Describing Ivan Petrovich Kulibin, the Cyril and Methodius Encyclopedia (CM) discreetly reports: “Russian self-taught mechanic (1735-1818). Invented many different mechanisms. Improved grinding of glasses 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" (a 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 (there, he has a lantern, a semaphore, and even "many others"). But on the other hand, he is only a mechanic (like a locksmith) and even a self-taught person. You cannot put next to a highly educated European of the Renaissance …
Therefore, breaking the tradition of writing abstracts and scientific articles on any 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 who saw the hard work of barge haulers from childhood, invented a self-propelled barge. Which (attention!) Itself went against the stream of the river, using as a driving force itself (you will not believe!) The course of the river.
Yes, this is 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 the heavy barge were to have a zero coefficient of friction against water (which is impossible!), The ship would at best remain in place. Wouldn't drift downstream.
And here the barge went UP on its own.
Promotional video:
It's just some kind of perpetual motion machine!
The Paris Academy of Sciences would refuse to consider such a project, since 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 really launched into the water and in fact, in full view, 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 for everyone.
While you are thinking, here are a few fundamental principles of invention to sharpen your thinking processes. Developed naturally in the 21st century
So, A technical solution is considered ideal if the desired effect is achieved “for free”, without the use of any means.
A technical device is considered ideal when the device is not present, but the action it is supposed to 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 performed, moreover, in a controlled manner. That is, as much as necessary and only when necessary.
Well, in conclusion: 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-lapotnik, or rather the self-taught mechanic Ivan Kulibin knew how to find PERFECT solutions? Impossible from the point of view of the Paris Academy of Sciences?
But let's go further.
The book by Alexandre Dumas "The Count of Monte Cristo" vividly depicts how the title character intercepted and distorted the information transmitted by the semaphore telegraph from the Spanish theater of military operations to Paris. The result was the collapse of the stock exchange and the grandiose ruin of one of the most powerful bankers - the Count's enemies.
No wonder. Whoever owns the information owns the world.
I would only like to emphasize that this very semaphore telegraph was invented by Ivan Petrovich Kulibin.
A prototype of a modern spotlight created by Kulibin
Now about the spotlight.
Let us 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), was in charge of the mechanical workshops of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.
Petersburg is a seaworthy city. This means that the supply of light signals in it is extremely important. There are lighthouses here, orienting ships and protecting them from getting aground, and transmitting information from ship to ship …
Before the Kulibin era, vessels used multi-colored pennants raised on masts and a hand semaphore (a dashing sailor with flags) to transmit signals. It is clear that this beauty could only be seen during the day. Bonfires were made at lighthouses at night.
But on a wooden ship, an open fire is too dangerous, so only a candle or a wick floating in a bowl of oil could be used for lighting in the sea. 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, a self-taught mechanic Kulibin in 1779 designed his famous lantern with a reflector, which gave a powerful light with a weak source. The importance of such a searchlight in a port city cannot be overestimated.
Viktor Karpenko in his book "Mechanic Kulibin" (N. Novgorod, publishing house "BIKAR", 2007) describes the event as follows:
“Once on a dark autumn night, a fireball appeared on Vasilievsky Island. He 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 hung out 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 entrepreneur and orders went to other craftsmen who made more than one fortune on this.
And the car
Leonardo da Vinci is considered the first ever inventor of the self-running stroller. True, the Florentine intended it for military purposes and, as they now claim, was the prototype of the modern tank.
The device, protected from 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. (Type "curve starter").
Alas, having studied Leonardo's drawings, modern experts appreciated 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, God knows how heavy, moved from its place. I would say that it is physically almost impossible.
In order for this to move, you need a battlefield as level as a table. Stone - and it will stop. Mole hole - and stop again. The enemy will die of laughter before this thing gets to him.
But this is only at first glance. 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 not positioned correctly,” said one of those who had been put inside the Leonard tank and forced to twist the handles. - With such a device, the front wheel turns backward, and the rear wheel turns forward. So this needs to be fixed - rearrange the gears. Then both wheels will move simultaneously 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 cannot be found in real life.
Now let's take a look at the inventions of Ivan Kulibin.
The Polytechnic Museum of Moscow has several smaller copies of a self-propelled carriage. Such (not copies, but real products) were made in the mechanical workshops of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, which were directed by Kulibin, and were widely used for walks by aristocrats.
Museum staff emphasize that the Kulibinsk self-run carriage had all the parts of a modern car: gearbox, brake, cardan mechanism, steering wheel, rolling bearings … The only similarity with Leonard's invention was that this structure was also set in motion due to human muscles. The driver twisted the pedals 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 hold the steering wheel firmly and keep the flywheel in constant rotation.
Bridges
Da vinci
While settling under the patronage of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, Leonardo positioned himself as a military engineer.
“I can create lightweight, durable bridges,” he said, “that can be easily transported during the pursuit. Or, God forbid, fleeing from the enemy. I also came up with a method of sieging castles, in which the first thing to do is to drain the moat with water.
And the duke took 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 arts and sciences”), he instructed the new employee not to build new bridges, but something much more modest. He entrusted Leonardo (Can you dry? - Dry!) To drain the Duchess's bathroom.
Kulibin
KM Encyclopedia reports:
“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 being 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 used the Kulibin model to check the correctness of his theoretical formulas."
It is very curious to mention that the famous Euler did not carry out calculations for the Russian self-taught, 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 have been many bridge designs since ancient times …
The fact is that St. Petersburg is a large port. And to this day it receives ships of large tonnage and displacement. In order for these huge ships to enter the city, the main bridges of St. Petersburg were made drawbridge.
And the single-arch bridge, which Kulibin proposed, seemed to float over the Neva, touching the ground only at two points - on the right and left banks.
IT WOULD NOT BE REQUIRED TO BREED!
The Kulibin 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 expenses for maintenance and repair of adjustable mechanisms.
Ideal solution (see above).
Clock
It is well known that Ivan Kulibin's career in the capital began when, during the visit of Empress Catherine II to Nizhny Novgorod, she was presented with a watch made by the master. They were about the size of a goose egg and contained (in addition to the clock itself) as much as an automatic theater, a music box and the mechanism that controlled all this. In total, the "egg figure", which is now a pearl in the Hermitage collection, contains 427 details.
This is how this amazing watch is described in the book by Viktor Karpenko:
“They beat every hour, half and even a quarter of an hour. At the end of the hour, the hinged doors in the egg opened, revealing a gilded palace. Opposite the door stood an image of the Holy Sepulcher, into which a closed door led.
On the sides of the coffin were two warriors with spears. Half a minute after the doors of the palace were opened, an angel appeared. The door leading to the coffin opened, and the standing soldiers fell to their knees. Myrrh-bearers appeared and the church verse “Christ is Risen!” Was heard, accompanied by the ringing, which was performed three times.
In the afternoon, another verse was recited hourly: "Jesus is risen from the grave." At noon, the clock played a hymn composed by Kulibin himself. Figures of angels, warriors and myrrh-bearing women were cast in gold and silver."
The clock created by Kulibin is kept in the Hermitage's storerooms, and 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 structure, which even in the spacious Hermitage occupies a significant part of the space 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 "wonderful garden", made in full size, a peacock, a rooster, an owl in a cage and squirrels are located on gilded oak branches. During the plant of special mechanisms, the figures of birds begin to move. 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 head), looking at which you can, without any frills, find out how much time is purely human.
The watch was purchased by Prince Potemkin from the English Duchess of Kingston, who in 1777, on her own ship with a load of art treasures exported from England, sailed to St. Petersburg.
The watch had only one drawback: the Duchess took them out of London disassembled and, for more than ten years, they lay in the pantry, losing their 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 a curiosity, called on Kulibin and asked him to "revive the poor birds."
The clock is still valid
Kulibin created a variety of clocks of various designs: pocket, daily allowance, ring, watches with harp …
But I want to tell you only about one more. In 1853, a note appeared in the journal Moskvityanin, signed by a certain P. N. Obninsky. He reported that he had a clock created by Kulibin in his house, and asked to send a commission for examination.
Why was this device so interesting?
First, the clock was astronomical. That is, they showed the course of the planets, the eclipses of the Moon and the Sun. In addition, the clock indicated the date (day, month), and a special hand marked leap years.
Secondly, a small clock was arranged on the minute hand, in a dime size, which, having no communication with the general mechanism of the clock and not having a winding, show, nevertheless, the time is very correct.
In fact, here we are again faced with the "perpetual motion machine" invented by Kulibin.
In fact, there are no springs, no weights, no visible source of energy … And the arrow moves and shows the time very accurately. 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, a "perpetual motion machine" is impossible. Because in a closed system, energy does not arise from nothing, and does not disappear into nowhere. But who makes us stay in a CLOSED SYSTEM?
Hence the clue. The small (in a dime) clock, located on the minute hand of the astronomical clock, had a system of counterweights. The minute hand moves under the influence of the clock mechanism. Moreover, its position in the gravity field changes. Accordingly, the position of the center of gravity in the "small" watch changes, and due to this, they go. Gravity engine!
The problem with a barge moving against the current due to the force of the current is solved in approximately the same way. In a closed system, such a movement would be impossible. But why close?
The secret is so simple it's even funny.
The anchor is taken and the boat is brought forward, where it engages reliably. The anchor chain (rope) is twisted with the other end around the propeller shaft on the ship. Two paddle wheels are attached to the propeller shaft (everything is like on a paddle steamer).
The current presses on the blades of the wheels, they come into rotation, and the rope is wound around the propeller shaft. The ship begins to move against the current.
The ship was tested for several days in a row. The load was 8500 poods of sand.
It is interesting to note that Kulibin's "navigable machine vessel" was the prototype of the touring system, introduced in the 1860s in Russia. A steam vessel was called Tuer. It had an iron body and moved forward, choosing a chain laid at the bottom of the river.
Kulibin lived for 83 years, and continued to work until the very end.
"For more than forty years of time I have been engaged in the search for a self-propelled machine, I practiced in making its experiments secretly, because many scientists consider this invention to be impossible, even laugh and swear at those who practice that research," wrote Ivan Petrovich to Arshenevsky in 1817 year.
Or maybe he would? Slightly missing. Attention, money, effort, time …
No, inventing the "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 …
They say that the outstanding commander and great original A. Suvorov, seeing the great inventor at the other end of the hall, began to bow to him and say: "Your grace!", "Your honor!", "Your wisdom, my respect!"