Famous scientists

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov was a famous Rus­sian writer, chemist, and astronomer who made a lot in literature and science.

Lomonosov was born on November 19, 1711, in Denisovka (now Lomonosov), near Archangelsk, and studied at the University of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. After studying in Germany at the Universities of Marburg and Freiberg, Lomonosov returned to St. Petersburg in 1745 to teach chemistry and built a teaching and research laboratory there four years later.

Lomonosov is often called the founder of Russian sci­ence. He was an innovator in many fields. As a scientist he rejected the phlogiston theory of matter commonly accepted at the time and he anticipated the kinetic theory of gases. He regarded heat as a form of motion, suggested the wave theory of light, and stated the idea of conserva­tion of matter. Lomonosov was the first person to record the freezing of mercury and to observe the atmosphere of Venus during a solar transit.

Interested in the development of Russian education, Lomonosov helped to found Moscow State University in 1755, and in the same year wrote a grammar that re­formed the Russian literary language by combining Old Church Slavonic with modern language. In 1760 he pub­lished the first history of Russia. He also revived the art of Russian mosaic and built a mosaic and colored-glass factory. Most of his achievements, however, were un­known outside Russia.

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