Alexander Popov: radio and other inventions. Biography of Alexander Stepanovich Popov

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

Brief biography of Popov Alexander Stepanovich

In addition to his family there were six children. At the age of 10, Alexander Popov was sent to the Dolmatovo School. In this educational institution his elder brother taught Latin. In 1871, Popov was transferred to the Ekaterinburg Theological School, in the third grade, and by 1873 he graduated after completing the full course on the 1 st, highest rank. In the same year he entered the seminary in Perm. In 1877, Alexander Popov successfully passed the entrance exams to the University of St. Petersburg for the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. Years of study for the future scientist were not easy. He was forced to earn extra money, as there was not enough money. During his work, in parallel with his studies, his scientific views were finally formed. In particular, it began to involve the questions of electrical engineering and modern physics. In 1882, Alexander Popov graduated from the university with a degree of candidate. He was invited to stay at the university to prepare for the professorship of the department of physics. In the same year he defended his thesis "On the principles of dynamo and magnetoelectric machines with a constant current".

The beginning of scientific activity

The young specialist was very attracted to experimental research in the field of electricity - he entered the Mine class in Kronstadt as a teacher of electrical engineering, mathematics and physics. There was a well-equipped physics room. In 1890, Alexander Popov received an invitation to teach science in the Technical School from the Maritime Department in Kronstadt. In parallel, from 1889 to 1898, he was the head of the main power plant of the Nizhny Novgorod fair. All his spare time Popov gave experimental work. The main issue, which he studied, was the properties of electromagnetic oscillations.

Activities from 1901 to 1905

As it was said above, since 1899 Alexander Popov had the title of Honorary Electrical Engineer and a member of the Russian Company. Since 1901 he became a professor of physics at the Electrotechnical Institute under Emperor Alexander the Third. In the same year, Popov was awarded the civil (civil) rank of the fifth class - the state councilor. In 1905, shortly before his death, Popov, by decision of the academic council of the institute, was elected rector. In the same year, the scientist purchased a dacha near the station. Udomlya. Here lived his family after his death. The scientist died, according to historical references, from a stroke. Since 1921, according to the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the family of the scientist was placed on "lifelong welfare". This is a short biography of Popov Alexander Stepanovich.

Experimental research

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

Features of Popov's device

The Lodge coherer was presented in the form of a glass tube, which was filled with metal filings that could dramatically - several hundred times - change their conductivity under the influence of a radio signal. To bring the device to its original position, it was necessary to shake the sawdust - so the contact between them was broken. In the cohoer of the Lodge, an automatic drummer was provided, who was constantly on the tube. Popov introduced a reverse automatic connection to the circuit. As a result, the relay was triggered by a radio signal and included a call. At the same time, the drummer was being launched, who was hitting the pipe with sawdust. In carrying out his experiments, Popov used the mast grounded antenna invented by Tesla in 1893.

Benefits of the device

For the first time Popov presented his device in 1895, on April 25, within the framework of the lecture "On the ratio of metallic powder to electric vibration." The physicist in his published description of the modified device noted his undoubted benefit, primarily for recording perturbations that occurred in the atmosphere, and for lecture purposes. The scientist expressed the hope that his device could be used to transmit signals at a distance by means of a rapid electric oscillation, as soon as the source of these waves is detected. Later (since 1945), the date of Popov's speech was celebrated as Radio Day. Its device the physicist connected with the writing coil br. Richard, thus obtaining a device that records electromagnetic atmospheric oscillations. Subsequently, this modification was used by Lachinov, who installed a "thunderstorm" at his meteorological station. Unfortunately, activities in the Maritime Department imposed certain restrictions on Popov. In this connection, observing the oath of obligation to keep information confidential, the physicist did not publish new results of his work, since they were at that time classified information.