- Molecular physics and thermodynamics
- Electricity and magnetism
- Astrophysics and cosmology
- The history of physics
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (19.02.1711 — 15.04.1765) was an outstanding Russian scientist and materialist thinker, and a member of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1745). He was born in the village of Denisovka, Arkhangelsk Province (now the village of Lomonosovo, Arkhangelsk Region). In 1731—35 he studied at the Slavic Greek Latin Academy in Moscow, in 1735 — 36 at the university attached to the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, and in 1736—41 he studied abroad, at Marburg and Freiberg.
On his return to Russia he was elected an adjunct in 1742 and in 1745 an academician of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences. His research concerned physics, chemistry, astronomy, mining, metallurgy and more besides. Lomonosov concentrated his research on the most pressing problems of physics and chemistry of his time. He put forward a number of new propositions and hypotheses and made a number of discoveries that were ahead of their time and anticipated the achievements of 19th-century physics. He proved the law of conservation of matter experimentally. In 1756 he carried out a classical experiment, showing that in a sealed vessel heated without access to air the weight of a metal does not increase and that the total mass of the vessel remains unchanged (the law of conservation of the mass of matter). A similar experiment was performed by A. Lavoisier only in 1774. And although it was after these works of Lavoisier that the law of conservation of mass in chemical reactions finally entered science, Lomonosov's priority in the discovery of this law is indisputable. He saw nature as a single whole in which everything is interconnected. All processes in nature take place in such a way that changes in one place are necessarily linked with changes in another. Nothing, moreover, disappears without trace or arises out of nothing. Lomonosov speaks of any “changes that take place in nature” and of “their general conservation” (Lomonosov's law of the conservation of matter and motion).
He developed accurate methods of weighing and was the founder of the introduction of physical methods into chemistry; he attempted to apply the methods of exact quantitative analysis in chemistry. In studying nature he held experiment to be fundamental, which was the most characteristic feature of him as a scientist. He studied the liquid, gaseous and solid states of bodies, worked out thermometry in detail, and calibrated his mercury thermometers quite accurately. With an accuracy that was high for his time he determined the coefficient of expansion of gases. He also designed a great many different physical, meteorological and other instruments (about 100), among them a viscometer, an instrument for determining the hardness of bodies, a pyrometer, a vessel for studying matter at low and high pressures, an anemometer and a gas barometer. He was an implacable opponent of the concept of imponderables and, unlike the majority of scientists, who were occupied with inventing imponderables to explain various physical processes, he worked out his own view of the world and of the processes taking place in it. According to Lomonosov, the surrounding world consists of ponderable matter (which in its turn is made up of insensible particles) and the ether. All bodies consist of “corpuscles” (in modern terminology, molecules) containing a certain number of “elements” (atoms). He drew a clear boundary between atoms and molecules and came close to the idea of the molecular structure of a chemical compound. He regarded all physical phenomena as the result of the motion of large and small masses of ponderable matter and of the ether. Heat appeared to Lomonosov as the motion of small particles, and the kinetic nature of heat raised no doubt in him whatever. He connected the heating of bodies with an increase in translational and rotational motion. He came close to the concept of absolute zero. He set out his theory of heat in the work “Reflections on the Cause of Heat and Cold” (1747—48). He is one of the founders of the molecular-kinetic theory of heat.
A considerable place in Lomonosov's work was taken by his research in optics. He was a supporter of the wave theory of light, worked out a theory of colours, and designed a number of optical instruments, in particular a reflecting telescope (the so-called night-vision tube), with which he observed in 1761 the passage of Venus across the disc of the Sun, which led him to the discovery of an atmosphere on that planet. Together with G. W. Richmann he carried out research in the field of electricity, in particular atmospheric electricity. For this purpose they used the “electrical indicator” invented by Richmann, which was the forerunner of the electrometer. He developed a theory of the formation of atmospheric electricity, the origin of which he connected with ascending and descending currents of air. He attempted to construct a general theory of electrical phenomena, the essence of which he saw in the motion of the ether. He did a great deal for the development of science, culture and education in Russia. In 1755, on the initiative and to the design of M. V. Lomonosov, Moscow University was opened, which now bears his name. He was the founder of natural science in Russia. The USSR Academy of Sciences established a gold medal in the name of M. V. Lomonosov.
On his return to Russia he was elected an adjunct in 1742 and in 1745 an academician of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences. His research concerned physics, chemistry, astronomy, mining, metallurgy and more besides. Lomonosov concentrated his research on the most pressing problems of physics and chemistry of his time. He put forward a number of new propositions and hypotheses and made a number of discoveries that were ahead of their time and anticipated the achievements of 19th-century physics. He proved the law of conservation of matter experimentally. In 1756 he carried out a classical experiment, showing that in a sealed vessel heated without access to air the weight of a metal does not increase and that the total mass of the vessel remains unchanged (the law of conservation of the mass of matter). A similar experiment was performed by A. Lavoisier only in 1774. And although it was after these works of Lavoisier that the law of conservation of mass in chemical reactions finally entered science, Lomonosov's priority in the discovery of this law is indisputable. He saw nature as a single whole in which everything is interconnected. All processes in nature take place in such a way that changes in one place are necessarily linked with changes in another. Nothing, moreover, disappears without trace or arises out of nothing. Lomonosov speaks of any “changes that take place in nature” and of “their general conservation” (Lomonosov's law of the conservation of matter and motion).
He developed accurate methods of weighing and was the founder of the introduction of physical methods into chemistry; he attempted to apply the methods of exact quantitative analysis in chemistry. In studying nature he held experiment to be fundamental, which was the most characteristic feature of him as a scientist. He studied the liquid, gaseous and solid states of bodies, worked out thermometry in detail, and calibrated his mercury thermometers quite accurately. With an accuracy that was high for his time he determined the coefficient of expansion of gases. He also designed a great many different physical, meteorological and other instruments (about 100), among them a viscometer, an instrument for determining the hardness of bodies, a pyrometer, a vessel for studying matter at low and high pressures, an anemometer and a gas barometer. He was an implacable opponent of the concept of imponderables and, unlike the majority of scientists, who were occupied with inventing imponderables to explain various physical processes, he worked out his own view of the world and of the processes taking place in it. According to Lomonosov, the surrounding world consists of ponderable matter (which in its turn is made up of insensible particles) and the ether. All bodies consist of “corpuscles” (in modern terminology, molecules) containing a certain number of “elements” (atoms). He drew a clear boundary between atoms and molecules and came close to the idea of the molecular structure of a chemical compound. He regarded all physical phenomena as the result of the motion of large and small masses of ponderable matter and of the ether. Heat appeared to Lomonosov as the motion of small particles, and the kinetic nature of heat raised no doubt in him whatever. He connected the heating of bodies with an increase in translational and rotational motion. He came close to the concept of absolute zero. He set out his theory of heat in the work “Reflections on the Cause of Heat and Cold” (1747—48). He is one of the founders of the molecular-kinetic theory of heat.
A considerable place in Lomonosov's work was taken by his research in optics. He was a supporter of the wave theory of light, worked out a theory of colours, and designed a number of optical instruments, in particular a reflecting telescope (the so-called night-vision tube), with which he observed in 1761 the passage of Venus across the disc of the Sun, which led him to the discovery of an atmosphere on that planet. Together with G. W. Richmann he carried out research in the field of electricity, in particular atmospheric electricity. For this purpose they used the “electrical indicator” invented by Richmann, which was the forerunner of the electrometer. He developed a theory of the formation of atmospheric electricity, the origin of which he connected with ascending and descending currents of air. He attempted to construct a general theory of electrical phenomena, the essence of which he saw in the motion of the ether. He did a great deal for the development of science, culture and education in Russia. In 1755, on the initiative and to the design of M. V. Lomonosov, Moscow University was opened, which now bears his name. He was the founder of natural science in Russia. The USSR Academy of Sciences established a gold medal in the name of M. V. Lomonosov.