The Presidential Library marking the Russian Science Day

The Presidential Library will feature rare and little-known publications about the history and activities of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the eve of the Russian Science Day, which is celebrated on February 8.

Established by decree of Emperor Peter I, announced on the day of his birth by the Governing Senate - January 28 (February 8), 1724, the Russian Academy of Sciences was significantly different from similar foreign organizations. It was a public institution combined the functions of conducting research and training, incorporating a university and a gymnasium.

Pyotr Petrovich Pekarsky, academician of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences since 1864, in his major work History of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Petersburg suggested that Peter I had the intention to establish Academy of Sciences no later than 1720. This decision was promoted by examples of the European states where similar institutions were already opened. Peter I from his entourage received numerous projects for the creation of the Academy in view of the successes of the Paris Academy, as well as conversations with the founder of the Berlin Academy, an outstanding German scientist G. V. Leibniz.

The report of one of his associates, Heinrich Fick, submitted to the tsar for consideration, was honored with the following resolution: “To make an academy, and now look for Russians who are learned and have a penchant for it, also begin to translate jurisprudence books”. The election of von Heinrich as a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences reinforced the intention of the Russian autocrat to create a similar institution in his homeland. In his response letter to French academics, Peter I noted: “We do not want anything else, so that through diligence, which we will apply, to bring science in the best color, to show ourselves as a member worthy of your company”.  

Funds for the creation of the academy were supposed to be allocated from the state treasury. From manuscripts received as trophies, a library, supplemented by the purchase of books abroad was compiled. And from the various collections that Peter received during his travels abroad, Kunstkamera was formed. Each academician had to draw up a teaching manual for young people and engage in daily “hour-to-day teaching” of their subject with students, and then prepare one or two of them to fill an academic position over time.

The Presidential Library’s portal provides readers with the electronic copy of the rare edition Materials for the History of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, where archival documents have been published since 1716. It contains information extracted from decrees, records of the office, contracts, books of current affairs, as well as correspondence between the leaders and employees of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in Russian and German. The introduction to the publication says: “The manuscripts preserved in the Academy’s archive contain a lot of interesting data not only for the history of the Academy of Sciences, but also for the history of education and the dissemination of knowledge in Russia, as well as for the characterization of everyday life and public morals”.   

These manuscripts can tell a lot. For example, when the historian from Germany Gerhard Miller, the Swiss mathematician Leonard Euler, the French astronomer Joseph Delil and others arrived at the invitation of the royal court in St. Petersburg, science was only in its infancy in Russia. But the Academy of Sciences was already organized by the efforts of Peter I, who well understood the role of science and education in the modernization of the country. Empress Catherine I, who ascended the throne after the death of Tsar Peter I (January 28 (February 8), 1725), took the newly created Academy under her protection. She allocated additional premises and often personally attended meetings of the "wise men". And in 1735, at the university organized at the academy, among 12 other recruits, Mikhail Lomonosov began his studies, becoming the first Russian academic in the field of natural sciences.

A whole era in the history of the Academy and Russian Sciences as a whole was the scientific, educating and organizing activity of the great encyclopedist scientist Mikhail Lomonosov. He enriched mankind with fundamental discoveries in the fields of chemistry, physics, astronomy, geology, geography; made a great contribution to the development of history, linguistics and poetics; organized in 1748 the first chemical laboratory; actively participated in 1755 at the foundation of the Moscow University, now rightfully bearing his name.  

The Presidential Library’s portal features extensive collection of electronic copies of documents devoted to Lomonosov, which presents studies, essays and archival materials on the life and work of a scientist, his works on Russian grammar, history and metallurgy, and separate letters. A number of works by a prominent Russian scientist reveal his literary talent.

It is symbolic that the day of Russian science coincides with the birthday of another prominent Russian scientist - Dmitry Mendeleev. His life and work is also illustrated in the electronic collection posted on the Presidential Library’s portal. It includes the works of Mendeleev, correspondence, archival documents and studies of his scientific, pedagogical, social activities and much more. The materials in the collection show that the scientific interests of Mendeleev were not limited to the study of chemistry. He was engaged in research in the fields of physics, meteorology, geology, instrument engineering, economics and even aeronautics, was one of the founders of modern metrology.

The first president of the academy was appointed physician Lavrenty Blumentrost. Among the first members of the academy invited by Peter the Great were mathematicians Nikolai and Daniil Bernoulli, Christian Goldbach, physicist Georg Bulfinger, astronomer and geographer Joseph Delille, historian G. F. Miller, and in 1727 - Leonard Euler. The fruitful, truly titanic scientific activity of the great scientist began at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. The mathematical studies of L. Euler, after Newton and Leibniz, marked the most important stage in the development of mathematical analysis. Euler raised the first Russian mathematicians to become members of the academy.

Russia has always been rightly proud of the talented scientists whose work develops national and world science. Russian scientists are mastering the most promising research areas, developing the latest technologies, preparing a worthy shift.

The Presidential Library, creating and storing in electronic digital form works and documents on the history, theory and practice of Russian statehood, on issues of the Russian language as the state language of the Russian Federation, deals closely with leading Russian institutions of science, education and culture. The leaders of many of them are prominent scientists in various fields of knowledge, head research teams of academic institutes, universities and institutes, and are members of the Academic Council of the Presidential Library.

Congratulations on your professional holiday, the Russian Science Day, to everyone who has chosen the path of a scientist, researcher and discoverer.

We wish you new discoveries, professional success and achievements!