Ivan Kulibin
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n mechanic
Mechanic
A mechanic is a craftsman or technician who uses tools to build or repair machinery.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, motorcycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, general mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and...
and inventor. He was born in Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
in the family of a trader. From childhood, Kulibin displayed an interest in constructing mechanical
Mechanics
Mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment....
tools. Soon, clock
Clock
A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...
mechanisms became a special interest of his. His realizations as well as his prolific imagination inspired the work of many.
Saint Petersburg years
During 1764-1767 he built an eggEgg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
-shaped clock, containing a complex automatic mechanism. In 1769 Kulibin gave this clock to Catherine II, who assigned Kulibin to be in charge of the mechanical workshop in the Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....
of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
(established in 1724). There, Kulibin built a “planetary” pocket-clock, which showed not only the current time, but also the month, day of the week, the season and the current moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
phase. Kulibin also designed projects for tower clocks, miniature "clock-in-a-ring" types and others. He also worked on new ways to facet glass for use in microscope
Microscope
A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
s, telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
s and other optical instruments.
During the 1770s, he designed a wooden one-arch bridge over the Neva river with a span of 298 metres (instead of the typically used 50-60 metre spans), offering to use an original girder with a cross grate. In 1776 a model 1/10 the natural size of this bridge was tested by a special commission of academics. Kulibin’s project was praised by Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler was a pioneering Swiss mathematician and physicist. He made important discoveries in fields as diverse as infinitesimal calculus and graph theory. He also introduced much of the modern mathematical terminology and notation, particularly for mathematical analysis, such as the notion...
and Daniel Bernoulli
Daniel Bernoulli
Daniel Bernoulli was a Dutch-Swiss mathematician and was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He is particularly remembered for his applications of mathematics to mechanics, especially fluid mechanics, and for his pioneering work in probability and statistics...
, but was never realized. After 1780, Kulibin worked on possibilities for a metallic bridge, but these projects were also rejected by the government. Altogether Kulibin designed three projects for wooden and three projects for metallic bridges.
In 1779, he built a lantern that could emit a powerful light using a weak light source. This invention was used industrially for lighting workshops, lighthouses, ships, etc. In 1791, Kulibin constructed a push-cycle cart, in which he used a flywheel
Flywheel
A flywheel is a rotating mechanical device that is used to store rotational energy. Flywheels have a significant moment of inertia, and thus resist changes in rotational speed. The amount of energy stored in a flywheel is proportional to the square of its rotational speed...
, a brake
Brake
A brake is a mechanical device which inhibits motion. Its opposite component is a clutch. The rest of this article is dedicated to various types of vehicular brakes....
, a gearbox and roller bearing. The cart was operated by a man pressing pedals. In the same year, he also designed "mechanical legs", a prosthetic device, which was later used by a French entrepreneur. In 1793, Kulibin constructed an elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
that lifted a cabin using screw mechanisms. In 1794, he created an optical telegraph for transmitting signals over distance.
Later years
In 1801 Kulibin was fired from the academy and returned to Nizhny NovgorodNizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
, where he designed a method of sailing upstream and built a ship which he had started to design back in 1782. Tests indicated that such ships were indeed feasible, but they were never used. During the same time, Kulibin had projects on using steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s to move cargo ships, on creating salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
machines, different kinds of mill
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
s, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
s and other projects. Kulibin died in 1818 after spending his last years in poverty.
The International Astronomical Union
International Astronomical Union
The International Astronomical Union IAU is a collection of professional astronomers, at the Ph.D. level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy...
's Minor Planet Center
Minor Planet Center
The Minor Planet Center operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory , which is part of the Center for Astrophysics along with the Harvard College Observatory ....
has named an asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
in Kulibin's honor: 5809 Kulibin
5809 Kulibin
5809 Kulibin is a main-belt asteroid discovered on September 4, 1987 by L. V. Zhuravleva at Nauchnyj. It is named in honor of Russian engineer Ivan Kulibin.- External links :*...
. The asteroid was discovered on September 4, 1987 by L. V. Zhuravleva at Nauchnyj.
Further reading
- Letters of a Russian Traveller by Nikolaĭ Mikhaĭlovich Karamzin, Andrew Kahn. Page 87. ISBN 0729408116
- A History of the U.S.S.R. by Anna Mikhaĭlovna Pankratova, K. V. Bazilevich, Institut istorii (Akademii͡a︡ nauk SSSR) - Soviet Union - 1947 - Page 87
- Werrett, Simon. ‘Enlightenment in Russian Hands: The Inventions and Identity of Ivan Kulibin in Eighteenth-Century St. Petersburg.’ History of Technology 29 (Nov. 2009): 161-80.