Alexander Popov, whose photo will be given below, was born in the 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. From 1899, he became an honorary electrical engineer, and from 1901, he became a state adviser.
Short biography of Alexander Stepanovich Popov
In addition to him, the family had six more children. At 10, Alexander Popov was sent to the Dolmatov School. In this educational institution, his older brother taught Latin. In 1871, Popov transferred to the Yekaterinburg Theological School, in the 3rd grade, and by 1873 he graduated after completing the full course in the 1st, highest category. In the same year he entered the theological seminary in Perm. In 1877, Alexander Popov passed the entrance exams at Petersburg University to 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 were not enough funds. During his work, in parallel with his studies, his scientific views were finally formed. In particular, he began to attract questions of electrical engineering and the latest physics. In 1882, Alexander Popov graduated from high school with a candidate’s degree. He was invited to stay at the university to prepare for a professorship in the Department of Physics. In the same year he defended his thesis "On the principles of dynamo and magnetoelectric machines with direct current."
The beginning of scientific activity
The young specialist was very attracted to experimental research in the field of electricity - he entered the Mines 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 at the Technical School from the Maritime Department in Kronstadt. In parallel with this, from 1889 to 1898, he was the head of the main power plant of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. Popov devoted all his free time to experimental activity. The main issue that he was studying was the properties of electromagnetic waves.
Activities from 1901 to 1905
As mentioned above, since 1899, Alexander Popov had the title of Honorary Electrical Engineer and member of the Russian Technical Society. Since 1901, he became a professor of physics at the Electrotechnical Institute under the Emperor Alexander the Third. In the same year, Popov was awarded the state (civilian) rank of fifth grade - a state adviser. In 1905, shortly before his death, Popov was elected rector by the decision of the scientific council of the institute. In the same year, the scientist acquired a cottage near the station. Recollecting. His family lived here after his death. A scientist has died, as historical records show, from a stroke. Since 1921, by order of the SNK of the RSFSR, the scientist’s family was put on “lifelong assistance”. Such is the brief biography of Alexander Stepanovich Popov.
Experimental research
What was the main achievement that Alexander Stepanovich Popov became famous for? The invention of radio was the result of many years of research work by a scientist. The physicist conducted his experiments on wireless telegraphy since 1897 on the ships of the Baltic Fleet. During his stay in Switzerland, the scientist's assistants accidentally noted that with an insufficient excitation signal, the coherer begins to convert the high-frequency amplitude-modulated signal into a low-frequency one.
As a result, it becomes possible to take it by ear. Given this, Alexander Popov modified the receiver by installing handsets in it instead of a sensitive relay. As a result, in 1901 he received the Russian privilege with priority on a new type of telegraph receiver. The first Popov instrument was a somewhat modified training model of the installation to illustrate the experiments of Hertz. At the beginning of 1895, the Russian physicist became interested in the experiments of Lodge, who improved the coherer and constructed the receiver, thanks to which it was possible to receive signals at a distance of forty meters. Popov tried to reproduce the trick by creating his own modification of the Lodge's device.
Features of the Popov device
Coherer Lodge was presented in the form of a glass tube, which was filled with metal filings, capable of dramatically - several hundred times - changing its 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. An automatic drummer was provided in the Lodge’s coherer, constantly beating the pipe. Popov introduced automatic feedback into the circuit. As a result, the relay was triggered by the radio signal and turned on the bell. At the same time, a drummer was launched, who beat a pipe with sawdust. When conducting his experiments, Popov used the masted grounded antenna invented by Tesla in 1893.
Device benefit
For the first time, Popov introduced his device in 1895, on April 25, as part of a lecture on the relation of metal powder to electric oscillation. A physicist in his published description of a modified device noted its undoubted benefit, primarily for recording perturbations that occurred in the atmosphere, and for lecture purposes. The scientist expressed the hope that his device can be used to transmit signals at a distance using fast electrical oscillations, as soon as the source of these waves is detected. Later (since 1945), the date of Popov’s performance began to be celebrated as Radio Day. The physicist connected his device with the writing coil br. Richard, having thus obtained a device that records electromagnetic atmospheric vibrations. Subsequently, this modification was used by Lachinov, who installed a "lightning detector" at his weather station. Unfortunately, the activities in the Maritime Department imposed certain restrictions on Popov. In this regard, observing the oath obligations of non-disclosure of information, the physicist did not publish new results of his work, since they were secret information at that time.