Richman, Georg Wilhelm

He was born in 1711 in a family of Baltic Germans in the city of Pernau (today Pärnu , Estonia ), which was located in Swedish Livonia , but became part of the Russian Empire as a result of the Great Northern War ( 1700 - 1721 ). His father died from the plague before the birth of his son, and his mother remarried. His studies began in Reval (now Tallinn , Estonia), but he studied university sciences in Germany in Halle and Jena . As a home teacher in the family of Count Osterman , he arrived with her in St. Petersburg. His students in this family were: Ivan , who became vice chancellor, and Fedor , who served as the Moscow governor .

On July 23, 1735, Richmann presented an essay on the subject of physics, together with a request to accept the author under the auspices of the Academy, and on October 13, 1735, by order of the President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts, Baron Korff, was accepted into the Academy’s students in the class of physics. Richman was engaged in this science under the guidance of Professor Kraft and helped him in his research and experiments. From April 15, 1740 he was defined as an adjunct, and from April 2, 1741 he was appointed second professor of theoretical and practical physics at the Academy of Sciences and Arts. On May 29, 1744, Kraft dropped out of the Academy, and Richman took his place.

Empress Elizabeth Petrovna showed interest in the physical experiments of Richmann, and especially with electricity. In March 1745, even a special room was reserved in the palace, where Richmann was to demonstrate electrical experiments. More than once, Richmann had to show physical experiments in the Academy itself to members of the Holy Synod and ambassadors of various European states who visited it.

Richman's studies of atmospheric electricity, after receiving information about Franklin 's research , received a new impetus. On July 3, 1752, he presented at the Academy Conference a report that did not appear in print. His experiments on atmospheric electricity, information about which he constantly reported in the Petersburg Vedomosti, were carried out regularly in the summer of 1752 and 1753.

A wire was drawn from an iron insulated pole installed on the roof of the house where Richman lived in one of the rooms of the apartment, to the end of which a metal scale with a quadrant and a silk thread were fastened, according to the angle of deviation, Richman made measurements. Richman tirelessly worked with his device, which he improved by connecting it to a Leiden bank .

On August 6, 1753, during a thunderstorm, when Richmann was standing at a distance of about 30 cm from the instrument, a pale blue ball of fire went to his forehead. There was a blow like a cannon shot, and Richman fell dead, and the engraver Sokolov, who was right there, was knocked to the floor and temporarily stunned. Sokolov left a drawing depicting the death of Richmann.

“... A red-cherry stain is visible on the forehead, and a thundering electric force emerged from his legs to the boards. The legs and fingers are blue, the shoe is torn, but not burned ... ”Thus he described the death of his comrade-in-arms and friend in a letter to Count Shuvalov MV Lomonosov . ^[2] In the same place, Lomonosov writes: “Richman died a beautiful death, fulfilling the position of his profession. His memory will never be silent, "but at the same time worried," so that this case would not be construed against the increments of the sciences. "

The tragic death of Richmann from ball lightning in the study of atmospheric electricity with an “electric pointer” (a prototype device of an electroscope ) that was not grounded had a great resonance throughout the world; in Russia, the study of electricity was temporarily banned.

Richman may have become the first person to die in electrical experiments. ^[3]

In the Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences, he published: 19 works on calorimetry and thermometry, 2 on electricity, 1 on magnetism. 5 papers on molecular physics, 40 posts and articles on electricity and magnetism, 3 papers on mechanics, 2 on optics have not been published.

Then the first electric measuring device appeared - an electrometer . His story begins with an electric indicator created by Richmann shortly after the invention of the Leiden can. This device consisted of a metal rod, to the upper end of which a linen thread of a certain length and weight was suspended. When the rod was electrified, the thread deviated. The deflection angle of the thread was measured using a scale attached to the rod and divided into degrees.

Subsequently, various electrometer designs were invented. So, for example, the electroscope created by the Italian Bennett had two gold leaves placed in a glass vessel. When electrified, the leaves diverged. Being equipped with a scale, such a device could measure, as they said, "electric force. But what" electric power "was, nobody knew this yet, that is, it was not known what physical quantity this device measures. This question was clarified much later.

• Mentioned in the novel by M. A. Aldanov “Punch Vodka”.
• Mentioned in the novel by V. Pikul "Favorite".
• Mentioned in the novel by D. Granin, "Searchers."

• "Mikhailo Lomonosov" ( USSR , 1955 ). In the role of Richmann - Ants Escola .
• "Mikhailo Lomonosov" ( USSR , 1986 ). In the role of Richmann - Leonid Yarmolnik .

• Bobynin V.V. ,. Richman, Georg-Wilhelm // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.
• Gershun A. L .,. Richman, Georg Wilhelm // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Dorfman Ya. G. Outstanding Russian physicist G.V. Richman and his role in the history of the science of electricity. Electricity , No. 8, 1953, p. 61-67.
• Diaghilev F. M. From the history of physics and the life of its creators. - M .: Education, 1986.
• Eliseev A.A. Georg Wilhelm Richmann. - M .: Education, 1975.
• Kravets T.P. and Radovsky M.I. , On the 200th anniversary of the death of Academician G.V. Richman. // Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk , 1953, v. 51, no. 2.
• Hramov Yu. A. Richman Georg Wilhelm // Physicists: Biographical Reference / Ed. A.I. Akhiezer . - Ed. 2nd, rev. and add. - M .: Nauka , 1983 .-- S. 234. - 400 p. - 200,000 copies. (in per.)
• Tsverava G.K. Georg Wilhelm Richmann, 1711-1753. - L .: Nauka, 1977.

• Richman Georg Wilhelm // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• About George Richman in the Newsreel "I Want to Know Everything" on YouTube
• Profile of George Wilhelm Richmann on the RAS official website