Home > Mikhail Lomonosov

Lomonosov was born in the village of Denisovka (the name of which was afterwards changed to Lomonosovo in honor of the poet), situated on an island not far from Kholmogory, in the government of Arkhangelsk. His father, a fisherman, took the boy when he was ten years of age to assist him in his work, but his eagerness for knowledge was unbounded. The few books accessible to him he almost learned by heart and, seeing that there was no chance of pursuing education at home, he resolved to go to Moscow.

An opportunity occurred when he was seventeen, and by the intervention of friends he obtained admission into the Zaikonospasski school. There his progress was very rapid, especially in LatinAlternative meanings: See Latin (disambiguation Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and ma, and in 1734Events January 8 Premiere of George Frideric Handel's opera Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. June 17 French troops take Philippsburg, but the Duke of Berwick is killed June 21 In Montreal in New France, a black slave known by the French he was sent from Moscow to Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg ( Russian: English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as (transliterated "Piter"), formerly known as Leningrad (, 1924- 1991) and Petrograd (, 1914- 1924), is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the Gulf of Finland. There again his proficiency, especially in physical science, was marked, and he was one of the young Russians chosen to complete their education in foreign countries.

He accordingly commenced the study of metallurgyMetallurgy is a domain of materials science and of materials engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements and their mixtures, which are called alloys. Extractive metallurgy Extractive metallurgy is the practice of separ at MarburgMarburg is a town in Hesse, Germany, on the Lahn river. It is the capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf county. Population 78. 117 (actual urban center 48. 923) (2002), geographical location 50° 48' 36" North, 8° 46' 15" East. Universitatsstadt Marburg Histor, GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east; he also began to write poetryPoetry is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its use, imitating German authors, among whom he is said to have especially admired GuntherJohann Christian Gunther (1695-1723), German poet, was born at Striegau in Lower Silesia on April 8, 1695. After attending the gymnasium at Schweidnitz, he was sent in 1715 by his father, a country doctor, to study medicine at Wittenberg; but he was idle. His Ode on the Taking of Khotin from the Turks was composed in 1739, and attracted a great deal of attention at St. Petersburg. During his residence in Germany, Lomonosov married a native of that country, and found it difficult to maintain his increasing family on the scanty allowance granted to him by the St. Petersburg Academy which, moreover, was irregularly sent. His circumstances became embarrassed, and he resolved to leave the country secretly and to return home.

On his arrival in Russia he rapidly rose to distinction, and was made professor of chemistry in the University of St. Petersburg, where he ultimately became rector. Eager to improve Russian education, Lomonosov was engaged in founding the Moscow State University (later named after him) in 1755. In 1764 Lomonosov was appointed to the position of a secretary of state.

As a scientist Lomonosov rejected the phlogiston theory of matter commonly accepted at the time, and anticipated the kinetic theory of gases. He regarded heat as a form of motion, suggested the wave theory of light, and stated the idea of conservation of matter. Lomonosov was the first person to record the freezing of mercury, and to hypothesize the existence of an atmosphere on Venus based on his observation of the transit of Venus of 1761. In 1745 he published a catalogue of over 3,000 minerals, and in 1760 he explained the formation of icebergs. In 1755 he wrote a grammar that reformed the Russian literary language by combining Old Church Slavonic with the vulgar tongue. He published the first history of Russia in 1760. Most of his accomplishments, however, were unknown outside Russia until long after his death. He died in St. Petersburg in 1765.

See also: Lomonosov Gold Medal