Brilliant inventions of Russian scientists, after which the world has radically changed

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The Russian land is rich in great scientists, brilliant engineers and inventors. They made a huge contribution to the development of not only Russian, Soviet, but also world progress. We really have someone to be proud of and admire. Our scientists made it possible to watch color films, jump with a parachute, take beautiful photographs not only in black and white, but also in color, and also presented many other inventions that people use to this day.

Color photo

The very first photo in color appeared back in 1861, representing a simultaneous projection of three colors: blue, red and green. But the quality of the images left much to be desired, the color was constantly shifting into one of the three spectra. Many scientists around the world dreamed of achieving the most natural, close to natural color reproduction.

But our compatriot Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky succeeded in doing this. He was born in 1863 in Vladimir, was a chemist by education. However, he devoted his entire life to the art of photography. He studied with the best masters and scientists from Russia, Germany and France. As a result of training and his own research, the photographer was able to obtain patents in 1905 for a personal sensitizer, which increases the sensitivity of photographic plates, helps in the production of color transparencies, as well as in the design of color films.

And already in 1908, the scientist managed to develop a plan for the use of new technical achievements. As a result, he was able to obtain photos of exceptional quality, which caused a great resonance in the world of photography. Thus, pushing other professionals to new developments, as well as improvements in color printing.

But the main goal of Prokudin-Gorsky was to acquaint schoolchildren of Russia with the history and culture of the Russian Empire, using optical color projections. Having received permission and any assistance from Tsar Nicholas II, Sergei was able to get into many forbidden zones of the Empire.

He shot everything: temples, factories, landscapes, peasants, tsars, writers, thus creating a unique collection of colored Russia.

Electric car

At the end of the 19th century, electric cars began to be made all over the planet. The interest at that time was due to the fact that the cities were much smaller in area than they are now, and it was possible to travel sixty kilometers on just one charge, which was very convenient. In our country, the most famous Russian inventor of electric transport was the engineer Ippolit Romanov, born in 1864. He developed several types of electric vehicles, as well as batteries and an electric motor.

In 1889, Romanov submitted his drawings of an electric cab to entrepreneur Peter Frese, whose name is associated with the creation of the first Russian car. The entrepreneur became interested in the project, as a result of which copies of the English cab were already assembled at the factory, where the driver was behind the passenger compartment. A little later, a cab was assembled, in which the cabin was of a closed type with heating.

Soon, after the creation of two-seater types, Romanov began developing cars designed to carry four, and later more people. And already in 1899, the scientist designed an electric omnibus with a capacity of fifteen people. In front there were transport control devices and a place for the driver, and in the back - for the conductor. Passengers entered through the back landing doors and could sit on benches along the side walls. Next, a model was developed to accommodate as many as twenty people.

Driving along the streets of the capital, this electric miracle caused surprise and delight among absolutely all passers-by. Officials also passed a positive verdict, and gave the go-ahead for the launch of a regular movement of such crews. However, they refused to finance the further development of these vehicles. Therefore, the electric omnibus, which aroused great interest among other inventors, remained in history as an invention that was killed by municipal bureaucrats.

Video recorder

Alexander Ponyatov is an electrical engineer who has introduced innovations in the field of video recording, television and radio broadcasting. He was born in 1892 in the Kazan province. Because of the civil war, after the defeat of the White Guards, for whom he fought, he had to emigrate to China, and later to America.

During World War II, Alexander Ponyatov created his own company, Ampex, which produced electric motors and generators for military radars.

But, after the end of the war, he had to come up with something new. And he decided to create a video recorder. Previously, other scientists had already tried, but the recordings required a huge amount of tape due to the fact that the video signal occupied a bandwidth five hundred times wider than the sound.

And thanks to the trial and error method, Ponyatov managed to develop a cross-line method of magnetic video recording. All of this made a splash on television. And already in the fall of 1956, the news release was first launched on tape, and not live.

Of course, the first VCR looked like a huge colossus. Its price was cosmic - fifty thousand dollars. People working with a brilliant engineer wondered who would buy this "miracle of technology" for such a huge amount of money. But within a week, after the presentation of the VCR, more than seventy copies were sold. And in 1962, the first thousand of these VCRs were already sold.

The main consumers, of course, were most of the American cinemas, as well as some TV channels. For his contribution to the development of the film industry, Alexander Ponyatov received the most prestigious awards in America - Emmy and Oscar. But Alexander did not forget about his Russian roots, and honored traditions. An interesting fact is that he always planted birches near his offices, in memory of his distant homeland.

Parachute

The very idea of creating a parachute was invented by Leonardo da Vinci. But this design was terribly awkward. Many people came up with their own ideas on how to improve the parachute. And the problem was solved by the Russian inventor, engineer, scientist - Gleb Kotelnikov, who was born in St. Petersburg in 1872.

Once, in 1910, he saw on demonstration flights how the plane collapsed in the air, unable to withstand a strong height, as a result of which the famous pilot Lev Matsievich died. Gleb, impressed, decided, by all means, to figure out how to save the aviators from a terrible death. And literally ten months later, he fulfilled his promise.

First, he replaced the fabric with silk. And, secondly, for convenience and emergency response, he hid a round parachute in a metal knapsack with springs. At the right moment, the pilot pulled the ring, the lid of the knapsack opened, throwing the "escape dome" out with the help of springs. This design is still used all over the world.

Another interesting fact is that during the improvement of the parachute, Kotelnikov tested it while the car was moving, which, when the canopy was opened, braked sharply. So he also managed to come up with a braking parachute, which they began to use in case of emergency braking of aircraft.

Color television

The great Russian engineer Vladimir Zvorykin is called the “Father of Television”. He was born into a wealthy merchant family in 1888 in the city of Murom. While studying at the Institute of St. Petersburg, Vladimir met with Professor Boris Rosing - the inventor of television. Zvorykin became his assistant, and since then television has become his life's work. Since the family did not experience a lack of money, Zworykin could train in Paris, receiving a huge contribution to his knowledge.

In 1918, his well-established life collapsed. The house was requisitioned, the parents died. Due to his unwillingness to participate in the civil war, obsessed with his dream of television, Vladimir decided to move to America in 1919. He had to start from scratch. In the early 30s, the scientist designed a receiving tube - a kinescope, and patented a transmitting television tube - an iconoscope. And already in the 40s he managed to break the light beam into red, blue and green colors, as a result of which color television was obtained.

But this was not his only invention. He surprised with his new solutions and discoveries, even when he was already retired. Vladimir Zvorykin created an electron microscope, night vision devices, remote control devices, medical electronics and many other things that are now used all over the world.

Airplane and helicopter

Igor Sikorsky is an outstanding scientist, fearless pilot and creator of a number of aircraft. The aircraft designer was born in 1889 in Kiev. And in 1908, already as a student, he began to create his own helicopter.

But the first attempt was unsuccessful. This helicopter was never able to take to the sky. The same fate awaited the second helicopter. And it was not even the aircraft designer's mistakes, but the lack of an engine of the required weight and, most importantly, power.

And already in 1914 the four-engine aircraft "Ilya Muromets" was able to take off. There were sixteen passengers on board this plane, this is an absolute record for that time. This aircraft housed: a comfortable cabin with heating, a bath with a toilet and a deck for walking. The first flight on this "aviation masterpiece" was made by Igor Sikorsky himself, having flown from St. Petersburg to Kiev and back, thereby setting a world record. By the way, in the First World War, these aircraft were the world's first heavy bombers.

And in 1942, the company created by Sikorsky began to produce R-4 and S-47 helicopters, created by him. By the way, these helicopters were used already in World War II, as a staff transport, as well as for the evacuation of the seriously wounded.

Sikorsky's last invention was the S-58 helicopter, which he developed in 1954. It surpassed all first-generation helicopters in terms of its characteristics. Its modifications were used both for military and civilian purposes in almost fifty countries of the world. Some states have even bought licenses to manufacture them. It is interesting that in our time such machines are still used. The Sikorsky Corporation occupied, and still occupies, one of the leading positions in the world helicopter industry.

These, of course, are not all scientists who turned the world upside down with their inventions. Unfortunately, many of them, for various reasons and circumstances, created their masterpieces in a foreign land, but they remembered their roots and homeland.