Like simple peasant women, they tried to find out the future with the help of various rituals...
Pavel Yablochkov and his invention
Exactly 140 years ago, on March 23, 1876, the great Russian inventor Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov patented his famous electric light bulb. Despite the fact that its life was short-lived, Yablochkov’s light bulb became a breakthrough for Russian science and the first invention of a Russian scientist to become widely known abroad.
Let's remember what contribution Yablochkov made to the development of electric lighting technology and what made him for a short time one of the most popular scientists in Europe.
The first arc lamps
In the first half of the 19th century, in the field of artificial lighting, gas lamps replaced candles that had dominated for centuries. Their dim light began to illuminate factories and shops, theaters and hotels, and, of course, the streets of night cities. However, despite being relatively easy to use, gas lamps had too little light output, and the lighting gas specially manufactured for them was by no means cheap.
With the discovery of electricity and the invention of the first current sources, it became clear that the future of lighting technology lies precisely in this area. The development of electric lighting initially went in two directions: the design of arc lamps and incandescent lamps. The principle of operation of the first was based on the effect electric arc, well known to everyone in electric welding. Since childhood, our parents forbade us to look at its blinding fire, and for good reason - an electric arc can generate an extremely bright source of light.
Arc lamps began to be widely used around the middle of the 19th century, when the French physicist Jean Bernard Foucault proposed using electrodes not from charcoal, but from retort coal, which significantly increased their burning time.
But such arc lamps required attention - as the electrodes burned out, it was necessary to maintain a constant distance between them so that the electric arc did not go out. For this, very cunning mechanisms were used, in particular the Foucault regulator, invented by the same French inventor. The regulator was very complex: the mechanism included three springs and required constant attention. All this made arc lamps extremely inconvenient to use. Russian inventor Pavel Yablochkov set out to solve this problem.
Yablochkov gets down to business
A native of Saratov, Yablochkov, who had shown a passion for invention since childhood, got a job as head of the telegraph service on the Moscow-Kursk railway in 1874. By this time, Pavel finally decided to concentrate his creative attention on improving the then existing arc lamps.
The railroad authorities, who knew about his hobby, offered the aspiring inventor an interesting job. A government train was supposed to travel from Moscow to Crimea, and to ensure its safety, it was decided to organize night lighting of the track for the driver.
One example of regulating mechanisms in arc lamps of that time
Yablochkov happily agreed, took with him an arc lamp with a Foucault regulator and, attaching it to the front of the locomotive, was on duty next to the searchlight every night all the way to the Crimea. About once every hour and a half he had to change the electrodes, and also constantly monitor the regulator. Despite the fact that the lighting experiment was generally successful, it was clear that this method could not be widely used. Yablochkov decided to try to improve the Foucault regulator to simplify the operation of the lamp.
Brilliant solution
In 1875, Yablochkov, while conducting an experiment in the laboratory on the electrolysis of table salt, accidentally caused an electric arc to appear between two parallel carbon electrodes. At that moment, Yablochkov came up with the idea of how to improve the design of the arc lamp in such a way that the regulator would no longer be needed at all.
Yablochkov’s light bulb (or, as it was commonly called at that time, “Yablochkov’s candle”) was designed, like everything ingenious, quite simply. The carbon electrodes in it were located vertically and parallel to each other. The ends of the electrodes were connected by a thin metal thread, which ignited an arc, and between the electrodes there was a strip of insulating material. As the coals burned, the insulating material also burned.
This is what Yablochkov’s candle looked like. The red stripe is the insulating material
In the first models of the lamp, after a power outage, it was not possible to light the same candle, since there was no contact between the two already set electrodes. Later, Yablochkov began mixing powders of various metals into insulating strips, which, when the arc died out, formed a special strip at the end. This made it possible to reuse unburnt coals.
The burnt out electrodes were immediately replaced with new ones. This had to be done approximately once every two hours - that’s how long they lasted. Therefore, it was more logical to call Yablochkov’s light bulb a candle - it had to be changed even more often than a wax product. But it was hundreds of times brighter.
Worldwide recognition
Yablochkov completed the creation of his invention in 1876 already in Paris. He had to leave Moscow due to financial circumstances - although a talented inventor, Yablochkov was a mediocre entrepreneur, which, as a rule, resulted in bankruptcy and debts of all his enterprises.
In Paris, one of the world centers of science and progress, Yablochkov quickly achieves success with his invention. Having settled in the workshop of academician Louis Breguet, on March 23, 1876, Yablochkov received a patent, after which his business under someone else’s leadership began to go uphill.
In the same year, Yablochkov’s invention made a splash at an exhibition of physical devices in London. All major European consumers immediately begin to take an interest in them, and within just two years, Yablochkov’s candle appears on the streets of London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome and a great many other European cities. Electric candles are replacing outdated lighting in theaters, shops, and rich homes. They even managed to illuminate the huge Parisian Hippodrome and the ruins of the Colosseum.
This is how Yablochkov’s candle illuminated Paris at night
Candles were sold in huge volumes for those times - the Breguet plant produced 8 thousand pieces daily. Subsequent improvements by Yablochkov himself also contributed to demand. Thus, with the help of impurities added to the kaolin insulator, Yablochkov achieved a softer and more pleasant spectrum of emitted light.
And so - London
In Russia, Yablochkov candles first appeared in 1878 in St. Petersburg. In the same year, the inventor temporarily returned to his homeland. Here he is warmly greeted with honors and congratulations. The purpose of the return was to create a commercial enterprise that would help speed up electrification and promote the spread of electric lamps in Russia.
However, the already mentioned meager entrepreneurial talents of the inventor, coupled with the traditional inertia and bias of Russian bureaucrats, prevented grandiose plans. Despite the large injections of money, Yablochkov’s candles did not receive such distribution in Russia as in Europe.
Sunset Yablochkov candle
In fact, the decline of arc lamps began even before Yablochkov invented his candle. Many people don’t know this, but the world’s first patent for an incandescent lamp was also received by a Russian scientist - Alexander Nikolaevich Lodygin. And this was done back in 1874.
Yablochkov, of course, knew very well about Lodygin’s inventions. Moreover, indirectly he himself took part in the development of the first incandescent lamps. In 1875-76, while working on an insulating partition for his candle, Yablochkov discovered the possibility of using koalin as a filament in such lamps. But the inventor considered that incandescent lamps had no future and until the end of his days he did not purposefully work on their design. History has shown that Yablochkov was grossly mistaken in this.
In the second half of the 1870s, the American inventor Thomas Edison patented his incandescent lamp with a carbon filament, the service life of which was 40 hours. Despite many disadvantages, it is quickly beginning to replace arc lamps. And already in the 1890s, the light bulb took on a familiar form - the same Alexander Lodygin first proposed using refractory metals, including tungsten, to make the filament, and twisting them into a spiral, and then he was the first to pump out air from the bulb to increase the lifespan thread services. The world's first commercial incandescent lamp with a twisted tungsten spiral was produced precisely according to Lodygin's patent.
One of Lodygin's lamps
Yablochkov practically missed this revolution of electric lighting, having died suddenly in 1894, at the age of 47. Early death was the result of poisoning with poisonous chlorine, with which the inventor worked a lot in experiments. During his short life, Yablochkov managed to create several more useful inventions - the world's first alternating current generator and transformer, as well as wooden separators for chemical batteries, which are still used today.
And although the Yablochkov candle in its original form has sunk into oblivion, like all arc lamps of that time, it continues to exist in a new quality today - in the form of gas-discharge lamps, which have recently been widely introduced instead of incandescent lamps. Well-known neon, xenon or mercury lamps (also called " fluorescent lamps") work based on the same principle as the legendary Yablochkov candle.
Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine that the word “electrical engineering” was not known only about 100 years ago. In experimental science it is not as easy to find a discoverer as in theoretical science. The textbooks say so: Pythagorean theorem, Newton's binomial, Copernican system, Einstein's theory, periodic table... But not everyone knows the name of the one who invented electric light.
Who created a glass bulb with metal hairs inside - an electric light bulb? It's not easy to answer this question. After all, it is connected with dozens of scientists. In their ranks is Pavel Yablochkov, whose brief biography is presented in our article. This Russian inventor stands out not only for his height (198 cm), but also for his work. His work marked the beginning of lighting using electricity. It is not for nothing that the figure of such a researcher as Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov still enjoys authority in the scientific community. What did he invent? You will find the answer to this question, as well as many other interesting information about Pavel Nikolaevich, in our article.
Origin, years of study
When Pavel Yablochkov (his photo is presented above) was born, there was cholera in the Volga region. His parents were frightened by the great pestilence, so they did not take the child to church for baptism. Historians tried in vain to find Yablochkov’s name in church records. His parents were small landowners, and Pavel Yablochkov’s childhood passed quietly, in a large landowner’s house with half-empty rooms, a mezzanine and orchards.
When Pavel was 11 years old, he went to study at the Saratov gymnasium. It should be noted that 4 years before this, Nikolai Chernyshevsky, a freethinking teacher, left this educational institution for the St. Petersburg cadet corps. Pavel Yablochkov did not study at the gymnasium for long. After some time, his family became very poor. There was only one way out of this situation - a military career, which had already become a real family tradition. And Pavel Yablochkov went to the Pavlovsk Royal Palace in St. Petersburg, which was called the Engineering Castle after its residents.
Yablochkov - military engineer
The Sevastopol campaign at this time was still in the recent past (less than ten years had passed). It demonstrated sailor valor, as well as the high art of domestic fortifiers. Military engineering was in high esteem in those years. General E.I. Totleben, who became famous during the Crimean War, personally nurtured the engineering school where Pavel Yablochkov was now studying.
His biography during these years is marked by his residence in the boarding house of Caesar Antonovich Cui, an engineer-general who taught at this school. He was a talented specialist and an even more gifted composer and music critic. His romances and operas still live today. Perhaps these years spent in the capital were the happiest for Pavel Nikolaevich. No one urged him on; there were no patrons or creditors yet. Great insights had not yet come to him, however, the disappointments that subsequently filled his entire life had not yet occurred.
The first failure befell Yablochkov when, after completing his training, he was promoted to second lieutenant, sent to serve in the fifth Sapper Regiment, which belonged to the Kyiv fortress garrison. The battalion reality that Pavel Nikolaevich became acquainted with turned out to be little similar to the creative, interesting life of an engineer that he dreamed of in St. Petersburg. Yablochkov did not become a military man: a year later he resigned “due to illness.”
First acquaintance with electricity
After this, the most unsettled period began in the life of Pavel Nikolaevich. However, it opens with one event, which turned out to be very important in his future fate. A year after his resignation, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov suddenly finds himself in the army again. His biography after that took a completely different path...
The future inventor is undergoing training at the Technical Galvanic Institution. Here his knowledge in the field of “galvanism and magnetism” (the words “electrical engineering” did not yet exist at that time) expands and deepens. Many famous engineers and young scientists in their youth, like our hero, circled through life, trying things on, looking closely, looking for something, until suddenly they found what they were looking for. Then no temptation could lead them astray. In the same way, 22-year-old Pavel Nikolaevich found his calling - electricity. Yablochkov Pavel Nikolaevich dedicated his entire life to him. The inventions he made are all related to electricity.
Work in Moscow, new acquaintances
Pavel Nikolaevich finally leaves the army. He goes to Moscow and soon heads the department of the telegraph service of the Moscow-Kursk railway. Here he has a laboratory at his disposal, here he can already test some, albeit still timid, ideas. Pavel Nikolaevich also finds a strong scientific society uniting natural scientists. In Moscow, he learns about the Polytechnic Exhibition, which has just opened. It presents the latest achievements of domestic technology. Yablochkov has like-minded people, friends who, like him, are fascinated by electric sparks - tiny man-made lightning! With one of them, Nikolai Gavrilovich Glukhov, Pavel Nikolaevich decides to open his own “business”. We are talking about a universal electrical workshop.
Moving to Paris, patent for a candle
However, their “business” burst. This happened because the inventors Glukhov and Yablochkov were not businessmen. In order to avoid debt prison, Pavel Nikolaevich urgently travels abroad. In the spring of 1876, in Paris, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov received a patent for an “electric candle”. This invention would not have happened if not for previous advances in science. Therefore, we will briefly talk about them.
History of lamps before Yablochkov
Let’s make a short historical digression dedicated to lamps in order to explain the essence of Yablochkov’s most important invention, without getting into the technical jungle. The first lamp is a torch. It has been known to mankind since prehistoric times. Then (before Yablochkov) first the torch was invented, then the candle, after some time the kerosene lamp and, finally, the gas lantern. All these lamps, with all their diversity, are united by one common principle: something inside them burns when combined with oxygen.
Invention of the electric arc
V.V. Petrov, a talented Russian scientist, in 1802 described the experience of using galvanic cells. This inventor obtained an electric arc and created the world's first electric artificial light. Lightning is natural light. Humanity has known about it for a long time; another thing is that people did not understand its nature.
Modest Petrov did not send his work, written in Russian, anywhere. It was not known in Europe, so for a long time the honor of discovering the arc was attributed to the chemist Davy, the famous English chemist. Naturally, he knew nothing about Petrov’s achievement. He repeated his experiment 12 years later and named the arc in honor of Volta, the famous physicist from Italy. It is interesting that it has absolutely nothing to do with A. Volta himself.
Arc lamps and the inconveniences associated with them
The discovery of the Russian and English scientist gave impetus to the emergence of fundamentally new arc electrodes. In them, two electrodes came together, an arc flashed, after which a bright light appeared. However, the inconvenience was that the carbon electrodes burned out after some time, and the distance between them increased. Eventually, the arc went out. It was necessary to constantly bring the electrodes closer together. This is how various differential, clock, manual and other adjustment mechanisms appeared, which, in turn, required vigilant observation. It is clear that each lamp of this kind was an extraordinary phenomenon.
The first incandescent lamp and its disadvantages
The French scientist Jobard proposed using an electric incandescent conductor for lighting, rather than an arc. Shanzhi, his compatriot, tried to create such a lamp. A. N. Lodygin, a Russian inventor, brought it to mind. He created the first practical incandescent light bulb. However, the coke rod inside it was very fragile and delicate. In addition, there was insufficient vacuum in the glass flask, so it quickly burned this rod. Because of this, in the mid-1870s they decided to put an end to the incandescent lamp. Inventors returned to the arc again. And that’s when Pavel Yablochkov appeared.
Electric candle
Unfortunately, we do not know how he invented the candle. Perhaps the idea of it appeared when Pavel Nikolaevich was struggling with the regulators of the arc lamp he had installed. For the first time in the history of railways, it was installed on a steam locomotive (a special train that traveled to Crimea with Tsar Alexander II). Perhaps the sight of the arc suddenly flashing in his workshop sank into his soul. There is a legend that in one of the Parisian cafes Yablochkov accidentally put two pencils next to each other on a table. And then it dawned on him: there is no need to bring anything closer together! Let the electrodes be nearby, because the fusible insulation that burns in the arc will be installed between them. This way the electrodes will burn and shorten at the same time! As they say, everything ingenious is simple.
How Yablochkov's candle conquered the world
The Yablochkov candle was really simple in its design. And this was her huge advantage. Businessmen who did not understand technology could understand its meaning. That is why Yablochkov’s candle conquered the world with unprecedented speed. Its first demonstration took place in the spring of 1876 in London. Pavel Nikolaevich, who just recently was running away from creditors, returned to Paris. The campaign to exploit the patents he owned arose instantly.
A special factory was founded that produced 8 thousand candles daily. They began to illuminate the famous shops and hotels of Paris, the indoor hippodrome and opera, and the port in Le Havre. A garland of lanterns appeared on Opera Street - an unprecedented sight, a real fairy tale. “Russian light” was on everyone’s lips. P.I. Tchaikovsky admired him in one of his letters. Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev also wrote from Paris to his brother that Pavel Yablochkov had invented something completely new in the field of lighting. Pavel Nikolayevich noted later, not without pride, that electricity spread throughout the world precisely from the French capital and reached the courts of the King of Cambodia, and not the other way around - from America to Paris, as they say.
"Extinction" of a candle
The history of science is marked by amazing things! The entire electrical lighting technology of the world, led by P. N. Yablochkov, for about five years triumphantly moved, in essence, along a hopeless, false path. The candle celebration did not last very long, as did Yablochkov’s material independence. The candle did not immediately “go out”, but it could not withstand competition with incandescent lamps. The significant inconveniences she had contributed to this. This is a decrease in the luminous point during the combustion process, as well as fragility.
Of course, the work of Swan, Lodygin, Maxim, Edison, Nernst and other inventors of the incandescent lamp, in turn, did not immediately convince humanity of its advantages. Auer installed his cap on a gas burner in 1891. This cap increased the brightness of the latter. Even then, there were cases when the authorities decided to replace the installed electric lighting with gas. However, already during Pavel Nikolaevich’s lifetime it was clear that the candle he invented had no prospects. What is the reason that the name of the creator of the “Russian light” is firmly inscribed in the history of science to this day and has been surrounded by respect and honor for more than a hundred years?
The significance of Yablochkov's invention
Yablochkov Pavel Nikolaevich was the first to establish electric light in people's minds. The lamp, which only yesterday was very rare, has already come closer to people today, has ceased to be some kind of overseas miracle, and has convinced people of its happy future. The turbulent and rather short history of this invention contributed to the solution of many pressing problems that faced the technology of that time.
Further biography of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov
Pavel Nikolaevich lived a short life, which was not very happy. After Pavel Yablochkov invented his candle, he worked a lot both in our country and abroad. However, none of his subsequent achievements influenced the progress of technology as much as his candle. Pavel Nikolaevich put a lot of work into creating the first electrical engineering magazine in our country called “Electricity”. It began publication in 1880. In addition, on March 21, 1879, Pavel Nikolaevich read a report on electric lighting at the Russian Technical Society. He was awarded the Society's medal for his achievements. However, these signs of attention turned out to be insufficient to ensure that Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov was provided with good working conditions. The inventor understood that in backward Russia in the 1880s there were few opportunities for the implementation of his technical ideas. One of them was the production of electric machines, which were built by Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov. His short biography is again marked by his move to Paris. Returning there in 1880, he sold the patent for the dynamo, after which he began preparations for participation in the World Electrotechnical Exhibition, which was held for the first time. Its opening was scheduled for 1881. At the beginning of this year, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov devoted himself entirely to design work.
The short biography of this scientist continues with the fact that Yablochkov’s inventions received the highest award at the 1881 exhibition. They deserve recognition even outside of competition. His authority was high, and Yablochkov Pavel Nikolaevich became a member of the international jury, whose tasks included reviewing exhibits and deciding on awarding awards. It should be said that this exhibition itself was a triumph for the incandescent lamp. From that time on, the electric candle gradually began to decline.
In subsequent years, Yablochkov began working on galvanic cells and dynamos - electric current generators. The path that Pavel Nikolaevich followed in his works remains revolutionary in our time. Success on it could mark the beginning of a new era in electrical engineering. Yablochkov never returned to the light sources. In subsequent years, he invented several electrical machines and received patents for them.
The last years of the inventor's life
In the period from 1881 to 1893, Yablochkov conducted his experiments in difficult material conditions and in continuous labor. He lived in Paris, completely devoting himself to the problems of science. The scientist skillfully experimented, applied many original ideas in his work, following unexpected and very bold paths. Of course, he was ahead of the state of technology, science and industry of that time. The explosion that occurred during experiments in his laboratory almost cost Pavel Nikolaevich his life. The constant deterioration of his financial situation, as well as a heart disease that kept progressing, all undermined the inventor’s strength. After an absence of thirteen years, he decided to return to his homeland.
Pavel Nikolaevich left for Russia in July 1893, but became very ill immediately upon arrival. He found such a neglected economy on his estate that he could not even hope for an improvement in his financial situation. Together with his wife and son, Pavel Nikolaevich settled in a Saratov hotel. He continued his experiments even when he was sick and deprived of his livelihood.
Yablochkov Pavel Nikolaevich, whose discoveries are firmly inscribed in the history of science, died of heart disease at the age of 47 (in 1894), in the city of Saratov. Our homeland is proud of his ideas and works.
and the history of the light bulb
incandescence represents a whole chain of discoveries made by different people at different times. And Edison made a significant contribution here, and Lodygin, and Yablochkov, who is rightly considered one of its discoverers.
And, in addition, we must definitely remember the outstanding Russian physicist Vasily Petrov, who back in 1802 observed the phenomenon of an electric arc - a bright discharge that occurs between carbon rod electrodes brought to a certain distance. We should also remember the names of V. Chikolev and A. Shpakovsky, who also contributed to this outstanding invention...
However, we will dwell in more detail on Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov. After all, one of the most interesting and instructive “inventive” stories is connected with him.
...The waiter, who instantly appeared at the table in a small Parisian cafe, took a simple order and disappeared into the kitchen. While waiting, the visitor absentmindedly took a notepad out of his pocket, put it on the table, and took up a pencil. One of the pages was covered with intricate drawings. The uninitiated would not understand anything about them - a lot of some kind of sticks, connected in pairs by thin arcs. Moreover, sketches of drawings of certain mechanisms with small gears, like in a watch. And the explanations adjacent to the drawings would have remained even more mysterious to a Parisian, because they were made in a foreign language.
The cafe visitor bent over the notes, forgetting where he was, and deep in thought.
This happened in 1876, when the hero of our story, Pavel Yablochkov, was barely twenty-nine years old. Behind him was his studies at the St. Petersburg Military School, where he became interested in physics, and especially in its still little studied area - electricity. He had already served as head of the telegraph of the newly built Moscow-Kursk Railway. But this occupation took a lot of time, and Yablochkov left it in order to devote himself to what he considered the main thing in life - the development of a reliable design for an electric arc lamp.
Fate brought him to Paris, since no one showed much interest in his experiments in his homeland, Russia. Here one of the French companies provided the inventor with a workshop. And for several months now, Yablochkov has been struggling with a solution that seemed somewhere very close, but everything was slipping away.
Vasily Petrov's experiments showed: an electric arc producing bright light occurs only when the ends of horizontally located carbon electrodes are located at a strictly defined distance from each other. Slightly it decreases or increases, the discharge disappears. Meanwhile, during the discharge, the coals burn out, so that the gap between them grows all the time. And in order to use coals in an electric arc lamp, it was necessary to come up with a special mechanism-regulator that would constantly, at a certain speed, move the burning rods towards each other. Then the arc will not go out.
To be fair, it must be said that such attempts were made before Yablochkov. Russian inventors Shpakovsky and Chikolev developed their arc lamps with regulators. In 1856, Shpakovsky’s electric lamps were already burning in Moscow on Red Square during the coronation of Alexander II. Chikolev used the powerful light of an electric arc to operate powerful sea searchlights. The automatic regulators invented by these inventors had differences, but agreed on one thing - they were unreliable. The lamps did not burn for long and were expensive.
It is clear that a different mechanism was required - simple and trouble-free. It was this that Pavel Yablochkov struggled with for a month, thinking only about him - both in his workshop, and wandering through the streets of Paris, and even here, in a cafe.
The clock mechanism that was used in Shpakovsky’s light bulb could not provide for all the “whims” of unevenly burning coal. Something else is needed. But what?
Yablochkov candle- one of the variants of the electric carbon arc lamp, invented in 1875 by Pavel Yablochkov.
It was first demonstrated as street and theater lighting at the 1878 Paris Universal Exhibition, especially on the avenue de l'Opéra. The candles were covered with glazed glass balls, with 4 or 12 candles connected in series.
Device
The Yablochkov candle consists of two carbon blocks, approximately 6 × 12 mm in cross-section, separated by an inert material such as gypsum or kaolin. A jumper made of thin wire or carbon paste is fixed at the upper end. The structure is assembled and fixed vertically on an insulated base.
When the spark plug was connected to a current source, the safety wire at the end burned out, igniting an arc. The arc began to burn, gradually eating away the electrodes and the separating plaster layer. The first spark plugs were powered by alternating current from a Gram generator.
When disconnected from the source, the spark plug went out and could not be started again, since there was no contact between the electrodes. It was necessary to replace the spark plug with a new one. However, later this drawback was eliminated - Yablochkov began to mix powders of various metals into the insulating mass that separated the electrodes. When the current was turned off and the candle went out, a strip of metal formed at the end of the insulating mass. When electricity was supplied again, the candle was lit again.
The advantage of the design was that there was no need for a mechanism to maintain the distance between the electrodes for arcing. The electrodes lasted for about 2 hours.
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An excerpt characterizing Svech Yablochkov
Denisov, biting his mustache, listened to the conversation with a gloomy look, apparently not wanting to engage in it. When asked by the captain's staff, he shook his head negatively.“You tell the regimental commander about this dirty trick in front of the officers,” the captain continued. - Bogdanych (the regimental commander was called Bogdanych) besieged you.
- He didn’t besiege him, but said that I was telling a lie.
- Well, yes, and you said something stupid to him, and you need to apologize.
- Never! - Rostov shouted.
“I didn’t think this from you,” the captain said seriously and sternly. “You don’t want to apologize, but you, father, not only before him, but before the entire regiment, before all of us, you are completely to blame.” Here's how: if only you had thought and consulted on how to deal with this matter, otherwise you would have drunk right in front of the officers. What should the regimental commander do now? Should the officer be put on trial and the entire regiment be soiled? Because of one scoundrel, the whole regiment is disgraced? So, what do you think? But in our opinion, not so. And Bogdanich is great, he told you that you are telling lies. It’s unpleasant, but what can you do, father, they attacked you yourself. And now, as they want to hush up the matter, because of some kind of fanaticism you don’t want to apologize, but want to tell everything. You are offended that you are on duty, but why should you apologize to an old and honest officer! No matter what Bogdanich is, he’s still an honest and brave old colonel, it’s such a shame for you; Is it okay for you to dirty the regiment? – The captain’s voice began to tremble. - You, father, have been in the regiment for a week; today here, tomorrow transferred to adjutants somewhere; you don’t care what they say: “there are thieves among the Pavlograd officers!” But we care. So, what, Denisov? Not all the same?
Denisov remained silent and did not move, occasionally glancing at Rostov with his shiny black eyes.
“You value your own fanabery, you don’t want to apologize,” the headquarters captain continued, “but for us old men, how we grew up, and even if we die, God willing, we will be brought into the regiment, so the honor of the regiment is dear to us, and Bogdanich knows this.” Oh, what a road, father! And this is not good, not good! Be offended or not, I will always tell the truth. Not good!
In the spring of 1876, the world media was full of headlines: “Light comes to us from the North - from Russia”; “The Northern Light, the Russian Light is a miracle of our time”; “Russia is the birthplace of electricity.”
In different languages, journalists admired Russian engineer Pavel Yablochkov, whose invention, presented at an exhibition in London, changed the understanding of the possibilities of using electricity.
The inventor was only 29 years old at the time of his outstanding triumph.
Pavel Yablochkov during his years of work in Moscow. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Born inventor
Pavel Yablochkov was born on September 14, 1847 in the Serdobsky district of the Saratov province, in the family of an impoverished small nobleman who came from an old Russian family.
Pavel's father studied in the Naval Cadet Corps in his youth, but due to illness he was dismissed from service and awarded the civilian rank of XIV class. The mother was a powerful woman who held in strong hands not only the household, but also all family members.
Pasha became interested in design as a child. One of his first inventions was an original land surveying device, which was then used by residents of all surrounding villages.
In 1858, Pavel entered the Saratov men's gymnasium, but his father took him away from the 5th grade. The family was strapped for money, and there was not enough money for Pavel’s education. Nevertheless, they managed to place the boy in a private preparatory boarding house, where young people were prepared to enter the Nikolaev Engineering School. It was maintained by the military engineer Caesar Antonovich Cui. This extraordinary person, who was equally successful in military engineering and writing music, aroused Yablochkov’s interest in science.
In 1863, Yablochkov brilliantly passed the entrance exam to the Nikolaev Engineering School. In August 1866, he graduated from college with the first category, receiving the rank of engineer-second lieutenant. He was appointed a junior officer in the 5th engineer battalion, stationed in the Kyiv fortress.
Attention, electricity!
The parents were happy because they believed that their son could make a great military career. However, Pavel himself was not attracted to this path, and a year later he resigned from service with the rank of lieutenant under the pretext of illness.
Yablochkov showed great interest in electrical engineering, but he did not have enough knowledge in this area, and to fill this gap, he returned to military service. Thanks to this, he had the opportunity to enter the Technical Galvanic Institution in Kronstadt, the only school in Russia that trained military electrical engineers.
After graduation, Yablochkov served the required three years and in 1872 he left the army again, now forever.
Yablochkov's new place of work was the Moscow-Kursk Railway, where he was appointed head of the telegraph service. He combined his work with inventive activity. Having learned about the experiments Alexandra Lodygina to illuminate streets and premises with electric lamps, Yablochkov decided to improve the then existing arc lamps.
How did the train spotlight come about?
In the spring of 1874, a government train was supposed to travel along the Moscow-Kursk road. The road management decided to illuminate the path for the train at night using electricity. However, officials did not really understand how to do this. Then they remembered the hobby of the head of the telegraph service and turned to him. Yablochkov agreed with great joy.
For the first time in the history of railway transport, a searchlight with an arc lamp - a Foucault regulator - was installed on a steam locomotive. The device was unreliable, but Yablochkov made every effort to make it work. Standing on the front platform of the locomotive, he changed the coals in the lamp and tightened the regulator. When changing locomotives, Yablochkov moved to a new one along with a searchlight.
The train successfully reached its destination, to the delight of Yablochkov’s management, but the engineer himself decided that this method of lighting was too complex and expensive and required improvement.
Yablochkov leaves his railroad service and opens a physical instrument workshop in Moscow, where numerous experiments with electricity are carried out.
"Yablochkov's Candle" Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
The Russian idea came to life in Paris
The main invention in his life was born during experiments with the electrolysis of table salt. In 1875, during one of the electrolysis experiments, parallel coals immersed in an electrolytic bath accidentally touched each other. Immediately an electric arc flashed between them, illuminating the walls of the laboratory with bright light for a short moment.
The engineer came up with the idea that it was possible to create an arc lamp without an interelectrode distance regulator, which would be much more reliable.
In the fall of 1875, Yablochkov intended to take his inventions to the World Exhibition in Philadelphia in order to demonstrate the successes of Russian engineers in the field of electricity. But the workshop was not doing well, there was not enough money, and Yablochkov could only get to Paris. There he met Academician Breguet, who owned a physical instrument workshop. Having assessed the knowledge and experience of the Russian engineer, Breguet offered him a job. Yablochkov accepted the invitation.
In the spring of 1876, he managed to complete the work of creating an arc lamp without a regulator. On March 23, 1876, Pavel Yablochkov received French patent No. 112024.
Yablochkov's lamp turned out to be simpler, more convenient and cheaper to operate than its predecessors. It consisted of two rods separated by an insulating kaolin gasket. Each of the rods was clamped into a separate terminal of the candlestick. An arc discharge was ignited at the upper ends, and the arc flame shone brightly, gradually burning the coals and vaporizing the insulating material.
Money for some, science for others
On April 15, 1876, an exhibition of physical instruments opened in London. Yablochkov represented the Breguet company and at the same time spoke on his own behalf. On one of the days of the exhibition, the engineer presented his lamp. The new light source created a real sensation. The name “Yablochkov candle” was firmly attached to the lamp. It turned out to be extremely convenient to use. Firms operating “Yablochkov candles” were rapidly opening all over the world.
But the incredible success did not make the Russian engineer a millionaire. He took the modest post of head of the technical department of the French "General Company of Electricity with Yablochkov's patents."
He received a small percentage of the profits received, but Yablochkov did not complain - he was quite happy with the fact that he had the opportunity to continue scientific research.
Meanwhile, “Yablochkov candles” appeared on sale and began to sell out in huge quantities. Each candle cost about 20 kopecks and burned for about an hour and a half; After this time, a new candle had to be inserted into the lantern. Subsequently, lanterns with automatic replacement of candles were invented.
“Yablochkov’s Candle” in the music hall in Paris. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
From Paris to Cambodia
In 1877, “Yablochkov’s candles” conquered Paris. First they illuminated the Louvre, then the opera house, and then one of the central streets. The light of the new product was so unusually bright that at first Parisians gathered to simply admire the invention of the Russian master. Soon, “Russian electricity” was already lighting up the hippodrome in Paris.
The success of Yablochkov candles in London forced local businessmen to try to get them banned. The discussion in the English Parliament lasted for several years, and Yablochkov’s candles continued to work successfully.
“Candles” conquered Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and in Rome they illuminated the ruins of the Colosseum. By the end of 1878, the best stores in Philadelphia, a city in which Yablochkov never made it to the World Exhibition, also illuminated his “candles.”
Even the Shah of Persia and the King of Cambodia illuminated their chambers with similar lamps.
In Russia, the first test of electric lighting using the Yablochkov system was carried out on October 11, 1878. On this day, the barracks of the Kronstadt training crew and the square near the house occupied by the commander of the Kronstadt seaport were illuminated. Two weeks later, on December 4, 1878, “Yablochkov’s candles” illuminated the Bolshoi (Kamenny) Theater in St. Petersburg for the first time.
Yablochkov returned all inventions to Russia
Yablochkov’s merits have also been recognized in the scientific world. On April 21, 1876, Yablochkov was elected a full member of the French Physical Society. On April 14, 1879, the scientist was awarded a personalized medal of the Imperial Russian Technical Society.
In 1881, the first International Electrotechnical Exhibition opened in Paris. At it, Yablochkov’s inventions were highly appreciated and were recognized by the International Jury as out of competition. However, the exhibition became evidence that the time of the “Yablochkov candle” was running out - an incandescent lamp was presented in Paris that could burn for 800-1000 hours without replacement.
Yablochkov was not at all embarrassed by this. He switched to creating a powerful and economical chemical current source. Experiments in this direction were very dangerous - experiments with chlorine resulted in a burn to the mucous membrane of the lungs for the scientist. Yablochkov began to have health problems.
For about ten years he continued to live and work, shuttling between Europe and Russia. Finally, in 1892, he and his family returned to their homeland for good. Wanting all inventions to become the property of Russia, he spent almost all of his fortune on buying out patents.
Monument at the grave of Pavel Yablochkov. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Andrei Sdobnikov
Pride of the Nation
But in St. Petersburg they managed to forget about the scientist. Yablochkov left for the Saratov province, where he intended to continue scientific research in the silence of the village. But then Pavel Nikolaevich quickly realized that there were simply no conditions in the village for such work. Then he went to Saratov, where, living in a hotel room, he began drawing up a plan for electric lighting of the city.
Health, undermined by dangerous experiments, continued to deteriorate. In addition to breathing problems, I was bothered by pain in my heart, my legs were swollen and completely gave out.
At about 6 o'clock in the morning on March 31, 1894, Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov passed away. The inventor passed away at the age of 46. He was buried on the outskirts of the village of Sapozhok in the fence of the Archangel Michael Church in the family crypt.
Unlike many figures of pre-revolutionary Russia, the name of Pavel Yablochkov was revered in Soviet times. Streets were named after him in various cities across the country, including Moscow and Leningrad. In 1947, the Yablochkov Prize was established for the best work in electrical engineering, which is awarded once every three years. And in 1970, a crater on the far side of the Moon was named in honor of Pavel Nikolaevich Yablochkov.
