Academician Krylov is an outstanding domestic shipbuilder. He also became famous as a mathematician and mechanic, was an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, general of the fleet, general for special assignments under the naval minister. It is considered one of the founders of the national modern shipbuilding school, which was later developed by Pozdyunin, Papkovich, Shimansky. He is the author of classical works devoted to theories of ship oscillations during a wave, the theory of ship vibration and their unsinkability, ship building mechanics, gyroscope theory, mechanics and mathematical analysis, and external ballistics. He is an honored worker of science and technology of the RSFSR, a laureate of the Stalin Prize, a hero of Social Labor.
Biography of a scientist
Academician Krylov was born in 1863. He was born in the village of Visyaga in the territory of Alatyr district near Simbirsk. This is the modern village of Krylovo in the Poretsky district of the Republic of Chuvashia. His father's name was Nikolai Alexandrovich, and his mother Sofya Viktorovna Lyapunova. He was an artillery officer, participated in the Crimean War. He was educated at state expense as the son of World War II Alexander Alekseevich Krylov, who was wounded at Borodino and participated in the capture of Paris. Then he was awarded medals for military merits and an honorary weapon for courage.
Aleksei Nikolaevich was initially awaited by the fate of a military man. However, he was greatly influenced by numerous relatives of the Filatovs and Lyapunovs, many of whom in the future became famous French and Russian scientists, doctors and composers.
Education
In 1878, Krylov became a student at the Maritime College, which he graduated with honors in 1884. After that, he began his career in a compass workshop located at the Hydrographic Administration, which was led by Major General Ivan Petrovich Kolong, a specialist in marine navigation, the creator of the theory on compass deviation.
Aleksey Nikolaevich was the one who carried out his first scientific research precisely on the deviation of magnetic compasses. The topic that Colong was actively interested in. As a result, the topic of gyrocompasses has become one of the key throughout his career.
In particular, in 1938-1940. he published works in which a full analysis of the theory of deviation of the magnetic complex was given, questions of the theory of gyroscopic compasses were considered, and the hero of our article was the theory of the influence of the ship's rolling on the readings of ship's instruments, in particular, the compass. These works were called "Disturbances of the compass readings that occur from the rolling of the ship on a wave", "Provisions of the theory of compass deviation", "On the theory of gyrocompass."
These studies of the academician and shipbuilder Krylov in 1941 were awarded the Stalin Prize. Scientists were offered a fundamentally new dromoscope system, which was able to automatically calculate the compass deviation.
Maritime Academy in Nikolaev
But back to the main stages of the biography of Academician Krylov. After working with Colong, having gained useful experience from him, in 1887 the hero of our article transferred to the Franco-Russian factory. In parallel, he continues his studies at the Nikolaev Maritime Academy at the shipbuilding faculty. This topic interests him so much that he devotes all his free time to it, without exception.
When Alexei completed the course in 1890, he remained to work at the academy, where he was already conducting practical classes in mathematics, and later he began to teach the ship theory course.
Krylov himself later recalled that since 1887 it was shipbuilding that became his main specialty. He perceived this as an application of mathematical science to all kinds of details of maritime navigation. In fact, after that he began to work as a teacher, he did not leave this activity almost until his death.
In the 1890s, the hero of our article became well known not only in Russia, but also far beyond its borders. The reason for this was the publication of his article entitled "The ship rolling theory." It presented a whole theory, which significantly developed and refined the work of the authoritative engineer of that time, the founder of ship hydrodynamics, William Froude.
In fact, the work of Aleksei Nikolaevich Krylov was the first large-scale theoretical work written specifically in this area. The work was appreciated by his colleagues in many countries of the world. In 1896, the English Society of Ship Engineers chose him as his honorary member. Two years later, academician-shipbuilder Krylov was awarded a gold medal from the English Society of Ship Engineers. This was the first time in the history of society when such an honorary award was presented to a foreigner.
Continuing work in this industry, Krylov is developing a theory of dying or damping of pitching and rolling. In particular, it was the first to offer gyroscopic damping of the rolling motion. To date, this remains the most popular method of dying rolling. The merit of this shipbuilder is Alexei Nikolayevich Krylov.
Work with Admiral Makarov
The hero of our article continues to work in this area with the onset of the 20th century. In particular, it closely cooperates with Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov, who was just working on issues of ship buoyancy. Makarov was a well-known polar explorer and oceanographer who calculated the theory of unsinkability, invented mine transport, and was considered a pioneer in the use of icebreakers. True, their cooperation did not last long: in 1904, Makarov died in the Port Arthur area during the Russo-Japanese War.
During their work, they were able to develop several classic recommendations related to increasing the buoyancy of ships, which are used by many in modern shipbuilding.
Moreover, over time, the shipbuilder Krylov described Makarov's early ideas, which were aimed at combating the trim or roll of a damaged ship by flooding compartments that remained intact. Krylov noted that at that time, many naval officials seemed absurd, it took them about 35 years to make sure that the ideas of young Makarov were real and useful.
Telling even a brief biography of Krylov, it is necessary to mention that in 1900 he began to manage a swimming pool for experiments. His work in this capacity ultimately gave a powerful impetus to the development of scientific research in the Russian fleet. In 1908, the shipbuilder Alexei Krylov became the chief inspector of shipbuilding. In fact, he is the head of the shipbuilding department of the Marine Technical Committee and its chairman.
In 1910, the shipbuilder Aleksey Krylov got the position of an ordinary professor at the Maritime Academy in Nikolaev, at the same time devoting a lot of time to consultations with the Baltic and Admiralty factories. It was at these shipyards that the most modern Russian ships were being built at that time.
Dreadnought
From 1911 to 1913, the hero of our article works as an extraordinary professor at the Institute of Railway Engineers, and during the First World War he became chairman of the government at the Putilov factories. For example, it participates in the construction and design of the first Russian dreadnought battleships of the Sevastopol project.
Sevastopol is known as the Red Banner battleship, which was first launched in 1911, and commissioned in 1914. It was a ship of the domestic fleet, which had time to serve both in Russia and the USSR. One of the four ships of the same type of dreadnought ships of the Baltic series, which were laid down in 1909. The rest were called "Petropavlovsk", "Poltava" and "Gangut".
All this time, the shipbuilder Krylov paid increased attention to the development and improvement of the domestic fleet, which demonstrated its weakness and backwardness during the Russo-Japanese War. Then the Russian naval forces suffered more than one crushing defeat, which clearly proved that modernization is necessary for the entire industry.
Relevant projects in this direction were developed by academician shipbuilder Krylov. So, in 1912, he prepared a report in which he proved the need to allocate five hundred million rubles to recreate the domestic fleet, so that it would become combat-ready and modern. This report was made in the State Duma by the Minister of Marine Ivan Konstantinovich Grigorovich, who ultimately ensured the full allocation of the necessary funds.
For most of his career, shipbuilder A.N. Krylov was considered an experienced assistant in the affairs of the fleet. In most issues related to shipbuilding, he understood thoroughly, could substantiate his point of view scientifically and economically. He himself noted with regret that not all his advice was heeded. In particular, academician shipbuilder Krylov often liked to repeat that many of his advice was not heeded, saving the state more than the cost of the ship itself. Moreover, the hero of our article is often famous for his sharp tongue.
At the end of 1914 he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, and two years later he was transferred to ordinary academicians in mathematical physics.
In 1916, Krylov headed the Main Physical Observatory, and later the Main Military Meteorological Administration, known as Glavmet. Under the guidance of the scientist, a large-scale methodological activity was carried out. In particular, a provision has been developed explaining the rights and obligations of military hydrometeorologists assigned to the troops. He made efforts to cancel the draft in the army for employees of the observatory. He considered this an important issue requiring a speedy solution.
In February 1917, Krylov turned to the Field Inspector General of the Air Force and the Academy of Sciences with a request to relieve him from his post as head of the Main Military Meteorological Administration, since he had accumulated high employment in other areas of scientific activity. In particular, it was about his lack of competence in the meteorological specialty.
The year 1917 became important in the biography of Alexei Nikolaevich Krylov. During this troubled time, he was appointed head of the physical laboratory of the Academy of Sciences. And since 1918 he became a consultant to the commission of special artillery experiments. The Soviet government appreciated the experience and knowledge of the hero of our article; Krylov himself was also not opposed to cooperation with the Bolsheviks, in which his advancement in the career ladder only continued. It is worth noting that few in our country managed to do this at that turbulent time. From 1919 to 1920, Alexei Nikolaevich headed the Naval Academy.
Cooperation with Soviet Russia
In 1917, another significant event occurred in the biography of the shipbuilder Krylov, which was associated with his appointment to the post of head of the Russian Society of Trade and Shipping.
After the end of the October Revolution, he decides to transfer all ships to the Soviet government, which appeared in power. He continues to work on the development of the domestic fleet.
In 1921 he was sent to the UK as a representative of the Soviet shipping company in order to restore lost foreign ties in science. After that, he returned only in 1927.
For several years after his return from a long overseas business trip, Krylov served as director of the Physics and Mathematics Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, leaving this post in 1931.
Scientist Articles
The works of Academician Krylov at this time are already of great importance. He is releasing several works on hydrodynamics, including his theory of ship motion in shallow water. Aleksei Nikolaevich is the first who managed to calculate and reasonably explain the significant increase in hydrodynamic resistance at certain depths. He also writes several programmatic articles on the theory of single waves.
In total, the scientist becomes the author of about three hundred articles and books that cover the widest possible range of human knowledge - from magnetism and shipbuilding, to mathematics, artillery, geodesy and astronomy. Among the works of Academician Krylov, modern sailors still actively use his popular unsinkable tables.
Soon after, Alexey published his famous work, which dealt with the problems of calculating the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial for a certain matrix. Today this concept is known as the Krylov subspace or the Krylov subspace method. He gave his name to an important concept in linear algebra. In this work, the scientist deals with the efficiency of calculations, in particular, he manages to determine computational expenditures as the number of separate and specific operations during multiplication. This is an extremely atypical phenomenon for the development of mathematics in 1931. Krylov carefully compared all existing methods, including an estimate of the worst-case scenario of computational costs in the Jacobi method. Then he prepared a universal method, which turned out to be the most advanced of all that were known at that time. It is widely used so far.
When the Great Patriotic War began, Krylov resisted his own evacuation, but he was nevertheless taken to Kazan. He returned to Leningrad in the late summer of 1945. Being in the rear, he wrote his memoirs entitled "My Memoirs."
It is noteworthy that in 1944, when the photo of Alexei Krylov was already well known to everyone, he participated in the future of the Physics Department of Moscow State University. He signed the famous letter of four academicians, the author of which was the scientist Abram Fedorovich Ioffe. This was a message addressed to the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov. In fact, it initiated the successful resolution of a long-standing confrontation between the so-called "university" and "academic" physics.
In October 1945, Krylov died at the age of 82. He was buried in the Wolf Cemetery. Nearby are the graves of Mendeleev and Pavlov.
Personal life
Krylov was married. His chosen one is Elizaveta Dmitrievna Dranitsyna. In marriage, they had five children. The first children were two girls who died in infancy. Then the sons of Alexei and Nikolai were born. During the Civil War, they fought in units of the White Army on the side of Denikin. Both were killed in 1918.
The youngest daughter Anna was born in 1903. At the age of 24, she married physicist and innovator Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, who was well acquainted with her father. They worked together in a commission that the Soviet government sent abroad to restore scientific ties and acquire the necessary modern equipment.
Already in adulthood, Alexei Nikolayevich had a romantic relationship with Anna Bogdanovna Feringer. The family broke up as a result, the scientist married a second time. In this marriage, he had no children. Krylov’s daughter, Anna, had two sons. The grandchildren of the hero of our article became famous scientists. This is a physicist, educator, presenter of the popular science program "Obvious - Incredible" Sergey Petrovich Kapitsa and geographer, Honored Professor of Moscow University Andrei Petrovich Kapitsa.
Popularizer of science
Krylov himself, like his popular grandson, who became a TV presenter, actively sought to promote science among the masses. As an outstanding mechanic and mathematician, inventor, engineer and teacher, he sought to popularize scientific knowledge. In particular, the hero of our article lectured on the theory of shipbuilding for future engineers, having the unique ability to present complex things in simple words as simple as possible.
His translation into Russian of the "Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" by the Englishman Isaac Newton remains popular to this day. The main thing to read it, it is not necessary to be a narrow specialist in this field.
Krylov wrote many popular science books. Although they were originally intended for specialists, but in them he sought to present all the information in a popular scientific style.
He took all his speeches responsibly and seriously, no matter what the audience gathered in front of him. It was thanks to this scientist that many technicians and engineers went to improve their professional training, and as a result became innovators and inventors in their field of activity, and even joined a high culture.
Memory
In memory of the hero of our article, busts and monuments are installed, settlements and even a crater on the moon are named.
Known NTO shipbuilders Krylova. This is a scientific and technical society that bears his name. It is part of the Moscow Aviation Institute. A well-known monument to a full-height shipbuilder was erected in Cheboksary, a bust is located in front of the entrance to Sevmashvtuz (a branch of the Northern Arctic Federal University in Severodvinsk), a memorial museum is operating at the Northern River Station in Moscow, in its homeland in the Chuvash village.
The prize, named after the distinguished academician, is awarded for outstanding achievements in computer technology in solving problems in mathematical physics and mechanics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, the government of St. Petersburg presents the Krylov award for scientific work in the field of technical sciences.
Astronomer of the Crimean Astrophysical Laboratory Lyudmila Karachkina in honor of Krylov named the asteroid, which was discovered in 1982. In honor of his daughter and wife Kapitsa, a small planet known as the Wings is named. Finally, there is the Akademik Krylov research oceanographic vessel, which was part of the Russian fleet from 1972 to 2004.