Vice Admiral S. N. ARKHIPOV

In 1895, the outstanding Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov, within the walls of the Mine officer class in Kronstadt, discovered the possibility of using electromagnetic waves for practical purposes of communication without wires.

The significance of this discovery, which is one of the greatest achievements of world science and technology, is determined by its exceptionally wide use in all areas of national economic life and by all branches of the Armed Forces. The invention of A.S. Popov opened a new era in the use of electromagnetic waves. It solved the problem of communication not only between stationary, but also between moving objects, and at the same time paved the way for a number of discoveries that made possible the widespread use of radio in all areas of science and technology.

Radio has become a part of life. It has become the same indispensable assistant to man, like electricity. It is difficult to imagine at the present time any area of ​​science and technology where radio would not be used. It is widely used in industry and agriculture.

Radio has acquired particular importance in military affairs. Radio communication was widely used in the army and navy in both the first and second world wars. Not a single branch of the armed forces can now do without a wide variety of radio control, communication, and surveillance equipment. In World War II, in particular, radar was widely used. based on the phenomenon of reflection of radio waves, also discovered by A.S. Popov.

The Soviet people are rightfully proud that radio - this greatest achievement of mankind - was born in our country, that the historical merit of the invention of radio belongs to a Russian scientist. The source of pride for every Russian sailor is that it was in the Russian navy that radio was first used as a means of communication.

Russian people honor the memory of their brilliant compatriot. Alexander Stepanovich Popov was born on March 4, 1859 in the Urals. Having received a secondary education, he entered the Physics and Mathematics Department of St. Petersburg University, after which he was left at the university to prepare for a professorship (in physics). Having a gravitation towards practical activities in electrical engineering, A.S. Polov in 1883 entered the Mine officer class in Kronstadt as a teacher. This class at that time trained the mine officers of the navy, who were in charge of electrical engineering on ships.

Most of the free time A.S. Popov spent in the physical laboratory, being carried away by setting up experiments in electrical engineering. Clearly aware of the importance of communication without wires for the fleet, the scientist enthusiastically took up this matter. As a result of persistent experimental work, A.S. Popov already at the beginning of 1895 developed the world's first radio receiver, which made it possible to record lightning discharges at considerable distances.

March 12, 1896 A.S. Popov together with P.N. Rybkin demonstrated the transmission of Morse signals over a distance of 200 m from one university building to another with recording on tape. It was the world's first broadcast of a meaningful text. In the spring of 1897, Popov conducted communications experiments on the Kronstadt roadstead, reaching a reliable transmission range of 640 m. A few months later, Popov managed to transfer his work to ships, and he established communication between the warships Europe and Africa at a distance of 5 km . By continuously improving his equipment, D.S. Popov step by step increased the range of communication without wires.

For the first time for practical purposes, the invention of A.S. Popov was used in the late autumn of 1899 during the accident of the coastal defense battleship General-Admiral Apraksin, which landed on stones at the southern tip of about. Gogland. In those days, there was no connection between the island and the mainland. To provide guidance for the removal of the armadillo from the stones, Popov proposed to organize radio communications between Kotka and Hogland. Masts were erected on the shore, antennas were suspended and equipment was installed. During the entire time of rescue work, communication between the coast and the island, as well as communication with the battleship, was maintained by wireless telegraph.

At the same time, A.S. Popov ensured the rescue of the fishermen who were on a torn off ice floe. The order to the commander of the icebreaker "Ermak" to go to Lavensaari and help the fishermen was transmitted from Kotka to Gogland by wireless telegraph. 27 fishermen were removed by Yermak from the ice floe.

In 1901, on the Black Sea, A.S. Popov achieved reliable communication between ships at a distance of up to 150 km.

The practical value of the invention of A. S. Popov forced the inert and mediocre tsarist officials to recognize the possibility of arming the fleet with equipment wireless communication. However, filled with disbelief in the ability of the Russian people to independently solve new technical problems, these officials did not provide Popov with the necessary funds. The intervention of the talented Russian sailor scientist Vice Admiral S.O. did not help either. Makarov. At the cost of huge efforts of a group of enthusiasts, it was organized under the leadership of A.S. Popova production of radio equipment in Kronstadt workshops. Taking advantage of the scornful attitude of the tsarist government towards the Russian inventor, foreign hunters for other people's glory tried to appropriate his brilliant discovery. Along with this, foreign firms tried in every possible way to get their hands on the invention of A.S. Popov. American and British firms have repeatedly turned to A.S. Popov with offers to sell them his invention. But the answer of the scientist-patriot was one: "I am a Russian person and I have the right to give all my knowledge, all my work, all my achievements only to my Motherland."

Along with the work on radio communication A.S. Popov made another important discovery. In 1897, during experiments on radio communication between ships, he discovered the phenomenon of reflection of radio waves from a ship. The radio transmitter was installed on the upper bridge of the Europa transport, which was at anchor, and the radio receiver was installed on the cruiser Africa. In the report of the commission appointed to conduct these experiments, A.S. Popov wrote: "The influence of the ship situation is as follows: all metal objects (masts, pipes, gear) should interfere with the operation of instruments both at the departure station and at the receiving station, because, getting in the way of an electromagnetic wave, they violate its correctness, partly in the same way as a breakwater acts on an ordinary wave propagating over the surface of water, partly due to the interference of the waves excited in them with the waves of the source, i.e., they influence unfavorably. And further: "The influence of the intermediate ship was also observed. So, during the experiments between" Europe "and Africa" ​​the cruiser "Lieutenant Ilyin" hit, and if this happened at large distances, then the interaction of the instruments stopped until the ships left the same straight line ".

With this discovery, A.S. Popov laid the foundation for a new means of observation - radar. The imperfection of technology did not allow at the same time to use it to create practically acceptable devices. This took about 40 years. And when the Americans widely advertise the "discovery" of the reflection of radio waves from ships, allegedly made by Taylor and Jung in 1922, we must remember that this phenomenon was first discovered by the brilliant Russian scientist A.S. Popov 25 years before the Americans. No falsifiers of history will be able to hide from mankind the fact that radio communication and radar, which are currently the main means of communication and observation, owe their appearance to the Russian scientist and inventor Alexander Stepanovich Popov.

The Russian Navy was the cradle of radio. Throughout the subsequent history of the development of radio engineering, the Navy continued to be at the forefront in terms of the level of radio communications. Radio was the main and most important means of communication in all operations carried out by our fleet in the Great Patriotic War.

Biography and episodes of life Alexandra Popov. When born and died Alexander Popov, memorable places and dates of important events in his life. Inventor and physicist quotes, Photo and video.

The years of life of Alexander Popov:

born March 4, 1859, died December 31, 1905

Epitaph

"All the medals of the world for the sake of
One happy song on the radio ... "
From the Tequilajazz song "Radio"

Biography

For many years in our country they were proud of their compatriot, Alexander Popov, as the inventor of the radio. Without a doubt, he was a man of outstanding scientific abilities and talent. Nevertheless, the primacy of Popov in the invention of the radio is disputed by many: in our time it is even customary to indicate two names as the authors of the invention, Popov-Marconi. And, probably, disputes about this will no longer be resolved with the establishment of objective truth.

Alexander Stepanovich Popov was born into the family of a far from rich priest and was one of seven children. Despite poverty, Popov managed to get a good education: from the age of 10 he studied at theological schools and seminaries, and then entered St. Petersburg University. In order to obtain the necessary funds for his studies, Popov worked as an electrician. At the same time, he realized that of all branches of science, he was most interested in working with electricity. Therefore, after graduating from the institute, the young scientist took the place of a teacher in Kronstadt and received at his disposal a good laboratory for research.

Since graduation, Popov devotes all his time to experimental work and experiments with electromagnetic oscillations. He used the installation to demonstrate Hertz's experiments with waves, but improved it taking into account the results of the experiments of O. Lodge, who built a radio receiver that worked at a distance of up to 40 m. By introducing the system feedback and using Tesla's antenna, Popov managed to transmit the first message at a distance. But since at that time the inventor worked for the Maritime Department, he could not openly publish the results of his work, as is customary in the scientific world to approve the championship.

Popov presented his device at a meeting of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society in 1895, but was unable to demonstrate its operation. In 1896, the inventor Marconi applied for a patent for his radio installation, the ability of which to transmit and receive a signal at a distance of 3 km was confirmed by experience. Popov insisted that his device was identical to Marconi's, arguing this with his demonstration in 1895, while no one had heard of the work that Marconi was supposed to do before filing a patent application. The International Institute of Electrical Engineering and Electronics conditionally recognizes Popov's championship, but this does not change much: the Swiss still consider their compatriot Marconi to be the inventor of the radio. In the same way as the inhabitants of the Balkans recognize them as N. Tesla, and the Germans - G. Hertz.

One way or another, Popov did not work on his inventions purely out of scientific interest. Its purpose was to provide communications for the ships of the imperial fleet, and already 3 years after the first demonstration of Popov's device, the Ducrete company began to produce receivers of its design, and the Ermak icebreaker was among the first to be equipped with radio communications using the inventor's system. Until the end of his life, Popov was engaged in improving his invention, but, alas, death overtook him suddenly and early: at the age of 46, the inventor died unexpectedly of a stroke. Alexander Popov is buried on the Literary bridges of the St. Petersburg Volkovsky cemetery.

life line

March 4, 1859 Date of birth of Alexander Stepanovich Popov.
1869-1871 Education at the Dalmatov Theological School.
1871 Transfer to the Yekaterinburg Theological School.
1873 Admission to the Perm Theological Seminary.
1877 Admission to the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University.
1882 Graduation from the university with a Ph.D. Defense of the thesis.
1890 Entry into the post of teacher of physics, mathematics and electrical engineering in the Mine officer class in Kronstadt.
1895 Demonstration of Popov's invention for the transmission of radio signals without wires.
1897 Transmission of the first phrase by radio using a telegraph apparatus.
1899 Popov was awarded the title of honorary electrical engineer.
1901 Appointment of Popov as State Councilor and Professor of Physics at the Electrotechnical Institute of Emperor Alexander III.
1902 Election as an honorary member of the Imperial Russian Technical Society.
1905 Appointment of Popov as Chairman of the Physics Department of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society and Rector of the Institute.
December 31, 1906 Date of death of Alexander Popov

Memorable places

1. Krasnoturinsk, Sverdlovsk region (previously - the Turin mines of the Verkhotursky district of the Perm province).
2. Dalmatovo, where Popov studied at a religious school for two years.
3. Yekaterinburg Theological Seminary (formerly a school), the full course of which Popov graduated with the highest first category.
4. Perm Theological Seminary, where Popov graduated from general education classes.
5. St. Petersburg State University, where Popov studied.
6. House number 71 on Makarovskaya street, where Popov's laboratory was located in Kronstadt.
7. Udomlya station on Lake Kubycha, near which Popov's dacha has been located since 1905.
8. Museum-office and museum-apartment of Popov in St. Petersburg, in St. Petersburg Electrotechnical University (formerly the Electrotechnical Institute of Emperor Alexander III, LETI), st. Prof. Popova, d. 5, building 1.
9. Volkovskoe cemetery in St. Petersburg, where A. S. Popov is buried.

Episodes of life

Popov's children remember that he was a very enthusiastic and absent-minded person. After moving from one apartment to another, he could return from work to the old address, and kept a tie in his work desk in case he forgot to put it on in the morning at home.

Popov received a number of offers from foreign firms to move to work abroad, but refused. His reply letter to a German company became the source of the famous quote "I am proud to be born Russian."

Covenant

“I am a Russian person, and I have the right to give all my knowledge, all my work, all my achievements only to my Motherland. Let them not understand me, let them mock me, yet I am proud that I was born Russian, Russian and will die. And if not contemporaries, then perhaps our descendants will understand how great my devotion to our Motherland is and how happy I am that a new means of communication has been opened not abroad, but in Russia.

Documentary film "Popov and Marconi" from the series "Real Stories"

condolences

"The scientific feat of Alexander Stepanovich Popov is immortal, the legacy he left to mankind is inexhaustible."
S. A. Vekshinskiy, Academician

“He was in the military. He was a man who was obsessed with inventions, scientific activities. And, in fact, he was not up to it, well, now this, apparently, gives formal grounds for saying that he was not the first. Although it's not."
Ivan Polyakov, General Director of the Omsk Radio Plant named after Popova

“His calm, slow gait, friendly look, large forehead and wonderful eyes imprinted in my mind. When Alexander Stepanovich smiled or laughed, countless wrinkles radiated from the corners of his eyes, which made his face very kind.
Evgenia Krakau, student of Popov, physicist

Alexander Stepanovich Popov- famous Russian physicist, inventor of radio. Popov was born in 1859 in the Perm Province. In the family, besides Alexander, six more children grew up, and the Popovs lived very modestly. But this did not prevent the boy from making every effort to study and achieve great success in science.

Years of study of Alexander Popov

In 1869, when Alexander was 10 years old, he was sent to study at the Dalmatian Theological School. Four years later, Popov transferred to the same educational institution in Yekaterinburg, where the eldest of his sisters, Maria Levitskaya, lived with her husband and children. And here Alexander did not study for long - in 1873 he moved to Perm and began to study at the theological seminary. In 1877 he graduated from general education classes and entered St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.

Of course, it was not easy for Popov to study at the university: the family could not help him financially, and he had to earn extra money as an electrician. This played a role in the direction of the research of the future scientist: most of all he was attracted by the latest physics and electrical engineering.

Professorship and Experimental Experiences

After 5 years, in 1882, Popov successfully graduated from the university, and he was invited to stay to prepare for a professorship. Alexander dreamed of conducting experiments in the field of electricity, and this was one of the reasons that he began teaching in the officer class of Kronstadt, where there was a modernly equipped physics class. In 1890 he was invited to teach physics at the Technical School in the same city. Popov devoted all his free time from teaching to physical experiments, which resulted in the invention of the radio in 1895.

In April 1895, Popov presented a new apparatus to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society and made a presentation on the invention of wireless communication. He also studied x-rays and for the first time in Russia took x-rays of various objects.

Alexander Popov in the memory of contemporaries

Alexander Stepanovich Popov passed away in 1906. His services to Russian science were highly appreciated by his compatriots: museums, streets, educational institutions, awards, enterprises, etc. bear his name. Monuments to the scientist stand in St. Petersburg, Krasnoturinsk, Yekaterinburg and 5 other cities. In 1949, a film was made about his life and scientific work "Alexander Popov".

If this message was useful to you, I would be glad to see you

, Sverdlovsk region)

Alexander Stepanovich Popov(March, the village of Turinskie Rudniki of the Perm province - December 31, 1905 [January 13], St. Petersburg) - Russian physicist and electrical engineer, professor, inventor, state adviser (1901), Honorary electrical engineer (1899). One of the inventors of radio.

Encyclopedic YouTube

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

  Details about the relatives of A. S. Popov

  • Father - Stefan Petrov Popov (1827-1897). He was born on 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 Theological Factory as rector of the Church of the Holy Apostle John the Theologian, where he spent last years 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
  • Sister Catherine (1850-1903)
  • Sister Maria (1852-1871), married Levitskaya
  • Sister Anna (1860-1930), physician
  • Sister Augusta (1863-1941), married Kapustina - artist, student of I. Repin.
  • Sister Kapitolina (1870-1942)

  Wife - Raisa Alekseevna Bogdanova (May 28 (June 9) -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.

  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 Spiritual 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 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 buys 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 (RFHO), positions that he was supposed to take from January 1, 1906.

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

  The device of A. S. Popov arose from the installation for the educational demonstration of experiments by Hertz, built by A. S. Popov for educational purposes 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 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 de Paume 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 journal (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 of non-disclosure of information constituting classified information, Popov did not publish new results of his work.

  A. S. Popov connected his device to 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 physical department D. A. Lachinov was the first to install a “lightning detector” (or “discharge detector” - it was he who first gave such names to the device) at his weather station , where the first registrations of electrical discharges of the atmosphere were obtained. However, when the first information about the invention of Marconi's radio telegraph appeared in the press (he demonstrated the transmission of radiograms over 3 km on September 2), A. S. Popov began to make statements that the priority in radio telegraphy belongs to him, and that his device is identical to Marconi's. Nevertheless, on October 19 (31), 1897, Popov said 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 the words “Heinrich Hertz” using a telegraph device attached to the device. 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 full description The experience itself was published in the newspaper "Kronstadt Bulletin" dated 04/30/1895 (the original receiver and a note from the "Kronstadt Bulletin" can be seen in the CMS named after A. S. Popov 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, putting instead of a sensitive relay handsets, and in the summer of 1901 he received Russian privilege No. 6066, group XI, with priority July 14 (26), 1899 to a new (linear-amplitude) type of "telegraph receiver for dispatches sent using any source of electromagnetic waves using the Morse system."

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

  Popov's priority is also justified by the fact that on March 25 (that is, two months before Marconi's application) he conducted experiments with radiotelegraphy 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, at every signal by which the vibrator was activated, the bell of the device 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, 2018.

  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 a practical task - the transmission and reception of radiotelegrams, connecting the first with a telegraph key, and the second - with a printing telegraph apparatus. 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" of 1955, there is no article about Marconi, and about Popov it says: "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 also his very existence were 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. Anna, 2nd class (1902)
  • Order of St. Stanislav 2nd degree (1897)
  • Order of St. Anna, 3rd class (1895)
  • Medal "In memory 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. Kolbasyev, 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).

  Alexander Stepanovich Popov was born in the Urals, in the provincial village of Turinskiye mines, in the family of a priest. From childhood, the boy disappeared for hours at the mine. A relative of his father taught him carpentry and carpentry, and Sasha began to craft. Father dreamed of giving Sasha a good education. But teaching at the gymnasium was expensive, and the priest Popov had six children. I had to send the boy to a religious school, and then to a seminary. There the children of the clergy were taught free of charge.

  After graduating from the seminary, eighteen-year-old Alexander arrived in St. Petersburg and brilliantly passed the entrance exams to the university for the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. In order to somehow live, the young man had to give lessons, collaborate in magazines, work as an electrician at one of the first St. Petersburg power plants.

  Both fellow students and professors considered Popov the most knowledgeable student. After completing the course of sciences, he was left at the university to prepare for a professorship.

  But Popov accepted another offer. He was invited to teach in the Mine officer class in Kronstadt. Mine officers were trained there, who at that time were in charge of all electrical equipment on ships.

  In Kronstadt, Popov devoted all his free time to physical experiments. He himself made new physical devices.

  In 1888, in a scientific journal, Alexander Stepanovich read an article by the German physicist Heinrich Hertz "On the rays of electric force" (now such rays are called radio waves).

  In the article, Hertz wrote that he managed to create a special device - a vibrator that emits these waves, and another device - a resonator, with which they can be detected.

  Hertz first received radio waves. But oh practical application he did not even think of his discovery. After all, the connection between the vibrator and the resonator operated only at a very close distance.

  Two years after Hertz's death, on March 12 (24), 1896, AS Popov spoke at the Russian Physico-Chemical Society. He demonstrated his new invention, the wireless telegraph.

  The equipment with which Popov managed to establish radio communication for the first time was very little like modern equipment. The radio receiver consisted of a glass tube with metal filings - the so-called coherer, an electric bell and a sensitive electromagnetic relay. The only parts that have survived in radios to this day were the antenna and ground. Their invention is one of Popov's greatest merits.

  When electromagnetic waves hit the antenna, the metal filings in the coherer stuck together and their resistance sharply decreased. From this, the current flowing from the batteries through the relay winding increased. The relay worked and turned on the bell. The hammer of the bell struck the cup, and a well-audible signal was obtained. Rebounding, the hammer hit the coherer tube and shook the sawdust. If the waves continued to enter the antenna, then the sawdust stuck together again, and everything was repeated from the beginning. When the radio waves disappeared, the sawdust stopped sticking together and the bell stopped.

  Popov demonstrated such a receiver at a meeting of the same Russian Physical and Chemical Society on May 7, 1895. This date is considered the birthday of radio. But then there was no transmitter yet. The receiver from time to time was taken to call itself. This ringing was caused by atmospheric interference - the only signals that could then be "received".

  Popov's receiver detected a thunderstorm at a distance of up to 30 km. Therefore, the inventor modestly called his device "lightning detector".

  Only in 1896, having created a transmitter, Popov was able to carry out radio communication over a considerable distance.

  Navy sailors became interested in Popov's experiments. After all, ships going to sea cannot communicate with the shore and with each other by wire. Therefore, for the fleet, a wireless telegraph is especially necessary. But the naval minister of the tsarist government, on a request for a vacation of one thousand rubles, wrote: "I do not allow money to be released for such a chimera."
  Meanwhile, the transmission of signals without wires was carried out by another person - a young Italian Marconi. Whether he knew about Popov's experiments is unknown, but his receiver did not differ from Popov's lightning detector, described in scientific journals a year earlier.

  Marconi was an enterprising businessman. He interested large capitalists with his invention and soon had millions to carry out his experiments. Only then did the tsarist officials stir. Popov's experiments were allotted ... nine hundred rubles! Popov and his assistants set to work sparing no effort. They quickly made further progress. In 1898, radio communication was carried out between two ships at a distance of 8 km, a year later - more than 40 km.

  But there was no help from the tsarist government. Soon orders for radio equipment for the Russian navy were transferred to the German company Telefunken. The training of radio operators was not organized. And as a result, when the naval battles of the Russian-Japanese war began, it turned out that radio communication on Japanese ships works better than on ships of Russia, the birthplace of radio. The weakness of communication was one of the reasons for the defeat of the tsarist fleet.

  Popov was very upset by the defeat of the Pacific Fleet. Many of his friends and students perished on the ships. Soon, new experiences were added to these experiences. At the height of the 1905 revolution, Popov became the director of the St. Petersburg Electrotechnical Institute. In an attempt to protect the revolutionary students from police persecution, he incurred the wrath of the Minister of Education. On January 13, 1906, after a difficult explanation with the tsarist minister, Alexander Stepanovich Popov died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

  But his great invention lives on and develops. In our country, hundreds of thousands of radio specialists, millions of radio amateurs remember with gratitude and respect the modest and tireless worker of science - Alexander Stepanovich Popov.