Mikhail Lomonosov
In 1730, a nineteen-year-old fisherman named Mikhail Lomonosov walked one hundred miles from his village of Mishaninskaya to the city of Moscow. He carried no money and wore simple peasant clothes while seeking admission to the Slavic Greek Latin Academy. His father Vasily Dorofeyevich had been a prosperous ship owner who transported goods across northern Russia. The boy claimed he was the son of a nobleman to gain entry into the school. This lie nearly got him expelled in 1734 when investigators discovered the truth about his parentage. He lived on three kopecks per day eating only black bread and kvass during those early years. Despite poverty he made rapid progress in his studies. In 1735 he traveled to Kiev for a short period at another academy before returning to Moscow. Five years later among twelve best graduates he received a scholarship to study abroad.
On the 5th of July 1748 Lomonosov wrote a letter to Leonhard Euler describing an experiment with hermetic glass vessels. He tested whether the mass of metals increased from pure heat without air access. His diary recorded that Robert Boyle was deluded because the burnt metal remained unchanged in mass. This observation became known as the law of conservation of matter in chemical reactions. He stated all changes in nature follow this universal rule where what decreases in one place increases elsewhere. In 1756 he tried to replicate Boyle's 1673 experiment and concluded phlogiston theory was false. Anticipating Antoine Lavoisier by decades he proved matter cannot be created or destroyed in closed systems. His dissertation Elements of Mathematical Chemistry published in 1741 defined elements as parts not consisting of smaller bodies. Later studies used terms like atom particle and molecule instead of corpuscle. These ideas formed the foundation of modern atomic theory long before it gained acceptance.
During the transit of Venus on the 26th of May 1761 Lomonosov observed a brief brightening lasting about one second just before third contact. He described seeing ein ganz helles Licht wie ein Haar breit which translates to very bright light as wide as a hair. Modern researchers Pasachoff and Sheehan questioned whether this indicated an atmosphere around Venus. They reconstructed observations using antique telescopes during the 2012 transit but found discrepancies with his original diagrams. Koukarine produced sketches resembling Lomonosov's work yet showed too coarse a wing of light for atmospheric refraction. The actual words do not refer to an arc at all according to Russian versions of his notes. Instead they suggest a fleeting glimpse of the solar photosphere before third contact. First observers recording the true atmospheric arc appeared later among Chappe Rittenhouse Wayles and Dymond during the June 1769 transit. Optical distortions between Venus and the Sun remain impressively large making inferences fraught with peril even today.
In 1759 Lomonosov collaborated with academician Joseph Adam Braun to record the freezing of mercury. He demonstrated the organic origin of soil peat coal petroleum and amber through initial experiments. His geological work On The Strata of the Earth published in 1763 placed him before James Hutton traditionally regarded as founder of modern geology. He based conceptions on unity of Earth processes over time explaining the planet's past from present conditions. Observation of iceberg formation led into pioneering geography theories predicting Antarctica existed as dry land covered with ice. In 1764 he organized an expedition led by Admiral Vasili Chichagov seeking the Northeast Passage along Siberia's northern coast. He invented sea tools simplifying writing directions and calculating distances across oceans. A catalogue of over three thousand minerals published in 1745 established his authority in mineralogy. These contributions laid groundwork for understanding continental drift decades before similar concepts emerged elsewhere.
His Ode on the Taking of Khotin composed in 1739 attracted great attention in Saint Petersburg. Modeled after Günther's poem Eugen ist fort it celebrated Belgrade's capture from Turks. This work became the first aesthetically indisputable example of accentual-syllabic verse in Russian literature history. Statistical analysis suggests adoption of this system was already underway when Lomonosov publicized his theories. He developed iambic tetrameter hexameter verse and ten-line odic stanzas with lasting roles in poetry traditions. Advocacy of the iamb won out over Trediakovsky's arguments for trochee as basic metrical foot. Evening Meditation on God's Grandeur and Morning Meditation on God's Grandeur were first Russian poems on sublime nature admiration. He applied sound symbolism where front vowels E I Y U suited tender subjects while back vowels O U Y fit fear or sorrow. Two verse tragedies Tamira i Selim and Demofont followed these innovations alongside an Anacreontic ode.
In July 1754 he demonstrated a model helicopter with coaxial rotor to the Russian Academy of Sciences. The idea originated from spring-driven mechanisms creating lift through counter-rotating blades. His three years of experiments on mineral chemistry effects led to deep involvement in mosaic art by 1754. In 1763 he set up a glass factory producing first stained glass mosaics outside Italy. Forty mosaics attributed to him survive today including portraits of Peter the Great and scenes from Battle of Poltava measuring significant dimensions. His improved reflecting telescope design presented in 1762 adjusted primary mirrors four degrees off-axis focusing images at the tube side. This invention remained unpublished until 1827 becoming associated with William Herschel's later Herschelian telescope. These engineering feats combined practical innovation with artistic mastery across multiple disciplines simultaneously.
The city of Lomonosov Russia formerly Oranienbaum bears his name along with lunar craters and Mars features. A crater named 1379 Lomonosowa orbits Earth while a Russian satellite launched in 2016 carries his title. Moscow State University founded by him in 1755 renamed itself M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University in 1940. The Lomonosov Gold Medal established in 1959 awards scientists annually through the Academy of Sciences. In Dnipro Ukraine a statue replaced Catherine the Great in 1919 standing until the 6th of January 2023 when removed following invasion. Google celebrated his three hundredth birthday on the 19th of November 2011 with a digital doodle. Stamps issued throughout years depicted him alongside Academy buildings study rooms talking to queens. The Akademik Lomonosov floating nuclear power station began operation the 19th of December 2019 honoring his legacy. Streets in Riga Tallinn and Saint Petersburg bear his name though some changed after independence restored Estonia in 1991.
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Common questions
Who was Mikhail Lomonosov and what did he do in 1730?
Mikhail Lomonosov was a Russian polymath who walked one hundred miles from his village of Mishaninskaya to Moscow in 1730. He sought admission to the Slavic Greek Latin Academy while carrying no money and wearing simple peasant clothes.
What scientific law did Mikhail Lomonosov establish regarding matter conservation?
Mikhail Lomonosov established the law of conservation of matter in chemical reactions through experiments with hermetic glass vessels on the 5th of July 1748. His work proved that matter cannot be created or destroyed in closed systems decades before Antoine Lavoisier published similar findings.
How did Mikhail Lomonosov observe the transit of Venus on the 26th of May 1761?
Mikhail Lomonosov observed a brief brightening lasting about one second just before third contact during the transit of Venus on the 26th of May 1761. Modern researchers question whether this indicated an atmosphere around Venus but note discrepancies between his original diagrams and later reconstructions.
When did Mikhail Lomonosov publish geological theories predicting Antarctica existed as dry land?
Mikhail Lomonosov published On The Strata of the Earth in 1763 which placed him before James Hutton traditionally regarded as founder of modern geology. He based conceptions on unity of Earth processes over time explaining the planet's past from present conditions including observations of iceberg formation.
What literary innovations did Mikhail Lomonosov introduce to Russian poetry in 1739?
Mikhail Lomonosov composed Ode on the Taking of Khotin in 1739 which became the first aesthetically indisputable example of accentual-syllabic verse in Russian literature history. He developed iambic tetrameter hexameter verse and ten-line odic stanzas with advocacy of the iamb winning out over Trediakovsky's arguments for trochee.