years.

In the summer of 1899, Popov was sent by the Maritime Department to England, France, Germany and Switzerland to get acquainted with the organization of electrical engineering education and the production of wireless telegraphy equipment. Testing of a set of equipment made in the workshop of E.V. Kolbasiev, in accordance with the methodological instructions of Popov, P.N. Rybkin and the head of the Kronstadt telegraph, Captain D.S. Troitsky (1857-1920). They discovered the high sensitivity of the equipment when receiving signals on headphones. A.S. was summoned by telegram from Zurich. Popov, who investigated the discovered "detector effect" of the coherer.

As a result of a thorough study of this effect, he developed an improved coherer (crystal diode) based on the contact between metals oxidized to varying degrees (steel needles) and electrodes (platinum or carbon) and a telephone detector receiver circuit. The high sensitivity of the new receiver made it possible to triple the communication range. Popov opened new era in radio communication - reception by ear. A.S. Popov received patents for a “telephone receiver for dispatches” in Russia (No. 6066 of July 14, 1899, issued on December 13, 1901). UK Patent A.S. Popov for an improved detector for telephone reception No. 2797 was announced on February 12, 1900, issued on February 22, 1900. With the active participation of E. Ducret, patents were obtained in France (No. 296354 of January 22, 1900 and with the addition to this patent received October 26, 1900), in the USA (No. 722,139 of March 3, 1903). in Switzerland - patent A.S. Popov on "Receiver for telegraphy without wires" No. 21905 (issued on April 9, 1900). In the US patent A.S. Popov on the "Self-decohering coherer system" No. 722139 declared on March 8, 1900, was issued on March 8, 1903; Spanish Patent No. 25816 was issued on April 11, 1900.

In August 1899, Popov conducted experiments on radio communication with a balloon in the Aeronautical Park near St. Petersburg.

In August-September 1899, Popov and Rybkin participated in the testing of radio stations manufactured by the Ducrete firm on the ships of the Black Sea squadron.

At the end of 1899, the Marine Technical Committee proposed to use radio communications to organize work to rescue the coastal defense battleship General-Admiral Apraksin, which had landed on rocks near about. Gogland in the Gulf of Finland as a result of a navigational error. And at the beginning of 1900 A.S. Popov and P.N. Rybkin participated in the construction and commissioning of the first practical radio communication line between about. Gogland and the Finnish city of Kotka, which had a telegraph wire connection with St. Petersburg. Icebreaker "Ermak" provided the operation. One radio station was built on about. Gogland, it was deployed by P.N. Rybkin. Another was installed under the leadership of A.S. Popov on the small island of Kutsalo near Kotka. Both stations were built in the most difficult conditions in severe frosts and snowstorms.

On February 5, 1900, radio contact was established. The very first radiogram sent by A.S. Popov from Kotka and adopted by P.N. Rybkin on Gogland, contained an order to the commander of the icebreaker "Ermak" to go to the open sea to help the fishermen carried away on the ice floe. By the evening of February 6, Yermak returned with 27 fishermen on board. Thus, the invention of A.S. Popov, already at its first practical application, served a humane goal - the salvation of people in trouble.

In connection with the successful use of radio communications in the name of A.S. Popov received congratulatory telegrams. Admiral S.O. Makarov telegraphed: On behalf of all the sailors of Kronstadt, I cordially greet you on the brilliant success of your invention. The opening of a wireless communication from Kotka to Gogland at a distance of 45 versts is a major scientific victory. Responding to Admiral Makarov, Popov writes: “Thanks to Yermak and the wireless telegraph, several human lives were saved. This is the best reward for all my labors, and the impressions of these days will probably never be forgotten.

The radio link continued to operate for 84 days until the end of rescue operations. During these days, 440 radiograms (over 10,000 words) were transmitted. In April 1900, the battleship was safely removed from the stones and went under its own power for repairs.

An important consequence of the successful operation of the radio link was the decision to adopt wireless telegraphy equipment for the navy. A.S. Popov was appointed responsible for supervising the process of equipping the ships with radio communication equipment. The necessity of training specialists in wireless telegraphy became obvious.

« By the highest permission"Popov was given a large cash reward of 33 thousand rubles for those times" for work on the introduction of radio communications on ships of the fleet». This amount was also determined taking into account Popov's break in the contract with the Nizhny Novgorod Fair.

In 1900, in Kronstadt, with the direct participation of Popov, a workshop for the manufacture and repair of radio equipment was opened - the first enterprise of the domestic radio industry.

In the summer of 1900, the World Industrial Exhibition took place in Paris, at which A.S. Popov, made in the Kronstadt workshop of E.V. Kolbasiev, and a ship radio station produced by the Parisian company Ducrete under the brand name "Popov-Ducreté-Tissot". Popov, as a participant in the exhibition, was awarded a nominal gold medal and a diploma. Alexander Stepanovich could not attend the IV International Electrical Congress, which took place in the same place on August 18-25, 1900. The report prepared by him on the "telephone receiver of dispatches" was read by ETI Professor M.A. Chatelain and aroused great interest among the congress delegates.

In the winter of 1900−1901 A.S. Popov seeks to expand the Kronstadt workshop for the repair and manufacture of radio equipment, and for the period 1901-1904. 54 ship radio stations were manufactured here. In the autumn of 1901, Popov and Rybkin were engaged in the construction of the first Russian commercial radio communication line in Rostov-on-Don, which provided navigation in the Don girls.

During the years of intensive scientific and teaching activity, A.S. Popov developed a number of original courses in physics and electrical engineering, some of which have come down to us in the form of lithographed editions. Alexander Stepanovich organized courses for the training of radio telegraph operators and developed lecture and practical training programs for them. In May 1900, the teaching of radiotelegraphy began at the IOC.

18 years of pedagogical activity in the Mine Officer Class - the elite higher school of the Naval Department - formed A.S. Popov as an experienced teacher and as an outstanding electrical engineer who had international recognition.

In March 1901 A.S. Popov received an invitation from the director of ETI N.N. Kachalov to take the position of ordinary professor of physics. He agreed, but with the condition of maintaining the service in the Maritime Department to perform work. "on the organization of wireless telegraphy on the ships of the Russian fleet, which assignment I consider it my moral duty to complete." In September, classes began at ETI, still in the old building - on Novo-Isaakievskaya Street, in house number 18. One of Professor Popov's first papers at ETI was the note "General Directions of the Course of Physics and Immediate Problems of Scientific Work in the Physical Laboratory of the Electrotechnical Institute." It contained not only the basic provisions for the training of electrical engineers in physics, but also a research program that determined the range of research problems for many years. The main task of the course of physics, defined by Popov in this document: “to give the basics of the doctrine of electricity in such a presentation that those deep views on the nature of electrical phenomena that were created thanks to the works of M. Faraday and D.K. Maxwell, Hertz's experiments did not seem inaccessible to ordinary mortals, but, on the contrary, were the guiding principles in the study of electrical engineering. ... This new field of electrical phenomena, which gave such amazing practical results in telegraphy without wires, at the same time gives so many new facts, expands the horizon so quickly that it is even difficult to foresee the limits of its influence on the doctrine of electricity. Therefore, the study of this new type of electrical energy should take one of the main places in the course of physics ... A whole series of discovered, but not yet explained phenomena in this area of ​​the doctrine of electricity provides abundant material for more complex work for many years ... "

To solve the tasks set by A.S. Popov developed a number of courses in physics, delivered 42 laboratory works: on the general course of physics (23), on electricity and magnetism (19) - he created a scientific laboratory.

At the beginning of 1902 A.S. Popov participated in the work of the II All-Russian Electrotechnical Congress in Moscow in the building of the Polytechnic Museum, where he was elected its honorary participant.

Back in 1900, in Paris, Popov got acquainted with the works of Pierre and Marie Curie. At the Physics Congress they made a report on the results of their research. In 1902, Alexander Stepanovich developed an original method and created a device for measuring " voltage of the electric field of the atmosphere with the help of the ionization effect of salts for the sake of I".

Possibilities scientific research expanded with the move of ETI to new buildings on Aptekarsky Island: an educational building equipped with the achievements in the field of electrical engineering, and a residential building, in one of the apartments of which Professor Popov's family settled.

The list of research works performed at that time testifies to the breadth of scientific interests of A.S. Popov. At the meeting of the 3rd All-Russian Electrotechnical Congress held on January 4, 1904 in the ETI building, Popov and his graduate student S.Ya. Lifshits reported on the development of radio equipment for transmitting the sounds of human speech using damped electromagnetic oscillations. The communication range was provided at a distance of up to 2 km. Together with graduate student D.A. Rozhansky carried out studies of damped electrical oscillations using the Brown oscilloscope tube (1904−1905). An optical device was invented for detecting floating mines and a telemechanical control system for fireships (1903-1904). Popov paid the most serious attention to the development of instruments and methods for measuring the wavelengths of radio transmitters (1905). In the period 1900-1905. he conducted experiments on using the phenomenon of resonance to increase the sensitivity of receiving devices and improve their selectivity. During these years, the scientific and pedagogical school of A.S. Popova, represented by such names as A.A. Petrovsky, P.S. Osadchiy, D.A. Rozhansky, N.A. Skritsky, S.I. Pokrovsky.

Remaining a member of the Marine Technical Committee, Alexander Stepanovich continued to oversee the issues of arming the fleet with wireless telegraphy equipment. He participated, as a representative of the Naval Department of Russia, in the Berlin Conference on the International Regulation of Radio Communications (1903). Opening this conference, the German Minister of Posts and Telegraphs R. Kretke emphasized: “ Popov, we owe the emergence of the first radiographic apparatus.

In May 1904, JSC Russian electrical plants "Siemens and Halske" announced that the company had formed "a special department for the device of a wireless telegraph according to the system of Professor Popov and the Wireless Telegraphy Society"Telefunken" in Berlin. A real combination of an invention of worldwide significance, made in Russia by Professor A.S. Popov, his experience in using wireless telegraph in practice with inventions and the extensive practice of the Wireless Telegraphy Society makes it possible to use devices in Russia that meet the latest requirements in everything.

Among the founders of the German radio engineering company "Telefunken" were the famous German scientists F. Braun, W. Siemens, A. Slaby and G. Arko. According to the terms of the agreement concluded for five years (counting from January 1, 1904), working capital was provided to the department by both firms, and the profit was divided equally among three counterparties - both firms and A.S. Popov. As you can see, German and Russian investors highly appreciated the intellectual property of the Russian scientist.

In connection with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War and the preparation of the Second Pacific Squadron for a campaign in the Far East, Popov gave special lectures on wireless telegraphy for miner officers. But the training was clearly insufficient, radio communications were practically not used. Popov deeply experienced the defeat of Russia in this war.

In 1905, Alexander Stepanovich delivered a series of lectures on wireless telegraphy at the Military Artillery Academy in St. Petersburg. In the same year, he gave public lectures to public teachers in Pavlovsk in April-May 1905, conducted classes with engineers - ETI graduates. Training was conducted at radio stations built in Sestroretsk, Oranienbaum and St. Petersburg (on Krestovsky Island). Part of the equipment of the educational telegraph station has been preserved and is exhibited in the Memorial Museum of A.S. Popov at St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI".

In the autumn of 1905, a revolutionary wave swept through the country, graduate School received autonomy, including the right to choose a director. The ETI Council elected Popov as its director. On October 15, 1905, under his chairmanship, a meeting of the Council was held with the participation of the entire teaching staff of the institute, which supported the student's demands for democratic freedoms. The minutes of the meeting were first signed by the Chairman of the Council A.S. Popov.

October 20 in the window student hostel institute, a red flag appeared with the words: "Long live the democratic republic." A number of calls to the Ministry of the Interior followed. After one of these conversations, at the age of 47, on January 13, 1906, Alexander Stepanovich Popov died suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage. On the last journey "brilliant electrical engineer of Russia" saw off at the Volkovskoye cemetery in St. Petersburg.

According to the current Charter of the RFHO, in the new 1906, A.S. Popov should have taken the place of chairman of his Physics Department and the highest public scientific post of president of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society.

In 1906, the prize named after the inventor of radio A.S. Popov for the best scientific work in the field of electrical engineering, its laureates until 1917 were: V.F. Mitkevich (1906), D.A. Rozhansky (1911) and V.I. Kovalenkov (1916).

In ETI in 1916, by decision of the Council of ETI, the training of engineers in the specialty of radiotelegraph stations began, and in 1917 the first department of radio engineering in Russia was organized (N.A. Skritsky, I.G. Freiman).

Throughout the active creative life the scientist was accompanied by the definition of "first". This is the first coherer radio telegraph receiver and the first spark radio telegraph system (April 1895); the first device for recording electromagnetic radiation of atmospheric origin - a lightning detector (July 1895); the first detector radio receiver with the reception of telegraph signals by ear (September 1899); first crystal point diode (June 1900); first radiotelephone system (December 1903).

In 1945, by a decree of the Government, the birthday of radio communications on May 7 was declared an annual public holiday - Radio Day. The Gold Medal named after A.S. Popova Russian Academy Sciences (formerly Academy of Sciences of the USSR) “For outstanding services in the field of radio. A.S. Popov”, the badge “Honorary Radio Operator” was introduced, nominal scholarships were established for students and graduate students in the field of radio engineering and telecommunications.

The memory of the scientist is worthily immortalized in numerous monuments, monuments, memorial plaques in a number of cities where he lived and worked.

Name A.S. Popov was awarded to scientific institutions, educational institutions, industrial enterprises, radio stations, museums, scientific and technical societies, ships; City streets are named after him. In 1945, the Russian Scientific and Technical Society of Radio Engineering, Electronics and Communications (NTORES) named after A.S. Popov. AT solar system there is a small planet "Popov" (No. 3074), on the far side of the Moon a crater is named after him. Films have been made about the life and work of the scientist. In 1959, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the birth of A.S. Popov on Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt of St. Petersburg, a monument was erected to him (sculptor - People's Artist of the RSFSR V.Ya. Bogolyubov and architect - People's Artist of the USSR N.V. Baranov). Monuments of A.S. Popov are also open on the alley of scientists on Sparrow Hills, in Yekaterinburg, Krasnoturinsk, Kotka (Finland); his busts are installed in Kronstadt, in Petrodvorets, on the island of Gogland, in St. Petersburg on the Literary bridges of the Volkovskoye cemetery.

The main stages of the life and work of A.S. Popov are adequately represented in the museums of Russia. The first exhibition created by A.S. Popov devices was opened on April 24, 1906 within the walls of the IOC, where the Memorial Museum-Office of A.S. Popov. It was here that radio communication equipment was invented. The exposition presents devices made by the scientist himself to demonstrate physical experiments, devices from the IOC physics office, radio communication equipment.

In the Central Museum of Communications named after A.S. Popov (CMS) in St. Petersburg collection of A.S. Popova began to form in 1926-1927. At present, a significant part of the instrumental heritage of A.S. Popov, the first copies of the radio receiver and lightning detector, as well as devices related to the stage of the invention of the wireless telegraph, a special room dedicated to the inventor of the radio was decorated. A special documentary fund of A.S. Popov.

Memorial Museum of A.S. Popov "LETI" was opened on June 27, 1948. It combines the memorial museum-laboratory of the professor of physics in the educational building of the university and the memorial apartment in the ETI residential building. The museum contains collections of authentic documents and photographs taken by Popov himself - an excellent photographer, personal belongings of family members, and the original furnishings of the apartment. The museum-laboratory presents the physical instruments preserved at the institute, with which A.S. Popov, laboratory equipment, experimental equipment for a wireless telegraph produced by Kronstadt workshops and equipment for serial ship radio stations by E. Ducrete. The archives of the museum contain documents confirming the priority of the Russian scientist in the invention of the radio.

One of the first prototypes of A.S. Popov, with the use of which experiments were carried out in Kronstadt.

Museums are also open in the Urals, the birthplace of A.S. Popov, in the city of Krasnoturinsk. The memorial museum was opened in the house where the Popov-Slovtsov family lived (1959, modern exposition March 16, 1984) in Yekaterinburg. Museum of Communications named after A.S. Popova since January 31, 1986 is located in the house where Sasha Popov lived with his older sister Maria while studying at the theological school.

"The scientific feat of Alexander Stepanovich Popov is immortal, the legacy he left to mankind is inexhaustible"- this is how A.S. Popova Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR laureate of the Gold Medal named after A.S. Popova S.A. Vekshinsky. Years will pass, these words will not lose their deep meaning, the name of A.S. Popova will forever remain among the outstanding representatives of domestic and world science. Foresight A.S. Popov were fully justified. The 21st century has become the century of telecommunications and informatization.

By the decision of UNESCO, in 1995 the entire world community solemnly celebrated the 100th anniversary of radio.

On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the invention of radio, A.S. Popov and the International Scientific Conference held in St. Petersburg "Radio−connection of times"(May 2005) , a bronze commemorative plaque was solemnly unveiled in honor of the first public demonstration of a radio communication system on May 7, 1895. The decision to give the day May 7, 1895 the status of "Milestone in the history of electrical engineering" was taken as part of the program on the history of electrical engineering " Milestones” of the Historical Center of the International Organization of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - IEEE). The board was installed near the entrance to the memorial laboratory of the A.S. Popov St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI", where the radio inventor worked since 1903.

Pedagogical activity of A.S. Popov, a graduate of St. Petersburg University, left a bright mark in the process of establishing a domestic electrical and radio engineering school for training both military and civilian specialists. In 1901, he headed the department of physics at the St. Petersburg Electrotechnical Institute of Emperor Alexander III (ETI). In September 1905, after the tsarist decree on the autonomy of universities came into force, the ETI Council elected A.S. Popov as director of the institute.

Merits of A.S. Popov were noted by both the state and scientific and public organizations. Alexander Stepanovich had a high rank of State Councilor (since 1901), was awarded the Order of St. Anna of the 3rd and 2nd degrees (1895, 1902), St. Stanislav of the 2nd degree (1897), a silver medal in memory of the reign Alexander III on the ribbon of the Order of Alexander Nevsky (1896), received the award of the Imperial Russian Technical Society (IRTO) "for a receiver for electrical oscillations and devices for telegraphy at a distance without wires" (1898). He was also awarded the title of Honorary Electrical Engineer (1899) and received "by the highest permission" a reward in the amount of 33 thousand rubles "for his work on the use of telegraphy without wires on ships of the fleet" (1900). The jury of the World Exhibition in Paris, dedicated to the change of centuries, awarded him a large gold medal and a diploma for the radio equipment of his system, which was demonstrated in action.

In 1902 A.S. Popov was elected an honorary member of the Imperial Russian Technical Society (IRTS), and in 1905 - Chairman of the Physics Department and President of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society (RFCS), positions that he was to take from January 1, 1906.

Alexander Popov, whose photo will be shown below, was born in the Perm province in 1859, on March 4th. He died in St. Petersburg in 1905, on December 31. Popov Alexander Stepanovich - one of the most famous Russian electrical engineers and physicists. From 1899 he became an honorary electrical engineer, and from 1901 - a state councilor.

Brief biography of Popov Alexander Stepanovich

In addition to him, the family had six more children. At the age of 10, Alexander Popov was sent to the Dolmatov School. In that educational institution his older brother taught Latin. In 1871, Popov transferred to the Ekaterinburg Theological School, in the 3rd grade, and by 1873 he graduated after completing the full course in the 1st, highest category. In the same year he entered the theological seminary in Perm. In 1877, Alexander Popov successfully passed the entrance exams to the St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. The years of study for the future scientist were not easy. He was forced to work part-time, as there were not enough funds. During his work, in parallel with his studies, his scientific views were finally formed. In particular, he was attracted by the issues of electrical engineering and the latest physics. In 1882, Alexander Popov graduated from the university with a candidate's degree. He was asked to stay at the university to prepare for a professorship in the department of physics. In the same year, he defended his dissertation "On the principles of dynamo and magnetoelectric machines with direct current."

Start of scientific activity

The young specialist was very attracted to experimental research in the field of electricity - he entered the Mining Class in Kronstadt as a teacher of electrical engineering, mathematics and physics. There was a well-equipped physics classroom. In 1890, Alexander Popov received an invitation to teach science at the Technical School from the Naval Department in Kronstadt. In parallel with this, from 1889 to 1898, he was the head of the main power plant of the fair. Nizhny Novgorod. Popov devoted all his free time to experimental work. The main issue he studied was the properties of electromagnetic oscillations.

Activities from 1901 to 1905

As mentioned above, since 1899 Alexander Popov had the title of Honorary Electrical Engineer and member of the Russian Technical Society. Since 1901, he became a professor of physics at the Electrotechnical Institute under Emperor Alexander III. In the same year, Popov was awarded the state (civilian) rank of the fifth class - a state adviser. In 1905, shortly before his death, Popov, by decision of the academic council of the institute, was elected rector. In the same year, the scientist acquired a cottage near the station. Udomlya. His family lived here after his death. The scientist died, according to historical references, from a stroke. Since 1921, according to the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the scientist's family was placed on "lifetime assistance". Takova short biography Popov Alexander Stepanovich

Experimental studies

What was the main achievement for which Popov Alexander Stepanovich became famous? The invention of the radio was the result of many years research work scientist. The physicist has been conducting his experiments on radiotelegraphy since 1897 on the ships of the Baltic Fleet. During his stay in Switzerland, the scientist's assistants accidentally noted that with an insufficient excitation signal, the coherer begins to convert a high-frequency amplitude-modulated signal into a low-frequency one. As a result, it becomes possible to take it by ear. With this in mind, Alexander Popov modified the receiver by installing telephone receivers instead of a sensitive relay. As a result, in 1901 he received a Russian privilege with priority on a new type of telegraph receiver. Popov's first device was a slightly modified training sample installations for illustrating Hertz's experiments. At the beginning of 1895, the Russian physicist became interested in the experiments of Lodge, who improved the coherer and designed a receiver, thanks to which it was possible to receive signals at a distance of forty meters. Popov tried to reproduce the technique by creating his own modification of Lodge's device.

Features of the Popov device

The Lodge coherer was presented in the form of a glass tube, which was filled with metal filings, capable of changing its conductivity sharply - several hundred times - under the influence of a radio signal. To bring the device to its original position, it was necessary to shake the sawdust - so the contact between them was broken. Lodge's coherer was provided with an automatic drummer that constantly beat on the tube. Popov introduced automatic feedback into the circuit. As a result, the relay was triggered by a radio signal and turned on the bell. At the same time, a drummer was launched, which hit the pipe with sawdust. When conducting his experiments, Popov used the mast grounded antenna invented by Tesla in 1893.

Benefits of the device

For the first time, Popov presented his device in 1895, on April 25, as part of a lecture "On the relationship of metal powder to electrical oscillations." The physicist, in his published description of the modified device, noted its undoubted usefulness, primarily for recording perturbations that occurred in the atmosphere, and for lecture purposes. The scientist expressed the hope that his device could be used to transmit signals over a distance using fast electrical oscillations, once the source of these waves was discovered. Later (since 1945), the date of Popov's speech began to be celebrated as Radio Day. The physicist connected his device to the writing coil br. Richard, thus obtaining a device that registers electromagnetic atmospheric vibrations. Subsequently, this modification was used by Lachinov, who installed a "lightning detector" at his weather station. Unfortunately, activities in the Maritime Department imposed certain restrictions on Popov. In this regard, observing the oath obligations of non-disclosure of information, the physicist did not publish the new results of his work, since they were classified information at that time.

He died in St. Petersburg in 1905, on December 31. Popov Alexander Stepanovich - one of the most famous Russian electrical engineers and physicists. From 1899 he became an honorary electrical engineer, and from 1901 - a state councilor.

Brief biography of Popov Alexander Stepanovich

In addition to him, the family had six more children. At the age of 10, Alexander Popov was sent to the Dolmatov School. In this educational institution, his older brother taught Latin. In 1871, Popov transferred to the Ekaterinburg Theological School, in the 3rd grade, and by 1873 he graduated after completing the full course in the 1st, highest category. In the same year he entered the theological seminary in Perm. In 1877, Alexander Popov passed successfully to St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. The years of study for the future scientist were not easy. He was forced to work part-time, as there were not enough funds. During his work, in parallel with his studies, his scientific views were finally formed. In particular, he was attracted by the issues of electrical engineering and the latest physics. In 1882, Alexander Popov graduated from the university with a candidate's degree. He was asked to stay at the university to prepare for a professorship in the department of physics. In the same year, he defended his dissertation "On the principles of dynamo and magnetoelectric machines with direct current."

Start of scientific activity

The young specialist was very attracted to experimental research in the field of electricity - he entered the Mining Class in Kronstadt as a teacher of electrical engineering, mathematics and physics. There was a well-equipped physics classroom. In 1890, Alexander Popov received an invitation to teach science at the Technical School from the Naval Department in Kronstadt. In parallel with this, from 1889 to 1898, he was the head of the main power plant of the Nizhny Novgorod fair. Popov devoted all his free time to experimental work. The main issue he studied was the properties of electromagnetic oscillations.

Activities from 1901 to 1905

As mentioned above, since 1899 Alexander Popov had the title of Honorary Electrical Engineer and member of the Russian Technical Society. Since 1901, he became a professor of physics at the Electrotechnical Institute under the emperor. In the same year, Popov was awarded the state (civilian) rank of the fifth class - state councilor. In 1905, shortly before his death, Popov, by decision of the academic council of the institute, was elected rector. In the same year, the scientist acquired a cottage near the station. Udomlya. His family lived here after his death. The scientist died, according to historical references, from a stroke. Since 1921, according to the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the scientist's family was placed on "lifetime assistance". This is a brief biography of Alexander Stepanovich Popov.

Experimental studies

What was the main achievement for which Popov Alexander Stepanovich became famous? was the result of many years of research work of the scientist. The physicist has been conducting his experiments on radiotelegraphy since 1897 on the ships of the Baltic Fleet. During his stay in Switzerland, the scientist's assistants accidentally noted that with an insufficient excitation signal, the coherer begins to convert a high-frequency amplitude-modulated signal into a low-frequency one.

As a result, it becomes possible to take it by ear. With this in mind, Alexander Popov modified the receiver by installing telephone receivers instead of a sensitive relay. As a result, in 1901 he received a Russian privilege with priority on a new type of telegraph receiver. Popov's first device was a somewhat modified training setup to illustrate Hertz's experiments. At the beginning of 1895, the Russian physicist became interested in the experiments of Lodge, who improved the coherer and designed a receiver, thanks to which it was possible to receive signals at a distance of forty meters. Popov tried to reproduce the technique by creating his own modification of Lodge's device.

Features of the Popov device

The Lodge coherer was presented in the form of a glass tube, which was filled with metal filings, capable of changing its conductivity sharply - several hundred times - under the influence of a radio signal. To bring the device to its original position, it was necessary to shake the sawdust - so the contact between them was broken. Lodge's coherer was provided with an automatic drummer that constantly beat on the tube. Popov introduced automatic feedback into the circuit. As a result, the relay was triggered by a radio signal and turned on the bell. At the same time, a drummer was launched, which hit the pipe with sawdust. When conducting his experiments, Popov used the mast grounded antenna invented by Tesla in 1893.

Benefits of the device

For the first time, Popov presented his device in 1895, on April 25, as part of a lecture "On the relationship of metal powder to electrical oscillations." The physicist, in his published description of the modified device, noted its undoubted usefulness, primarily for recording perturbations that occurred in the atmosphere, and for lecture purposes. The scientist expressed the hope that his device could be used to transmit signals over a distance using fast electrical oscillations, once the source of these waves was discovered. Later (since 1945), the date of Popov's speech began to be celebrated as Radio Day. The physicist connected his device to the writing coil br. Richard, thus obtaining a device that registers electromagnetic atmospheric vibrations. Subsequently, this modification was used by Lachinov, who installed a "lightning detector" at his weather station. Unfortunately, activities in the Maritime Department imposed certain restrictions on Popov. In this regard, observing the oath obligations of non-disclosure of information, the physicist did not publish the new results of his work, since they were classified information at that time.

Devoting his life to electromagnetic waves, Alexander Popov not only developed radio, but also laid the foundation for current wireless data transmission technologies.

Biography of Alexander Popov

Alexander Popov belonged to a spiritual dynasty. Born March 16, 1859 in a mining village in the Perm province in the family of a priest. The older brother taught Latin at the Dolmatovsky Theological School. The sister married a priest who held a responsible post in the Yekaterinburg diocese. And five other brothers and sisters also had something to do with the activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. And this family ministry began in time immemorial. Hence the family name - Popov.

Alexander Stepanovich studied at the Dolmatov Theological School for two years. Then he transferred to the third grade of the Yekaterinburg Theological School. And, finally, the Perm Theological Seminary.

However, the matter did not come to the adoption of the dignity. After graduating from general education classes in 1877, Popov radically changed his fate by entering the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University. What upset his father a lot.

It is clear that such a sharp turn did not occur overnight. Even in adolescence, Popov became interested in physics, the technical miracles that it promises to mankind. There was such a time - the era of steam and coal was ending, the era of electricity was beginning.

In his student years, Alexander Popov worked as an electrician at lighting installations. He led excursions at the St. Petersburg Electrical Exhibition, introducing visitors to the principles of operation and features of certain machines.

After university, the young scientist became a teacher of mathematics, physics and electrical engineering at the Mine Officer Class in Kronstadt. There was an excellent laboratory base for practicing practical electrical engineering. And in 1890, Alexander Stepanovich Popov was invited to lecture on physics at the Technical School of the Naval Department in Kronstadt.

Even in adolescence, Popov became interested in physics, the technical miracles that it promises to mankind. There was such a time - the era of steam and coal was ending, the era of electricity was beginning.

Hertz vibrator

The scientific interests of Alexander Popov belonged to the problems formed by the discoveries of the outstanding British physicists Michael Faraday and James Maxwell, the fathers of the theory of electromagnetic induction. His university thesis was devoted to the study of "the conditions for the most advantageous operation of a dynamo-electric machine." He was actively involved in the problem of the electric power industry. Every summer he came to the Nizhny Novgorod fair, where he supervised the work of the department of electrical installations. Later under a contract with a joint-stock company "Electrician" led the construction of power plants in Moscow, Ryazan and other Russian cities.

There was a period when Popov was so carried away by the newly discovered x-rays that he created an x-ray tube of his own design and made the first x-rays in Russia, or, as they were then called, "hidden" pictures. On his initiative, advanced high-tech equipment was introduced at the Kronstadt hospital for diagnostic purposes. Doctors poorly understood the principles of operation of unprecedented technology, but quickly appreciated it.

The theory of receiving and transmitting electromagnetic waves was fully developed in the first half of the 19th century, primarily by the same Faraday and Maxwell. The idea of ​​a wireless telegraph was in the air.

The German physicist Heinrich Hertz has already demonstrated the vibrator he invented, by means of which a wave is generated in a “sparkling manner”. The Hertz vibrator is the first radio transmitter in history, or rather, its immediate predecessor. There were also receivers of electromagnetic waves, but they all operated at a distance of no more than 10 meters and could only serve as demonstration devices at lectures.

Popov in 1892 made his own transmitter, which differed from the Hertz vibrator by the presence of a spark gap placed in a vessel with oil, an induction coil and - which was of fundamental importance - an antenna in the form of two square metal sheets with a side length of 40 cm.

In 1893 Popov visited the International Electrical Exhibition in Chicago. There he touched with his own hands, tested in practice the equipment of Hertz and other scientists working in the field of study and practical application electromagnetic waves.

Having studied overseas experience, evaluating the positive results and seeing the dead-end branches along which some inventors rushed, Popov continued his research in St. Petersburg with redoubled energy.

Radio day

If everything was more or less clear with the transmitter, then we had to tinker with the receiver. Ultimately, Popov settled on the coherer of the English physicist Oliver Lodge as an indicator of electromagnetic waves. This device was a glass tube with metal filings, which, when passing through them, the waves “stick together” and sharply reduce the resistance to electric current, which was recorded by the galvanometer needle.

The undoubtedly effective coherer had one significant drawback: before accepting the next wave, the tube had to be shaken well in order to “puff up” the sawdust. Lodge solved this problem by installing an electric bell on a common plate with a coherer. When a signal was received, the bell shook the sawdust due to the vibration going through the plate. However, the system did not work reliably: about every fifth impulse did not shake the sawdust properly, and “sticking” occurred.

By 1895, Popov managed to cope with this task. He placed the bell hammer in a neutral position between the sawdust tube and the cup. Now the call clearly registered every wave coming from the air. Subsequently, the inventor attached a receiving device to a telegraph machine that records information transmitted in Morse code. Another important element is a three-meter antenna, which increased the sensitivity of the receiving circuit several times over.

In the spring of 1895, Alexander Stepanovich tested his design. In the garden of the Mine officer class, by changing the relative position of the receiver and transmitter, he achieved reliable reception of electromagnetic signals at a distance of up to 80 meters.

And on May 7 (April 25, old style), 1895, Popov presented his invention at a meeting of the Physics Department. Russian Physical and Chemical Society (RFHO), having conducted a visual session of radio communication at a distance of 64 meters. After a few days on this significant event responded with a note in the newspaper "Kronstadt Herald". In the January issue of the RFHO Journal for 1896, Popov published a detailed article with a detailed description of the transmitter and receiver. In the same year, his publications appeared in the journals "Electricity" and "Meteorological Bulletin". Abstracts of the article were also published in a number of reputable foreign journals.

Further events developed as follows. In March 1896, Popov made another report to the RFHO, and in addition, he connected his apparatus to the telegraph and transmitted a two-word radiogram to a distance of 250 meters: "Heinrich Hertz." These words were imprinted on the tape, which is kept in the Popov Museum.

The Italian Guglielmo Marconi demonstrated the transmission of radiotelegrams over a distance of 3 kilometers on September 2, 1895. At the end of the same month, he was granted a patent for the invention of a radio transceiver. So who invented the radio, Popov or Marconi?

This controversy will apparently go on forever. Supporters of the Marconi priority argue that there is no documentary evidence of the operation of Popov's equipment before December 1897. The records of Petersburg professors that they observed the transmission of radio signals and wireless telegrams both in 1895 and 1896 are not taken into account. In fact, of course, the invention of the radio is a collective achievement that humanity owes to Popov, Marconi, Hertz, Lodge, Faraday and Maxwell, and the hitherto unmentioned Nikola Tesla. But Popov was later more cautious about his copyrights. In particular, in 1901 he patented a device for receiving radiograms on headphones. And in Russia, Radio Day is celebrated on May 7 - in honor of that day in 1895, when Alexander Popov presented his invention to his colleagues.

On May 7, 1895, Popov presented his invention at a meeting of the physical department of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society, having conducted a radio communication session at a distance of 64 meters.

Live

Since 1897, Popov has been actively introducing wireless telegraphy on ships of the navy. At the same time, he constantly improves equipment, increasing the range and clarity of signal reception. In 1898, a wireless connection was established between the training ship "Europe" and the cruiser "Africa" ​​at a distance of 10 kilometers. Three years later, the range of maritime radio communications already exceeds 150 kilometers, and in Russian fleet more than two dozen ship radio stations operate on a permanent basis.

In 1899, the battleship General-Admiral Apraksin ran aground off the island of Gotland. To carry out large-scale rescue operations, a fixed radio connection was established between Gotland and the island of Kutsalo (47 km), which was connected by cable to St. Petersburg through intermediate telegraph stations. The Gotland-Kutsalo radio link operated for 84 days. During this time, 440 official radiograms were transmitted and received. There were also messages from individuals. This was the beginning of the civil use of radio communications.

In 1900, the Naval Ministry allocated significant allocations for the installation of ship radio stations and the training of relevant specialists. And Popov, at the request of the commander of the Baltic Fleet, Admiral S. O. Makarov, was paid a bonus of 33 thousand rubles.

The inventor was invited as a professor at the Department of Physics of the Electrotechnical Institute of Emperor Alexander III. In 1905, the academic council of the institute elected Popov as rector. He was also an honorary member of the Imperial Russian Technical Society, chairman of the Physics Department and president of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society. And in 1901 he became a state councilor.

Among his awards are the Order of St. Anne of the 3rd and 2nd degrees, the Order of St. Stanislaus, the medal "In memory of the reign of Emperor Alexander III." As well as gold medal The Paris World Industrial Exhibition of 1900 - Popov received this award for a ship radio station mass-produced by the Parisian company of Eugene Ducrete.

Alexander Stepanovich Popov died suddenly on December 31, 1906 from a cerebral hemorrhage. He passed away in the prime of his creative powers, not having time to implement a number of planned scientific and technical measures to introduce radio transmission into all spheres of human activity. But what he managed to do is more than enough to rank him among the pantheon of great inventors.