Content
Introduction 3
Chapter I General development science in the 19th - early 20th centuries 5Chapter II Development of science in the late XIX - early XX. 9
1.1 Scientific contribution of K.E. Tsiolkovsky 9
1.2 Scientific contribution of V.I.Vernadsky 12
1.3 Scientific contribution of I.P. Pavlov 14
Chapter III Development of technology in the 19th - early 19th century. 16
2.1 Scientific contribution of A.S. Popov 16
2.2 Scientific contribution of Ya.M. Gakkel 18
2.3 Scientific contribution of G.E. Kotelnikov 21Conclusion 23
List of used literature 24
Introduction
Socio-economic development of Russia at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. also affected cultural life country, determined many achievements of science and technology. Industrial production needed the latest technologies, equipment, and professional personnel. At the same time, all the renewed life brought changes to the worldview of people.The struggle between various opinions and movements, reflecting the interests of various segments of the population, is particularly inflamed. The majority of those around the monarchy represented a reactionary ideology. The symbol of lawlessness, slavery, and obscurantism was the chief prosecutor of the synod, K.P. Pobedonostsev, who used administrative measures to stifle any manifestation of free-thinking.
The Narodnaya Volya ideology is being replaced by the Marxist one. The first Marxists of Russia - G.V. Plekhanov and others clearly underestimated the specifics of the development of Russian capitalism, which significantly affected the development of their revolutionary theory.
A very significant role in the formation of ideological consciousness was played by the church, which numbered about a quarter of a million clergy of different faiths. At the same time, all educators (including private teachers) numbered slightly more than 170 thousand.
By the beginning of the 20th century. Russia remained an illiterate country. 76% of the population was illiterate. More than a third of all literate people were in the age group from 10 to 39 years. There were 2.5 times more literate people in the city than in the village. The same proportion was the literacy of men relative to women. Literacy rates varied significantly across regions. In the Caucasus and Siberia it slightly exceeded 12%, in Central Asia - 5%. The government's allocations for public education were also meager - 43 kopecks. per capita (in the USA - 7 rubles, in Switzerland - 5.5 rubles, in England and Germany - 3.8 rubles) Teachers received the lowest wages compared to other countries.
Nevertheless, the world achievements of scientists and inventors, including I.P. Pavlov, I.I. Mechnikov, K.A. Timiryazev, P.N. Lebedev, N.D. Zelinsky, N.E. Zhukovsky, D.I. Mendeleev , K.E. Tsiolkovsky, V.I. Vernadsky, A.S. Popov, B. Malakhovsky and many others brought glory and prosperity to their Fatherland.
Scientific discoveries undermined the foundations of previous ideas about the universe. Opponents of the materialist teaching were idealists - N. Berdyaev, S. Bulgakov, S. Frank and others. Such a struggle was natural and necessary, because only in dispute is truth born. What impetus to thought was given and is given by N. Berdyaev’s remarks: “Civilization depersonalizes. The personal principle was revealed only in culture” and V.O. Klyuchevsky: “...Russia was ruled not by an aristocracy or democracy, but by a bureaucracy, that is, a group of people operating outside of society, united only by ranks”?
The apogee of the era of critical realism was the works of L. Tolstoy, Alekhov, V. Korolenko, I. Bunin, A. Kuprin, M. Gorky, A. Akhmatova, S. Yesenin and many other Russian writers and poets. Deep penetration into life, a truthful reflection of reality, objective criticism of existing unrest, concern for the fate of the fatherland and the people, the search for moral and social ideals characterized Russian literature at the beginning of the 20th century.
The authority and social influence of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions, organized in St. Petersburg in 1870 on the initiative of I. Kramskoy, G. Myasoedov, N. Ge and V. Petrov, grew. It included the most talented artists of Russia. (In 1923, the Partnership dissolved.)
Russian culture was enriched not only by the capital of entrepreneurs, but also by the pennies of the common people, with which temples were built and monuments to national heroes were erected.
General development of science at the end of the 19th century
early XX centuries
The end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century. were marked by the intensive development of domestic science. Natural scientists have earned themselves well-deserved fame for their major achievements. P.N. Lebedev became famous for his work in the field of light pressure. N.E. Zhukovsky and his student S.A. Chaplygin laid the foundations of aerodynamics. K.E. Tsiolkovsky's research anticipated modern achievements in space exploration. The research in the field of mineralogy and geochemistry by V.I. Vernadsky gained worldwide fame. The doctrine he created about the noosphere,the sphere of reason that arises on the planet in the process of conscious activity of mankind, played a huge role in the formation of modern ideas about the relationship between man and nature. At the turn of two centuries, K.A. Timiryazev successfully worked in the field of botany.
Recognition by the international community of the successes of Russian science was manifested in the awarding of Nobel Prizes to Russian scientists. Their laureates were the outstanding physiologist I.P. Pavlov (1904) and one of the founders of comparative pathology and microbiology I.I. Mechnikov (1908).
The contribution of Russians from young people and designers to
technical progress. A.S. Popov went down in the history of technology as the inventor of radio. In 1910, an airplane of domestic design, created by Ya.M. Gakkel, took off into the air. Outstanding Russian aircraft designer
I.I. Sikorsky built super-powerful (for those years) aircraft “Ilya Muromets” and “Russian Knight”. I.I. Sikorsky later emigrated to the USA in 1919 and played a huge role there in the development of American helicopter construction. The creator of the first backpack parachute was G.E. Kotelnikov (1911).
Russian scientists have achieved great success in exploring many inaccessible, practically “undiscovered” areas of the planet. N.M. Przhevalsky’s associate P.K. Kozlov became famous for a series of travels around Central Asia. The famous geologist V.A. Obruchev organized expeditions to the regions of Siberia and the Far East. In 1914, while trying to reach the North Pole, a hydrograph scientist, a brave
polar explorer G.Ya.Sedov. The materials collected by his expedition were of great scientific importance and were subsequently used by Soviet Arctic researchers.
The end of the 19th - the beginning of the 20th century. were an exceptionally fruitful period in the development of Russian philosophical thought. In an environment of acute conflicts that tore apart society and painful ideological quests, Russian religious philosophy flourished, becoming one of the most striking, if not the most striking, phenomenon in the spiritual life of the country. The work of a galaxy of brilliant philosophers - N.A. Berdyaev, V.V. Rozanov, E.N. Trubetskoy, P.A. Florensky, S.L. Frank and others - became a kind of religious renaissance. Based on the relevant traditions of Russian philosophy, they asserted the priority of the personal over the social, and saw the most important means of harmonizing social relations in the moral self-improvement of the individual. Russian religious philosophy, the beginnings of which were inseparable from the foundations of Christian spirituality, became one of the pinnacles of world philosophical thought, focusing on the theme of man's creative vocation and the meaning of culture, the theme of the philosophy of history and other issues that eternally concern the human mind.
A unique response of outstanding Russian thinkers to the upheavals experienced by the country at the very beginning of the 20th century was the collection “Vekhi” published in 1909. The articles included in the collection were written by N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, P.B. Struve, S.L. Frank and others who, due to their political sympathies, belonged to the liberal camp. Under the impression of the social explosion of 1905-1907 . the authors of "Vekhi" tried to comprehend the role of radically minded intelligentsia in the life of society, to show the danger of a revolutionary path to solving problems facing
a country of problems. The calls of the Vekhi people for social compromise, the desire they addressed to the intelligentsia to engage in internal self-improvement in an environment of intense confrontation between the forces that collided with each other in the Russian political arena, were not and could not be heard. Having caused a great public outcry, "Vekhi" was criticized by representatives of various political parties - from the Cadets to the Bolsheviks.
The turn of two centuries became a period of intensive development of various social sciences. It was at this time that the work of the major sociologist P.A. Sorokin began, whose works subsequently became world famous. P.A. Sorokin, who emigrated from the USSR in 1922, played a huge role in the formation and development of American sociology. The works of M.I. Tugan-Baranovsky and P.B. Struve made a great contribution to the study of economic, historical and economic problems. The Russian historical science itself has also achieved major successes. The past of Russia was actively studied. Philologist and historian A.A. Shakhmatov created a number of classical
works on Russian chronicles. Valuable research on the history of Ancient Rus' belonged to N.P. Pavlov-Silvansky. Significant successes in the development of domestic historiography were achieved by A.E. Presnyakov, S.F. Platonov, S.V. Bakhrushin, Yu.V. Gauthier, A.S. Lappo-Danilevsky and others. P.N. Milyukov became famous not only as a politician, but also as a talented historian. His master's thesis was on
financial and economic aspects of Peter's reforms, was successfully defended at Moscow University.
Of course, not only the past of the Fatherland was in the field of view of Russian historians. The problems of the Western European Middle Ages and modern times were studied by P.G. Vinogradov, E.V. Tarle, D.M. Petrushevsky. The greatest specialist in general history was N.I. Kareev, whose works became truly famous throughout Europe. S.A. Zhebelev and M.I. Rostovtsev worked successfully in the field of ancient history. An outstanding Egyptologist and researcher of the Ancient East was B.A. Turaev. For the study of the history and culture of the peoples of Central Asia, the research of V.V. Bartold was essential. The works of I.Yu. Krachkovsky played an important role in the development of domestic Arabic studies. V.M. Alekseev became famous for his works dedicated to Chinese culture. At the turn of the two centuries, jurisprudence, philological sciences, etc. developed successfully.
Development of science in late XIX - early XX centuries
Scientific contribution of K.E TsialkovskyKonstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky is the founder of modern cosmonautics.
Tsiolkovsky's first scientific research dates back to 1880-1881. Tsiolkovsky's main work afterward was associated with four major problems: the scientific justification of an all-metal balloon (airship), a streamlined airplane, a hovercraft, and a rocket for interplanetary travel.
Tsiolkovsky studied the mechanics of controlled flight, as a result of which he designed a controlled balloon. Tsiolkovsky was the first to propose the idea of an all-metal airship and build a model of it. The first published work on airships was “Metal Controlled Balloon” (1892), which provided scientific and technical justification for the design of an airship with a metal shell. The Tsiolkovsky airship project, progressive for its time, was not supported; the author was denied a subsidy for the construction of the model
In his apartment, Tsiolkovsky created the first aerodynamic laboratory in Russia. Tsiolkovsky built in 1897 the first wind tunnel in Russia with an open working part. He developed an experimental technique in it and determined the drag coefficient of a ball, flat plate, cylinder, cone and other bodies. Tsiolkovsky's work in the field of aerodynamics was a source of ideas for N. E. Zhukovsky. Tsiolkovsky described the flow of air around bodies of various geometric shapes.
Since 1896, Tsiolkovsky systematically studied the theory of motion of jet vehicles. Thoughts about using the rocket principle in space were expressed by Tsiolkovsky back in 1883, but he outlined a strict theory of jet propulsion in 1896. Tsiolkovsky derived a formula (it was called the “Tsiolkovsky formula”) that established the relationship between:
- rocket speed at any moment
specific impulse of fuel
mass of the rocket at the initial and final moments of time
The result of the first publication was not at all what Tsiolkovsky expected. Neither compatriots nor foreign scientists appreciated the research that science is proud of today. It was simply an era ahead of its time. In 1911, the second part of the work “Exploration of World Spaces by Reactive Instruments” was published. Tsiolkovsky calculates the work to overcome the force of gravity, determines the speed required for the device to enter the Solar System (“second cosmic speed”) and the flight time. This time, Tsiolkovsky’s article caused a lot of noise in the scientific world. Tsiolkovsky made many friends in the world of science.
In 1926-1929, Tsiolkovsky solved a practical question: how much fuel should be taken into a rocket in order to obtain the liftoff speed and leave the Earth. It turned out that the final speed of the rocket depends on the speed of the gases flowing out of it and on how many times the weight of the fuel exceeds the weight of the empty rocket.
Tsiolkovsky put forward a number of ideas that found application in rocket science. They proposed: gas rudders (made of graphite) to control the flight of the rocket and change the trajectory of its center of mass; the use of propellant components to cool the outer shell of the spacecraft (during entry into the Earth's atmosphere), the walls of the combustion chamber and the nozzle; pumping system for supplying fuel components; optimal descent trajectories of a spacecraft when returning from space, etc. In the field of rocket fuels, Tsiolkovsky studied a large number of different oxidizers and fuels; recommended fuel pairs: liquid oxygen with hydrogen, oxygen with hydrocarbons. Tsiolkovsky worked a lot and fruitfully on creating the theory of flight of jet aircraft, invented his own gas turbine engine design; in 1927 he published the theory and diagram of a hovercraft train. He was the first to propose a “bottom-retractable chassis” chassis. Space flight and airship construction were the main problems to which he devoted his life.
Tsiolkovsky defended the idea of diversity of life forms in the Universe and was the first theorist and promoter of human exploration of outer space.
Tsiolkovsky made a huge contribution to the development of astronautics and rocket science.
Scientific contribution of V.I.Vernadsky
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky - Soviet scientist of the 20th century, naturalist, thinker and public figure. His interests included geology and crystallography, mineralogy and geochemistry, organizational activities in science and social activities, radiogeology and biology, biogeochemistry and philosophy. Vernadsky published more than 700 scientific papers.Vernadsky's activities had a huge impact on the development of geosciences. Since 1908, V.I. Vernadsky has constantly carried out a great deal of work organizing expeditions and creating a laboratory base for the search and study of radioactive minerals. V.I. Vernadsky was one of the first to understand the enormous importance of studying radioactive processes for all aspects of social life.
In 1926, he formulated the concept of the biological structure of the ocean. According to this concept, life in the ocean is concentrated in “films” - geographical boundary layers of various scales.
He founded a new science - biogeochemistry and made a huge contribution to geochemistry. In the summer of 1940, on the initiative of Vernadsky, research began on uranium to produce nuclear energy. With the outbreak of the war, he was evacuated to Kazakhstan, where he created his books “On the states of space in the geological phenomena of the Earth. Against the backdrop of the growth of science in the 20th century" and "Chemical structure of the Earth's biosphere and its environment."
The doctrine of the biosphere and noosphere
In the structure of the biosphere, Vernadsky identified seven types of matter:
- alive;
biogenic (arising from living things or undergoing processing);
inert (abiotic, formed outside of life);
bioinert (arising at the junction of living and nonliving; bioinert, according to Vernadsky, includes soil);
a substance in the stage of radioactive decay;
scattered atoms;
substance of cosmic origin.
Vernadsky considered an important stage in the irreversible evolution of the biosphere to be its transition to the noosphere stage.
The main prerequisites for the emergence of the noosphere:
- the spread of Homo sapiens across the entire surface of the planet and its victory in competition with other biological species;
development of planetary communication systems, creation of a unified information system for humanity;
the discovery of such new sources of energy as nuclear, after which human activity becomes an important geological force;
the victory of democracies and access to government for the broad masses;
the increasing involvement of people in the pursuit of science, which also makes humanity a geological force.
Scientific contribution of I.P. Pavlov
Pavlov Ivan Petrovichrussky physiologist, fourth laureateNobel Prize (1904) in physiology and medicine, author of the doctrine of higher nervous activity.Research on the physiology of digestion.
The method of “chronic experiment” allowed Pavlov to discover many laws of the functioning of the digestive glands and the digestive process in general. Before Pavlov, there were only some very vague and fragmentary ideas about this, and the physiology of digestion was one of the most backward sections of physiology.
Pavlov's first research in this area was devoted to studying the functioning of the salivary glands. The scientist established a relationship between the composition and amount of saliva secreted and the nature of the irritant, which allowed him to draw a conclusion about the specific excitability of different receptors in the oral cavity by each of the irritating agents.
Research concerning the physiology of the stomach is Pavlov's most significant achievement in explaining the processes of digestion. The scientist proved the existence of nervous regulation of the activity of the gastric glands.
Thanks to the improvement of the operation to create an isolated ventricle, it was possible to distinguish two phases of gastric juice secretion: neuro-reflex and humoral-clinical. The result of the scientist’s research in the field of digestive physiology was his work entitled Lectures on the work of the main digestive glands, published in 1897. This work was translated into German, French and English within several years and brought Pavlov worldwide fame.
Research on the physiology of higher nervous activity.
Pavlov moved on to the study of the physiology of higher nervous activity, trying to explain the phenomenon of mental salivation. The study of this phenomenon led him to the concept of a conditioned reflex. A conditioned reflex, unlike an unconditioned one, is not innate, but is acquired as a result of the accumulation of individual life experience and is an adaptive reaction of the body to living conditions. Education process conditioned reflexes Pavlov called higher nervous activity and considered this concept equivalent to the term “mental activity.”
The scientist identified four types of higher nervous activity in humans, which are based on ideas about the relationship between the processes of excitation and inhibition. Thus, he laid a physiological foundation for the teachingHippocrates on temperaments.
Pavlov also developed the doctrine of signal systems. According to Pavlov, a specific feature of a person is the presence in him, in addition to the first signal system, common with animals (various sensory stimuli coming from the outside world), also of a second signal system - speech and writing.
The main goal of Pavlov's scientific activity was to study the human psyche using objective experimental methods.
Pavlov formulated ideas about the analytical-synthetic activity of the brain and created the doctrine of analyzers, the localization of functions in the cerebral cortex and the systematic nature of the work of the cerebral hemispheres.
Development of technology in late XIX - early XX centuries
Scientific contribution of A.S. PopovPopov Alexander Stepanovich is a famous Russian scientist in the field of physics and electrical engineering, considered one of the fathers of the creators of electrical wireless communications (radio communications, radio).
In 1895, Popov invents a receiver of electromagnetic waves and demonstrates the possibility of recording a sequence of electrical signals at a distance without wires (radio communication).
In the spring of 1895, Popov made a public report about his invention and research results. This day, May 7, is Radio Day in our country. ABOUTHe presented his invention on April 25, 1895 at a meeting of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society at St. Petersburg University. The topic of the lecture was: “On the relationship of metal powders to electrical vibrations.” In a published description of his device, Popov noted its usefulness for lecture purposes and recording perturbations occurring in the atmosphere. He also expressed the hope that “my device, with further improvement, can be applied to the transmission <на
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signals over distances using fast electrical oscillations, as soon as a source of such oscillations with sufficient energy is found.” Work in the Maritime Department imposed certain restrictions on the publication of research results, therefore, observing this oath of non-disclosure of information constituting classified information, Popov did not publish new results of his work.
By the summer of 1897, Popov had achieved a radio signal transmission range of up to five kilometers.
In 1889–1900, Popov conducted experimental experiments in the Black and Baltic Seas. After reaching a radio communication range of up to 50 km, the Maritime Ministry introduced on ships Russian fleet wireless telegraph.
Together with his colleagues - scientists P. Rybkin and D. Troitsky, Popov patented in 1901 a “telephone dispatch receiver”, which they invented on the basis of the Cogerer effect, for auditory reception of radio signals in headphones.
In June 1896, Italian physicistG. Marconi in Great Britain officially patented an invention that exactly replicates the design of the device published earlier in Russia by Popov. This fact forced Alexander Stepanovich to make special statements in the Russian and foreign press about his priority in the invention of radio broadcasts.
In 1900, at the World Exhibition in Paris, Popov's invention was awarded the Big Gold Medal.
The School of Communications in Kronstadt, the Central Museum of Communications and the Higher Naval School in St. Petersburg, streets in various cities of Russia and much more bear his name.
Scientific contribution of Ya.M.Gakkel
Yakov Modestovich Gakkel is a Russian Soviet engineer who made a significant contribution to the development of domestic aircraft and diesel locomotive construction in the first half of the 20th century, and an electrical engineer.Aircraft
The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the rapid development of both global and domestic aircraft manufacturing; there was a lot of research and original design solutions. Yakov Modestovich also became interested in aircraft construction.In 1909, together with S.S. Shchetinin, in a small barn - a hangar at the Kolomyazhsky hippodrome - Gakkel began building an aircraft according to his design. Soon, together with S. Shchetinin, they organized the First Russian Aeronautics Partnership on a mutual basis. However, Gakkel participated in the business for a short time - not seeing eye to eye with his partners, he left the partnership.
Having received a substantial bonus from the Westinghouse joint stock company for work on the St. Petersburg tram, he spent almost all of it on building an airplane. In total, in 1909 - 1924, he designed about one and a half dozen aircraft various types and destinations, ten of which were built and six successfully flown.
On December 4, 1910, he exhibited at the First International Aeronautical Exhibition in St. Petersburg the first amphibious aircraft in Russia, for which the Russian Technical Society awarded Ya.M. Gakkel silver medal.
Since 1911, Gakkel's plane was piloted by the famous test pilot G.V. Alekhnovich. On the Gakkel-VII airplane, he made his first flight from Gatchina to St. Petersburg, and on October 9, he performed a number of difficult flights on this plane before the military commission, which decided to purchase this biplane for the army and give its designer an incentive prize of 8,000 rubles.
"Gakkel-VII" received a Grand Gold Medal at the Second International Aeronautics Exhibition. After the exhibition closed, G.V. Alekhnovich took part in competitions of various types of aircraft (Flagman, Lyam), set a Russian flight altitude record for biplanes (1,250 m), a flight duration record (56 minutes, 56 seconds), and he also made night flights.
Unfortunately, prototype models of Gakkel aircraft did not enter industrial production. Their fate was sad. Thus, the Gakkel-VII, which was transported to a military airfield, was left there unattended because the school instructors, accustomed to the farmans, did not want to master the aircraft they were unfamiliar with. They even forgot to drain the water from the radiator, and during the first frost the ice broke the engine, there was no new engine, they failed to repair the new model, and the plane was scrapped.
etc.................
The relationship between science and technology in the 20th century. Mechanical engineering. Internal combustion engine and car. Aviation and aerodynamics. Jets and rockets. Radio and television. Lasers. Electronic computers. Science and military technology. Atomic and hydrogen bombs. New types of weapons. Space weapons. Strategic Defense Initiative. Beam weapon. Su-35 fighter. Anti-aircraft missile system "Igla". Dynamic protection of domestic tanks. Strategic system of sea-based nuclear missile forces "Typhoon". Submarine "Black Hole in the Ocean". Psychotronic weapon
Natural sciences at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. entered into quality new stage its development, because discoveries were made in all areas of knowledge that contributed to colossal scientific and technical progress. The revolution in the field of physics that took place in the 20th century inevitably caused the integration of science and technology with the leading role of natural science. Although the main relatively new technological products, even the automobile and the airplane, as well as the methods of their construction, in particular the method of mass production, are at first still based on the science of the 19th rather than the 20th century. Over time, the integration of science and technology is happening faster and faster, or rather, it is bypassing the entire range of industrial processes as techniques based on new physical knowledge - first in the field of electronics and later nuclear physics - penetrate into old ones. industries and create new ones, such as the production of television equipment and nuclear energy. It was in the 20th century that “the relationship between science and technology quickly changed places” (J. Bernal), as technology increasingly developed on the basis of scientific research.
The machine that, more than any other, was destined to transform both industry and living conditions in the 20th century was the internal combustion engine. It, although more indirectly than the original steam engine, was the fruit of the application of science, in in this case thermodynamics. The basic idea of exploding a pre-compressed mixture of air and combustible gas to achieve a thermodynamic effect belonged to the French engineer de Rochas (1815 -1891), who put it forward back in 1862, but there was still a long way to go from the idea to a working machine and many more essential things had to be developed details of ignition methods, valve operation - which were not required in steam engines.
Pioneer practitioners Lenoir (1822-1900) and Otto (1832-1891), who invented the still almost universal four-stroke cycle, and Diesel (1858-1913), who supplemented it with compressor ignition, managed to create powerful engines, but their use was limited throughout the 19th century a relatively small number of stationary gas and oil engines. These engines and cars were produced primarily as luxury items or for sporting purposes.
Henry Ford (1863-1947) started out as an amateur designer in a backyard workshop and quickly became the world's most successful new car manufacturer because he realized that what was really needed was a cheap car in huge quantities. The implementation of this idea required mass production to some extent and at the same time gave a powerful impetus to its further development. From this point on, all classical methods of mechanical engineering had to undergo a restructuring so that it was capable of producing identical parts in large quantities.
To fly like a bird has been the eternal dream of mankind, as evidenced by widespread legends about flying people or flying cars, as well as ancient attempts to imitate birds in all countries of the world. The problems of flight are so complex that they could not be solved by the science of the last century; in carrying out a long flight, everything depended on the presence of a sufficiently light engine, and such a source of energy could only be obtained in the 20th century as a result of improvements in the internal combustion engine. The Wright brothers, cyclist mechanics by profession and aeronauts by vocation, mounted an engine they had made themselves on an airplane and worked on improving it until it flew for the first time in 1903. Only the first step is difficult. Once Orville Wright took his airplane into the air and made it fly a few feet, the future of aviation was assured.
Basically, precisely because of its empirical origin, the airplane had to give more to science in the first decades of its existence, notes J. Bernal, than to extract from it. This circumstance was the reason for the beginning of a serious study of aerodynamics, which should have received a wide response in mechanical engineering and even in meteorology and astrophysics. Earlier efforts, such as the work of Magnus (1802-1870), focused on projectile flight. The study of streamlining and turbulence undertaken in connection with the work on the first airplanes found direct application in the design of ships and in all problems connected with air flow, from blast furnaces to home ventilation. Results of research in the field of aerodynamics for so we found ours effective application in aviation of the 20th century and, above all, in military aviation.
The evolution of the propeller-powered airplane followed a straight line from the Wright biplane to the flying "superfortress"; however, the requirement for ever greater speeds for military purposes finally broke through the typical conservatism of designers and gave birth to the gas turbine, which made it possible to create a jet aircraft. In World War II, this aircraft appeared too late to have any military value. From the same needs of war arose the oldest of fire-powered projectiles - the rocket. By now the distinction between an airplane and a rocket is gradually being erased and, apparently, will disappear completely as soon as atomic energy can be made to serve as a driving force. The jet aircraft and rocket are operated only in upper layers atmosphere; Moreover, the rocket is beneficial as a vehicle only for intercontinental travel.
The invention of radio and television played a significant role in the development of technology in the 20th century, and the following circumstances should be kept in mind. If we open the encyclopedic book “Inventions that changed the world” (it was already discussed above) or the chronological review “History of Natural Science in Dates” by the Slovak scientists J. Folga and L. Nowa, we will find that the invention of radio is attributed to the Italian physicist G. Marconi does not mention a word about our compatriot A. Popov. We are faced with typical Western-centrism, when the achievements of Russian scientists and technicians are deliberately kept silent. In this lecture we will not describe in detail the importance of radio; we will consider in more detail the issue of the invention of television.
The development of television ideas from its very birth has been international in nature. As V. Urvalov notes in his article “Creators of the Blue Screen,” in the period from 1878 to the end of the 19th century in eleven countries, more than 25 prototype projects for television devices were submitted to patent offices and magazine editorial offices, five of them in Russia. In 1880, our compatriot P.I. Bakhmetyev, while a student at the University of Zurich, developed a design for a device called a “telephotograph,” one of the first predecessors of the television. Color television system with sequential transmission of three-color signals at the end of 1899. Patented by process engineer from Kazan A.A. Half Mordvinov, who soon moved to St. Petersburg and took the place of assistant clerk in the telegraph department. He was the first to introduce into scientific circulation the concept of “triad of colors”, the practical meaning of which has been preserved in our time. Several reviews on electrical vision in those years were made by military engineer K.D. Persky. It was he who first coined the term “television” in a review report he read at the International Congress in Paris (1900). A two-color television system with simultaneous transmission of white and red colors was proposed in 1907. son of a Baku merchant I.A. Adamyan, who worked in his own laboratory near Berlin.
By the beginning of the 20th century. the prerequisites for the emergence of cathode, or - in modern terminology - electronic television, had developed. Back in 1858 Bonn professor J. Plücker discovered cathode rays, in 1871 the Englishman W. Crookes made special tubes to study the glow of various substances irradiated by a cathode beam in a vacuum, and in 1897 the German professor K.F. Brown used a cathode tube to observe fast electrical processes. In 1907, a teacher at the St. Petersburg Technological Institute B.L. Rosing is requesting patents in Russia, England and Germany for the “Method” he invented. electric transmission images", characterized by the use of a cathode tube to reproduce the image in the receiving device. For the first time, it introduces modulation of the density of the cathode beam and multi-speed scanning along two coordinates to form a rectangular raster. Rosing's transmitting device remains optical-mechanical, but it uses an inertia-free potassium photocell with an external photoelectric effect.
A year later, English engineer A.A. Campbell-Swinton came up with the idea and in 1911 proposed a rough design of a fully electronic television device, including a transmitting tube. However, his attempts to practically prove the efficiency of the proposed scheme did not bring success. The work of the Russian Rosing was more successful, he was able to complete the construction of a laboratory sample of his equipment mixed type. In his notebook B.L. Rosing left the following note: “On May 9, 1911, for the first time a clear image consisting of four light stripes was visible.” This was the world's first television image transmitted and immediately received using equipment developed and manufactured in Russia. In the following days, B.L. Rosing demonstrated the rendering of simple geometric figures and the movement of the hand. Noting the merits of B.L. Rosing in the development of television ideas, Russian Technical Society in 1912. awarded him a Gold Medal. And then the rapid development of television began in Germany, England, the USA and the Soviet Union.
Scientists of the Soviet Union also made a significant contribution to the creation of lasers (“light amplifiers as a result of stimulated emission of radiation,” the abbreviation of these words in English gives the word laser). Lasers are widely used in technology (in metal processing, in particular in welding, cutting, drilling), in medicine (in surgery, ophthalmology), and in various scientific research. The listed applications of lasers are, of course, just the beginning. Famous Soviet scientists N.G. Basov and A.M. Prokhorov are one of the founders of the theory and creation of quantum generators.
“The creation of quantum generators was the beginning of the development of a new direction in electronics,” notes V.A. Kirillin, a quantum electronics science that deals with theory and technology various devices, the action of which is based on stimulated emission and on the nonlinear interaction of radiation with matter.” Such devices, in addition to quantum generators (including lasers), include amplifiers and frequency converters of electromagnetic radiation, as well as microwave (ultra high frequency) quantum amplifiers, quantum magnetometers and frequency standards, laser gyroscopes ( laser devices, the property of which is the constant preservation of the axis of rotation in space allows them to be used to control aircraft, missiles, by sea vessels etc.) and some others.
Electronic instruments and devices have found wide application and have become indispensable in communication equipment, automation, measuring equipment, electronic computers and in many other very important areas. Radioelectronics, which has widely entered into production, science, and everyday life, is one of the most important areas of technical progress and a powerful means of increasing labor productivity. The brainchild of radio electronics are also electronic computers (computers), whose development led to the computer revolution.
It is computers that make it possible to store, quickly search and transmit information, which means a revolution in the systems of accumulation and access to acquired knowledge. A very important stage of “paperless computer science” in the life of mankind is approaching: information comes to specialists directly to the workplace on the appropriate display devices (displays), located in places convenient and easily accessible to the consumer. No less, and perhaps even more important, is the increasingly widespread introduction of this kind of means into everyday life, which is what is happening now.
Moreover, information infrastructure, based on the fusion of computers, communication systems (including space) and knowledge bases, is becoming the most important factor in the further development of electronic and computer technology and information technology. Modern science has had the greatest impact on the development of military equipment, while simultaneously stimulating the impact on the functioning of science of the needs of military production, in which enormous financial resources are invested. One cannot but agree with the statement of J. Bernal, according to which, “even before the invention atomic bomb governments recruited thousands of scientists and spent tens of millions of pounds on improving aircraft, bombs and radar navigation, not to mention deadly 'improvements' on older weapons." It is now quite obvious that the use of science for military purposes has already brought enough harm to delay the development of civilization for decades, and is capable, with further persistent advancement at an accelerated pace, as is actually the case now, to destroy all life on a significant part of the intelligentsia. ball. The threat of nuclear, neutron, biological and other types of weapons of mass destruction has made clear to the whole world the negative and at the same time, in a certain sense, positive role of science in its applied military aspects.
The atomic bomb is clear example practical implementation of a scientific discovery exclusively for military purposes in an incredibly short, hitherto unseen period of time - three years. “As a scientific and industrial enterprise, the atomic bomb, emphasizes J. Bernal, represents the most concentrated and, in absolute terms, the greatest scientific and technological effort in the entire history of mankind. In fact, the amount spent on the nuclear project is approximately 500 million pounds. Art., - significantly exceeds what has been spent on all the work of scientific research and improvement since the beginning of this period."
On the other hand, for any rational system of the use of science, the fission of the atom would be the central point of the most intensive development, leading to its use for the production of energy and for other purposes to which the products of an atomic reactor could be directed. In fact, as we know, it was designed for a different purpose - the purpose of producing a bomb and the senseless murder of 60,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000 in Nagasaki. This act, like any other massacre during hostilities, cannot be justified by any military necessity.
The atomic bomb is an example of the most destructive application of science in the service of war, which also used the most radical new achievements of science, but it was not the only event of decisive significance. No less important in comparison are such products of the application of science in the field of radiation physics and information theory as telecommunications, radar, servo-controlled artillery, radio fuses, guided and returning projectiles, which were introduced towards the end of the war and have been intensively developed since then. All the latest developments in the field of military technology have actually given birth to their own nemesis, embodied in the creation of the hydrogen bomb. As soon as the race to produce bombs began, it began to seem that whichever side came first hydrogen bomb with its destructive power a thousand or more times greater than that of a “conventional” atomic bomb, it would gain a decisive advantage and, as some Americans openly boasted, notes J. Bernal, it would occupy an unshakable “position of strength” from which to negotiate. As it turned out, the Soviet Union was apparently somewhat ahead in terms of creating new types of nuclear weapons, and in 1954 it became obvious to all interested parties that both the “atomic” and “hydrogen” problems had reached a dead end. This helped to ease international tensions.
New types of weapons of mass destruction pose a significant threat to human and social security. In addition to chemical, biological, nuclear, neutron and precision weapons, modern scientific and technological progress makes it possible to create and produce new types of weapons of mass destruction based on qualitatively new operating principles. These types of weapons of mass destruction can be: weapons that damage with ionizing radiation, infrasonic, radio frequency, genetic, weapons using fuel-air mixtures and others.
One of the possible types of future weapons of mass destruction includes infrasonic weapons, based on the use of powerful infrasound vibrations with a frequency below 16 hertz. Their sound beams can have a strong impact on the state and behavior of individuals, and destroy industrial and civil facilities. “Infrasound, due to its enormous wavelength,” writes G. Chadd, “cannot be stopped by conventional building structures, with the help of which a person is often protected from all kinds of harmful effects. The long wavelength allows infrasound to propagate in the atmosphere over significant distances, reaching tens of thousands of kilometers.” Intense low-frequency vibrations can affect the central nervous system and digestive organs, leading to general malaise, headaches and pain in the internal organs. At higher signal levels at frequencies of several hertz, dizziness, nausea, loss of consciousness, and sometimes blindness can occur. These weapons can also cause people to panic, lose control of themselves and an irresistible desire to get away from the source of destruction. Acoustic weapons force enemy soldiers to commit suicide, transform entire military formations into a crowd of idiots, and complete and irreversible destruction of the psyche of individuals is possible. It is being actively developed in military laboratories, where protection systems against intense low-frequency sound beams are also being tested.
The effect of radiological weapons is based on the use of radioactive substances to destroy manpower with ionizing radiation, contaminating terrain, water areas, air, military equipment and other objects. Radioactive substances for these purposes can be isolated from products formed during the normal operation of nuclear reactors at power plants, or obtained specifically by exposing various chemical elements to a neutron flux to form isotopes with induced radioactivity. These ionizing radiations can be used for combat purposes, which is why work is currently underway in a number of countries around the world to create technology for the use of radiation weapons. Its effect can be presented quite clearly: if you open the closed circuit of the accelerator in Dubna, through which electrons and positrons move, then there will be nothing left of living things in the vicinity.
A possible type of chemical or biological weapon is an ethnic weapon, the principle of action of which consists in the wide variability of normal metabolic processes in the human body from nation to nation, from race to race. It can be used to defeat certain ethnic and racial groups of people through targeted chemical or biological effects on cells, tissues, organs and systems of the human body that express intraspecific, group hereditary characteristics (the effect of one of the types of ethnic weapons, for example, is based on chemical effects, to which pigments are exposed in the human body, in different quantities inherent in different ethnic and racial types). The effect of radiological and ethnic weapons on a person can cause such disorders in the human body that, if transmitted by inheritance, will negatively affect the usefulness of the offspring. In particular, they can lead to sterility of the offspring, a tendency to mental illness, reduced body resistance to infections, etc.
In the mid-70s of the 20th century, publications appeared that revealed the concept of geophysical warfare - the deliberate use of the forces of nature for military purposes through active influence on the environment and on the physical processes occurring in the solid, liquid and gaseous shells of the Earth. It is fundamentally possible to create artificial earthquakes, powerful tidal waves such as tsunamis, rainstorms, magnetic storms, changes in the temperature regime of certain areas of the planet, the use of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and cosmic rays, the formation of mountain falls, snow avalanches, landslides, mudflows and congestion on rivers. The possibility of using missiles or special means to change the physical composition of atmospheric layers, including ozone, is being studied in order to create “windows” over certain enemy territories through which strong ultraviolet and cosmic rays can penetrate.
In the 1980s, such a concept as aerospace attack weapons (ASAS) appeared. It did not just unite weapon carriers, but was a certain class of means of armed warfare operating in the air and from space and characterized only by their inherent properties and capabilities. “Aerospace attack means are distinguished by their versatility,” notes the recently published “Encyclopedia of Modern Weapons and Military Equipment.” - They can be directed at any selected targets, including those located outside the areas of contact between armed forces groups. In addition to objects of a military nature, their targets are the most important elements of the opposing side’s infrastructure, especially those whose destruction causes chemical and radiation contamination of the environment, floods, etc.” This circumstance encourages states to take measures already in peacetime to reduce the vulnerability of the above-mentioned objects.
Therefore, in the last one and a half to two decades, the use of space as a potential battlefield has come to the forefront in preparations for future wars. For this purpose, the development of super-powerful “anti-satellite systems” was carried out, and the repeated use of the space shuttle for military purposes was envisaged. In 1983, US President Ronald Reagan proclaimed a long-term program to create a large-scale missile defense system with space-based elements, known as the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI). Soviet publicists called SDI a plan for preparing “star wars,” that is, military operations using a new class of strategic weapons - space strike weapons. In their opinion, the United States hoped, by covering its territory from a retaliatory strike with a space missile shield, to gain superiority in the use of nuclear and space weapons against the USSR and its allies.
The latest technologies developed within the framework of SDI made it possible to create fundamentally new types of offensive weapons - strike space weapons. They represent laser, beam, and also kinetic ( electromagnetic guns, homing missiles, shells) weapons with high destructive power and the ability to selectively destroy numerous objects located thousands of kilometers away both in space and on Earth in the shortest possible time. In terms of range, such weapons are global: placed in near-Earth orbits and having the ability to maneuver, they can create a real threat to the security of any state at almost any moment.
And yet the main potential of this weapon is defensive. The United States fears a nuclear missile attack on its territory from states like Iraq, and therefore has developed beam weapons. In a speech on March 23, 1983, US President Ronald Reagan called on the American scientific community to create a system that “...could intercept and destroy strategic ballistic missiles before they reach our territory...”. The American Physical Society (APS) has created an expert group to evaluate the scientific and technological aspects of the state of the art in the creation of beam weapons. The assessments focused on various aspects of the technology of lasers (disposable lasers that pump energy into the system using an atomic explosion) and high-energy particle beams as potential defenses against ballistic missile attacks. It was assumed that beam weapons would play a decisive role in defense against ballistic missiles; It is for this, its intended purpose, that it can be used today.
Russia's military potential is noticeably smaller compared to the bygone Soviet Union, but it has the best developments in the field of military equipment. One of the achievements of the domestic military-industrial complex is the family of fighters of the Su series, Su-21, Su-30, Su-35 and other modifications, which have no analogues in the global aircraft industry. The American magazine World Air Power Journal wrote in 1993: “Even today, the Su-21 aircraft is a mystery. Dazzling air shows and world records wrested from its rival the P-15 indicate exceptional levels of maneuverability, while the huge amount of fuel in the internal fuel tanks gives the aircraft an enormous range. This type of aircraft, overshadowing all competitors, has been chosen as the multi-purpose backbone of the Russian Air Force in the next century.”
The creation in 1977 of the Pavel Sukhoi Experimental Design Bureau of the Su-27 fighter was the first implementation of an extensive multifaceted scenario for the development of a new - fourth generation of tactical aircraft weapons of the Air Force of the Soviet Union, and later - the Russian Federation. It was based on the latest achievements of design bureau designers and scientists from research institutes of defense industries. “Today, after 17 years,” notes V. Petrov, “the contours of a grandiose program are visible, perhaps the most exciting in the history of the development of combat aviation.” The Su-35 fighter, made according to the so-called “triplane” design, which made it possible to significantly increase stability and ease of piloting in such complex close combat modes as “cobra” on horizontals and verticals and “hook” on turns. In both cases, angles of attack up to 120° are realized without any tendency to stall or enter a spin. The above-mentioned “cobra”, “hook”, and also “bell” maneuvers allow the Su-35 fighter to conduct close maneuver combat in a fundamentally new way. Instead of spinning a long carousel turn after turn on horizontals and verticals, trying to enter the rear hemisphere of the enemy and impose an aiming mark on him, in the case of the Su-35 everything can be implemented much faster: on the very first turn you can use the “cobra” maneuver "or "hook", in which the vehicle turns 120° in 1.5 seconds, while automatically the radar and optical-electronic surveillance and sighting systems instantly lock onto the target and issue a command to launch 2 missiles.
In turn, the “bell” maneuver will allow you to disrupt the lock on the radar, let the attacking aircraft move forward due to vigorous braking, and in the next moment attack it in the rear hemisphere. But the complex of new weapons of the Su-35 fighter looks especially interesting: an air-to-air missile capable of hitting a target at ranges exceeding analogues, adjustable aerial bombs with laser and television guidance systems, a tactical cruise missile with television navigator or automatic guidance methods and high hit accuracy.
The Su-35 aircraft has many interesting features. Its power plant is equipped with an engine high power with controlled automatic thrust vectors. This allows for high maneuverability at extremely low, almost zero flight speeds, which is simply impossible to achieve without controlling the engine’s thrust vectors. The aircraft cockpit is equipped with genzometric side sticks for controlling the aircraft and engines and four redundant liquid crystal color displays that cannot be illuminated by the sun, unlike cathode ray ones. Further modification of the Su-35 led to the creation of the Su-37, which is also beyond competition from the best Western aircraft manufacturers and which is beginning to gain positions in the global arms market.
At the beginning of 1991, a message appeared in the Western press (Lane"$ OeGense\Week1y, 1991, Uo1. 16, No. 3, p. 88) that a US Marine Corps aircraft "Harpent II" during combat operations in the area The Persian Gulf was allegedly shot down by a missile from the Soviet-made ZA-16 O1t1e1 man-portable anti-aircraft missile system, which, known in Russia as Igla-1, was adopted by the Soviet Army in 1981 and was actually supplied to a number of countries in Africa and the Middle East.
The Igla complex, put into service in 1983, is maximally unified with the Igla-1 MANPADS and has a common propulsion system, warhead, trigger mechanism, power source, training aids and a mobile control point. At the same time, the Igla uses a fundamentally new optical homing head with logical block selection, which gave it the ability to combat enemy aircraft in conditions of artificial interference in the infrared range using heat traps. In addition, the firing range at reactive targets on head-on courses was significantly increased due to a significant increase in the sensitivity of the head.
Describing the Igla MANPADS, S. Vedenov writes: “Thus, a number of original technical solutions have been implemented on the Igla man-portable anti-aircraft missile system. Among them: the use of detonation-capable propellant of the propulsion system, gas-dynamic turn of the missile during the initial phase of the flight, target selection against the background of thermal interference, displacement of missile impact points to the most vulnerable places of the target, in-depth detonation of the warhead together with remaining fuel, and some others. Thanks to this, in terms of its main characteristics, the affected area and the speeds of the targets hit, it is in no way inferior, and in terms of the probability of destruction, it is superior to the latest foreign analogue - the American MANPADS "51toer-1ShR."
No less successful are the developments of our designers in the field of creating so-called “active armor” to protect tanks. Work in the field of “active armor” in Russia began in the late 40s - early 50s. They were initiated by a sharp leap in the armor penetration ability of cumulative weapons and, first of all, by the advent of anti-tank guided missiles, the level of armor penetration of which was no longer limited by the diameter of the bore.
As a result of painstaking long-term research, active armor was created, called “dynamic protection” (DZ), although this was not without strong-willed decisions. “The leaders of the army and industry,” notes D. Rotataev, “having learned that the American tanks M-48AZ, M-60, and Centurion were equipped with a remote protection system, which allowed the Israeli army to overcome the Palestinian defense, which was saturated with Soviet anti-tank weapons, and decided that it was time to we need to adopt a system that has been created in the country for more than twenty years.”
Work began on the “Contact” complex, and the institute’s specialists, together with numerous contractors, accomplished the almost impossible: on January 15, 1983, the “Act of the State Commission on the Acceptance of Tanks with Anti-Cumulative Dynamic Protection” was signed, and in September 1983, the first tanks with remote sensing began to emerge from factory gates. However, this did not end there, because the researchers decided to improve the characteristics of remote sensing for domestic tanks. Their intensive work, the discovery of new phenomena and a more detailed study of what was seemingly already known made it possible by 1985 to create a remote protection system for tanks, which was not only not inferior to the previously adopted Kontakt complex, but also surpassed it by about 20° in terms of anti-cumulative protection and gave it a completely new quality - projectile resistance. At the same time, a number of operational and other issues were resolved. And since 1985, tanks with the Kontakt-5 complex began to join the ranks of our country’s armored forces.
Our designers did not forget naval forces, thanks to which in the 80s the Soviet Union created the Typhoon strategic system of sea-based nuclear missile forces, which, according to military experts, is comparable to the launch of the first satellite and is one of the most interesting pages in modern history weapons. The main link of this system is the largest nuclear submarines in the world - heavy strategic missile submarines.
The designs of modern submarines incorporate extensive experience in the field of underwater shipbuilding. In this case, the latest scientific and technical achievements are used. In this regard, the 877EKM (“Kilo”) project, which is designed for export, is of significant interest. The architecture of the bow end of the submarine (submarine) made it possible to fit into its dimensions a hydroacoustic antenna of a completely new design, which helped to significantly increase the range of the hydroacoustic complex (HAS). It is designed for a new generation of diesel-electric submarine, taking into account long-term operation in various areas of the World Ocean and the possibility of modernization as new technologies are mastered. Hydroacoustics provide a significant increase in target detection range and lead in a duel situation with a potential enemy.
“The advantage in anticipating enemy detection,” writes Yu. Kormilitsyn, is achieved by reliable hydroacoustic protection of the boat’s hull. Based on many years of scientific research, sea tests in pools and in natural conditions, using a special coating, it was possible to solve the problem of creating an anti-hydroacoustic protection system for submarines.” The boat is equipped with a ventilation and air conditioning system. To fight fires, air-foam and volumetric chemical fire extinguishing systems have been installed. The composition of the boat's technical equipment ensures the possibility of its operation in any climatic conditions.
Experts from leading countries of the world, including the USA, immediately appreciated the merits of our submarine. They noticed that with the advent of the new Soviet submarine, American submarines lost the advantage in noiselessness that they had enjoyed for many years. One of the American magazines called the Kilo-class submarine a “black hole in the ocean” due to the difficulty of detecting it using hydroacoustics, since its “noise portrait” is similar to the natural noise of the sea. This assessment fully confirmed the forecasts of the designers and the fleet about the high degree of stealth of the Kilo class submarines.
And finally, let us dwell very briefly on the development of psychotronic weapons, around which there is so much controversy and discussion. In January 1991, the American Physical Society began a study to determine the state of development of psychotronic weapons systems in the United States. The research results, published only at the end of February 1993, represent a comprehensive assessment of the possibilities of using psychotronic systems for tasks related to national defense issues. The 21-member commission aimed to prepare a report that would serve as a technical basis for the creation of an extensive network of psychophysical weapons in accordance with the plans of proponents of the use of psychotronic systems to solve applied defense problems.
The commission included specialists from various fields of science and technology who play an important role in the development of psychotronic weapons. They represent a wide range of scientific and industrial laboratories, many of which are directly related to the creation of psychotronic weapons and auxiliary! ately technology. The commission came to the following conclusions: “Giant strides have been made in the development of psychogronic weapons systems over the past five years.
New tempting possibilities are opening up for obtaining inaccessible information through the use of psychotronic devices, as well as methods of telekinetic influence on technical systems for the purpose of their remote destruction.
A 3-4 year program of military applied research, developed by co-executing organizations commissioned by the US Department of Defense, is outlined. The ultimate goal of this program will be the confident use of RAZ to solve applied problems of state and national defense. At the same time, the research team still sees significant challenges in the scientific and technical understanding of many issues in this area. Successful resolution of these problems plays a key role in achieving the technical indicators necessary to create an effective system of psychotechnological weapons.
The performance of RAZ's most important components must be improved by several orders of magnitude. Because these components are interconnected, improvements must be mutually consistent. Solving important issues related to the integration of RAZ with existing systems weapons in general also depends significantly on information, which, as we know, is not yet available.”
In his article, “Is the Brain Machine Rolling Off the Production Line?” R. Overkiller shows the possibility of using RAZ for the purpose of destroying living organisms or electronic physical objects. For the US military, it is, without a doubt, very important to know whether such devices can influence people at a distance of thousands of kilometers, and also disable equipment and weapons. Of all the types of devices that can presumably serve these purposes and are now under development, the most interesting, according to R. Overuttler, may be Brown's low-frequency quantum resonant emitter (excimer), which is one of the most proven systems. Experiments with Brown's emitter confirmed the possibility of remote influence on complex electronic devices and higher mental functions of living organisms. In this case, the emitter and the object of influence were separated by a distance of one and a half to thirty miles.
The high quality of the radiation beam, which is free from distortion, has an almost zero divergence angle, and is not absorbed or scattered by the atmosphere, makes it possible to place the Brown emitter on a space platform. Despite such high characteristics of its beam, the possibility of using the Brown emitter as an effective weapon for disabling equipment and weapons and directly defeating troops depends primarily on the experimental verification of several physical ideas that have so far been considered only theoretically. From the point of view of technical implementation, this problem may encounter the insurmountable nature of these obstacles. Events that may unfold around these experiments in the coming years will be directly related to the creation of a new type of strategic weapon. Thus, military technology (and civilian technology too) in our time depends on scientific developments and the promotion of new, truly fantastic ideas.
The greatest achievements of technical thought, which could and should have alleviated the situation of the broad masses of the people, were most quickly used in military equipment designed to destroy people and material assets.
The military industry during the period of imperialism developed extremely widely, and the successes of military technology were very significant.
One of the characteristic features of military equipment of this period was the automation of small arms. The designs of heavy machine guns, first invented by the American engineer X. Maxim in 1883, were significantly improved; heavy machine guns of Maxim and Hotchkiss, light machine guns of Lewis, Vickers, etc. appeared.
The widespread use of machine guns in European armies began after the Russo-Japanese War.
By the beginning of World War several types of automatic rifles had also been created. The trend towards automation was also observed in artillery. Before the World War and during it, new rapid-fire guns were designed - semi-automatic and automatic. The longest range of artillery fire at the beginning of the war was 16-18 km, and in 1917 the unique German cannon “Colossal” (“Big Bertha”) fired at Paris from a distance of up to 120 km.
The massive use of heavy artillery required the development of mechanical traction to move the guns. A number of types of tractors with internal combustion engines were introduced. The fight against enemy air raids caused the appearance of anti-aircraft machine guns and artillery.
The production of explosives has increased enormously. New inventions and important technical improvements have been introduced in this area. In particular, smokeless gunpowder was invented in 1884. Nitrogen compounds (nitrates) became the main raw materials in the production of explosives. Before the World War, nitrates were extracted in European countries from imported Chilean saltpeter or from by-products of coke and gas plants.
The blockade of the German coast since the beginning of the war prompted German industry to establish the production of fixed nitrogen from the air (using the Haber-Bosch method). If in 1913 the enterprises of the powerful chemical association “Baden Aniline-Soda Plants” produced only 3 thousand tons of bound nitrogen, then in 1918 its production reached 270 thousand tons.
In 1915, German troops used chemical warfare agents for the first time. The Entente countries also launched the production of asphyxiating, tear, blister and other poisonous gases. Chemical artillery shells and special gas launchers were manufactured.
To protect against gases, gas masks were introduced in all armies. The construction of gas shelters has also begun. In Russia, work on the production of gas masks was led by prominent scientists. A coal gas mask, distinguished by its versatility and at the same time ease of manufacture, was developed in 1915 by N. D. Zelinsky.
The First World War was, to a certain extent, the first “war of engines.” Motor transport was widely used to supply the front; new combat weapons appeared - tanks and armored vehicles.
The idea of using tanks arose in a number of countries even before the start of the war. Levasseur in France (1903), V.D. Mendeleev - the son of the great chemist - in Russia (1911) and Burshtyn in Austria (1912) put forward projects for armored all-terrain vehicles with caterpillar tracks. After the outbreak of World War II, new tank designs were proposed by the English inventors Tritton and Wilson.
First used in battle on September 15, 1916 on the Somme, tanks soon became a powerful means of breaking through the defensive lines that had been envisioned back in 1914-1915. impregnable. Armored vehicles armed with machine guns and small-caliber guns received great development in all warring countries.
In military affairs, aeronautics and aviation were widely used. Germany energetically prepared squadrons of rigid airships of the Zeppelin and Schütte-Lanz system and soft airships of the Parseval system for military purposes. During the World War, the German command put into operation 123 airships that made about 800 sorties. The volume of the largest airships reached 68.5 thousand m.
However, the experience of using airships was not successful: a significant part of them was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery and Allied aircraft or destroyed in boathouses by air bombing. Military aviation acquired much greater importance.
Before the war, it was assumed that the aircraft would primarily perform aerial reconnaissance functions. But from the summer of 1915, aircraft began to be equipped with machine guns, and they began to be assigned the functions of fighters. By the end of the war, fighters reached speeds of up to 190-220 km per hour, which previously seemed to be a record even for special racing aircraft.
Aviation was also used for bombing. Back in 1913, designer I. Sikorsky built the first four-engine aircraft “Russian Knight” in Russia. IN next year he completed the construction of another large four-engine aircraft, the Ilya Muromets, with a total engine power of 400 hp. With. and a lifting capacity of 1.3 tons. By the beginning of the war, a second aircraft of the same type appeared and in 1916 - the twin-engine aircraft of V. A. Slesarev “Svyatogor”.
Subsequently, the warring countries improved bomber aircraft. Thus, the German R-43-48 bomber reached speeds of up to 105 km per hour and had a payload capacity of 4.2 tons. The development of naval aviation also began. One of the first seaplanes (“flying boat”) was built by the Russian designer D. P. Grigorovich in 1913.
To conduct combat operations at sea, large conventional surface battleships and so-called dreadnoughts, which had more power weapons and armor.
The use of the internal combustion engine and electric motors has made the long-standing dream of mankind - scuba diving - a reality. However, submarines were also used solely as a means of war. The construction of submarines began in various countries in last years XIX century
They were driven on the surface by internal combustion engines, and when submerged by electric motors receiving energy from batteries.
Germany paid special attention to the construction of submarines, having entered into world war with well-established production. The actions of German submarines caused great damage to the merchant fleet of the enemy and neutral countries.
Telegraph, telephone, optical communications and radio were widely used in military affairs.
Radio installations began to be supplied to military formations and individual units in all armies, naval surface and submarine ships, aircraft, tanks, etc.
At the same time, the first experiments were undertaken in controlling submarines, torpedoes and fire ships (incendiary ships) at a distance by radio. Similar experiments were carried out in aviation.
The World War caused a huge development of military technology, using all the diversity of scientific and technical knowledge. “...For the first time in history,” noted V.I. Lenin, “the most powerful achievements of technology are applied on such a scale, so destructively and with such energy to the mass extermination of millions of human lives.”
TO important inventions The 20th century can be attributed to those achievements that did not turn the world upside down, but made a certain contribution to the lives and everyday life of people.
Vacuum cleaner, 1901
English inventor Cecil Booth came up with a device that sucked dust in train cars. This gasoline-powered device moved through the streets on a horse-drawn carriage by a team of four people.
On August 30, 1901, a representative of the southwestern part of England, Herbert Cecil Booth, received a patent for his device that performs the functions of a vacuum cleaner.
Disposable blades, 1909
Disposable blades were invented by American inventor King Camp Gillette, founder of The Gillette Company, as an inexpensive alternative to using a razor. These are important inventions for men.
Motor airplane, 1903
American inventors Orville and Wilbur Wright invented the first motorized airplane. After much trial and error, testing the wing design, the construction of the airplane was completed and they were able to rise to 37 meters in 12 seconds. The design, further improvements in safety and control resulted in stable flight from the ground with a pilot. This is an important invention, which is why today we see the impact of airplanes and aircraft in the military and transportation industries.
Parachute, 1913
With the invention of the airplane, it was quite natural to invent the parachute. Although the idea of a parachute has been around since the 15th century since the time of Leonardo da Vinci, it was not applied practically. American inventor Stefan Banich gave his invention to the military at the beginning of the 20th century. He donated a US patent to the US Army and gained the respect of the inventor.
There is also a patent for the invention of the Russian inventor of the backpack parachute, Gleb Kotelnikov, which he registered in France on March 20, 1912. The tsarist government was not interested in recruiting pilots. However, after the ballooning tragedies, the development of this means of rescue resumed. Several types were manufactured from RK-1 to RK-4 (RK - Russian Kotelnikov).
The parachute was already widely used during the Second World War. Today, parachutes are still used in military and civilian aircraft.
Liquid fuel for a rocket, 1914
Using fuel from liquid oxygen and gasoline, the first flight of the rocket occurred on March 16, 1926. American professor Robert H. Godart launched a liquid fuel rocket to a height of 12.5 meters in 2.5 seconds. She demonstrated that it was possible to use liquid fuel. Ultimately, this fuel is now used to launch spacecraft.
Electronic television, 1923
Russian émigré American inventor Vladimir Zworykin is credited with inventing the first fully electronic television (as opposed to an electromechanical television). Vladimir Zvorykin invented the final design of the transmitting tube iconoscope, which became the basis of the future electronic television system.
Sliced Bread, 1928
Otto Frederick Rowwedder Davenport invented the first machine to slice one loaf of bread at a time. Other inventors stood on the sidelines of this invention, cutting off the sandwich's crust for the lazy.
Antibiotics, 1928
Although the ancient Chinese used antibiotics 2,500 years ago, they didn't use them until nearly the 20th century. Scottish biologist and pharmacologist Alexander Fleming, who accidentally discovered the unique properties of the famous antibiotics, penicillin. After working on some germ cultures, he noticed areas in some cultures where bacteria did not grow, and it turned out that fungi were affecting these areas. After separating the extract, he identified them as part of the Penicillinaceae genus. Now penicillin is used to treat cellulite, gonorrhea, meningitis, pneumonia, and syphilis. So yes, penicillin is a good antibiotic.
Ballpoint pen, 1938
Hungarian inventor Lazio Biro created this possible replacement for a fountain pen. A ballpoint pen is cheap, reliable and easy to maintain. The ink dries almost immediately after contact with the paper. These important inventions of ballpoint pens help in many ways.
Spiral, 1945
Elegant and ingenious in its simplicity, the spiral is one of the greatest toys ever. No one can resist the toy's charm of moving down the stairs or simply rocking back and forth. In 1943, after observing the movement of a torsion spring, engineer Richard James approached his wife Betty about the possibility of making this toy. After various tests and materials, they came up with the toy we know and love today.
Microwave, 1945
This common kitchen appliance was discovered by accident. While working as an engineer, Percy Spencer noticed that the chocolate in his pocket began to melt while he was working on an active radar installation. It was the microwave radar that caused the sticky mess. He then deliberately cooked the popcorn, then the egg. Spencer then isolated the microwaves in metal box with food moving inside this box. After Percy, Spencer filed a US patent where the first microwave oven was built in 1947. It was a 1.8 m oven, weighed 340 kg and cost about $5000, consuming 3000 watts (compared to today's standard of 1000 watts). Today, microwave ovens are slightly smaller and more economical.
These simple and important inventions led to.
American film inventor Thomas Edison, who was able to make this form of entertainment technically feasible
The competition, sponsored by Scientific American in 1913, required participants to write essays on the 10 greatest inventions of “our time” (from 1888 to 1913), and the inventions had to be patentable and dated to the time of their “industrial introduction.”
Essentially, this assignment was based on historical perception. Innovation seems more remarkable to us when we see the changes it brings about. In 2016, we may not give much importance to the achievements of Nikola Tesla or Thomas Edison, since we are used to using electricity in all its forms, but at the same time we are impressed social change, which resulted from the popularization of the Internet. 100 years ago people probably wouldn’t have understood what we were talking about.
Below are excerpts from the first and second prize essays, along with a statistical tally of all entries submitted. First place was awarded to William I. Wyman, who worked at the US Patent Office in Washington, thanks to which he was well aware of scientific and technological progress.
Essay by William Wyman
1. The 1889 electric furnace was “the only means capable of producing carborundum” (the hardest man-made material at that time). She also transformed aluminum from "merely valuable to a very useful metal" (reducing its cost by 98%) and "radically changed the metallurgical industry."
2. The steam turbine, invented by Charles Parsons, began mass production within the next 10 years. The turbine significantly improved the power supply system on ships, and was later used to support the operation of generators that produced electricity.
The turbine, invented by Charles Parsons, powered the ships. When given in sufficient quantity, they drove generators and produced energy
3. Gasoline car. In the 19th century, many inventors worked on creating a “self-propelled” car. Wyman, in his essay, mentioned Gottlieb Daimler's 1889 engine: “A hundred years of persistent but unsuccessful efforts to create a practically self-propelled machine proves that any invention that first fits into the stated requirements becomes an immediate success. Such success came to the Daimler engine.”
4. Movies. Entertainment will always be of great importance to everyone, and "the moving picture has changed the way many people spend their time." The technical pioneer Wyman cited was Thomas Edison.
5. Airplane. For “the realization of a centuries-old dream,” Wyman praised the invention of the Wright brothers, but at the same time emphasized its military applications and doubted the general usefulness of flying technology: “Commercially, the airplane is the least profitable invention of all those under consideration.”
Orville Wright conducts a demonstration flight at Fort Mere in 1908 and fulfills the requirements of the US Army
Wilbur Wright
6. Wireless telegraphy. Various systems have been used to transmit information between people for centuries, perhaps even millennia. In the US, telegraph signals became much faster thanks to Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail. Wireless telegraphy, invented by Guglielmo Marconi, later evolved into radio and thus freed information from cables.
7. Cyanide process. Sounds toxic, doesn't it? This process appears on this list for only one reason: it was performed to extract gold from ore. “Gold is the lifeblood of commerce,” and in 1913 international trade relations and national currencies were based on it.
8. Nikola Tesla's asynchronous motor. “This landmark invention is largely responsible for the widespread use of electricity in modern industry"Wyman writes. Before in residential buildings electricity appeared, the alternating current machine designed by Tesla generated 90% of the electricity consumed in production.
9. Linotype. This machine allowed publishers—primarily newspaper publishers—to compose text and produce it much faster and cheaper. This technology was as advanced as the printing press was considered at one time in relation to the handwritten scrolls that preceded it. It is possible that soon we will stop using paper for writing and reading, and the history of printing will be forgotten.
10. Electric welding process from Elihu Thomson. During the era of industrialization, electric welding allowed for faster production rates and better, more sophisticated machines for the manufacturing process.
Electric welding, created by Elihu Thomson, significantly reduced the cost of producing complex welding equipment
Essay by George Dow
The second best essay, by George M. Dowe, also from Washington, was more philosophical. He divided all inventions into three supporting sectors: manufacturing, transport and communications:
1. Electrical fixation of atmospheric nitrogen. As natural sources of fertilizer became depleted in the 19th century, artificial fertilizers enabled further agricultural expansion.
2. Preservation of sugar-containing plants. George W. McMullen of Chicago is credited with discovering a method for drying sugar cane and sugar beets for transportation. Sugar production became more efficient and soon sugar supplies increased significantly.
3. High-speed steel alloys. By adding tungsten to steel, "tools thus made could cut at tremendous speeds without sacrificing the hardening or cutting edge." The increased efficiency of cutting machines has been "nothing short of a revolution"
4. Lamp with tungsten filament. Another advance in chemistry: With tungsten replacing carbon in the filament, the light bulb is considered “improved.” As of 2016, they are being phased out worldwide in favor of compact fluorescent lamps, which are 4 times more efficient.
5. Airplane. Although it was not yet widely used for transportation in 1913, "Samuel Langley and the Wright brothers should receive major honors for their contributions to the development of powered flight."
6. Steam turbine. As in the previous list, the turbine deserves praise not only for its "use of steam as a prime mover" but also for its application in "electricity generation."
7. Internal combustion engine. In terms of transportation, Dow credits "Daimler, Ford and Duryea" the most. Gottlieb Daimler is a well-known pioneer of motor vehicles. Henry Ford began production of the Model T in 1908, which remained very popular until 1913. Charles Duryea created one of the earliest commercially successful gasoline vehicles after 1896.
8. A pneumatic tire that was originally invented by Robert William Thomson, a railway engineer. “What the track did for the locomotive, the pneumatic tire did for vehicles not tied to railroad tracks.” However, the essay acknowledges John Dunlop and William C. Bartlett, each of whom made major contributions to the development of automobile and bicycle tires.
9. Wireless communication. Dow praised Marconi for making wireless communications "commercially feasible." The author of the essay also left a comment that can be attributed to the development of the World Wide Web, stating that wireless communications were “developed primarily to meet the needs of commerce, but along the way it contributed to social interaction.”
10. Typesetting machines. The giant rotary press could produce enormous volumes of printed material. The weak link in the production chain was the assembly of printing plates. Linotype and monotype helped get rid of this shortcoming.
All submitted essays were collected and analyzed to create a list of inventions that were perceived as the most significant. Wireless telegraphy was in almost every text. "Airplane" came in second, although it was considered important only because of the potential of the aircraft. Here are the rest of the results:
