Who is Ivan Kulibin. What Kulibin I.P. invented: the most famous creations of a talented master. Bridge over the free Neva

There are many expressions in Russian that have a double meaning. For example, the expression was: Ah yes, the Kulibin, came up with this"! To understand the meaning of what was said, one must at least know who Kulibin is, and perceive the correct meaning of these commendable words regarding oneself! The inventions of Kulibin Ivan Petrovich amaze with the depth and breadth of thought of that time. He tried to learn all the exact sciences, constantly improving not only his creations, but also other complex technical mechanisms.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin: a short biography

The life of a Russian inventor covers the period from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The future scientist was born in Nizhny Novgorod in the family of a tradesman, his father was a flour trader, and this occupation was destined for his son. The young boy did not want to spend his whole life in the market, from an early age he was drawn to mechanics, its practical application in life. He did not attend school, but independently learned to read and write from a deacon. Ivan had a great thirst for knowledge, so he independently learned such sciences as physics and chemistry.

In addition, he learned to play the piano, wrote odes and sang well.

The talents of the future great mechanic began to appear at an early age. Ivan Kulibin convinced his father with his invention that he should choose another profession, and not sell flour.

A little later, I. P. Kulibin designed and presented to Empress Catherine II an amazing watch for that time. She appreciated the invention, and by her order he was transferred to St. Petersburg. For a long time, Ivan Petrovich served at the Imperial Academy of Sciences, was a member of the Free Economic Society, and for a long time headed the work of the Instrumental Chamber at the Academy of Sciences.

For outstanding services, I. P. Kulibin was awarded by Catherine II and Alexander I with cash prizes and was awarded a special gold medal.

Throughout his life, Ivan Petrovich was married three times, the last marriage took place when he was 70 years old. From all marriages with I.P. Kulibin had 11 children: four sons and seven daughters.

Throughout his life, Ivan Petrovich Kulibin worked tirelessly, spending his own funds on his projects, and therefore died in poverty. The grave with the greatest Russian inventor is located in Nizhny Novgorod at the All Saints Cemetery, where a monument to the greatest man is erected.

Inventions of the great Russian mechanic

Kulibin Ivan Petrovich and his inventions amaze with the breadth of their thought and originality. So, the great Russian mechanic designed and modernized the following projects.

Hydraulic water pumping device.

At the age of 13, I. Kulibin created a hydraulic device for pouring water into a pond and pumping excess fluid from a source. The introduction of this device helped to normalize the process of fish breeding in the pond.

Cuckoo-clock.

At that time, he came up with a combination of clock mechanics with sound.

New functional clock.

In the period from 1764 to 1769, he came up with and implemented his rationalization ideas when creating a new watch mechanism. The original was the shape of the clock in the form of a goose egg. The most unique thing is their device. The clock showed not only seconds and hours, but also the seasons and phases of the moon, while they opened every hour, and music played at noon. The dial depicted the Church of the Resurrection.

Spotting scopes, telescope, microscope and electric machine.

An incomplete list of rather complex technical devices that Ivan Petrovich made according to samples.

Project of bridges across the Neva and Volga rivers.

He designed a bridge in one span across the Neva River, while the length of the bridge was assumed to be 298.704 meters (140 sazhens, 1 sazhen - 2.1336 meters). The famous academician Leonhard Euler checked all the calculations of IP Kulibin, noting the accuracy and correctness of all mathematical calculations. After that, he published about it to the Academy of Sciences. Practical tests of the model, which was reduced by 10 times, were carried out on December 27, 1776 in the courtyard of the Academy of Sciences Russian Empire. And they were successful.

The project of an iron bridge with three openings across the Volga was perfect.

And in our time, many outstanding engineers speak of the designs of I.P. Kulibin as the most rational, since the bridge is supported by an arch, and the diagonal system prevents it from bending.

Lantern with reflective glass.

I. P. Kulibin improved the lantern by installing reflective glasses, which increased the luminous intensity to 25.5 km. This invention has been used for the light of beacons, lighting of long galleries, etc.

Prototypes of future prostheses.

Ivan Petrovich was the first in the world to develop and begin to make mechanical arms and legs for amputated body parts. This idea of ​​prosthetics was put into practice on a full scale in France after the war with Russia (1812-1813).

Device for opening window panes.

The modern method of opening and closing windows with ropes was the first to be invented by I. P. Kulibin. He proposed to open the windows in the Tsarskoye Selo Palace, which were located high from the ground, with the help of laces.

Room lighting with mirrors.

Ivan Petrovich came up with the idea of ​​illuminating dark rooms and corridors in the Empress's palace with the help of mirrors that enhance daylight.

Unique fireworks.

Created original at that time indoor fireworks, fiery fountains, rockets. When they were launched, there were no traces of gunpowder and smoke left in the room.

The design of the ship, which moved against the current.

At that time, the advanced project of the vessel, which, due to the movement of oncoming water, moved without sails against the current. Such an invention successfully passed all the tests in 1806, and Ivan Petrovich petitioned for the construction of this type of ships in Russia.

And this is not a complete list of inventions of IP Kulibin.

Our compatriot not only invented complex mechanical devices, but also successfully solved other problems related to mechanics. Moreover, other scientists could not cope with such tasks. So he easily solved the following problems:

• repaired the complex mechanism of the machine that demonstrated the movement of the planets at the Academy of Sciences;
• created an automaton that played checkers and gave various advice to visitors;
• designed a device for the safe movement of containers with molten glass in the factory;
• invented and made a lifting machine along a spiral staircase for the Empress, and the chair moved without any ropes and chains;
• solved the problem of launching the ship "Blagodat" with 130 guns on board, which got stuck on the boathouse, and the builders "dropped hands".

Kulibin Ivan Petrovich himself and his were unique for that time. Their projects were based on deep knowledge of the laws of mechanics and physics. Unfortunately, many of the ideas were not implemented.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, Nizhny Novgorod was a major industrial and commercial center of the country. The most important waterways of Russia - the Oka and the Volga - carried past him countless ships with goods. More than a dozen spinning and rope manufactories worked in the city itself, and malt, oatmeal, brick and pottery factories stretched behind the Ilyinsky lattice.

It was in this city in the family of a flour merchant that the future Russian designer and inventor Ivan Petrovich Kulibin was born on April 21, 1735. The local deacon taught the boy to read and write according to the book of hours and the psalter. Kulibin's father respected educated people, but he despised schools and did not want to send his son to them. The Bursas, who trained Orthodox priests, also did not suit their Old Believer family. As a result, the father put the boy behind the counter, deciding to grow him into a first-class flour merchant.

However, young Vanya languished in this occupation. As soon as a free minute fell out, he hid behind the bags, with a pocket knife, carving various figures out of wood there - weather vanes, toys, gears. The father saw his son's hobby as pampering, distracting from trade. “The Lord punished me, there will be no use from my son,” he complained. However, Kulibin Sr. could not suppress the outstanding inquisitiveness of the child, in which practical inventive acumen appeared early. In the spring, when streams began to flow, the boy built water wheels on them and launched home-made boats of outlandish designs. In the summer, he built sluices for spring water flowing down from the mountains.

According to the scarce information of biographers, Ivan grew up as an uncommunicative dreamer. He could stand idle for a long time near the water wheel or at the forge, study the simple designs of the Volga ships. The boy often visited the architecturally remarkable belfry of the Nativity Church. It was not at all the intricate Venetian decorations or the landscapes of the Trans-Volga region that opened from the bell tower that attracted him there. No, there was a clock of a wonderful device, showing the movement of the heavenly bodies, the signs of the Zodiac and the change of the lunar phases, and also every hour announcing the surroundings with amazing music. For a long time Kulibin stood idle on the bell tower, trying to comprehend the secrets of an unknown mechanism. But all was in vain, and he suffered from it. There was no one to turn to for help - there were no watchmakers in the city. Then Vanya began to look for books describing the operation of automata. There were such books, but many of them were of a semi-charlatan type, while the rest were intended for specialists and required knowledge of mathematics.

At the age of eighteen, Kulibin saw for the first time a home wall clock from a neighboring merchant Mikulin. They were wooden, with huge oak wheels and, of course, with a secret. At the set time, their doors opened, a cuckoo jumped out and cuckooed as many times as the hour indicated on the dial by the arrow. Ivan was delighted with the device, he persuaded the merchant to give the watch to him for a while. At home, Kulibin managed to disassemble the watch into small parts, examined them and was inflamed with a desire to make the same ones for himself. He did not have any tools, and the young man cut out all the parts of the machine gun from wood with a pocket knife. One can only imagine how much time he spent cutting each wheel individually. Finally, all the details were finished and the mechanism assembled. Of course, the clock did not work, and the young inventor finally realized that he needed special tools that he had never seen before.

Soon he had the opportunity to acquire such instruments. As an honest and literate person, the city hall sent Ivan Petrovich to Moscow as an attorney in one court case. In the capital, an inquisitive young man saw a familiar cuckoo machine at a watchmaker's. Unable to overcome the temptation, he entered the workshop and, embarrassed, told the master about his irresistible passion for the craft of mechanics. He was very lucky - the watchmaker Lobkov turned out to be a sympathetic and good-natured person. He explained to Kulibin the secrets of clock mechanisms and even allowed him to be near him during work. Ivan spent all his free time at the watchmaker's, watching with greedy curiosity every movement of the specialist. Before leaving, he timidly expressed a desire to purchase the necessary tools, but the watchmaker explained how expensive they were. Then Kulibin asked the master for all the tools that were broken or thrown away as unnecessary. The watchmaker found those, and he sold them to Kulibin for next to nothing.

The young designer returned home as a happy owner of a beam lathe, chisels, drills and a cutting machine. Upon arrival, he immediately repaired the instruments and set to work. First of all, he made a cuckoo clock, exactly like his neighbor's. Soon, rumors were already circulating around the city that a certain townsman had learned a “crafty handicraft”, which was previously considered accessible only to “Germans”. Eminent citizens began to order cuckoo clocks for Ivan. Kulibin founded a workshop, and since cutting each wheel on a machine was a painful job that took an abyss of time, the inventor made models of parts and cast them from foundry workers. The manufacture of copper watches gave Ivan a considerable profit, but he was not at all interested in profit.

In 1763, the first year of the reign of Catherine II, Kulibin turned twenty-eight years old. Four years earlier he had married, now he had to take care of the family. The inventor's father died, and their flour shop closed - Kulibin did not like trade. By that time, he had already firmly decided to remain a mechanic and comprehend all the secrets of watchmaking. Soon, the local governor Yakov Arshenevsky broke down an expensive watch "with a rehearsal." Such a clock could play whole arias, extremely amusing people of the eighteenth century. Such rare things were sent for repair to special metropolitan craftsmen. However, Arshenevsky's servant advised the master to take them to Kulibin. In response, the governor just laughed. Secretly, the servant nevertheless showed this watch to Ivan, and he, having comprehended a new mechanism for him, perfectly repaired it. For a long time after that, the governor praised the watchmaker, and the entire city nobility echoed him. Even the surrounding nobility began to bring broken watches to Kulibin. His business expanded, he took on an assistant, together with whom he began to repair watches of any complexity. Ivan Petrovich devoted all his free time to the study of physics and mathematics.

In 1764, the inhabitants of Nizhny Novgorod learned that Empress Catherine II was going to visit their city. In Kulibin's head, the idea arose to create a unique clock for her arrival, the likes of which had never been seen anywhere before. For the manufacture of the conceived inventor needed new tools and expensive materials including gold. He didn't have the money to buy it all. However, the wealthy merchant Kostromin, an enlightened and inquisitive man, as well as a good friend of Father Kulibin, found out about his bold undertaking. The merchant offered Ivan Petrovich financial assistance, and also promised to support the family of the designer and his assistant until the end of the work. With the whole family, Kulibin moved to the village of Podnovye, located not far from the city, and settled in the merchant's house, concentrating on creating watches. This work required a huge investment of time and effort. Ivan Petrovich had to become a carpenter, a sculptor, a locksmith, a specialist in the production of new instruments, and even a musician in order to accurately convey church music in an hour-long chime. The work was almost completed when the master suddenly cut it off.

The inventor's eyes quite by chance came across foreign devices unfamiliar to him, brought for fun by a merchant from Moscow. These were a spyglass, a microscope, a telescope and an electric machine. The devices fascinated Kulibin, he lost sleep, raved about them, until, finally, he begged for them and dismantled them. Of course, he immediately wanted to make them himself. With ease, Kulibin made his own electric car, but the matter arose with other devices. They required glasses, which, in turn, required grinding and casting equipment. One task led to a whole series of others, and the Russian mechanic had to solve them all over again, regardless of European experience. As a result, Kulibin independently made one microscope and two telescopes. One author of the mid-nineteenth century wrote: “Only these inventions can be considered sufficient to perpetuate the name of the illustrious mechanic. I say - inventions, because making metal mirrors and strange mechanisms, turning glass without any assistance in Nizhny Novgorod - this means reinventing the methods of these constructions.

Only after creating the devices he saw, Ivan Petrovich calmed down and at the beginning of 1767 he finished work on the clock. They turned out to be “in size and appearance between a duck and a goose egg” and had a gold frame. The watch consisted of a thousand tiny parts and wound up once a day. At the end of each hour, the wing doors in the egg-shaped automaton were opened, and the gilded inner "hall" was presented to the eyes. Against the doors, an image of the “Holy Sepulcher” was installed, into which a closed door led, and a stone was rolled to the door. Two warriors with spears stood next to the coffin. Thirty seconds after the doors of the “chamber” were opened, an angel appeared, the stone fell off, the door leading to the coffin opened, and the soldiers fell to their knees. After another thirty seconds, the “myrrh-bearing women” appeared and the church verse “Christ is risen!” After that, the clock doors were closed. In the afternoon, every hour, the machine played a different verse: “Jesus is risen from the tomb,” and once a day, at noon, the clock played an ode composed by the master himself in honor of the arrival of the empress. All figurines were cast from silver and pure gold.

On May 20, 1767, the queen arrived in Nizhny Novgorod. Until the very evening, she had conversations with the city nobility, and the next day the governor introduced Kulibin to her. Ekaterina looked with interest at the unusual watch and the modestly dressed designer from the "lower city", praising him and promising to call him to St. Petersburg. However, Ivan Petrovich moved to the northern capital only in 1769. The splendor of the court and the attire of the courtiers stunned the provincial master. In the palace, Kulibin showed the Empress his other products: an electric machine, a microscope and a telescope. Catherine II ordered to send all his creations to the Kunstkamera in order to store them as "outstanding monuments of art", and she ordered the "Nizhny Novgorod tradesman Kulibin" himself to be employed at the Academy of Sciences as the head of the mechanical workshops. Thus began the capital period of the life of the great inventor, which lasted thirty years.

Kulibin was entrusted with instrumental, locksmith, turning, "barometric" and "punch" (engaged in the manufacture of stamps) "chambers". The new mechanic was charged with the responsibility of correcting and putting in order all the scientific instruments and instruments in the offices of the Academy. Among them were hydrodynamic instruments, instruments for conducting mechanical experiments, optical, acoustic, etc. Many devices could not be restored, and they had to be made anew. In addition, Ivan Petrovich had to fulfill various orders, not only from the professors of the Academy, but also from the State Commerce Collegium and other government agencies, right up to the “Her Majesty’s Office” itself.

Kulibin had a huge job ahead of him. The first steps of his activity related to the correction of optical instruments. Already by the beginning of August 1770, he single-handedly produced the “Gregorian telescope” needed by the Academy, after checking which the commission gave the conclusion: “It is prudent to encourage Kulibin to continue to make such instruments, because there is no doubt that he will soon bring them to perfection ". In the "barometer chamber" the master made barometers and thermometers. They were intended not only for use at the Academy, but also for private individuals. For the public, astronomical telescopes were also repaired in the workshops, “electric banks”, lorgnette glasses, solar microscopes, spirit levels, scales, astrolabes, and sundials were made. Kulibin also repaired all sorts of overseas curiosities, such as clockwork birds, home fountains, etc. The master did not confine himself to fixing instruments, he gave advice to professors on how to save and keep them in order, wrote instructions about this. Academic workshops under the Nizhny Novgorod inventor reached their peak, became sources of mechanical art throughout the country.

It should be noted that the working conditions in the workshops are extremely difficult for health. From the surviving reports of Kulibin, it is known that his apprentices and masters, unable to withstand the difficult working conditions, were constantly sick, often “absented” for no reason. Ivan Petrovich was looking for new students, as well as introducing discipline among them. Kulibin had to look for his workers in the squares and taverns and bring them to the workshops. With some of them it was not at all sweet, and the inventor reported this to his superiors with sorrow. To encourage those who distinguished themselves, the inventor beat out bonuses and salary increases from the management.

Soon after arriving in the northern capital, Kulibin's restless creative mind found a worthy technical task for himself. The misfortune of St. Petersburg was the absence of bridges across the Neva. The great depth and strong current seemed to the engineers to be insurmountable obstacles, and the city managed with grief in half by a floating temporary bridge on barges. In spring and autumn, during the opening and freezing of the river, this bridge was dismantled, and communication between parts of the city was stopped. Difficulties in the construction of bridge supports due to the strong current of the Neva with a low level of development of bridge building technology in Russia as a whole prompted Kulibin to the idea of ​​blocking the river with one span of an arched bridge, resting with its ends on different banks of the river. Similar wooden bridges existed before - the best of them (Rhine Bridge, Delaware Bridge) had spans of fifty to sixty meters in length. Kulibin, on the other hand, conceived a project almost six times larger - up to 300 meters, which no one even dared to think about.

Kulibin's work in this direction is crowned by the third version of the bridge. Previous models, although not viable, expanded the experience of the inventor, strengthened his confidence and enriched theoretically. The main difference of the third option was the need to lighten the middle part of the structure in order to reduce the amount of thrust. This principle turned out to be expedient and later came into use in bridge building. In general, the whole project for the construction of the bridge was developed with amazing exhaustiveness and ingenuity. Ivan Petrovich chose a place for the bridge not far from the floating Isaakievsky. Stone foundations were supposed to serve as supports for it, and the length of the arch was projected at 140 sazhens (298 meters). The superstructure itself included six main arched trusses and two additional ones designed to provide lateral stability. The main load-bearing elements were four medium arched trusses placed in parallel and in pairs at a distance of 8.5 meters from each other. For better connection of arched trusses, the inventor came up with powerful belts that play the role of side stops and protect the building from the wind.

It should be especially noted that in order to find the outlines of the arched truss, Ivan Petrovich used the construction of a rope polygon, having independently discovered the law of interaction of forces in the arch, but did not formulate it, and therefore did not take its rightful place in theoretical mechanics. Without having the slightest idea about the resistance of materials, Kulibin, using weights and ropes, calculated the resistance of different parts of the bridge, guessing by intuition the laws of mechanics discovered later. Leonhard Euler - the greatest mathematician of the eighteenth century - tested his mathematical calculations. Everything turned out to be correct.

The construction by the inventor of a model of a bridge on a scale of one-tenth of its natural size was a major development in the construction technique of that era. Kulibin was helped in this by Grigory Potemkin, the almighty favorite of the queen, who was interested in the course of this case and allocated three thousand rubles to the inventor. The total cost of the model was 3525 rubles, the remaining expenses had to be paid by the designer himself, which, however, was not the first time he had done it. The model took seventeen months to build in the barn of the academic yard. In length, it reached 30 meters, and weighed 5400 kilograms. The best scientists of that time - Kotelnikov, Rumovsky, Leksel, Fuss, Inohodtsev and many others - were present at its verification. Most of them openly laughed at Kulibin, and no one believed that "home-grown" calculations could lead to anything worthwhile. Ivan Petrovich personally supervised the installation of cargo on the bridge. Three thousand poods (49 tons) were put on the model, the weight is 9 times greater than its own. The model held strong, even the most skeptical viewers confirmed that Kulibin's project was viable, it was possible to build a bridge across the Neva 300 meters long.

The mechanic looked forward to the completion of the project. The Empress "with extreme pleasure" learned about this invention and gave the order to reward Kulibin. And the bridge? And no one was going to build a bridge. The model was ordered to “make it a pleasant sight for the public,” and in 1793, after the death of Potemkin, it was transported to the gardens of the Tauride Palace and thrown there across the canal. In 1778, the tsarina invited the inventor, who was still waiting in vain for the implementation of her project, to Tsarskoe Selo, where, in the presence of the whole court, she awarded him a medal with St. Andrew's ribbon. On one side it was stamped: "Academy of Sciences - mechanic Kulibin." Such a medal gave the recipient access to the highest spheres of St. Petersburg society, but the whole trouble was that the brilliant designer was not awarded for his outstanding inventions, but for fireworks, machine guns, lighting effects and skillful toys that he made to amuse the courtiers, and which he interested in the last.

However, Ivan Petrovich did not give up. Working as a court organizer of illuminations and pyrotechnics, he managed to create an invention in this area that could be of great importance in military affairs and the national economy - the “Kulibin lantern”. The device was a spotlight of an original design, capable of producing a great light effect, despite a weak light source, which, as a rule, was a candle. Kulibin developed a whole range of lanterns of various strengths and sizes - to illuminate large workshops, corridors, ships, carriages. The nobility of the capital immediately wanted to have such devices, which at that time were a miracle of technology. Kulibin's workshop was bombarded with orders. Following the nobility, the provincials also reached out, there was no end to those who wished. However, the practical application of Kulibin's lanterns, their use for urban improvement, in industry, and in military affairs was out of the question. In these areas searchlights were used as an exception.

Ivan Petrovich, being a mechanic at the royal chambers, a porthole of feasts, a participant in balls and even a companion of the Empress during her passion for astronomy, was drawn into the atmosphere of court life. At the royal court, in his long caftan, with a huge beard, he seemed to be a guest from another world. Many people laughed at the "pretty" appearance of the mechanic, approached him and, for the sake of a joke, asked for blessings, like a priest. Kulibin could only laugh it off, since to show his anger would be unacceptable insolence. There is a belief that Vladimir Orlov repeatedly persuaded the mechanic to change into a German dress and shave. The beard was considered an attribute of the common people, being an obstacle to obtaining a title of nobility. Kulibin answered this: “Your Grace, I’m not looking for honors and I won’t shave my beard for them.” In general, according to the descriptions of his contemporaries, Kulibin was "a stately, mediocre growth man, in his gait, showing dignity, and in his eyes, sharpness and intelligence." He was strong in body, never smoked, drank, or played cards. In his free time he composed poetry, his language was folk, precise and devoid of any mannerisms. Ivan Petrovich wrote illiterately, but not in terms of style, but in terms of spelling. He was very annoyed about this and, when he sent papers to his superiors, he always asked knowledgeable people to correct mistakes.

Despite the workload, Kulibin always found time to engage in serious inventions. In 1791, he developed original designs for a four-wheeled and three-wheeled "scooter". Their length was supposed to be about 3 meters, the speed of movement was up to 30 kilometers per hour. Some of their parts were very original. Indeed, not a single description of the "scooter" of the eighteenth century comes close to such details as a flywheel to eliminate uneven travel, disc bearings, a gearbox that allows you to change the speed. For unknown reasons, the master destroyed his invention, leaving only ten drawings made in 1784-1786. In addition, there are twenty-two sheets of drawings, entitled "Lifting Chair". This "elevator" for the elderly Empress Kulibin made in 1795, it was set in motion by the work of a screw.

And shortly before the death of Catherine II, the Russian inventor got acquainted with the optical telegraph device of the Chappe brothers. Kulibin developed his own design for this device, which he called the "long-range warning machine." He borrowed the signaling principle from Claude Chappe, but he invented the code on his own, and went further than the Frenchman in this respect. Ivan Petrovich performed the transmission of words in parts, dividing them into two-valued and unambiguous syllables. However, no one was interested in the invention, it was sent to the archive as a curious toy. A certain Jacques Chateau, an employee of the Chappe enterprises, forty years later brought a telegraph of his own design to Russia. The government gave him 120 thousand rubles for the “secret” of the device and six thousand rubles a year for a lifetime pension for the installation.

In 1796, Catherine died, and her son Paul I ascended the throne. a short time courtiers and nobles, influential under the empress, were removed from public affairs. Together with them, that patronizing and condescending attitude of the court towards Kulibin, as the organizer of brilliant illuminations, collapsed. His position became precarious, but occasionally, in emergency cases, the tsar continued to turn to him, which made it possible for the brilliant inventor to continue working at the Academy of Sciences. But at the very beginning of the reign of Alexander I, on August 24, 1801, Kulibin was fired. Of course, this dismissal was dressed in the appropriate form: “Condescending to his jealousy and long-term service, the Sovereign allows the elder to spend the rest of his days in peaceful solitude in his homeland.”

Kulibin, despite his years, did not want to rest, the thought of inactivity was painful for him. Already the move in late autumn with children and a pregnant wife along broken roads was terrible for Ivan Petrovich. Shortly after arriving in Nizhny Novgorod, his wife died in terrible agony during childbirth. Kulibin experienced this very painfully, considering himself the culprit of her death. One can only imagine what feelings overwhelmed the great inventor at that time - many years of exhausting activity, general indifference to his work, the nickname "sorcerer", which was awarded to him by his neighbors upon arrival. However, the strong and enduring nature of the Russian mechanic overcame all moral and physical ailments. Ivan Petrovich married a local bourgeois for the third time, subsequently they had three girls. In total, Kulibin had twelve children, he raised all of them in strict obedience, he gave education to all his sons.

And in Nizhny Novgorod, the inventive thought of the national genius continued to work. In 1808, he completed his next creation - "mechanical legs". Back in 1791, one artillery officer, who lost his leg near Ochakov, turned to him: “You, Ivan Petrovich, invented many different curiosities, and we, the warriors, have to carry pieces of wood.” In an improved form, the Kulibin prosthesis consisted of a foot, lower leg and thigh. The mechanical leg could bend and straighten, and was attached to the body using a metal splint with belts. To demonstrate the suitability of his creation, the designer built two dolls. One of them depicted a man whose right leg was taken away below the knee, and the other, whose left leg was taken away above the knee. Thus, Kulibin provided for both cases of loss of legs. He sent models of prostheses, dolls and all the drawings to Yakov Willie, the president of the Medico-Surgical Academy. Surgeons studied the artificial leg and recognized Kulibin's prosthesis not only usable, but also the best of all that existed hitherto. However, this creation did not bring the mechanic anything but expenses.

From childhood, Ivan Petrovich observed horrifying pictures of hard labor barge haulers on the Volga. For almost twenty years he struggled with the problem of replacing barge hauling with the forces of nature. This idea was not new. Back in the fifteenth century, similar works appeared in the Czech Republic. However, historians have no information that the Russian inventor was familiar with them. Most likely, Kulibin, as in other cases, independently approached his idea. The device of the "navigable vessel" according to his plan was as follows. One end of the rope on the ship was wrapped around the propeller shaft, and the other was tied on the shore to a fixed object. The current of the river pressed on the blades of the wheels, which came into rotation and wound the rope on the propeller shaft. Thus, the ship began to move against the current. The inconvenience, of course, was enormous, but it was still better than the previous thrust by the power of barge haulers.

It should be noted that before proceeding with the development of a machine vessel, Ivan Petrovich scrupulously collected economic information confirming the profitability of his creation. To do this, he learned the system of the Volga courts and their economic efficiency, the earnings of barge haulers, methods of hiring labor, and the like. According to his calculations, it turned out that the use of engine traction led to a halving of the labor force, and one "navigable vessel" gave merchants a net saving of 80 rubles per thousand poods a year. However, only an example of a really working vessel could make people believe in the invention. The master understood this, and therefore wrote a letter to the king with a request to provide him with funds for the construction. In case of failure, Kulibin agreed to take on all the costs, and in case of success, he would give the ship to state operation for free and allow anyone who wants to build their own "waterways" according to this model.

Kulibin's request was respected. In the summer of 1802, he began construction, using the old bark as a basis. The equipment of the ship was completed in 1804, and on September 23 it was tested. The ship was attended by the governor of the city, noble officials, nobles and merchants. The bark carried 140 tons of sand and moved against the current, not inferior in speed to the ships driven by barge haulers. The self-propelled vessel was recognized as “promising great benefits to the state”, and the inventor was given a certificate. After that, Ivan Petrovich sent all the drawings and calculations to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the abyss of bureaucratic departments, Kulibin's project immediately began to sink. The Ministry of Naval Forces did not wish to give an opinion on the invention, demanding additional information. Kulibin was returned the drawings, after five months of hard work, he fulfilled all the requirements and returned the papers to the minister, also attaching a note justifying the economic benefits of operating such ships on the Volga. The materials were considered by the Admiralty Board, which, doubting the running properties of Kulibin's ships, as well as their economic profitability, rejected the project. The case ended with the City Duma taking the "vodochod" into storage. A few years later, an interesting invention was sold for firewood.

In 1810-1811, the indefatigable inventor worked on machines for the Stroganov salt works. The development of Kulibin's own design of a seeder belongs to the same period of time. In 1810, Ivan Petrovich built a new beautiful two-story house according to his drawings. However, misfortune pursued him. The master did not have time to settle down, as a fire broke out in the house. Kulibin managed to take out only the children and his works from the fire. The inventor and his family were sheltered by the eldest daughter Elizaveta, who married the official Popov, whom Kulibin loved and respected very much. Their family lived not far from Nizhny in the village of Karpovka. Soon, the master from the "Public Charity" was given a loan of 600 rubles. On them he bought a dilapidated house and moved into it.

In 1813 Kulibin completed his new iron bridge project across the Neva. The Russian genius designed the bridge from 3 lattice arches resting on four intermediate supports. The length of the bridge was about 280 meters, it was supposed to be illuminated by Kulibin lanterns. Ivan Petrovich provided for everything, including ice cutters. Despite his old age, he himself intended to supervise the construction work, dreaming of moving back to St. Petersburg. When the project was completed, the usual for the inventor "going through the throes" began. The drawings were sent for consideration to Arakcheev, to which he replied: “The construction of a bridge across the Neva that you propose requires large outlays, which the state currently needs for other items, and therefore I think that this assumption cannot be put into practice now.” After this refusal, Kulibin began to look for another person who could present the project to the tsar. In 1815, he decided to apply to the Academy of Sciences, where his papers were forgotten the day after they were received. Until the end of his life, Kulibin was waiting for an answer on this project, he was worried and kept looking for an opportunity to present the drawings to the emperor himself. Later, the construction of the Nikolaevsky bridge justified all the technical considerations of Ivan Petrovich.

The only problem that the great inventor could not solve was an attempt to build a perpetual motion machine. For more than 40 years he has dealt with this issue, especially in last years life. After Kulibin, a huge number of design options for this machine remained. Since 1797, he kept a special diary on this case - 10 notebooks of 24 pages each. The perpetual motion machine became the last dream of the designer. His health was deteriorating. Longer and longer Kulibin lay in bed. When he had the strength, he wrote letters to St. Petersburg, visited friends, went to the banks of the Volga and admired the caravans of ships. Last months Ivan Petrovich spent in his bed, surrounded by drawings of a perpetual motion machine. He worked on them even at night. When his strength left, his daughter Elizabeth read to him, and he made notes on the sheets. August 11, 1818 Kulibin died. He died absolutely penniless. Not a penny was in the house, the widow had to sell the wall clock, and old friends brought some money. They buried the legendary inventor at the Peter and Paul Cemetery - a couple of steps from the church porch.

Based on the materials of the books: N. I. Kochin "Kulibin" and Zh. I. Yanovskaya "Kulibin".

Great Soviet Encyclopedia:

The remarkable self-taught mechanic Ivan Petrovich Kulibin was born on April 10 (April 21, according to the new style), 1735, in the family of a small merchant in the village of Podnovye, Nizhny Novgorod district.

In his youth, Kulibin was fond of studying clockwork. In 1764-1767. with the financial support of the merchant M.A. Kostromin, he created an egg-shaped clock, which was a complex mechanical device, and in 1769 presented it to Empress Catherine II, who appointed Kulibin the head of the mechanical workshops of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Kulibin's duties included "to have the main supervision over the mechanical and optical workshops, so that all works were successfully and decently produced, and to make an undisguised testimony to academic artists in everything that he himself is skilled in." The workshops produced astronomical optical tubes, electrostatic devices, and navigation devices, in the design of which scientists of the Academy of Sciences participated. While working at the Academy of Sciences, Kulibin designed a "planetary" pocket watch, in which he used a compensating device new system; in addition to hours, minutes and seconds, they showed months, days of the week, seasons, phases of the moon. He also created projects for tower clocks, miniature “clocks in a ring”, etc.

Kulibin developed new methods of polishing glass for the manufacture of microscopes, telescopes and other optical instruments. In the 1770s he designed a wooden single-arch bridge across the Neva with a span of 298 meters (instead of the previously used 50-60-meter spans), suggesting the use of original cross-lattice trusses. In 1776, a 1/10 life-size model of this bridge built by Kulibin was tested by a special academic commission; The project was approved but not implemented.

In 1779, Kulibin designed a lantern (searchlight), which gave a powerful light with a weak source. This invention was used for industrial purposes - for lighting workshops, ships, lighthouses, etc. In 1791, Kulibin made a pedal scooter cart, in which he used a flywheel, brake, gearbox, rolling bearings, and also developed the design of "mechanical legs" (prostheses).

In 1792, Kulibin was accepted as a member of the Free Economic Society. In 1793 he built an elevator that raised the cabin with the help of screw mechanisms, and in 1794 he created an optical telegraph for transmitting conditional signals at a distance. In 1801 Kulibin was dismissed from the Academy of Sciences and returned to Nizhny Novgorod. In 1804, he built a “waterway”, on which he began work back in 1782 (“the ship went against the water, with the help of the same water, without any extraneous force”). Kulibin's work on the use of a steam engine for the movement of ships belongs to the same time. He also developed a device for boring and processing the internal surfaces of cylinders, machines for extracting salt, seeders, various milling machines, a water wheel of an original design, etc.

Story:

Nizhny Novgorod "townsman" Ivan Petrovich Kulibin after several years hard work, many sleepless nights, built in 1767 an amazing clock. "Between the size and shape of a goose's and a duck's egg," they were encased in an intricate gold setting.

The watch was so remarkable that it was accepted as a gift by Empress Catherine II. They not only showed the time, but also chimed the hours, halves and quarters of the hour. In addition, a tiny automatic theater was enclosed in them. At the end of each hour, the folding doors opened, revealing a golden chamber in which a performance was automatically played out. Warriors with spears stood at the "Holy Sepulcher". Entrance door was filled with stone. Half a minute after the chamber was opened, an angel appeared, a stone was moved aside, the doors opened, and the warriors, stricken with fear, fell on their faces. After another half a minute, the “myrrh-bearing women” appeared, the bells rang, the verse “Christ is Risen” was sung three times. Everything calmed down, and the doors closed the chamber so that in an hour the whole action would be repeated again. At noon, the clock played a hymn composed by I.P. Kulibin in honor of the Empress. After that, during the second half of the day, the clock performed a new verse: "Jesus is risen from the tomb." With the help of special arrows, it was possible to call the action of the automatic theater at any time.

In the precisely coordinated movement of the mass of the smallest details, in the action of time indicators, figurines, musical devices, the sleepless nights of the remarkable Russian mechanic, who worked for years to create one of the most amazing automata known in history, were embodied.

Creating the most complex mechanism of the first of his creations, I.P. Kulibin began to work in the very field that the best technicians and scientists of that time were engaged in, up to the great Lomonosov, who paid a lot of attention to the work of creating the most accurate watches. The work of I. P. Kulibin on the clock had great importance. As K. Marx pointed out, the clock, together with the mill, were “two material foundations on which the preparatory work for the machine industry was built inside the manufactory ... The clock is the first automatic machine created for practical purposes; they developed the whole theory of the production of uniform motions. By their very nature, they themselves are built on a combination of semi-artistic craft with direct theory” (K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., vol. XXIII, p. 131).

I. P. Kulibin, having begun his work with the invention of an unprecedented clock, went along one of the great roads of technical thought of that time and took his place among the pioneers who developed precision mechanics in practice.

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin - an outstanding inventor and self-taught mechanic - was born on April 21, 1735 in Nizhny Novgorod, in the family of a small merchant. "Learning from a deacon" is his only education. The father hoped to make a flour merchant out of his son, but the inquisitive young man aspired to study mechanics, where his exceptional abilities manifested themselves very early and in various ways. The ardent nature of the inventor was revealed everywhere. There was a rotten pond in the garden of my father's house. Young Kulibin came up with a hydraulic device in which water from a neighboring mountain was collected in a pool, from there it went to a pond, and excess water from the pond was discharged to the outside, turning the pond into a flowing one in which fish could be found.

I. P. Kulibin paid special attention to the work on the clock. They brought him fame. The Nizhny Novgorod watchmaker-inventor and designer became known far beyond the borders of his city. In 1767, he was introduced to Catherine II in Nizhny Novgorod, in 1769 he was summoned to St. Petersburg, again introduced to the Empress, and was appointed to head the workshops of the Academy of Sciences. In addition to watches, he brought from Nizhny Novgorod to St. Petersburg an electric machine, a microscope and a telescope. All these creations of the "Nizhny Novgorod tradesman" were handed over to the Kunstkamera for storage.

With the move to St. Petersburg came best years in the life of I. P. Kulibin. Many years of life filled with hard, inconspicuous work were left behind. Ahead opened the way to a new, more interesting business. It was necessary to work in conditions of constant communication with academicians and other prominent people. However, the lengthy clerical red tape for the registration of the "Nizhny Novgorod townsman" in the position ended only on January 2, 1770, when I.P. Kulibin signed the "condition" - an agreement on his duties in the academic service.

He was supposed to: “have the main supervision over the instrumental, metalwork, turning and over that chamber where optical instruments, thermometers and barometers are made.” He was also obliged: “to clean and repair astronomical and other clocks, telescopes, spotting scopes and other, especially physical instruments from the Commission [i.e. from the governing body of the Academy], sent to him. The “Condition” also contained a special clause on the indispensable training by I.P. Kulibin of the workers of academic workshops: “To make an unconcealed testimony to academic artists in everything that he himself is skilled in.” It also provided for the preparation of boys assigned to I.P. Kulibin for teaching one hundred rubles for each of the students, who “themselves without the help and indications of the master will be able to make some kind of large instrument, for example, a telescope or a large astronomical tube from 15 to 20 feet, mediocre goodness." For the management of workshops and work in them, they put 350 rubles a year, giving IP Kulibin the right to engage in his personal inventions in the afternoon.

So Ivan Petrovich Kulibin became the "St. Petersburg Academy of mechanics."

I. P. Kulibin became the direct successor of the remarkable works of Lomonosov, who did a lot for the development of academic workshops and paid special attention to them until his death in 1765.

I.P. Kulibin worked at the Academy for thirty years. His works have always been highly appreciated by scientists. A few months after I.P. Kulibin's academic work began, Academician Rumovsky examined the "Gregorian telescope" made by the new mechanic. According to the report of Rumovsky on August 13, 1770, in the minutes of the academic conference they wrote: “... in discussing the many great difficulties that occur when making such telescopes, it would be good to encourage the artist Kulibin to continue to make such instruments, because there is no doubt that that he will soon bring them to the perfection to which they are brought in England.

A written review of Kulibin’s work, presented by Rumovsky, read: “Ivan Kulibin, the townsman of Nizhny Novgorod, in the discussion of various machines made, in December 1769, on December 23, was admitted to the Academy under a contract and was entrusted with looking over a mechanical laboratory, since that time he is in this position and not only by correcting it, but also by instruction, taught by an artist, deserves special praise from the Academy.

IP Kulibin personally made and supervised the execution of a very large number of instruments for scientific observations and experiments. A lot of instruments passed through his hands: “hydrodynamic instruments”, “tools used to make mechanical experiments”, optical and acoustic instruments, cooking tools, astrolabes, telescopes, spyglasses, microscopes, “electric banks”, solar and other watches, spirit levels, precision scales and many others, the “Instrumental Turning, Locksmith, Barometric Chamber”, which worked under the guidance of I.P. Kulibin, supplied scientists and all of Russia with a variety of instruments. "Made by Kulibin" - this stamp can be put on a significant number of scientific instruments that were in circulation in Russia at that time.

Numerous instructions compiled by him taught how to handle the most complex instruments, how to get the most accurate readings from them.

“The description of how to maintain an electric machine in decent strength,” written by I. P. Kulibin, is just one example of how he taught the organization of scientific experiments. The "Description" was compiled for academicians doing experimental work on the study of electrical phenomena. Compiled "Description" is simple, clear and strictly scientific. IP Kulibin indicated here all the basic rules for handling the device, troubleshooting methods, and techniques that ensure the most effective operation of the device.

In addition to instructions, I.P. Kulibin also compiled scientific descriptions of instruments, such as: “A description of an astronomical perspective of 6 inches, which magnifies thirty times, and, therefore, will clearly show the Jupiter satellites.”

During the performance of various works, IP Kulibin constantly took care of the education of his students and assistants, among whom should be mentioned his Nizhny Novgorod assistant Sherstnevsky, opticians Belyaevs, locksmith Yegorov, Kesarev's closest associate.

I. P. Kulibin created at the Academy an exemplary production of physical and other scientific instruments for that time, a modest Nizhny Novgorod mechanic became one of the first places in the development of Russian instrumentation technology.

But construction equipment, transport, communications, agriculture and other industries also keep remarkable evidence of his work. The remarkable projects of I. P. Kulibin in the field of bridge building were widely known, far ahead of everything that was known to the world practice of his day.

IP Kulibin drew attention to the inconvenience caused by the absence in his time of permanent bridges across the river. Neva. After several preliminary proposals, in 1776 he developed a project for an arched single-span bridge across the Neva. The length of the arch is 298 meters. The arch was designed from 12,908 wooden elements held together by 49,650 iron bolts and 5,500 iron quadrangular clips.

In 1813, I. P. Kulibin completed the drafting of an iron bridge across the Neva. Petitioning to the name of Emperor Alexander I, he wrote about the beauty and grandeur of St. Petersburg and pointed out: “The only thing missing is the fundamental bridge on the Neva River, without which the inhabitants suffer great inconveniences and difficulties in spring and autumn, and often even death.”

The construction of a bridge of three lattice arches resting on four bulls required up to a million poods of iron. For the passage of ships, special movable parts were supposed. Everything was provided for in the project, up to lighting the bridge and protecting it during the ice drift.

The construction of the Kulibin bridge, the project of which amazes even modern engineers with its courage, turned out to be beyond his time.

The famous Russian bridge builder D. I. Zhuravsky, according to prof. A. Ershova (“On the Significance of Mechanical Art in Russia”, “Bulletin of Industry”, 1859, No. 3), assesses the model of the Kulibino bridge as follows: “It bears the stamp of a genius; it is built on a system recognized by modern science as the most rational; the bridge is supported by an arch, its bending is prevented by a diagonal system, which, due to the uncertainty of what is being done in Russia, is called American.

The Kulibin wooden bridge remains unsurpassed in the field of wooden bridge construction to this day.

Understanding the exceptional importance of fast communication for a country like Russia, with its vast expanses, IP Kulibin began in 1794 the development of a semaphore telegraph project. He solved the problem perfectly and developed, in addition, the original code for transmissions. But only forty years after the invention of I.P. Kulibin, the first optical telegraph lines were built in Russia. By that time, the project of I.P. Kulibin had been forgotten, and the government paid one hundred and twenty thousand rubles for the “secret” brought from France to the less advanced Chateau telegraph.

Just as sad is the fate of another of the great darings of a remarkable innovator who developed a way for ships to move upstream due to the very flow of the river. "Vodokhod" - this was the name of Kulibin's ship, successfully tested in 1782. In 1804, as a result of testing another "vodochod" Kulibin, his ship was officially recognized as "promising great benefits to the state." But the matter did not go further than official recognitions, it all ended with the fact that the ship created by I.P. Kulibin was sold at auction for scrapping. But the projects and the ships themselves were developed both in an original and profitable way, which was proved first of all by the inventor himself in the works he wrote: “Description of the benefits that can be from machine ships on the Volga River invented by Kulibin”, “Description of what is the use of the treasury and society can be from machine ships on the river. Volga, according to approximate calculation, and especially in the reasoning of prices rising against previous years in hiring working people.

Detailed, sober calculations made by I.P. Kulibin characterize him as an outstanding economist, on the other hand, they show in him a person who gave all his strength and thoughts for the benefit of his homeland.

A wonderful patriot who worked with all his passion for his people, he did so many wonderful things that even a simple list of them requires a lot of time and space. In this list, one of the first places should be occupied, in addition to those mentioned, by such inventions: searchlights, a “scooter”, that is, a mechanically moving cart, prostheses for the disabled, a seeder, a floating mill, a lifting chair (elevator), etc.

In 1779, St. Petersburg Vedomosti wrote about the Kulibino searchlight lamp, which, using a special system of mirrors, creates a very strong light effect despite a weak light source (candle). It was reported that Kulibin: “invented the art of making a mirror composite of many parts with a certain special curved line, which, when only a candle is placed in front of it, produces an amazing effect, multiplying the light five hundred times against ordinary candle light, and more, looking at measure of the number of mirror particles contained in it.

The singer of Russian glory G. R. Derzhavin, who called I. P. Kulibin “Archimedes of our days,” wrote about the remarkable lantern:

In the list of remarkable works of I.P. Kulibin, such inventions as, for example, smokeless fireworks (optical), various machines for entertainment, devices for opening palace windows and other inventions made to meet the requirements of the empress, court and noble persons. Catherine II, Potemkin, Princess Dashkova, Naryshkin and many nobles were his customers.

Fulfilling orders for inventions of this kind, I. P. Kulibin acted as a researcher here too. He had many times to arrange fireworks for the empress and dignitaries. The result was Kulibin's whole treatise "On Fireworks". He wrote his work thoroughly and accurately, containing sections: “On white fire”, “On green fire”, “On rocket explosion”, “On flowers”, “On sunbeams”, “On stars” and others. IP Kulibin showed an inexhaustible invention. The original recipe for many amusing fires was given, based on the study of the influence of various substances on the color of the fire. Many new technical methods were proposed, the most ingenious types of rockets and combinations of amusing lights were put into practice. The remarkable innovator remained true to himself, even inventing inventions for the entertainment of the court and the nobility.

Inventions of this kind, made by I.P. Kulibin, received the greatest publicity in Tsarist Russia and, moreover, so significant that they to some extent obscured the main works of I.P. Kulibin, which determined the true face of the great innovator. The lights of the palace fireworks, as it were, pushed into the shadows the enormous work of I.P. Kulibin, which benefited the homeland.

Far from everything written by I.P. Kulibin has been preserved, but what has come down to us is very diverse and rich. Some drawings left after I. I. Kulibin about two thousand. Sketches, descriptions of machines, notes, texts, detailed calculations, carefully executed drawings, sketches hastily made on scraps of paper, notes made in black or colored pencil, drawings on fragments of a diary, on the corner of a money account, on a playing card - thousands of other entries and graphic materials of Ivan Petrovich Kulibin show how his creative thought always boiled. It was a true genius of labor, indomitable, passionate, creative.

The best people of that time highly appreciated the talent of IP Kulibin.

The famous scientist Leonhard Euler considered him a genius. A story has been preserved about the meeting of Suvorov and Kulibin at a big celebration at Potemkin:

So the immortal Suvorov honored in the person of Ivan Petrovich Kulibin the great creative power of the Russian people.

However, the personal life of a remarkable innovator was filled with many sorrows. He was deprived of the joy of seeing the proper use of his labors and was forced to spend a large part of his talent on the work of a court porthole and decorator. Particularly bitter days came for I. Ts. Kulibin, when in 1801 he retired and settled in his native Nizhny Novgorod. In fact, he had to live in exile, experiencing a need that grew stronger and stronger, until his death on July 12, 1818.

For the funeral of a great figure, his wife had to sell the wall clock and also borrow money.

About I.P. Kulibino:

1. Svinin P., Life of the Russian mechanic Kulibin and his inventions, St. Petersburg, 1819;
2. Melnikov P. I., Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, Nizhny Novgorod Provincial Gazette, 1845, No. 11-26;
3. Kulibin S., Obituary of the glorious Russian mechanic Kulibin, Inventions and some anecdotes collected by state councilor Kulibin, Muscovite, 1854, vol. VI, No. 22;
4. Korolenko V. G., Materials for the biography of Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, “Actions of the Nizhny Novgorod provincial scientific archival commission”, Nizhny Novgorod, 1895, vol. II, issue. fifteen;
5. Kochin N.I., Kulibin, ed. "Young Guard", 1940 (the best of the Soviet works on Kulibin. A bibliography and a list of Kulibin's works are given).

Source: "People of Russian Science: Essays on Outstanding Figures in Natural Science and Technology" / Ed. S.I. Vavilov. - M., L.: State. publishing house of technical and theoretical literature. - 1948.

Technique:

Nadezhda Maksimova

Perpetual motion machine Ivan Kulibin

Describing Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, the Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius (KM) states with restraint: “Russian self-taught mechanic (1735-1818). Invented many different mechanisms. Improved glass polishing for optical instruments. He developed a project and built a model of a single-arch bridge across the river. Neva with a span of 298 m. He created a “mirror lantern” (prototype of a searchlight), a semaphore telegraph and many others.

When reading this paragraph, an unprepared person gets the feeling that Kulibin was still a pretty decent inventor (over there, he also has a lantern, and a semaphore, and even “many others”). But on the other hand, just a mechanic (like a locksmith), and even self-taught.

You can’t put next to a highly learned European of the Renaissance.

Therefore, breaking the tradition of writing essays and scientific articles devoted to some personalities, I will start not with biographical data, but with a riddle.

So, it is known that Ivan Kulibin, who was born on the Volga and from childhood saw the hard work of barge haulers, invented a self-propelled barge. Which (attention!) She went against the flow of the river, using the very (you won’t believe it!) The flow of the river as a driving force.

Yes, it's not a mistake or a typo. Kulibin really created a barge that, using only the force of the current, went ... against the current.

It seems incredible. Impossible. Contradicts the basic laws of physics.

Judge for yourself: even if you achieve that a heavy barge has a zero coefficient of friction on the water (which is impossible!), then the ship would at best remain in place. It would not drift downstream to the lower reaches of the river.

And then the barge was under its own power UP.

It's just some kind of perpetual motion machine!

The Paris Academy of Sciences would refuse to consider such a project, because it is impossible, because it is never possible!

But Kulibin did not provide a project, but a real barge. Which, with a large crowd of people, was indeed launched and ACTUALLY, in front of everyone, went against the current, without using any external forces.

Miracle? No, reality.

And now that you know this, try for yourself (after all, we are residents of the 21st century, armed with knowledge and favored by technical progress) to figure out how a self-taught mechanic (!) Of the 18th century achieved such an amazing effect using the simplest and most accessible materials.

While you are thinking, to sharpen your thought processes, I will give a few fundamental principles inventions. Developed, of course, in the XXI century.

So,
A technical solution is considered ideal if the desired effect is achieved "for nothing", without the use of any means.

A technical device is considered ideal when there is no device, but the action that it should do is being performed.

The way in which the technical solution is carried out is ideal when there is no energy and time consumption, but the required action is carried out, moreover, in a regulated manner. That is, as much as you need and only when you need it.

And finally: The substance used in the technical solution is considered ideal when the substance itself is not present, but its function is performed in full.

Don't you think that the village-bearded man-bast-worker, or rather the self-taught mechanic Ivan Kulibin was able to find exactly IDEAL solutions? Impossible from the point of view of the Paris Academy of Sciences?

Alexandre Dumas' book The Count of Monte Cristo vividly depicts how the titular character intercepted and distorted information transmitted by semaphore telegraph from the Spanish theater of operations to Paris. The result was the collapse of the stock exchange and the grandiose ruin of one of the most powerful bankers - the enemies of the count.

Nothing surprising. Whoever owns the information owns the world.

I would only like to emphasize that this same semaphore telegraph was invented by Ivan Petrovich Kulibin.

Now about the spotlight.

Let's not forget that by the grace of Her Imperial Majesty Catherine II, the son of the Nizhny Novgorod Old Believer merchant Ivan Kulibin was called to the capital and there, for 32 years (from 1769 to 1801), he was in charge of the mechanical workshops of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

Petersburg is a nautical city. So, the supply of light signals in it is extremely important. There are beacons that orient ships and protect them from running aground, and transmit information from ship to ship...

Until the era of Kulibin, ships used multi-colored pennants raised on masts and a hand-held semaphore (a dashing sailor with flags) to transmit signals. It is clear that it was possible to see this beauty only during the day. Fires were lit at the lighthouses at night.

But on a wooden ship, open fire is too dangerous, so at sea, only a candle or a wick floating in a bowl of oil could be used for lighting. It is clear that the power of light from such sources is low and is not suitable for transmitting signals over any decent distance. So at night the ships plunged into darkness and informational silence.

Having studied the problem, the self-taught mechanic Kulibin in 1779 designed his famous lantern with a reflector, which gave powerful light with a weak source. The importance of such a searchlight in a port city can hardly be overestimated.

Victor Karpenko in his book "Mechanic Kulibin" (N. Novgorod, publishing house "BIKAR", 2007) describes the event as follows:

“Somehow, on a dark autumn night, a fireball appeared on Vasilyevsky Island. It illuminated not only the street, but also the Promenade des Anglais. Crowds of people rushed into the light, making prayers.

It soon became clear that it was a lantern that was hung by the famous mechanic Kulibin from the window of his apartment, which was located on the fourth floor of the Academy.”

Lanterns were in great demand, but Kulibin was a bad businessman and the orders went to other craftsmen who made more than one fortune on this.

Automobile

Leonardo da Vinci is considered to be the first inventor of the wheelchair in history. True, the Florentine used it for military purposes and, as they now say, was the prototype of the modern tank.

The device, protected on all sides by “armor” made of wood (modern bullets and shells were not known in the Middle Ages), moved due to the muscular strength of several people who sat inside and rotated the levers. (Like a crooked starter).

Alas, having studied the drawings of Leonardo, modern experts evaluated the invention as follows:

David Fletcher, British tank historian:

Yes, at first it seems that nothing will come of it. There must be people inside, turning the handles so that the wheels turn and the colossus moves from its place, God knows how heavy. I would say that it is physically almost impossible.

In order for this to move, you need a battlefield as flat as a table. Stone - and it will stop. Mole hole - and again stop. The enemy will die of laughter before this thing reaches him.

But this is only at first sight. From the second - the soldiers (!) of the British army noticed that there was a fundamental error in the drawing.

The gears on the wheels are in the wrong place,” said one of those who were put inside the Leonard tank and forced to turn the handles. - With this device, the front wheel spins backwards, and the rear wheel forwards. So this needs to be fixed - rearrange the gears. Then both wheels will simultaneously move in the same direction.

As you can see, Leonardo's invention contained fundamental design flaws. Moreover, even after their elimination, the mechanism could only be used in laboratory conditions on a perfectly flat surface, which in real life can not found.

Now let's look at the inventions of Ivan Kulibin.

The Polytechnic Museum of Moscow has several smaller copies of a self-propelled carriage. Those (not copies, but real products) were made in the mechanical workshops of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, which were led by Kulibin, and were quite widely used for aristocratic walks.

Museum staff emphasize that the Kulibino self-running cart had all the parts of a modern car: a gearbox, a brake, a cardan mechanism, a steering wheel, rolling bearings ... The only similarity with Leonard's invention is that this design was set in motion also due to human muscles. The driver pedaled with his feet, his efforts spun the heavy flywheel ... and after a short period of time, the bicycle carriage, which had an enviable carrying capacity, could develop a decent speed. The driver was only required to firmly hold the steering wheel and keep the flywheel in constant rotation.

Bridges

Da Vinci, settling under the patronage of the Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza, Leonardo positioned himself as a military engineer.

“I can create light strong bridges,” he said, “that will be easy to transport during the pursuit. Or, God forbid, fleeing from the enemy. I also came up with a method of besieging castles, in which the first thing is to drain the moat with water.

And the duke accepted him into service. However, as a sane person (encyclopedias report that under him “Milan became one of the strongest states in Italy, the center of science and art”), he instructed the new employee not to build bridges of a new design, but something much more modest. He entrusted Leonardo (Can you drain? - Drain!) to drain the Duchess's bathroom.

Encyclopedia KM says:

“In the 1770s. Kulibin designed a wooden single-arch bridge across the Neva with a span of 298 m (instead of 50-60 m, as was built at that time). In 1766 he built a 1/10 life-size model of this bridge. It was tested by a special academic commission. The project was highly appreciated by the mathematician L. Euler, who checked the correctness of his theoretical formulas using the Kulibin model.”

It is very interesting to mention that the famous Euler did not carry out calculations for a self-taught Russian, but checked HIS calculations using his model. He was a smart man, he understood that "practice is the criterion of truth."

Question: why, in fact, did Kulibin need to invent a bridge of such an unusual shape? Thank God, there are many designs of bridges from ancient times ...

The fact is that St. Petersburg is a large port. And to this day it accepts ships of large tonnage and displacement. In order for these huge ships to enter the city, the main bridges of St. Petersburg were made drawbridges.

And the single-arch bridge that Kulibin proposed seemed to hover over the Neva, touching the ground only at two points - on the right and left banks.

IT WOULD NOT NEED TO BE BREEDED!

Kulibin's bridges, if their project were adopted, would allow ocean-going ships to enter the port not only at night, but at any time of the day! And no costs for maintenance and repair of adjustable mechanisms.

Ideal solution (see above).

Watch

It is well known that Ivan Kulibin's metropolitan career began with the fact that during the visit of Empress Catherine II to Nizhny Novgorod, she was presented with a watch made by the master. They were the size of a goose egg and contained (in addition to the clock itself) nothing less than an automatic theater, a music box and the mechanism that controlled it all. In total, the “egg figure”, which is now a pearl in the Hermitage collection, contains 427 details.

Here is how this amazing watch is described in Viktor Karpenko's book:

“They beat every hour, half and even a quarter of an hour. At the end of the hour, the folding doors in the egg were opened, revealing a gilded chamber. Opposite the doors stood an image of the Holy Sepulcher, into which a closed door led.

On the sides of the coffin stood two warriors with spears. Half a minute after the doors of the chamber were opened, an angel appeared. The door leading to the coffin opened, and standing warriors fell to their knees. The myrrh-bearing women appeared and the church verse “Christ is risen!” Accompanied by ringing, was heard, performed three times.

In the afternoon, another verse was sung every hour: "Jesus is risen from the tomb." At noon, the clock played a hymn composed by Kulibin himself. Figurines of angels, warriors and myrrh-bearing women were cast in gold and silver.”

The clocks created by Kulibin are kept in the storerooms of the Hermitage, and in order to see them, you need to make special efforts (negotiate, issue a pass, etc.). The famous "Peacock Clock" made in Europe and exhibited in one of the halls of the Hermitage is much more accessible.

This is a truly grandiose building, which, even in the spacious Hermitage, occupies a significant part of the premises allocated to it.

Of course, like everything made in Europe, the Peacock watch is a fashionable entertaining toy and, at the same time, a work of art. In the life-sized "wonderful garden", a peacock, a rooster, an owl in a cage and squirrels are located on the gilded oak branches. When winding special mechanisms, the figures of birds come into motion. The owl turns its head, the peacock spreads its tail and turns to the audience with its most beautiful part (that is, the rear), the rooster crows.

In addition to all the bells and whistles, there is also a dial (in a mushroom cap), looking at which you can, without any frills, purely humanly find out what time it is.

The clock was purchased by Prince Potemkin from the English Duchess of Kingston, who in 1777 sailed to St. Petersburg on her own ship with a cargo of art treasures taken from England.

The clock had only one drawback: the duchess took it out of London disassembled and, for more than ten years, it lay in the pantry, losing its parts and details. For example, out of 55 faceted crystals lying on the base of the clock, only one survived by 1791.

His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin-Tavrichesky, who spent a lot of money on the curiosity, called on Kulibin and asked him to "revive the poor birds."

The clock is still running.

Watch various designs Kulibin created many: pocket, daily, ring, harp watches...

But I want to talk about just one more. In 1853, a note appeared in the Moskvityanin magazine, signed by a certain P.N. Obninskiy. He reported that he had a clock created by Kulibin in his house, and asked to send a commission for examination.

What was so interesting about this device?

First, the clock was astronomical. That is, they showed the course of the planets, eclipses of the Moon and the Sun. In addition, the clock indicated the date (day, month), and a special hand marked leap years.

Secondly, on the minute hand, a small clock was arranged, the size of a dime, which, having no connection with the general mechanism of the clock and having no winding, nevertheless shows the time very correctly.

In fact, here we are again faced with the "perpetual motion machine" invented by Kulibin.

In fact, no springs, no weights, no visible source of energy ... And the hand moves and shows the time very correctly. Miracle!

The secret is that Kulibin knew physics, perhaps better than the French Academy of Sciences.

Indeed, according to the law of conservation of energy, "perpetual motion" is impossible. Because in a closed system, energy does not arise from nothing, and does not disappear into nowhere. But who forces us to stay in a CLOSED SYSTEM?

Hence the clue. On the small (in a dime) clock, located on the minute hand of the astronomical clock, there was a system of counterweights. The minute hand moves under the influence of the clock mechanism. At the same time, its position in the gravitational field changes. Accordingly, the position of the center of gravity in the "small" watches changes, and due to this they go. Gravity Drive!

Approximately the same problem is solved with a barge moving against the current due to the force of the current.

In a closed system, such movement would be impossible. But why close?

The secret is so simple that it's even funny:

An anchor is taken and brought forward on the boat, where it is hooked securely. The anchor chain (rope) wraps its other end around the propeller shaft on the ship. Two paddle wheels are attached to the propeller shaft (everything, like on a paddle steamer).

The current presses on the blades of the wheels, they come into rotation, and the rope is wound on the propeller shaft. The ship begins to move against the current.

The ship was tested for several days in a row. The cargo was 8500 pounds of sand.

It is interesting to note that Kulibin's "navigable machine ship" was the prototype of the tuer system introduced in Russia in the 60s of the 19th century. Tuer was a steam ship. It had an iron hull and moved forward, choosing a chain laid on the bottom of the river.

Kulibin lived for 83 years, and continued to work until the very end.

“For more than forty years I have been engaged in the search for a self-propelled machine, I practiced making experiments on it in secret, because many scientists consider this invention to be impossible, they even laugh and swear at those who practice that research,” Ivan Petrovich wrote to Arshenevsky in 1817 year.

Or maybe you would? A little bit was not enough. Attention, money, effort, time...

No, by inventing a "perpetual motion machine", the impossibility of which was proved by Leonardo da Vinci, Ivan Petrovich Kulibin did not refute the laws of physics. He just knew them a little better...

Literature:

Stanislav Rapnitsky

Kulibin and the dark time

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, as you know, was a craftsman. And mastered that without hitting. Either a clock indicating the phases of the moon, or a scooter cart, or a steam locomotive, or even just a lantern. Dark people, and academicians too, were afraid of his inventions and disliked the craftsman himself. But Kulibin was unstoppable. He really wanted mechanisms to work for people, and people worked to buy these mechanisms! The man was golden! Head!

Ivan Petrovich Kulibin was also an academician. But not for long. Neither extensive knowledge nor simple bribes could solve the issue of his expulsion from the academy. Either the people were evil, or Kulibin was not too inventive, but he could not get a job in life! So they drove him from everywhere. But they could simply sell abroad for the collapse of foreign technology and economic life! What people were thinking then - I can't imagine!

When Ivan Petrovich Kulibin was still an academician, he did not miss a single academic meeting. He will come that way, sit in an armchair, put his feet on the table and crunch bagels, and drink sweet tea. And puffs so loudly: pffff! This, of course, interfered with other academicians. And often academics gave him a "dark": they would cover him with a jacket and bludgeon him - some with a ruler, some with a small scope, and some with an astrolabe. Soon everyone got so used to it that sometimes meetings were held specifically for this ceremony. These academicians are carried away by the people! Easy to taste!

This tradition, by the way, was later adopted by leading companies. And today you can see how fun and carefree at meetings everyone attacks a colleague. And it all started with whom? - From Kulibin, of course!

Kulibin did not like students and graduate students. And if he meets such a person in the corridor, he will grab him by the ear and twist, twist! And he himself says: got caught, scoundrel! Once, one professor's ear was torn off. Wrong. Or wanted to be thought wrong. smartest person was! And inventive!

By the way, when Kulibin was fired from the academy for a systematic violation of discipline, students and graduate students stood up for him. Well, the academy lacked a tough hand!

When Kulibin invented the steam-powered cart, everyone was delighted at first. Encouraged, Ivan Petrovich immediately began to roll influential people around St. Petersburg and even encroached on the imperial family. Good thing the wagon exploded before that! Otherwise, Kulibin would have been accused of treason and shot as a dissident! By the way, Ivan Petrovich himself was not injured in the explosion: the catapult went off. The rest got off with minor injuries: Kutuzov was left without an eye, and Dostoevsky became an idiot. Although regarding Dostoevsky, they say, he had previously contracted idiocy in a cheap cafe from a German guest worker. But, I think, nevertheless, this version belongs to Kulibin himself.

Kulibin invented a lantern and put it on the street to illuminate the night Petersburg. But either the residents did not like the lantern, or the time was so dark, and the lantern was broken all the time. Kulibin is already worn out to repair it! Even on duty at the lantern at night! But as soon as he turns away - bang! - the lantern is broken, and Ivan Petrovich himself is already being robbed! Kulibin spent half a fortune on this undertaking. And nothing! Still, there was strong resistance to progress in Russia! Our compatriots love to oppose innovations that way! But it is understandable: change is change, but people need to live somehow!

Once Ivan Petrovich invented such a special wallet in which money never ends. And went to the store. And there is noise, a crush at the cashier. So they pulled an invention out of his pocket! And the offender went to Siberia and privatized it all! The name was Demidov. And so it goes: one invents, the other uses. This principle, by the way, was then well mastered by the owner of Microsoft.

If it seems to someone that Kulibin's life was full of various fiascos, then I will object. Ivan Petrovich was born in a vast and rich country, received an excellent education and an idea of ​​manners. It’s really not easy for the current talent: none of the above is in his life. There are, of course, exceptions. But rarely. Mainly in show business. On the other hand, what kind of inventions are now! Everything has already been invented, just use it if you have money. But there is no money!

Once Ivan Petrovich was giving a lecture on the electric field and steam traction. And take one graduate student and ask: Mr. Kulibin, what is the charge of an electron? Ivan Petrovich then became very nervous and unscrewed both ears of the graduate student at once! He began to hear badly and gave up science. But he took up music and composed so much of it that the conservatory still cannot cope with it! The surname of the graduate student is Beethoven. He came to Russia for a cultural exchange from Vienna. You see, again - show business! Well, the inventor does not have a future, but the pop musician does. So leave the academy! What's the point in them? - one lighthouse! Another thing is real popularity: money, fame ... Well, unless your ears are unscrewed!

Kulibin liked to listen to the work of various mechanisms. He will stand by the steam boiler and listen, listen. Even rolls his eyes! And sometimes he puts several different units in a row - and conducts. So there was a fashionable direction in music - house and techno. Ivan Petrovich collected large audiences! All young people are students and graduate students. Mandatory. Truants - excluded.

Ivan Petrovich loved colloquial expressions. Especially "figs". They give him another topic for research, and he replies: "What the heck!" - Op! A whole dissertation is ready in two days. Well, it’s true, different words also slip through the dissertation. So it's annoying to read. Judge for yourself: "Figley write here: the steam engine runs on steam. What for you load the genius with all sorts of garbage! You take a barrel, poured water, damn it, kindled the fire - here's the steam engine for you! Figli is here to explore!" And further in the same way.

As a great music lover, Kulibin once made such a mini-theatre: music plays inside, and mechanical figures dance outside. Well, he was too lazy to go to theaters! At the academy, he even created a drama circle, where students and graduate students played in plays. For this, Ivan Petrovich fell in love again and changed their minds about dismissing him from the academy. So far, he has not staged the rock opera "At the Bottom" in this circle. Bitter, of course, a classic, but no one could allow frivolous treatment of classics! Well, they gave Kulibin a severe reprimand! "A figly!" - said the inventor and went to build a hyperboloid. A big fire happened then in St. Petersburg! Don't tie your hands to talent!

Kulibin once read science fiction and built a steam-powered robot. This robot brewed coffee in the morning, cut the bushes, and solved arithmetic problems. Only now he consumed firewood - well, just an unthinkable amount. An entire forest could be consumed in one day! He even chopped firewood himself or stole from neighbors at night. Not a robot, but some kind of abyss! This story ended as usual: the neighbors filled the robot with logs in such a way that it barely crawled to the house. And after the incident, he was only good for chopping nuts. And even then, it was possible to get by with one robotic head. But the neighbors did not touch Ivan Petrovich himself. Wrote an anonymous letter at the place of work - and all for a short time! It was then that Kulibin was finally fired from the academy. And then they only threatened!

By the way, the first coffee maker was invented by the same Kulibin. Ivan Petrovich in his own person. Only at first it was not a coffee maker, but a concrete mixer. For road works. This means that this experimental concrete mixer is working, cracking, banging. Noise, in general, unimaginable! Well, the merchants, of course, jumped out of the shops - and let's throw the car along with the inventor with whatever came to hand! One of the merchants tried so hard that a whole pood of coffee hit the very vent. And a second has not passed - and the coffee is ground and brewed. And most importantly, the powder is so fine, so high quality! Immediately orders fell on the car, the merchants were quick-witted, unlike the academics! One thing is bad: Ivan Petrovich suffered a lot with his head after this incident. The merchants were still not only quick-witted, but also well-aimed!

When Ivan Petrovich started having migraines, he turned to leading specialists. Specialists took tests from the genius, conducted research and - nothing! The cause of the disease is in the disease itself. They prescribed patches and harmless pills for him, and sent him home. Kulibin covered himself with plasters at home, took all the pills at once and is waiting for improvement. Been waiting like this for a month. Then he realized that they had laughed at him, and invented a dental drill in retaliation. Since then, the public does not like doctors and does not trust medicine. Especially in the field of dentistry.

Kulibin became famous for many more inventions. You can't list everything. For example, once he made such a string bag that can easily fit in your pocket, but unfolds into a huge suitcase. The size of a carriage. Ivan Petrovich went to the market. Well, of course, I bought everything there. And puts it in a new string bag. And everything fit in it, and there is still room left. Kulibin then began to buy more food, and in the end he even stuffed the seller into a shopping bag. And the place in the string bag is again left! So he bought everything in the market until the evening, until the money ran out. But the place remains! Nobody understood then, but modern science calls such phenomena a black hole. That's what a creative genius is capable of! Although the string bag was not black, but, on the contrary, green.

Kulibin began to study his miracle shopping bag and found that the products were placed in it, but they did not return back. He was already shaking it, and turning it outward: they don’t return, even if you crack! Then he went to the academy and caught in a string bag a dozen or two graduate students and even a couple of professors. Then Ivan Petrovich repeated his experience more than once. And there was nothing to fire a genius from the academy! The troubled times have begun! - there are fewer inquisitive minds, Russia has begun to lag far behind. And from the string bag, by the way, he finally shook out something! Lenin! Yes, the same one! From here new story and started.

Many people know about the outstanding Russian engineer Ivan Petrovich Kulibin. And especially enterprising inventors have heard his last name addressed to them more than once: “You are like Kulibin!” However, few people know that out of a dozen developments by I.P. Kulibin patented only a few. And the world now knows that the architect Town built a heavy-duty bridge structure, but that Kulibin invented it, he does not know.

The identity of the inventor

Ivan Petrovich was born in Nizhny Novgorod in 1735. Surprisingly, his family did not have learned people, in connection with which the abilities of a self-taught mechanic can rightly be called an outstanding talent!

Ivan's family existed at the expense of petty trade: his father was an entrepreneur and an Old Believer, and his mother was engaged in housekeeping and helped to keep accounts.

From an early age, the boy felt great sympathy for engineering structures and various kinds of inventions, which at that time were not so many in the villages. But the young man, passionate for science, did not want to keep accounting books and went as an apprentice to a fellow villager, to study locksmithing, turning and watchmaking.

Having gained experience, Kulibin makes his first watch, which has no analogues in the world to this day. The tiny invention served as a striking clock, as well as a music box and a miniature theater. Catherine II herself could not resist the work of art of the Nizhny Novgorod master - he gave her a watch, and she invited Kulibin to work.

In 1769, Ivan Petrovich received a place at the Academy of Sciences, and from that day on he served faithfully for the good of Russian science.

However, only a few inventions received a patent and rightfully belonged to the master. Most of the drawings and layouts remained unfulfilled dreams of the engineer.

Consider a few things that Kulibin invented, but never patented.

vane water engine

In the 18th century, hired barge labor was one of the most common ways to move ships against the flow of rivers, as well as in shallow water.

Ivan Petrovich decided to save people from torment and introduce an engineering novelty into the shipping business - a vane engine. The principle of its operation was based on the technique of moving ships with the help of anchors and ropes - a vessel was pulled to the anchor dropped far ahead with the help of a rope. And while the ship “went” to one cargo, the other was thrown further - and so on in turn.

Kulibin improved the system. Now, instead of hired workers, the engine (it was 2 wheels with blades) was supposed to pull the ship to the rope with the help of water energy. It would seem that a simple and reliable design that will save hundreds of barge haulers and hundreds of money for entrepreneurs. However, even after successful tests to move a ship with 65 tons of sand, production funding was never made.

Unfortunately, this is not the only thing that Ivan Petrovich Kulibin invented, but he could not arrange production.

Elevator for the Empress

The aging Catherine II had difficulty moving around the apartments of the Winter Palace. Therefore, Kulibin was given an important assignment - to come up with an elevator for the Empress herself.

The winch lift did not meet the main condition: it was strictly forbidden to attach ropes to the ceiling of the Palace. The resourceful scientist came up with a different mechanism, similar to the work of an office chair or tightening a nut: the servant turned the handle, and the self-tapping screw, rotating in the sleeve, raised and lowered the chair. Unfortunately, the mechanical elevator has not survived to this day. After the death of Catherine II, as unnecessary, it was bricked up, and Kulibin never got the right to authorship for its development. He became another subject that Kulibin invented, but he could not consider his brainchild.

Bridge

If the far-sightedness of Catherine II had not let her down that time, then she would rightfully be considered the founder of the bridge business in St. Petersburg.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Ivan Petrovich developed an extremely stable construction of a single-span bridge. He worked on his invention for 30 years! Despite the lack of necessary knowledge in mathematics and physics, he, without knowing it, discovered new laws in a practical way. A huge advantage of the bridge was the fact that ships could pass under it without sawing off their matches.

The great Euler, checking the drawings of the master, was surprised by the absence of miscalculations and errors in them. Potemkin himself allocated money for the construction of a model bridge, but the sponsorship ended there.

And 30 years later, Town became the famous architect of the bridge, and not I.P. Kulibin, who invented this bridge.

"Grandfather" of the car

Among other things, Ivan Petrovich invented a self-propelled carriage. By appearance it was very similar to a car, but the principle of operation was different. The stroller could be safely called a hybrid of a bicycle and a wagon, as it was powered by a person by pressing the pedals. The invention served as a toy for the nobility for some time, but she never had the desire to sponsor its production. The drawings of the "grandfather of the car" have sunk into oblivion before reaching our days.

Do not confuse the stroller invented by Kulibin and Shamshurenkov's bike crew. His invention was much larger and more interesting: there was enough space for two people, and in winter the bicycle crew turned into a sledge. I would like to note an interesting similarity: no one was engaged in the production of Leonty Shamshurenkov's development, and the drawings of his invention were lost.

First prosthesis

At the beginning of the 19th century, Kulibin introduced "know-how" to the employees of the Academy of Sciences! A prosthesis that mimics lower limbs. Nepeitsyn became the first tester of the design - he lost his leg during the assault on Ochakov, and now his military career was going downhill! However, Ivan Kulibin, who invented his new leg, gave a start to his new victories! As a result, Nepeitsyn rose to the rank of major general and received the funny nickname Iron Leg.

Searchlight, ship launching system, the project of an iron bridge across the Volga - the most little list things that Kulibin Ivan Petrovich invented.

Photos, as well as drawings of many of them, unfortunately, have not survived to this day. However, the glory and memory of such an outstanding person must be preserved in our hearts!

On August 11, 1818, Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, a mechanic-inventor from the townspeople, died in Nizhny Novgorod. He was born into a family of a small merchant in the village of Podnovye, Nizhny Novgorod district, and from childhood he began to study locksmith, turning and watchmaking. We decided to talk about five of his most interesting and outstanding inventions.

Basically, the mechanic-inventor Ivan Kulibin was engaged in the creation of outlandish and unusual toys, ingenious machines and unique watch mechanisms. Kulibin put all his enthusiasm, soul and interest into his inventions. He worked in mechanics throughout his life. For more than 30 years he was in charge of the mechanical workshop of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. He supervised the production of machine tools, astronomical, physical and navigational instruments and instruments.

Kulibin's watch

In 1767, Kulibin assembled an amazing clock, on which the master worked hard for several years. The watch, shaped like a bird's egg, was decorated with ornate patterns on an intricate gold frame. This watch was so good that Catherine II herself accepted it as a gift. In addition to the fact that the clock showed the time, inside it was a watch mechanism, an apparatus that played melodies, and the watch was also equipped with a complex mechanism of a tiny automatic theater. The miniature theater made it possible to watch the performance taking place in the golden palace.

The project of a single-arch bridge across the Neva

One of the most ambitious projects of the inventor Kulibin was the project of a single-arch bridge across the Neva River with wooden lattice trusses. The bridge arch was 298 meters and was designed from wooden elements fastened with iron bolts and quadrangular clips. The bridge project was developed up to lighting. Kulibin created and tested a large model of the bridge he invented, but, unfortunately, the construction of the Kulibin bridge was beyond the capacity of the builders of his time.

Optical telegraph

The list of Kulibin's most outstanding inventions can also include an optical telegraph, that is, a searchlight with a parabolic reflector made of the smallest mirrors. Such a telegraph, which made it possible to make an incredible luminous flux out of ordinary candlelight, could be used both day and night at intermediate stations located at great distances.

Waterway Kulibina

One of the most amazing and original inventions of Ivan Kulibin is a waterway. The invention was a vessel propelled by the course of the river along which it was sailing. The mechanism worked in such a way that the flow of the river forced the water wheels installed on the ship to move. The ship was moving very slowly, besides, it was necessary to constantly monitor the operation of the mechanism. Kulibin came up with three variants of the waterway, two of which were built and successfully tested. Unfortunately, the waterways were not found practical application, despite all the genius of the design. The waterways had a number of shortcomings, which did not allow the use of an ingenious invention on the water.