An outstanding Russian experimental physicist, the first to confirm Maxwell's conclusion about the presence of light pressure, the founder of the first scientific physical school in Russia, professor at Moscow University (1900-1911). He was dismissed as a result of the actions of the Minister of Education, known as the Casso affair.

Born in Moscow on March 8, 1866. In his youth, he became interested in physics, but access to the university for him, a graduate of a real school, was closed, so he entered the Imperial Moscow Technical School. Subsequently, P. N. Lebedev said that familiarity with technology turned out to be very useful to him in the design of experimental facilities.

In 1887, without graduating from IMTU, Lebedev went to Germany, to the laboratory famous physicist August Kundt, for whom he worked first in Strasbourg and then in Berlin. In 1891 he wrote a dissertation "On the measurement of the dielectric constants of vapors and on the theory of dielectrics Mossoti - Clausius" and passed the exam for the first degree. Upon his return to Russia, he received an assistant position in the laboratory of Professor A. G. Stoletov at Moscow University.

The cycle of works performed by Kundt was included in the master's thesis presented by Lebedev in 1900 "On the ponderomotive action of waves on resonators", for which he was immediately (an exceptional case!) awarded the degree of Doctor of Physics. Soon he was approved as a professor at Moscow University.

Not without some opposition from some of his colleagues, Lebedev began to actively carry out experimental work. By that time, he had already gained fame and experience as one of the first researchers based on Maxwell's theory. Back in 1895, he created an installation for generating and receiving electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 6 mm and 4 mm, studied reflection, refraction, polarization, interference, etc.

In 1899, P. N. Lebedev, with the help of virtuoso, although performed by modest means, experiments confirmed Maxwell's theoretical prediction about the pressure of light on solid bodies, and in 1907 - and on gases (discovery of the effect of light pressure). This research has been milestone in the science of electromagnetic phenomena. One of the prominent physicists of that time, William Thomson, said: “I fought with Maxwell all my life, not recognizing his light pressure, and now Lebedev forced me to surrender to his experiments.”

P. N. Lebedev also dealt with issues of action electromagnetic waves on resonators and put forward in connection with these studies profound considerations concerning intermolecular interactions, paid attention to acoustics, in particular hydroacoustics.

The study of the pressure of light on gases prompted Lebedev to become interested in the origin of comet tails.

Not limited to research activities, P. N. Lebedev devotes a lot of effort to creating scientific school, which was essentially the first in Russia and whose appearance continues to be felt to this day. By 1905, about twenty of his young students were already working in the laboratory, who were destined to later play a prominent role in the development of physics in Russia. Of these, it is appropriate to name first of all P.P. Lazarev, who in 1905 began working with Lebedev, soon became his assistant and closest assistant, after Lebedev's death - the head of his laboratory, and in 1916 - director of the first Research Institute of Physics in Moscow, the institute from which came such scientists as S. I. Vavilov, G. A. Gamburtsev, A. L. Mints, P. A. Rebinder, V. V. Shuleikin, E. V. Shpolsky.

Lebedev's experiments required the use of carefully thought-out, sometimes quite complex "mechanics". This sometimes gave rise to absurd reproaches that Lebedev "reduced science to the level of technology." It is appropriate to note that P. N. Lebedev himself considered the issues of the connection between science and technology to be worthy of the most serious attention.

The last cycle of P. N. Lebedev’s studies is undeservedly underestimated to this day. These studies were aimed at testing the hypothesis of the English physicist Sutherland that the action of gravity causes a redistribution of charges in conductors. IN celestial bodies, in planets and stars, according to Sutherland, electrons are “squeezed out” from the inner regions, where the pressures are high, to the surface; due to this, the internal regions are positively charged, and the surface of the bodies is negatively charged. The rotation of bodies, together with the charges redistributed in them, should generate magnetic fields. Thus, a physical explanation was proposed for the origin of the magnetic fields of the Sun, the Earth, and other celestial bodies.

Sutherland's hypothesis did not then have a reliable theoretical substantiation, and therefore the experiment conceived by Lebedev to test it acquired special importance. Realizing that centrifugal forces, like gravitational ones, should cause a redistribution of charges, Lebedev put forward a simple, but, as always, brilliantly witty idea: with the rapid rotation of electrically neutral bodies, if Sutherland's hypothesis is correct, a magnetic field should arise. It is precisely this "magnetization by rotation" that an attempt was made to discover experimentally.

It should be noted that the work took place in very difficult conditions. P. N. Lebedev in 1911 decided to leave Moscow University, along with many progressive teachers, in protest against the reactionary actions of Minister Kasso. A very subtle experiment, which he carried out in the basement of the Physics Department, was to a certain extent crumpled. The desired effect was not found. As it now became clear, the reason was not the absence of an effect, but the insufficient sensitivity of the setup: those estimates for magnetic fields that Lebedev was guided by and based on the work of Sutherland turned out to be significantly overestimated.

At the Shanyavsky City University, where P. N. Lebedev created a new physical laboratory with private funds, he did not have time to continue his research. He always had diseased heart, and even once, when he was still relatively young, it suddenly stopped when he was rowing a boat. Then they managed to bring him back to life, but he lived only 46 years.

The meaning of LEBEDEV PETER NIKOLAEVICH in the Brief Biographical Encyclopedia

LEBEDEV PETER NIKOLAEVICH

Lebedev, Pyotr Nikolaevich - famous physicist (1866 - 1912). Born February 24, 1866 in Moscow, in a merchant family. He received his initial education at the Petropavlovsk German School and at a private real school; three years was a student of the Imperial Technical School. Feeling a vocation for pure science, Lebedev left the school in 1887, where he perfectly studied turning and locksmith crafts and acquired a skill in designing complex instruments, which turned out to be very useful for him. further activities. Higher education Lebedev received from Kundt at the Strasbourg Institute of Physics, then from him in Berlin, where he also attended Helmholtz's lectures on theoretical physics. Returning to Strasbourg, Lebedev prepared there, under the guidance of F. Kohlrausch, his doctoral work: "On the measurement of the dielectric constants of vapors and on the theory of dielectrics by Mossotti-Clausius" (1891). At the same time, Lebedev undertook the study of the theories of comet tails and then already came to the idea of ​​pressure radiant energy and the possibility of its experimental proof. In 1891, Lebedev received a position as an assistant to A.G. Stoletov in Moscow and engaged in an experimental study of the ponderomotive action of different waves on resonators. For this work, the summary results of which were published in 1892, Lebedev received a doctorate from Moscow University without a master's examination and without submitting a dissertation for a master's degree, a year later - a professorship at Moscow University. Performing the work "On the double refraction of rays electrical force"(1895), he discovered the shortest electromagnetic waves that have been obtained so far. Lebedev's brilliant experimental talent was fully reflected in his further work, when he set about realizing the main task of his life - the proof of light pressure. In 1900 Lebedev published the first report on the positive results of his experiments on the pressure of light on solids, in 1901 - the classic "Experimental Study of Light Pressure" Only in 1910, after countless experiments, after he built and studied more than 20 final instruments, Lebedev proved the pressure of light on gases (Journal of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society, 1910). In 1911, Lebedev, along with other professors, left Moscow University and had to transfer his activities to a small laboratory, arranged with private funds in a rented room. In recent years, Lebedev has worked a lot on the issue of the motion of the earth in the ether, trying to find out the causes terrestrial magnetism and expressed extremely bold original ideas on this issue. Their experiments gave negative results("Magnetometric study of rotating bodies. First communication", "Journal of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society", 1911), but further work was interrupted by death. Lebedev died on March 1, 1912 from heart disease. - In addition to purely scientific work, Lebedev did a lot of popularizing latest acquisitions physics in speeches and articles. A very great merit of Lebedev is the creation of a whole school of young Russian physicists who worked in his laboratory under his talented and skillful guidance. He was the founder and chairman of the Moscow Physical Society, which now bears his name. In 1913, this society published Lebedev's "Collected Works" (M., with his biography and a complete list of works). Two of Lebedev's papers on light pressure were published in 1913 by P. Lazarev, in "Ostwald's Klassiker der exakten Wissenschaften". Detailed biographies written by I.I. Borgman ("New Ideas in Physics", ¦ 4, St. Petersburg, 1912) and P.P. Lazarev, his closest student ("Journal of the Russian Physical and Chemical Society").

Brief biographical encyclopedia. 2012

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Physicist-experimenter.

The father actively prepared his son for a career. He chose the best educational institution for this - the German Peter and Paul School, from childhood taught his son to sports, but Lebedev actively did not want to give his future to trade. “The coldness of the grave envelops me at the mere thought of a career for which I am being prepared, - unknown number years of sitting in a stuffy office on a high stool, over open folios, mechanically copying letters and numbers from one paper to another, and so all his life ... - he wrote in his diary. “They want to send me by force to where I don’t fit at all.”

In 1884 Lebedev graduated real school Hainovsky.

Lebedev was most interested in physics, but he could not enter the university. The right to enter the university at that time gave only classical education, that is, a gymnasium in which ancient languages ​​were taught, primarily Latin.

Deciding to get his way, Lebedev left for Germany.

In Germany, for several years he studied in the physical laboratories of the famous physicist August Kundt - first at Strasbourg (1887-1888), then at Berlin (1889-1890) universities. However, from the University of Berlin, Kundt sent Lebedev back to Strasbourg, because in Berlin Lebedev could not defend his dissertation, all because of the same ignorance of the Latin language.

Lebedev completed his dissertation in Strasbourg. It was called "On the measurement of the dielectric constants of water vapor and on the theory of dielectrics Mossotti-Clausius." Many provisions of this work by Lebedev remain relevant today.

In his diary that year, Lebedev wrote:

“... People are like swimmers: some swim on the surface and surprise the audience with the flexibility and speed of movement, doing all this for exercise; others dive deep and come out either empty-handed or with pearls - endurance and happiness are necessary for the latter.

But, apart from such, purely emotional, Lebedev wrote down thoughts that even now cannot but amaze.

“... Each atom of any of our primary elements is a complete solar system, that is, it consists of various atomoplanets rotating at different speeds around the central planet or in some other way moving characteristically periodically. The periods of movement are very short (according to our concepts) ... "

The entry was made by Lebedev on January 22, 1887, that is, many years before the planetary model of the atom was developed by E. Rutherford and N. Bohr.

In Strasbourg, Lebedev first drew attention to comet tails.

They interested him, first of all, from the point of view of light pressure.

Even Kepler and Newton assumed that the reason for deviations of comet tails from the Sun could be the mechanical pressure of light. But such experiments were extremely difficult to set up. Prior to Lebedev, Euler, Fresnel, Bredikhin, Maxwell, and Boltzmann dealt with this problem. The great names did not confuse the young researcher. Already in 1891, in a note "On the repulsive force of radiant bodies," he tried to prove that in the case of very small particles the repulsive force of light pressure must undoubtedly exceed the Newtonian attraction; thus, the deflection of comet tails is indeed caused by light pressure.

"I seem to have done very important discovery in the theory of the movement of luminaries, especially comets,” Lebedev happily told one of his colleagues.

In 1891, full of ideas, Lebedev returned to Russia.

The famous physicist Stoletov gladly invited Lebedev to Moscow University. There, for several years, Lebedev's work "Experimental Study of the Ponderomotive Action of Waves on Resonators" was published in separate editions. The first part of the work was devoted experimental study interactions of electromagnetic resonators, the second - hydrodynamic, the third - acoustic. The merits of the work turned out to be so undoubted that Lebedev was awarded a doctorate degree without preliminary defense and appropriate examinations - a very rare case in the practice of Russian universities.

“The main interest in the study of the pondemotor action of undulating motion,” wrote Lebedev, “lies in the fundamental possibility of extending the laws found to the region of light and thermal emission of individual molecules of bodies and predicting the resulting intermolecular forces and their magnitude.”

The motion of light and heat waves, which Lebedev wrote about, was studied by him on models. Even then, Lebedev came close to trying to overcome numerous difficulties in detecting and measuring the pressure of light, which his famous predecessors could not bypass in any way. But success came to Lebedev only in 1900.

The device on which Lebedev obtained the results looked simple.

The light from the voltaic spirit fell on a light wing suspended on a thin thread in a glass bottle from which the air had been pumped out. The light pressure could be judged by the slight twisting of the thread. The wing itself consisted of two pairs of thin platinum circles. One of the circles of each pair was shiny on both sides, the other one of the sides was covered with platinum black. In order to exclude the movement of gas that occurs when the temperatures of the winglet and the glass container differ, the light was directed first to one side of the winglet, then to the other. As a result, the radiometric effect could well be taken into account by comparing the result when light falls on a thick and thin blackened circle.

Experiments on the detection and measurement of light pressure brought world fame to Lebedev. Famous English physicist Lord Kelvin told Timiryazev at the meeting: “All my life I fought with Maxwell, not recognizing his light pressure! But your Lebedev forced me to surrender. Lebedev was elected an extraordinary professor at Moscow University. However, even this did not go without discussion: can an internationally recognized scientist occupy such a high position without knowing Latin? Not everyone was sure of this: Lebedev was elected with a margin of only three balls.

Unfortunately, in those same years, the first signs of a formidable heart disease appeared, which eventually killed Lebedev.

“... As you can see, I am far away, in Heidelberg,” he wrote on April 10, 1902 to his close old friend Princess M. K. Golitsina. “On my way to the South, I intended to stop here for a few days, but illness bound me for the whole winter. On personal experience I had to make sure how powerless medicine is in any way difficult cases: the great Erb consoles me with the fact that suffering is “nervous” (what “nervous” means – no one knows) and that with time (with what time? 1000 years?) it can completely disappear. Now I'm better, stupid desperation has changed faint hope that things will improve so much that I will be able to work again. During the winter, I had to endure very heavy torments - it was not life, but some kind of long, intolerable dying; pain dulled all interests (not to mention the inability to work); add to this the painful moral consciousness that I torment my sister in vain because I can neither be cured nor die - and you will see that I did not live this year cheerfully.

As you know, princess, in my personal life there were so few joys that I don’t feel sorry for parting with this life (I say this because I know what it means to die: last spring I completely “accidentally” experienced a severe heart attack) - I only feel sorry for dying with me useful to people a very good machine for the study of nature: I must take my plans with me, since I cannot bequeath to anyone either my great experience or my talent for experimentation. I know that in twenty years these plans will be carried out by others, but what is twenty years of delay worth to science? And it's the consciousness that the decision of some important issues it is close that I know the secret of how to solve them, but I am powerless to convey them to others - this consciousness is more painful than you think ... "

Nevertheless, Lebedev continued to work.

For space phenomena, he believed, the main importance should not be pressure on solids, but pressure on rarefied gases, consisting of isolated molecules. On the structure of molecules and their optical properties very little was known at the time. It was not even clear how, in fact, one should pass from pressure on individual molecules to pressure on the body as a whole. The well-known Swedish researcher Svante Arrhenius, for example, argued that gases, in principle, cannot experience light pressure. He put forward the so-called "drop" theory of the structure of comet tails. According to Arrhenius's theory, the tails of comets could consist of tiny droplets formed during the condensation of hydrocarbons evaporating from the mysterious depths of the comet. Astronomer K. Schwarzschild substantiated the opinion of Arrhenius theoretically.

An attempt to solve the problem that gave rise to many of the most controversial hypotheses and theories took Lebedev almost ten years.

But he solved this problem.

In the device built by Lebedev, the gas under the pressure of the absorbed light received rotary motion, transmitted to a small piston, the deviations of which could be measured by the displacement of the mirror "bunny". This time the thermal effect was overcome by the ingenious method of mixing hydrogen into the gas under study. Hydrogen is an excellent conductor of heat, it instantly evened out all temperature inhomogeneities in the vessel.

“Dear colleague!

I still remember well how doubtful I was in 1902 about your intention to measure the pressure of radiation on gases, and with all the greater admiration I now read how you overcame all obstacles. Thank you very much for your article. It came just at the moment when I was writing a small article in which I proved the advantage of the "resonator theory" of comet tails over the "drop theory" of Arrhenius ... Since now there is no longer any doubt that the radiation pressure and the diffusion of light are related by the Fitzgerald relation, then attention should now be directed to the study of the resonant glow of extremely rarefied gases ... "

Inspired by the results obtained, Lebedev was ready to build on the success.

“... You, princess,” he wrote to Golitsyna, “have a sixth sense. Indeed, I am again in love with my science, in love like a boy, well, just like before: I am now so carried away, I work all day long, as if I had never been sick - again I am the same as I was before: I feel my mental strength and freshness , I play with difficulties, I feel that I am Cyrano de Bergerac in physics, and therefore I can, and I want, and I will write to you: now I have a moral (i.e., masculine) right to this. And I know that you not only forgave me - more: I feel that you are happy in the way that only a woman can and knows how to be happy - and far from any.

But let me be even more selfish and start writing to you about what I invented, what I am doing now.

Of course, the idea is very simple: for some reasons, which I will not dwell on, I came to the conclusion that all rotating bodies must be magnetic - the peculiarity that our Earth is magnetic and attracts the blue end of the magnetic needle of the compass to north pole, due to its rotation around the axis. But this is only an idea - experience is needed, and now I am preparing it: I will take an axis that makes more than a thousand revolutions per second - I am currently busy with the design of this device - on the axis I will put balls of three centimeters in diameter from different substances: copper, aluminum, cork, glass, etc. - and I will cause rotation; they must become magnetic in the same way as the earth; to make sure of this, I will take a tiny magnetic needle - only two millimeters long - I will hang it from the thinnest quartz thread - then its end should be attracted to the pole of the rotating ball.

And now I’m like Faust in the first act before the charming vision: like Margarita’s spinning wheel, my axis buzzes, I see the thinnest quartz threads ... Only Margarita is missing to complete the picture ... But the main thing here is not even the axis and not the thread, but the feeling of joy in life, thirst to catch every moment, the feeling of your goal, your value for someone and for something, a bright warm beam that pierces your whole soul ... "

In 1911, together with other famous scientists, Lebedev left Moscow University in protest against the actions of the Minister of Education L.A. Kasso.

This decision cost Lebedev great suffering.

Most of all, he was afraid that leaving the university would destroy the school of Russian physicists that he carefully and painstakingly created.

This, fortunately, did not happen.

Pupils and followers of Lebedev - P. P. Lazarev, S. I. Vavilov, V. K. Arkadiev, A. R. Kolli, T. P. Kravets, V. D. Zernov, A. B. Mlodzeevsky, N. A Kaptsov, N. N. Andreev - made a huge contribution to science.

Lebedev was extremely sorry to leave the physical laboratory he had created. A brilliant experimenter, he now did not have the opportunity to put his plans difficult experiments. Nevertheless, Lebedev turned down a very flattering invitation from Svante Arrhenius to move to Stockholm. “Naturally,” Arrhenius wrote to Lebedev, “it would be a great honor for the Nobel Institute if you wished to get settled and work there, and we, no doubt, would provide you with all the necessary funds so that you would be able to continue working ... You, of course , would receive a completely free position, as it corresponds to your rank in science ... "

Leaving the laboratory, Lebedev transferred the experimental work to a private apartment rented in the basement of house number 20 on Dead Lane.

“... I am writing to you, princess, only to you - a few lines.

It's so hard for me, around the night, silence, and so I want to clench my teeth tighter and moan. What's happened? - you ask. Yes, nothing unusual: just the building of personal life, personal happiness - no, not happiness, but the joy of life - was built on sand, now it has cracked and will probably collapse soon, and the strength to build a new one, even the strength to level a new place - no, no faith, no hope.

head stuffed scientific plans, witty works in progress; I haven't said mine yet last word- I understand this with my mind, I understand with my mind the words "duty", "care", "get used to it" - I understand everything, but the horror, the horror of a hateful, hateful life hits me with a fever. Old, sick, lonely, I know the feeling of the nearness of death, I experienced it second by second in absolutely clear consciousness during one heart attack (the doctor also did not think that I would survive) - I know this terrible feeling, I know what it means to prepare for this step, I know that this is not a joke - and now, if now, as then, right here, when I am writing to you, death would come up to me again, I would not interfere now, but I myself would go towards it - it’s so clear to me that my life is over…”

“The abundance of thoughts and projects,” Lebedev wrote to one of his friends, “does not give me a quiet time for work: it seems that what you are doing has already been done, and what is born is important, more important than the previous one and requires the fastest possible implementation - hands involuntarily drop, and there is a crowd, and the results, instead of raining down, do not move from their place ... "

The work begun by Lebedev was completed by the physicist A. Compton, who finally solved the problems of light pressure.

Petr Nikolaevich Lebedev

Lebedev Petr Nikolaevich (1866-1912), Russian physicist, founder of the first Russian scientific school of physicists. Professor at Moscow University (1900-11), resigned in protest against the harassment of students. First received (1895) and investigated millimeter electromagnetic waves. He discovered and measured the pressure of light on solids (1900) and gases (1908), quantitatively confirming the electromagnetic theory of light. Lebedev's name is borne by the Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

LEBEDEV Petr Nikolaevich (02/24/1866-03/01/1912), an outstanding Russian scientist, founder of the first scientific school of physicists in Russia. For the first time received and investigated millimeter electromagnetic waves (1895). He discovered and investigated the pressure of light on solids (1899) and gases (1907), quantitatively confirming the electromagnetic theory of light. Ideas P.N. Lebedev found their development in the works of his numerous students.

LEBEDEV Petr Nikolaevich (1866-1912) - Russian scientist, physicist, founder of the first physical school in Russia.

Professor at Moscow University in 1900-1911, where he created a physical laboratory. In 1901, for the first time, he discovered and measured the pressure of light on a solid body, quantitatively confirming Maxwell's theory. In 1909, he experimentally discovered and measured the pressure of light on gases for the first time. Investigated the role of the Earth's rotation in the emergence of terrestrial magnetism. The Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences is named after him.

Orlov A.S., Georgiev N.G., Georgiev V.A. Historical dictionary. 2nd ed. M., 2012, p. 274.

Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev was born on March 8, 1866 in Moscow, into a merchant family. Petya learned to read and write at home. He was sent to the commercial department of the Evangelical Church School of Peter and Paul. From September 1884 to March 1887, Lebedev attended the Moscow Higher Technical School, but the activity of an engineer did not attract him. He went in 1887 to Strasbourg, to one of the best physical schools in Europe, the school of August Kundt.

In 1891, having successfully defended his dissertation, Lebedev became a doctor of philosophy.

In 1891, Lebedev returned to Moscow and, at the invitation of A.G. Stoletov began working at Moscow University as a laboratory assistant. The basic physical ideas of this plan were published by a young scientist in Moscow, in a short note "On the repulsive force of radiant bodies." The study of light pressure became the work of Petr Nikolayevich's whole life. It followed from Maxwell's theory that the light pressure on a body is equal to the energy density of the electromagnetic field. Lebedev creates his famous installation - a system of light and thin disks on a swirling suspension. The platinum wings of the suspension were taken with a thickness of only 0.1-0.01 mm, which led to a rapid temperature equalization. The entire plant was placed in the highest vacuum achievable at the time. Lebedev placed a drop of mercury in the glass container where the installation was located and heated it slightly. Mercury vapor displaced the air pumped out by the pump. And after that, the temperature in the cylinder dropped, and the pressure of the remaining mercury vapor decreased sharply.

A preliminary report on the pressure of light was made by Lebedev in 1899, then he spoke about his experiments in 1900 in Paris at the World Congress of Physicists. In 1901, his work "Experimental study of light pressure" was published in the German journal "Annals of Physics". From the fact of the existence of pressure of electromagnetic waves, the conclusion followed that they have a mechanical impulse, and hence mass. So, the electromagnetic field has momentum and mass, that is, it is material, which means that matter exists not only in the form of matter, but also in the form of a field.

In 1900, while defending his master's thesis, Lebedev was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science, bypassing the degree of Master. In 1901 he became a professor at Moscow University. In 1902, Lebedev made a report at the congress of the German Astronomical Society, in which he again returned to the question of space role light pressure. On his way there were difficulties not only experimental, but also theoretical. The difficulties of the experimental plan were that the light pressure on gases is many times less than the pressure on solids. By 1900 all preparatory work for solutions the most difficult task were completed. Only in 1909 did he make the first report of his results. They were published in the Annals of Physics in 1910.

In addition to works related to light pressure, Petr Nikolayevich did a lot to study the properties of electromagnetic waves. Lebedev's article "On the double refraction of rays of electric force" appeared simultaneously in Russian and German. At the beginning of this article, having improved the Hertz method, Lebedev obtained the shortest electromagnetic waves at that time with a length of 6 mm, in Hertz's experiments they were 0.5 m, and proved them birefringence in anisotropic environments. It should be noted that the scientist's instruments were so small that they could be carried in a pocket.

In the last years of his life, the problem of ultrasound attracted his attention. In 1911, Lebedev, along with other professors, left Moscow University in protest against the actions of the reactionary Minister of Education Kasso. In the same year, Lebedev twice received invitations from the Nobel Institute in Stockholm, where he was offered the position of laboratory director and material resources. The question was raised about awarding him Nobel Prize. However, Pyotr Nikolaevich remained at home, with his students. The lack of necessary conditions for work, the feelings associated with resignation, finally undermined Lebedev's health. He died on March 1, 1912, at the age of only forty-six.

(to the 150th anniversary of the birth)

2016 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Russian physicist Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev. He had exceptionally broad scientific interests Key words: the nature of molecular interaction, the ponderomotive action of waves on resonators, light pressure, astrophysics, X-rays, radioactivity and much more. World fame P.N. Lebedev brought research to determine the light pressure on solids and gases.

In addition, P.N. Lebedev worked in close contact at first with A.G. Stoletov, and then with N.A. Umov. Also had a great influence external factors, the situation at the university and the country that developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In the second half of the 19th century, radical changes took place in the teaching of physics at Moscow University. M.F. Spassky (head of the department in 1839-1859) established the following order in teaching physics: for first-year students, experimental physics was taught, and for third- and fourth-year students - mathematical physics. After Foucault staged his experiment with the pendulum in 1851, M.F. In the same year, Spassky repeated this experiment at Moscow University, which aroused wide not only scientific, but also public interest.

As for N.A. Lyubimov (headed the department in 1859–1882), then, as N.A. Umov, "he immediately raised the teaching of physics at Moscow University with his talented presentation, the popularization of science and the desire to bring teaching to the level that he met on his trip abroad." In 1871 N.A. Lyubimov and A.G. Stoletov sent a reasoned proposal to the University Council about the need to open a laboratory. In 1872 a physical laboratory was established.

During the head of the department A.G. Stoletov (1882-1893) conducted regular scientific research in the laboratory. In 1884, another professor appeared at the department - A.P. Sokolov, student of A.G. Stoletov.

With the advent of N.A. Umov (headed the department in 1893-1911), three professors worked at the department (until the death of A.G. Stoletov in 1896).

As a result, the department's ability to teach physics and conduct scientific research is expanding. The scope of scientific research is also expanding.

In 1891, P.N. Lebedev defended his doctoral dissertation "On the measurement of dielectric constants of vapors and on the theory of dielectrics Mossoti-Clausius" at the University of Strassburg and returned to Moscow the same year. Through his friend in Strasbourg B.B. Golitsyna P.N. Lebedev contacted A.G. Stoletov, who promised to hire him as a freelance assistant. The enrollment took place on March 18, 1892.

A.G. Stoletov provided P.N. Lebedev the opportunity to arrange a small laboratory for his research. At that time, the physical laboratory was located on the second floor of a two-story building in the courtyard of the university at 11 Mokhovaya Street (rector's house, former home Volkonsky).

P.N. Lebedev immediately set about creating a laboratory and research. In 1895, he first created a set of devices for generating and receiving millimeter electromagnetic waves with a length of 6 and 4 mm, established their reflection, double refraction, interference, etc. In 1896, he created an X-ray unit and conducted research with X-rays.

From 1894 to 1897, intermittently, P.N. Lebedev investigates the mechanical action of waves on resonators.

In 1897 N.A. Umov, A.P. Sokolov, P.N. Lebedev, together with the architect E.M. Bykovsky, prepared a project for the Physics Institute. The institute building was officially opened in 1903.

Having successfully read several mandatory public lectures, in 1896 P.N. Lebedev becomes Privatdozent.

In 1896 A.A. Becquerel opens natural radioactivity. And already in 1897–1898, P.N. Lebedev is engaged in the study of Becquerel rays.

His dissertation Experimental studies ponderomotive action of waves on resonators" he presented in 1899 for the degree of master of physics. ON THE. Umov and A.P. Sokolov recommended that the University Council award Lebedev the degree of Doctor of Science, bypassing the degree of Master. February 28, 1900 P.N. Lebedev was approved as an extraordinary professor at Moscow University.

The building opened in 1903 as the Physics Institute at Moscow University. October 2016.

In 1899 P.N. Lebedev conducts experiments to determine the pressure of light on solids. On May 17, 1899, he made a report on the experimental proof of the existence of light pressure to the Society of Naturalists in Lausanne (Switzerland).

At the International Congress of Physicists in Paris in 1901, he also made a report. In the same year, an article by P.N. Lebedev "Experimental study of light pressure".

Works by P.N. Lebedev on light pressure caused a wide international resonance. His article has been reprinted in many magazines. P.N. Lebedev received fame and recognition. S.I. Vavilov wrote: “... Lebedev's work on light pressure is not a separate episode, but the most important experimental unit that determined the development of the theory of relativity, quantum theory and modern astrophysics .... Not only a historian, but a researcher-physicist will resort to the works of P.N. Lebedev as a living source.

When a new building was built, designed specifically for physical institute Moscow University, N.A. Umov, A.P. Sokolov and P.N. Lebedev agreed to establish three departments at the institute and to divide into equal parts the funds allocated for laboratory research. But the meeting of the heads of educational and auxiliary institutions of the university rejected this project and allocated P.N. Lebedev only 583 rubles.

In 1904, P.N. Lebedev was given the prize of the Academy of Sciences, which was given to Russian scientists for best achievements, and at the same time he was elected a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

June 21, 1906 P.N. Lebedev received the title of ordinary professor at Moscow University. By the end of 1907, having overcome great difficulties, he carried out a series of experiments to measure the forces of light pressure on gases.

In protest against the action of the Minister of Education, who dismissed the rector of the university and his assistant, who actually refused to comply with the circular obliging the administration Russian universities immediately report to the police about political gatherings of students within the walls of educational institutions, a number of professors and employees left Moscow University. After long and painful reflections, P.N. also left. Lebedev.

In 1911, the bicentenary of the birth of M.V. Lomonosov. In this regard, P.N. Lebedev published an article "In memory of the first Russian scientist". At the end of the article, he wrote: "Caring about the success of science, society will take care of itself ...".

Petr Nikolayevich accepted the proposal of the A.L. Shanyavsky and organized a new physical laboratory with private funds. In the basement of a private house (Dead Lane) research was continued, begun at Moscow University, including the study of the nature of geomagnetism. But the scientist's health deteriorated. he goes to Heidelberg for treatment, leaving the laboratory in the care of his assistant P.P. Lazarev.

Grave of P.N. Lebedev at the Novodevichy Cemetery. October 2016

Returning to Moscow, P.N. Lebedev begins to actively promote the idea of ​​creating the Moscow scientific institute according to the type of "Clinical City", built in Moscow with private donations. The plan of the new building was developed by P.N. Lebedev with the participation of the architect A.N. Sokolov. It was erected on Miusskaya Square after the death of the scientist.

The first students of P.N. Lebedev were P.B. Leiberg, V.Ya. Altberg, V.D. Zernov, N.P. Neklepaev, N.A. Kaptsov, T.P. Kravets, A.R. Colli, V.I. Romanov. ON THE. Kaptsov wrote: “P.N. Lebedev belonged to those people who not only move science forward themselves, but also involve the younger generation in this work.” At the beginning of the twentieth century, their number increased significantly.

In 1905, to the laboratory of P.N. Lebedev comes to P.P. Lazarev, graduate Faculty of Medicine Moscow University (1901). In 1903, he passed the exams for the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics as an external student.