Alexander Popov, whose photo will be shown below, was born in the Perm province in 1859, March 4th. He died in St. Petersburg in 1905, on December 31. Popov Alexander Stepanovich is one of the most famous Russian electrical engineers and physicists. From 1899, he became an honorary electrical engineer, and from 1901, a state councilor.
Short biography of Alexander Stepanovich Popov
Besides him, there were six more children in the family. At the age of 10, Alexander Popov was sent to the Dolmatov School. In this educational institution, his older brother taught Latin. In 1871, Popov transferred to the Ekaterinburg 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 successfully passed the entrance exams to the St. Petersburg University at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. The years of study for the future scientist were not easy. He was forced to work part-time, as there were not enough funds. During his work, in parallel with his studies, he finally formedhis scientific views. In particular, he began to be attracted by the questions of electrical engineering and the latest physics. In 1882, Alexander Popov graduated from the university with a candidate's degree. He was asked to stay at the university to prepare for a professorship in the department of physics. In the same year he defended his dissertation "On the principles of dynamo and magnetoelectric machines with direct current".
Beginning of scientific activity
The young specialist was very attracted to experimental research in the field of electricity - he entered the Mining Class in Kronstadt as a teacher of electrical engineering, mathematics and physics. There was a well-equipped physics classroom. In 1890, Alexander Popov received an invitation to teach science at the Technical School from the Naval 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 work. The main issue he studied was the properties of electromagnetic oscillations.
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 Emperor Alexander III. In the same year, Popov was awarded the state (civilian) rank of the fifth class - a state adviser. 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 acquired a cottage near the station. Udomlya. His family lived here 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 scientist's family was placed on "lifetime assistance". This is a brief biography of Alexander Stepanovich Popov.
Experimental studies
What was the main achievement for which Popov Alexander Stepanovich became famous? The invention of the radio was the result of many years of research work of the scientist. The physicist has been conducting his experiments on radiotelegraphy since 1897 on the ships of the B altic Fleet. During his stay in Switzerland, the scientist's assistants accidentally noticed that when the excitation signal is insufficient, the coherer begins to convert the high-frequency amplitude-modulated signal into a low-frequency one.
As a result, it becomes possible to hear it. With this in mind, Alexander Popov modified the receiver by installing telephone receivers instead of a sensitive relay. As a result, in 1901 he received a Russian privilege with priority on a new type of telegraph receiver. Popov's first device was a somewhat modified training setup to illustrate Hertz's experiments. At the beginning of 1895, the Russian physicist became interested in the experiments of Lodge, who improved the coherer and designed a receiver, thanks to which it was possible to receive signals at a distance of forty meters. Popovattempted to replicate the move by creating his own modification of Lodge's device.
Features of Popov's device
Lodge's coherer was presented in the form of a glass tube, which was filled with metal filings, capable of sharply - 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. Lodge's coherer was provided with an automatic drummer that constantly beat on the tube. Popov introduced automatic feedback into the circuit. As a result, the relay was triggered by a radio signal and turned on the bell. At the same time, a drummer was launched, which hit the pipe with sawdust. When conducting his experiments, Popov used the mast grounded antenna invented by Tesla in 1893.
Use of the device
For the first time, Popov presented his device in 1895, on April 25, as part of the lecture "On the relation of metal powder to electrical oscillation". The physicist, in his published description of the modified device, noted its undoubted usefulness, 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 over a distance using rapid electrical oscillations, once the source of these waves was discovered. Later (since 1945), the date of Popov's speech began to be celebrated as Radio Day. Ownthe physicist connected the device to the writing coil br. Richard, thus obtaining a device that registers electromagnetic atmospheric vibrations. Subsequently, this modification was used by Lachinov, who installed a "lightning detector" at his weather station. Unfortunately, activities in the Maritime Department imposed certain restrictions on Popov. In this regard, observing the oath obligations on non-disclosure of information, the physicist did not publish the new results of his work, since they were classified information at that time.
