Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, whose discoveries have made a significant contribution to the development of science, and whose biography is of interest not only in terms of his achievements, is a great scientist, a world-famous Soviet researcher, the founder of cosmonautics and a promoter of space exploration. Known as the developer of a rocket model capable of conquering outer space.
Who is he - Tsiolkovsky?
Tsiolkovsky's brief biography is a vivid example of his dedication to his work 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 Izhevskoye.
Father, Eduard Ignatievich, worked as a forester, and 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 familydue to the difficulties that arose at work with her father, she moved to Ryazan. The initial education of Konstantin and his brothers (reading, writing and the basics of arithmetic) was done by his 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. Education was difficult, 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 great loss occurred in the Tsiolkovsky family: everyone's beloved older brother Konstantin, Dmitry, died. And a year later, unexpectedly for everyone, there was no mother either. The family tragedy had a negative impact on 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 engage in his education on his own, because books generously gave knowledge and never reproached for anything. At this time, the guy became interested in 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 abilities of his son, moved to Moscow, where he unsuccessfully tried to enter the Higher Technical School. The 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.
The young man visited the Chertkovsky public library every day; it was there that he met Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov, one of the founders of Russian cosmism. This outstanding man replaced the young man of all the teachers combined. Life in the capital for Tsiolkovsky was not affordable, besides, he spent all his savings on books and instruments, so in 1876 he returned to Vyatka, where he began to earn money by tutoring and private lessons in physics and mathematics. Upon returning home, due to hard work and difficult conditions, Tsiolkovsky's eyesight fell sharply, and he began to wear glasses.
Students to Tsiolkovsky, who has established himself as a high-class teacher, went with great pleasure. The teacher in teaching the lessons used methods developed by him, among which the key was a visual demonstration. For geometry lessons, Tsiolkovsky made models of polyhedra from paper, and together with his students conducted experiments in physics. Konstantin Eduardovich has earned the reputation 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 Konstantin, died, which was a very big blow for the scientist.
Private life of a scientist
In 1878, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, together with his family, changed their place of residence to Ryazan. There he successfully passed the exams for a teacher's diploma and got a job at a school in the city of Borovsk. In the local county school, despite the significantdistance from the main scientific centers, Tsiolkovsky actively conducted research in the field of aerodynamics. He created the foundations of the kinetic theory of gases by sending the available data to the Russian Physical and Chemical 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 St. 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 expressed his thoughts in the work of 1885-1886. "Theory and experience of the balloon".
In 1880, Tsiolkovsky married Sokolova Varvara Evgrafovna, 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, Konstantin's father died.
A short biography of Tsiolkovsky mentions such a terrible event in his life as a fire in 1887, which destroyed everything: modules, blueprints, acquired property. Only the sewing machine survived. This event was a heavy blow for Tsiolkovsky.
Life in Kaluga: a short biography of Tsiolkovsky
In 1892 he moved to Kaluga. There he also got a job as a teacher of geometry and arithmetic, at the same time doing astronautics and aeronautics, built a tunnel in which he checked aircraft. It is in KalugaTsiolkovsky wrote the main works on space biology, the theory of jet propulsion and medicine, while continuing to work on the theory of a metal airship. With his own money, Tsiolkovsky created about a hundred different models of aircraft and tested them. Konstantin's own funds for research were not enough, so he turned to the Physico-Chemical Society for financial assistance, which did not consider it necessary to financially support the scientist. Subsequent news of Tsiolkovsky's successful experiments nevertheless prompted the Physico-Chemical Society to give him 470 rubles spent by the scientist on the invention of an improved aerodynamic tunnel.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky pays more and more attention to the study of space. The year 1895 was marked by the publication of Tsiolkovsky's book "Dreams of the Earth and Sky", and a year later he began work on a new book: "Exploration of outer space with the help of a jet engine", in which he focused on rocket engines, cargo transportation in space and fuel features.
Tough twentieth century
The beginning of the new, twentieth century, was difficult for Konstantin: no more money was allocated for the continuation of research important for science, his son Ignatius committed suicide in 1902, five years later, when the river flooded, the scientist’s house was flooded, it was destroyed many exhibits, designs and unique calculations. It seemed that all the elements of nature were opposed to Tsiolkovsky. By the way, in 2001In 1999, a strong fire broke out on the Russian ship Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, destroying everything inside (as in 1887, when the scientist's house burned down).
Last years of life
A brief 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 provided him with a pension, which practically did not allow him to die of starvation. 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 the Lubyanka, and released a few weeks later thanks to the petition of a certain high-ranking party member. In 1923, another son died - Alexander, who decided to die on his own.
The Soviet authorities remembered Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in the same year, after the publication of G. Oberth - a 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 paid attention to all his achievements, provided comfortable conditions for fruitful work, 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 that Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky - the founder of astronautics -dedicated his whole life are:
- Establishment of the country's first aerodynamic laboratory and wind tunnel.
- Development of a methodology for studying the aerodynamic properties of aircraft.
- More than four hundred papers on the theory of rocket science.
- Working on the rationale for space travel.
- Creating your own gas turbine engine circuit.
- Explaining a rigorous theory of jet propulsion and proving the necessity of using 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 rail, successfully used at the present time in multiple launch rocket systems.
