The life of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857 - 1935) became a vivid example of how a person obsessed with science can become a famous scientist in spite of everything. Tsiolkovsky did not have iron health (rather, even the opposite), practically did not have material support from his parents in his youth and serious income in his mature years, was subjected to ridicule by his contemporaries and criticized by his colleagues in science. But in the end Konstantin Eduardovich and his heirs proved that the Kaluga dreamer was right.
Do not forget that Tsiolkovsky was already at a fairly mature age (he was over 60), when Russia experienced one of the largest cataclysms in its history - two revolutions and the Civil War. The scientist was able to endure both these tests, and the loss of two sons and a daughter. He wrote more than 400 scientific papers, while Tsiolkovsky himself considered his rocket theory to be an interesting but side branch of his general theory, in which physics was mixed with philosophy.
Tsiolkovsky was looking for a new path for humanity. Surprisingly, not that he was able to point it out to people who had just recovered from the blood and filth of fratricidal conflicts. What is surprising is that people believed Tsiolkovsky. Just 22 years after his death, the first artificial Earth satellite was launched in the Soviet Union, and 4 years later, Yuri Gagarin ascended into space. But these 22 years also included 4 years of the Great Patriotic War, and the incredible tension of post-war reconstruction. Tsiolkovsky's ideas and the work of his followers and students overcame all obstacles.
1. Father Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was a forester. As with many “grassroots” government positions in Russia, with regard to foresters, it was assumed that he would get his own food. However, Eduard Tsiolkovsky was distinguished by his pathological honesty at that time and lived exclusively on a small salary, earning money as a teacher. Of course, other foresters did not favor such a colleague, therefore Tsiolkovsky often had to move. In addition to Constantine, the family had 12 children, he was the youngest of the boys.
2. The poverty of the Tsiolkovsky family is well characterized by the following episode. Although the mother was engaged in education in the family, the father somehow decided to give the children a short lecture on the rotation of the Earth. To illustrate the process, he took an apple and, piercing it with a knitting needle, began to rotate around this knitting needle. The children were so fascinated by the sight of the apple that they did not listen to their father's explanation. He got angry, threw the apple on the table and left. The fruit was instantly eaten.
3. At the age of 9, little Kostya fell ill with scarlet fever. The disease greatly affected the boy's hearing and radically changed his subsequent life. Tsiolkovsky became unsociable, and those around him began to shy away from the half-deaf boy. Three years later, Tsiolkovsky's mother died, which was a new blow to the boy's character. Only about three years later, having begun to read a lot, Konstantin found an outlet for himself - the knowledge he received inspired him. And deafness, he wrote at the end of his days, became a whip that drove him all his life.
4. Already at the age of 11, Tsiolkovsky began making various mechanical structures and models with his own hands. He made dolls and sleighs, houses and clocks, sleighs and carriages. The materials were sealing wax (instead of glue) and paper. At the age of 14, he was already making moving models of trains and wheelchairs, in which springs served as "motors". At the age of 16, Konstantin independently assembled a lathe.
5. Tsiolkovsky lived in Moscow for three years. The modest sums that were sent to him from home, he spent on self-education, and he himself lived literally on bread and water. But in Moscow there was a wonderful - and free - Chertkov library. There Konstantin not only found all the necessary textbooks, but also got acquainted with the novelties of literature. However, such an existence could not last long - an already weakened organism could not withstand. Tsiolkovsky returned to his father in Vyatka.
6. His wife Varvara Tsiolkovsky met in 1880 in the town of Borovsk, where he was sent to work as a teacher after successfully passing the exams. The marriage was extremely successful. His wife supported Konstantin Eduardovich in everything, despite his far from angelic character, the attitude of the scientific community towards him and the fact that Tsiolkovsky spent a significant part of his modest earnings in science.
7. Tsiolkovsky's first attempt to publish a scientific work dates back to 1880. The 23-year-old teacher sent a work with a rather expressive title “Graphic Expression of Sensations” to the editorial office of the Russian Thought magazine. In this work, he tried to prove that the algebraic sum of positive and negative feelings of a person during his life is equal to zero. It is not surprising that the work was not published.
8. In his work "Mechanics of gases" Tsiolkovsky rediscovered (25 years after Clausius, Boltzmann and Maxwell) the molecular-kinetic theory of gases. In the Russian Physico-Chemical Society, where Tsiolkovsky sent his work, they guessed that the author was deprived of access to modern scientific literature and appreciated “Mechanics” favorably, despite its secondary nature. Tsiolkovsky was accepted into the ranks of the Society, but Konstantin Eduardovich did not confirm his membership, which he later regretted.
9. As a teacher, Tsiolkovsky was both appreciated and disliked. Appreciated for the fact that he explained everything in a very simple and intelligible way, did not shy away from making devices and models with children. Disliked for adherence to principles. Konstantin Eduardovich refused fictitious tutoring for the children of the rich. Moreover, he was serious about the exams that officials took to confirm or improve their grade. The bribe for such exams made up a significant share of teachers' income, and Tsiolkovsky's adherence to principles ruined the whole “business”. Therefore, on the eve of exams, it often turned out that the most principled examiner urgently needed to go on a business trip. In the end, they got rid of Tsiolkovsky in a way that would later become popular in the Soviet Union - he was sent “for promotion” to Kaluga.
10. In 1886, KE Tsiolkovsky, in a special work, substantiated the possibility of building an all-metal airship. The idea, which the author personally presented in Moscow, was approved, but only in words, promising the inventor “moral support”. It is unlikely that anyone wanted to make fun of the inventor, but in 1893 - 1894 the Austrian David Schwartz built an all-metal airship in St. Petersburg with public money, without a project and discussion of scientists. The lighter-than-air device turned out to be unsuccessful, Schwartz received another 10,000 rubles from the treasury for revision and ... fled. The Tsiolkovsky airship was built, but only in 1931.
11. Having moved to Kaluga, Tsiolkovsky did not abandon his scientific studies and again made a rediscovery. This time he repeated the work of Hermann Helmholtz and Lord Cavendish, suggesting that the source of energy for the stars is gravity. What to do, it was impossible to subscribe to foreign scientific journals on a teacher's salary.
12. Tsiolkovsky was the first to think about the use of gyroscopes in aviation. First, he designed a mercury automatic axle regulator, and then proposed using the principle of a rotating top to balance aircrafts.
13. In 1897 Tsiolkovsky built his own wind tunnel of an original design. Such pipes were already known, but Konstantin Eduardovich's wind tunnel was comparative - he connected two pipes together and placed different objects in them, which gave a clear idea of the difference in air resistance.
14. From the pen of the scientist came out several science fiction works. The first was the story "On the Moon" (1893). This was followed by "The History of Relative Gravity" (later called "Dreams of the Earth and the Sky"), "On the West", "On Earth and Beyond the Earth in 2017".
15. "Exploration of world spaces with jet devices" - this was the title of Tsiolkovsky's article, which in fact laid the foundation for cosmonautics. The scientist creatively developed and substantiated the idea of Nikolai Fedorov about “unsupported” - jet engines. Tsiolkovsky himself later admitted that for him Fedorov's thoughts were like Newton's apple - they gave impetus to Tsiolkovsky's own ideas.
16. The first airplanes were just making timid flights, and Tsiolkovsky was already trying to calculate the overload that the cosmonauts would undergo. He set up experiments on chickens and cockroaches. The latter have withstood a hundredfold overload. He calculated the second space velocity and came up with the idea of stabilizing artificial satellites of the Earth (there was no such term then) by rotation.
17. Two sons of Tsiolkovsky committed suicide. Ignat, who passed away in 1902, most likely could not stand poverty, bordering on poverty. Alexander hanged himself in 1923. Another son, Ivan, died in 1919 from volvulus. Daughter Anna died in 1922 from tuberculosis.
18. Tsiolkovsky's first separate study appeared only in 1908. Then the family with incredible efforts was able to buy a house on the outskirts of Kaluga. The first flood flooded it, but there were stables and sheds in the yard. Of these, the second floor was built, which became the working room of Konstantin Eduardovich.
The restored Tsiolkovsky house. The superstructure that contained the study is in the background
19. It is quite possible that the genius of Tsiolkovsky would have become generally recognized even before the revolution, if it were not for the lack of funds. The scientist simply could not convey most of his inventions to a potential consumer due to lack of money. For example, he was ready to cede his patents free of charge to anyone who undertakes to produce inventions. The intermediary in the search for investors was offered an unprecedented 25% of the transaction - in vain. It is no coincidence that the last brochure published by Tsiolkovsky “under the old regime” in 1916 was entitled “Grief and Genius”.
20. For all the years of his scientific activity before the revolution, Tsiolkovsky received funding only once - he was allocated 470 rubles for the construction of a wind tunnel. In 1919, when the Soviet state, in fact, lay in ruins, he was assigned a life pension and provided with a scientific ration (this was then the highest allowance rate). For 40 years of scientific activity before the revolution, Tsiolkovsky published 50 works, in 17 years under Soviet power - 150.
21. Scientific career and life of Tsiolkovsky could end in 1920. A certain Fedorov, an adventurer from Kiev, persistently suggested that the scientist move to Ukraine, where everything is ready for the construction of an airship. Along the way, Fedorov was in active correspondence with members of the white underground. When the Chekists arrested Fedorov, suspicion fell on Tsiolkovsky. True, after two weeks in prison, Konstantin Eduardovich was released.
22. In 1925 - 1926 Tsiolkovsky re-published "Exploration of world spaces by jet devices". The scientists themselves called it a re-edition, but he almost completely revised his old work. The principles of jet propulsion were much clearer, and possible technologies for launching, equipping a spacecraft, cooling it and returning to Earth were described. In 1929, in Space Trains, he described multistage rockets. As a matter of fact, modern cosmonautics is still based on the ideas of Tsiolkovsky.
23. Tsiolkovsky's interests were not limited to flights in the air and into space. He researched and described technologies for generating solar energy and energy from sea tides, condensing water vapor, air conditioning rooms, developing deserts, and even thought about high-speed trains.
24. In the 1930s, Tsiolkovsky's fame became truly worldwide. He received letters from all over the world, newspaper correspondents came to Kaluga to ask for their opinion on a particular issue. The government bodies of the USSR requested consultations. The 65th anniversary of the scientist was celebrated with great fanfare. At the same time, Tsiolkovsky remained extremely modest both in behavior and in everyday life. He was somehow persuaded to go to Moscow for the anniversary, but when A.M. Gorky wrote to Tsiolkovsky that he would like to come to him in Kaluga, the scientist politely refused. It was inconvenient for him to receive the great writer in his office, which he called "the light".
25. Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky died on September 19, 1935 from a malignant stomach tumor. Thousands of Kaluga residents and visitors from other cities came to say goodbye to the great scientist. The coffin was installed in the hall of the Palace of Pioneers. Central newspapers devoted whole pages to Tsiolkovsky, calling him a revolutionary of science.
