Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in the spotlight of the Presidential Library’s materials

September 17, 2019 marks the 162nd anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857–1935), the inventor, scientist, founder of astronautics and a prominent figure in Russian cosmism. The Presidential Library provides access to an extensive collection dedicated to this remarkable man.

The book entitled Exploration of the Cosmic Spaces by Means of Reaction Devices (1926) is available on the Presidential Library’s portal. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrote in the book that his desire for space travel was encouraged by the famous science fiction writer Jules Verne. “I remember perfectly well that in the early childhood my favorite dream was a vague idea of a gravity-free environment, where movements in all directions were completely free and had no limit and where everyone felt better than a bird in the air”, the book reads in part.  

However the widespread belief that Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was a dreamer or an unrecognized genius is not completely true. A lot of books authored by the scientist, which were published before and after the revolution of 1917 are available in the Presidential Library’s collection. It means that, firstly, lots of works by K. E. Tsiolkovsky - a modest teacher from Kaluga - were in print and he was well-known in scientific circles, and secondly, many of his innovative ideas, which initially didn’t have support, soon found practical application.

In 1890 Tsiolkovsky made a report in the Imperial Russian Technical Society about “the possibility of the construction of a metal aerostat”. And in 1897, the Austrian scientist David Schwarz invented a flying metal aerostat.

However, the life and scientific work of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky were rather hard. You can read more about it in the book Aeronaut’s Protection (1911). “I did a lot of experiments on air resistance. The Russian Academy gave me some help. But the experiments were generally ignored. The Academy did not include them in their publications”, the book reads in part.

In the preface to the book The Simple Design of the All-Metal Aeronaut (1914), Konstantin Tsiolkovsky asked readers for support and looked forward to response from those, who were interested in continuing his work.

The founder of astronautics achieved recognition after 1917. In his book A Design of a Metal Dirigible for 40 People (1930) you can also learn that the Soviet government granted the scientist an increased pension for life in recognition of special merits.

New Airplane publication (1929) features letters from colleagues of the Kaluga teacher, who won worldwide fame.

In 1930 the newspaper Rabochaya Moskva reported that an all-metal dirigible to the design of the renowned scientist Tsiolkovsky was under construction.

The “cosmic” ideas of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky were fully realized by Sergey Korolev (1907–1966). Due to the theoretical basis of “Kaluga dreamer” the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite in 1957 and in 1961 a man flew into space for the first time...

In the work Purposes of Space Exploration (1929) Konstantin Tsiolkovsky outlined priorities for the exploration of space, and noted that the conquest of space by human would not take a short time, although many people “imagined airships with people on board traveling from planet to planet, the gradual settlement of planets and getting benefits that ordinary colonies on the Earth provided”.

Of particular interest is the selection of the Presidential Library’s materials focused on the perpetuation of memory of the scientist. A Guidebook to K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s House-Museum (1965) provides the description of a place in Kaluga, where the “great dreamer” had lived for 30 years.

There were just necessary things in his study. Two special devices for improving hearing are on the chair. He lost his hearing as a child after suffering scarlet fever. However the hearing aid improved his hearing and when someone tried to speak loudly, Konstantin Tsiolkovski noted: “Speak in your usual manner. I can hear you well”.

Tsiolkovsky worked with a paper on a plywood board on his knee. He believed that less energy was spent that way and more could be done. Much in the household furnishing testifies to Tsiolkovsky’s constant desire to rationalize everything.

The materials of the collection feature the selection Digital Tsiolkovsky Aboard the International Space Station. In 2016 the scientist’s books The Will of the Universe (1928) and Space Rocket Vehicles (1929) printed from electronic copies available in the Presidential Library’s collections, were sent to the International Space Station and then returned with the ISS seal and autographs of cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko, and an astronaut Robert Kimbrough.

The Presidential Library also focuses attention on philosophical works by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, which made him a classic of Russian cosmism - a philosophical world view based on the idea of the Cosmos and a man as a “citizen of the world”. Tsiolkovsky authored the following books: The Will of the Universe (1928), Nirvana (1914), Cosmic Cause (1925), and Scientific Ethics (1930). The scientist is also called the founder of space anthropology, which studied life forms in the Universe and the cosmic future of mankind.