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HISTORY HISTORY
Russian metallurgist Special attention should be paid to the appendix titled "On the free movement of air in the

At the same time, in the 18th century, when Russian metallurgical
Part 4 technology showed itself so brilliantly, the foundation was laid for the mines noted from the first volume of new commentaries", with which Lomonosov accompanied
his book.
scientific foundations of metallurgy. Dedicating the beginning of this application to the study of the natural ventilation of
The initiative here belonged to Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov. In 1763, the brilliant mines, Lomonosov created an accurate theory of
scientist published his work: "The first foundations of metallurgy, or ore affairs", written back the movement of airflows in mines, set out in a
in 1742. These were indeed the first foundations of scientific metallurgy. "mathematical order". Brilliantly finding a solution
By the time this work was published, there were only a few books on metallurgy in the to this particular problem, Lomonosov makes an
world of the technical literature. In addition, these were only descriptions of individual factories ingenious generalization and applies his theory to
and mines, and they could use such descriptions only in those places about which these books the study of the motion of heated gases in caves
were known. Metallurgists of other factories, dealing with other ores, other fuel, were powerless and fiery furnaces.
to extract anything for themselves from similar publications. The significance of this theory of Lomonosov
Before Lomonosov there was no scientific work that summarized practice and gave general has not yet been exhausted. It is described in
laws of metallurgical production. In addition, the need for this work was enormous. We can textbooks and encyclopedias as "the hydraulic
judge about it by how the Lomonosov work was received. Attention is drawn to the fact that it theory of the motion of flames and light gases"
was published in a very large circulation for that time – 1,225 copies. and helps engineers calculate blast furnaces, A diagram made by Lomonosov to explain his
theory of the movement of gases in mines,
The demand for this book is also striking. From archival documents, for example, it is known that open-hearth furnaces, and heating furnaces. caves, fiery furnaces
almost immediately after the publication of The First Foundations of Metallurgy, Lomonosov's book "The First Foundations
100 copies of this book were sent only to Kolyvano-Voskresensk factories, of Metallurgy, or Ore Deeds" has faithfully served
the number at that time is also very significant. Russian metallurgists as an excellent guide for
Professor V. V. Danilevsky, evaluating one of the applications with which more than half a century. Great help was rendered
Lomonosov accompanied his work, writes: "Such works of Lomonosov as by the great Lomonosov to his compatriots, who
"On the strata of the earth" are a classic example of how to fight for the seized the ore resources of the Urals, Siberia,
development of production." Altai, Ukraine.
In a bright, expressive language, Lomonosov told about the main However, there were people who tried
moments of metal mining, scientifically summarized the rich experience to take away from Lomonosov the glory of the
accumulated by his time in this area, gave a lot of valuable advice. With his founder of scientific metallurgy, to cross out his
inherent perspicacity, Lomonosov expressed here a number of ideas that services in this area. This was done after the
were developed only in later times. death of Lomonosov. In 1776, an article appeared
So, starting his work with a description of metals and semimetals, "to in St. Petersburg Vedomosti, claiming that The
extract which is the task of metallurgy", Lomonosov specially dwells on First Foundations of Metallurgy were supposedly
the "art of assay", which is necessary for every metallurgist to analyze not the original work of a Russian scientist, but
ore raw materials and obtained metals. In simple, understandable just a translation of a German book. Drawing of a filling machine used
words for an ordinary metallurgist, he talks about how to make It was not difficult to refute this slanderous in Altai in the eighties of the 18th
such samples, talks about the basics of quantitative analysis. The fabrication. The "original", which the newspaper century.
techniques of "assay art" taught by Lomonosov have long been reported, described only the work of one of the
preserved in the scientific arsenal of metallurgy. And many of factories in Germany, where the author of this
Professor V. V. Danilevsky them are still alive. book was the manager. In addition, this work was
Further, describing the design of furnaces for smelting "metals from ores into ingots", the much smaller in size than the fundamental work
author strongly recommends conducting experimental research smelting. "Skillful smelters", of Lomonosov.
he writes, "first try the ore found by different samples with However, no refutation followed in St.
different materials through melting: and which method supplies Petersburg Vedomosti. And for a long time the
more metal without unnecessary waste, that one is used". enemies of Lomonosov and of all Russian science
Lomonosov also writes about the need for ore millimg. tried to trump their cards with the slander they
He teaches how to separate poor ores containing little metal had invented.
from rich ores. He proposes to enrich ores - to free them from Metallurgist laboratory. Drawing from
"empty" rock devoid of metal: sift them or separate unnecessary Lomonosov's book "The first foundations of
impurities with water. The requirement to beneficiate ores in metallurgy, or ore business".
order to free the metal from harmful impurities and avoid
wasting fuel for melting waste rock was first suggested by
Lomonosov.
It goes without saying that both research metallurgical
laboratories and enrichment factories of our day were able to
grow only on the basis of the latest scientific data, that their
birth was preceded by decades of hard work by many scientists. To be continued.
However, Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov was the first to put
his work into this business. The title page of the book by "Stories about the Russian Championship"
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow, 1950

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