Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, whose discoveries made a significant contribution to the development of science, and his biography is of interest not only in terms of his achievements, is a great scientist, Soviet researcher with a worldwide reputation, the founder of astronautics and a propagandist in space exploration. Known as the developer of a model of a rocket capable of conquering outer space.
Who is Tsiolkovsky?
A brief biography of Tsiolkovsky is a vivid example of his dedication and perseverance in achieving his goal, despite difficult life circumstances.
The future scientist was born on September 17, 1857 near Ryazan, in the village of Izhevsk.
His father, Eduard Ignatievich, worked as a forester, and his mother, Maria Ivanovna, who came from a family of small-scale peasants, ran a household. Three years after the birth of the future scientist, his family moved to Ryazan due to difficulties encountered at his father’s work. The initial training of Konstantin and his brothers (reading, writing and the basics of arithmetic) was done by mother.
Young years of Tsiolkovsky
In 1868, the family moved to Vyatka, where Konstantin and his younger brother Ignatius became students of the male gymnasium. The training was hard, the main reason for this was deafness - a consequence of scarlet fever, which the boy suffered at the age of 9. In the same year, a big loss occurred in the Tsiolkovsky family: the beloved elder brother of Konstantin, Dmitry, died. And a year later, unexpectedly for everyone, my mother was gone. Family tragedy negatively affected Kostya’s studies, moreover, his deafness began to progress sharply, more and more isolating the young man from society. In 1873, Tsiolkovsky was expelled from the gymnasium. He never studied anywhere else, preferring to study independently on his own education, because books generously provided knowledge and never reproached for anything. At this time, the guy was carried away by scientific and technical creativity, even designed a lathe at home.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky: interesting facts
At the age of 16, Konstantin, with the light hand of his father, who believed in the ability of his son, moved to Moscow, where he unsuccessfully tried to enter the Higher Technical School. Failure did not break the young man, and for three years he independently studied such sciences as astronomy, mechanics, chemistry, mathematics, communicating with others using a hearing aid.
A young man visited the Chertkov Public Library every day; it was there that he met Fyodorov Nikolai Fyodorovich, one of the founders of
Russian cosmism. This outstanding person replaced the youth of all the teachers together. Life in the capital was too expensive for Tsiolkovsky, moreover, he spent all his savings on books and devices, so in 1876 he returned to Vyatka, where he began to earn tutoring and private lessons in physics and mathematics. Upon returning home, Tsiolkovsky lost his eyesight because of hard work and difficult conditions, and he began to wear glasses.
Students to Tsiolkovsky, who established himself as a high-class teacher, walked with great desire. The teacher used the methods developed by himself when conducting lessons, among which the key was a visual demonstration. For geometry lessons, Tsiolkovsky made paper models of polyhedra, together with students conducted experiments in physics. Konstantin Eduardovich earned the glory of a teacher who explains the material in an understandable, accessible language: it was always interesting in his classes. In 1876, Ignatius, the brother of Constantine, died, which was a very big blow for the scientist.
The personal life of a scientist
In 1878, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, together with his family, changed his place of residence to Ryazan. There he successfully passed exams for a teacher’s diploma and got a job in a school in Borovsk. In the local district school, despite a considerable distance from the main scientific centers, Tsiolkovsky actively conducted research in the field of aerodynamics. He created the foundations of the kinetic theory of gases, sending the available data to the Russian Physicochemical Society, to which he received an answer from Mendeleev that this discovery was made a quarter of a century ago.
The young scientist was very shocked by this circumstance; his talent was taken into account in Petersburg. One of the main problems that occupied Tsiolkovsky’s thoughts was the theory of balloons. The scientist developed his own version of the design of this aircraft, characterized by a thin metal shell. Tsiolkovsky set forth his thoughts in the work of 1885-1886. "Theory and experience of a balloon."
In 1880, Tsiolkovsky married Sokolova Varvara Evgrafova, the daughter of the owner of the room in which he lived for some time. Tsiolkovsky’s children from this marriage: sons Ignatius, Ivan, Alexander and daughter Sophia. In January 1881, the father of Constantine died.
A short biography of Tsiolkovsky mentions such a terrible incident in his life as the fire of 1887, which destroyed everything: modules, drawings, acquired property. Only the sewing machine survived. This event was a heavy blow for Tsiolkovsky.
Life in Kaluga: a brief biography of Tsiolkovsky
In 1892 he moved to Kaluga. There, he also got a job as a geometry and arithmetic teacher, while simultaneously studying astronautics and aeronautics, he built a tunnel in which he checked aircraft. It was in Kaluga that Tsiolkovsky wrote the main works on space biology, the theory of jet propulsion and medicine, while continuing to study the theory of a metal airship. With his money, Tsiolkovsky created about a hundred different models of aircraft and tested them. Konstantin’s own funds for research were not enough, so he applied for financial help to the Physicochemical Society, which he did not consider necessary to support the scientist financially. The subsequent news of Tsiolkovsky’s successful experiments nevertheless encourages the Physicochemical Society to allocate 470 rubles to him, spent by scientists on the invention of an improved aerodynamic tunnel.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky devotes increasing attention to the study of space. The year 1895 was marked by the publication of Tsiolkovsky’s book “Dreams of Earth and Sky,” and a year later he began work on a new book: “Exploring Outer Space Using a Jet Engine,” which focused on rocket engines, cargo transportation in space, and fuel features.
Heavy twentieth century
The beginning of the new, twentieth century, was difficult for Konstantin: no further money was allocated for the continuation of research important for science, his son Ignatius committed suicide in 1902, five years later, after the flood of the river, the scientist’s house was flooded, many exhibits, structures and unique calculations. It seemed that all the elements of nature were opposed to Tsiolkovsky. By the way, in 2001 on the Russian ship "Konstantin Tsiolkovsky" there was a strong fire that destroyed everything inside (as in 1887, when the scientist’s house burned down).
last years of life
A short biography of Tsiolkovsky describes that the life of a scientist became a little easier with the advent of Soviet power. The Russian society of lovers of world studies allocated him a pension, which practically did not allow him to starve to death. After all, the Socialist Academy did not accept the scientist into its ranks in 1919, thereby leaving him without a livelihood. In November 1919, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was arrested, taken to Lubyanka and released a few weeks later due to the request of some high-ranking party member. In 1923, there was no other son - Alexander, who decided to independently die.
The Soviet authorities remembered Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in the same year, after the publication of G. Obert, the German physicist, about space flights and rocket engines. During this period, the living conditions of the Soviet scientist changed dramatically. The leadership of the Soviet Union drew attention to all its achievements, provided comfortable conditions for fruitful activity, and appointed a personal life pension.
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, whose discoveries made a huge contribution to the study of astronautics, died in his native Kaluga on September 19, 1935 from stomach cancer.
Achievements of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
The main achievements to which Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, the founder of astronautics, devoted his whole life, are:
- Creation of the country's first aerodynamic laboratory and wind tunnel.
- Development of methods for studying the aerodynamic properties of aircraft.
- More than four hundred works on the theory of rocket science.
- Work on the rationale for travel to space.
- Creating your own scheme of a gas turbine engine.
- A statement of a rigorous theory of jet propulsion and evidence of the need to use rockets for space travel.
- Designing a controlled balloon.
- Creating a model of an all-metal airship.
- The idea of launching a rocket with an inclined guide, successfully used today in multiple launch rocket systems.