Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev
Pyotr Nikolaevich Lebedev (Russian Пётр Николаевич Лебедев), March 8 (21), 1866 - January 1, 1912 (new style). Lebedev is considered to be the first world-level Russian physicist. Lebedev is most noted for his contribution to experimental studies of waves. He was the first to measure the pressure of light on a solid body (1900) confirming Maxwell theory.
Born in the merchant family. In 1884 he entered Moscow High Engineering college, but soon, in 1887, he went to study at University of Strasburg, one of the best schools of physics at the time. Here his mentor was the head of the school A. Kundt. In 1888 Kundt transfered to University of Berlin. Lebedev couldn't follow him because he didn't have a certificate of formal education (the high school diploma of the time). He continued his research with V. Kohlrausch (German physicist and electric scientist, known mostly for his work on technical application of electricity) and with his suggestion Lebedev wrote a work on dielectric coefficient of vapors in 1891, which earned him a Ph.D.
Same year he returns to Moscow and works as laboratory assistant in physical laboratory of Moscow University under the leadership of A.G. Stoletov. In poorly equipped and unfit facility he carried out research on resonance effect caused by electromagnetic, hydrodynamic and acoustic waves. For this works he was awarded in 1899 with a degree of Doctor of physical and mathematical science, and in 1900 he became a professor of Moscow University. While working under Kundt and Kohlrausch, he became interested in light waves and their effect on substance. In 1895 in Moscow he built a unique device that produced short light waves with 6mm and 4mm of length. In 1899 he produced empirical evidence of the pressure of light on solid bodies, in 1907 - on gases, bringing vacuum thermopair into the common practice of the research of light. Though other scientists attempted similar experiments before him, Lebedev was the first to produce working thermopair that allowed to make solid measurements. His works on light pressure were internationally acknowledged as a proof of electromagnetic nature of the light, thus supporting views of Maxwell. The first scientific application of this phenomenon that came to Lebedev's mind almost immediately was an explanation of comets' behavior under the gravity of Sun and solar wind. In science fiction community this brought forward an idea of solar sail spaceships, which is not so fictional now, about hundred years later. Around that time he started research on the Earth magnetism.
In 1911 Lebedev left Moscow University together with some other professors as campaign against tsarist politics aimed at suppression of university's autonomy. He continued his research in the private laboratory with his students.
In 1912 he became a candidate for Nobel Prize alongside with Einstein, but he died March 1(14) 1912 due to poor heart condition.
Besides his immediate scientific accomplishments he is remembered in Russia for popularization of physical science in lectures and articles. He is also credited for raising next generation of Russian physicists, which was a big deal in the atmosphere of almost universal illiteracy, establishing a tradition of firm connection between pure science and technical application.
See also
- Lebedev Physical Institute
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