Alexei Nikolayevich Krylov
The name of Alexei Nikolayevich Krylov is well known to the people of our country. He was a great scientist – an eminent physicist and mathematician, a naval architect and the founder of the modern theory of ships.
A. N. Krylov was born in the family of a military officer on August 15, 1863 in Alatyr, Simbirsk province.
In 1884, having graduated from the Naval Academy, Krylov was given a post in the Compass Department of the Central Hydrographical Board1. Many important problems connected with the theory of the compass being investigated there, Alexei Nikolayevich took an active part in that work. Having obtained valuable results, he soon published a paper on the deviation of the compass.
Four years later A. N. Krylov was appointed teacher at the Naval College and lecturer at the Naval Academy where he went on teaching and working for the next fifty years.
In 1898 A. N. Krylov applied to the Naval Ministry for the organization of the Faculty of Naval Architecture2 at the Politechnical Institute in St. Petersburg. Although Alexei Nikolayevich had declined the post of dean he was offered, he took an active part in the organization of the faculty. He delivered a course of lectures on vibration of ships, the subject being then quite a novel one.
When in England, he reported on the problem of oscillation of ships at the London Institution of Naval Architects, his reports being of such importance that he was awarded the gold medal of the Institution.
From 1900 to 1918 Krylov was superintendent of the Experimental Tank of the Naval Ministry3, his experimental work there culminating in a theoretical paper on the non-submersion of ships which was a continuation of Admiral R. 0. Makarov's work on the same problem. As early as in 1902, three years before Tsushima, Krylov presented the Naval Technical Committee a note explaining the principles and practical measures necessary to ensure safety against sinking4 by proper distribution of watertight bulkheads.
Though scientifically proved, his note met strong opposition of the then officials of the Naval Ministry. It was only the tragedy of Tsushima that forced them to accept A. N. Krylov's principles.
A. N. Krylov's practical and pedagogical work being closely linked with his scientific research, he used to apply the results of his investigations in practice, his works On the Test of the Torpedo-boat "Bystri" and On the Influence of Water Depth on the Speed of Ships being most instructive examples of the application of science to practical problems.
While working for the Navy, Krylov devised a series of optical instruments and published a number of scientific papers, the most outstanding of them being: On Approximate Calculations and On Differential Calculations.
In the course of his work Alexei Nikolayevich acquired a profound knowledge of astronomy and celestial mechanics. The approach of Halley's comet announced in 1910, Krylov took interest in Newton's method of determining the parabolic orbits of heavenly bodies from three observations, which resulted in a treatise On the Determination of the Orbits of Comets and Planets from a Small Number of Observations. But his interest in Newton did not end here. In 1914 he started translating Newton's immortal creation Mathematical Origin of Natural Phylosophy, which he had finished by the end of 1916. This work, as well as his translation of Euler's New Theory of Lunar Motion, showed Krylov's profound knowledge of the exact sciences.
In 1916 A. N. Krylov was elected Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and soon after became Director of the Chief Physical Observatory.
In 1919 the Revolutionary War Council of the Baltic Navy appointed A. N. Krylov Chief of the Naval Academy. In 1920–1921 he took an active part in the work of the Atomic Commission set up at the Optical Institute.
Notes
| 1Compass Department of the Central Hydrographical Board | – компасная часть Главного гидрографического управления |
| 2 the Faculty of Naval Architecture | – факультет военно-морского строительства |
| 3 the Experimental Tank of the Naval Ministry | – опытный бассейн Военноморскогo министерства |
| 4 safety against sinking | – непотопляемость |
Words and word combinations to be remembered:
activity – деятельность
distribution – распределение
appoint – назначать
appreciate – оценивать
culminate – завершать(ся)
ensure – обеспечивать, гарантировать
navy – военно-морской флот
non-submersion – непотопляемость
obtain – получать
origin – происхождение, начало
present – передавать на рассмотрение
safety - безопасность
watertight – водонепроницаемый
to apply to … for – обратиться с просьбой
approximate calculation – приближенные вы-
числения
as early as in … – еще в …
a series of – ряд
as well as – так же как, а также
closely linked – тесно связанный
Vocabulary Exercises
I. Ответьте на следующие вопросы.
1. When and where was A. N. Krylov born? 2. What Higher School did he graduate from? 3. Where did Krylov work after graduation? 4. What problem was Krylov interested in while working in the Compass Department? 5. What was Krylov's first scientific paper devoted to? 6. Whose follower was A. N. Krylov in his work on the non-submersion of ships? 7. Who opposed the application of A. N. Krylov's practical measures necessary to ensure safety against sinking? 8. What made the Naval Ministry accept A. N. Krylov's principles? 9. What instru ments instruments did A. N. Krylov devise for the Navy? 10. Whose works did A. N. Krylov translate into Russian? 11. In what language had those works been originally written? 12. Who appointed A. N. Krylov Chief of Naval Academy in 1919? 13. What title was A. N. Krylov awarded by the Soviet Government in 1943? 14. Which of A. N. Krylov's remarkable works are known to you?