Biography of Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev. Biography of Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev: Biography of Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev message

Timiryazev Kliment Arkadyevich - scientist, Darwinian naturalist, one of the founders of the Russian school of plant physiology (discovered the phenomenon of light saturation - photosynthesis.

Timiryazev Kliment Arkadyevich was born on May 22 (June 3), 1843 in St. Petersburg. He received his primary education at home. In 1861 he entered St. Petersburg University at the cameral department, then transferred to the physics and mathematics department, the course of which he graduated in 1866 with a candidate's degree. In 1868 Timiryazev K.A. was sent by St. Petersburg University to prepare for professorship for two years abroad (Germany, France), where he worked in the laboratories of prominent scientists. Upon returning home in 1871, Timiryazev K. A. successfully defended his thesis “Spectral analysis of chlorophyll” for a master’s degree and became a professor at the Petrovsky Agricultural and Forestry Academy in Moscow (currently it is called the Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K. A. Timiryazev) . In 1875, after defending his doctoral dissertation (“On the absorption of light by plants”), he became an ordinary professor. In 1877, Timiryazev was invited to Moscow University to the department of anatomy and physiology of plants. He also gave lectures at women's “collective courses” in Moscow. In addition, Timiryazev was the chairman of the botanical department of the Society of Natural History Lovers at Moscow University. In 1911 he left the university in protest against the actions of the reactionary Minister of Education Casso. In 1917, after the Great October Socialist Revolution, Timiryazev was reinstated as a professor at Moscow University, but due to illness he could not work at the department. For the last 10 years of his life he was also engaged in literary and journalistic activities.

Timiryazev's main research on plant physiology is devoted to the study of the process of photosynthesis, for which he developed special techniques and equipment. Timiryazev found that the assimilation of carbon by plants from carbon dioxide in the air occurs due to the energy of sunlight, mainly in red and blue rays, which are most completely absorbed by chlorophyll. Timiryazev was the first to express the opinion that chlorophyll is not only physically but also chemically involved in the process of photosynthesis, thereby anticipating modern ideas. He proved that the intensity of photosynthesis is proportional to the absorbed energy at relatively low light intensities, but when they increase, it gradually reaches stable values ​​and does not change further, that is, he discovered the phenomena of light saturation of photosynthesis.

For the first time in Russia, Timiryazev introduced experiments with plants on artificial soils, for which in 1872 at the Petrovsky Academy he built a growing house for cultivating plants in vessels (the first scientifically equipped greenhouse), literally immediately after the appearance of similar structures in Germany. A little later, Timiryazev installed a similar greenhouse in Nizhny Novgorod at the All-Russian Exhibition.

Timiryazev is one of the first propagandists of Darwinism in Russia. He considered Darwin's evolutionary doctrine as the greatest achievement of science of the 19th century, establishing a materialistic worldview in biology. Timiryazev repeatedly emphasized that modern forms of organisms are the result of long-term adaptive evolution.

Thanks to his outstanding scientific achievements in the field of botany, Timiryazev was awarded a number of resonant titles: corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences since 1890, honorary member of Kharkov University, honorary member of St. Petersburg University, honorary member of the Free Economic Society, as well as many other scientific communities and organizations . Timiryazev K. A. is known all over the world. For his services in the field of science, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of London, the Edinburgh and Manchester Botanical Societies, as well as an honorary doctor of a number of European universities - in Cambridge, Glasgow, Geneva.

Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev belongs to the group of Darwinian scientists.

He studied natural sciences and laid the foundation for the Russian school of plant physiology.

A world-famous scientist, in 1890 he was elected a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Since 1920, deputy of the Moscow City Council.

Biography

Timiryazev’s date of birth is May 25, now June 3, 1843, St. Petersburg. A rare name named after his grandfather Clement-Philipp-Josef von Bode.

Father, Arkady Semyonovich Timiryazev, nobleman, chief in the St. Petersburg customs district.

Mother, father's second wife, Adelaide Klimentyevna - Baroness Bode. She taught her youngest son German, French and English.

With the help of his older brother Dmitry, he learned botany and chemistry. As a teenager, he made money by translating English newspapers and stories, helping out his family who lived in poverty.

• 1860 - law student at St. Petersburg University, but becomes a student at the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics to study natural sciences.
• 1861 - expelled for participating in student unrest, with permission to return the following year as a volunteer. During his years of study, he was awarded a gold medal, the topic of his work: “The structure of hepatic mosses,” and he wrote “Brief Essays on Darwin’s Theory” - the first Russian book on a similar topic.
• 1866 – completion of studies and receipt of the degree of Candidate of Sciences.
• 1867 - work in the Free Economic Society, Simbirsk province. Timiryazev created instruments needed for research and carried out experiments in the fields. Together with D. Mendeleev, he takes part in experiments to determine the effect of mineral fertilizers on the amount of harvest.
• 1868 - 1869 – preparing to defend her doctoral dissertation and working abroad in Germany and France.
• 1870 - return home.
• 1871 – defense of a dissertation for a master’s degree on the topic “Spectral decomposition of chlorophyll” and an invitation to the post of professor at the Petrovsky Academy in Moscow.
• 1872 - sets up the first scientifically equipped greenhouse in a growing house at the Petrovsky Academy. Later, in 1896, he built the same house for the All-Russian Exhibition, which took place in Nizhny Novgorod. 1875 - defense of his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Light uptake by plants.”
• 1877 - accepted as a corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, foreign scientific societies and educational institutions. For Timiryazev, this year was memorable for his trip to Charles Darwin.
• 1892 - works at the Agricultural Institute, heads the department of anatomy and physiology of plants. Works in a physiological laboratory. In addition to teaching, he devotes himself to scientific work.
• 1902 - Emeritus Professor at Moscow University.
• 1903 - gives a lecture “On the Cosmic Role of Plants” in London, at the Royal Society. This is the result of 30 years of research.
• 1911 - leaves the university along with other professors who do not agree with police surveillance during lectures to students.
• 1919 - reinstatement to professorship, but health does not allow him to lecture.
• 1920 K. A. Timiryazev fell ill with pneumonia and died on April 28.

The last refuge of the scientist is the Vagankovskoe cemetery. 1923 - a book entitled “The Sun, Life and Chlorophyll” is published, in which Timiryazev, during his lifetime, combined the works of 1868-1920, when he studied the aerial nutrition of plants.

Personal life

Kliment Arkadyevich married Alexandra Alekseevna Gotvalt, born in 1857. Alexandra's father, Timiryazev's father-in-law is Major General Alexei Alexandrovich Loveiko, Moscow police chief. In 1888, the Timiryazevs adopted a “thrown” boy, naming him Arkady (according to other assumptions, the child is the illegitimate son of Clement). The son, upon becoming an adult, chose the profession of physicist. The elder and younger Timiryazevs were fond of photography. Participating in the Nizhny Novgorod competition with photographs of nature, they were awarded a silver diploma.

Contribution to science

Kliment Arkadyevich approved the materiality of life, introduced new methods and facts into science, and for a long time determined the direction of scientific thoughts in the field of botany and plant physiology.

• Timiryazev studied the photosynthesis of plants and established their cosmic connection.
• By writing “A Brief Essay on Darwin’s Theory” he introduced Russian people to the evolution of the living world. From the point of view of evolution, he explained the origin of photosynthesis.
• He was the first Russian scientist to test plants using artificial soils in growing houses - prototypes of greenhouses.
• Working with plants gave impetus to the development of agronomy. Timiryazev proved the benefits of using fertilizers during drought, explaining that with the help of science, agricultural productivity will increase. He proved that plants need light, a strong root system and fertilizing to develop. He argued that saltpeter needed to be produced in special factories, and dreamed of greenhouse farms in crop production.
• The energy pattern of photosynthesis discovered by Timiryazev laid the foundation for the study of the cycle of energy and substances.
• The scientist left to his descendants more than 100 books and articles, which tell in detail and clearly about the effect of light on plants and about methods that will increase productivity.
• The scientist’s works helped further the study of photosynthesis. American biochemist Melvin Calvin discovered how plants absorb carbon dioxide.

What Timiryazev discovered

For 30 years, studying how plants transform water and carbon dioxide into organic substances with the help of light, Timiryazev exposed them to rays of different colors. As a result:

• He found that red rays are absorbed more intensely than blue-violet light and, at the same time, the rate of decomposition of carbon dioxide increases. Green and yellow colors are not perceived by the plant. Light absorption is affected by the thickness of the leaf blade and the intensity of the green color.
• I guessed that light rays are absorbed by green chlorophyll grains - the main elements of the process, which also participate in the chemical process.
• Proved the conservation of energy by photosynthesis.

Food chains begin with hydrogen, carbon and oxygen - components of carbon dioxide and water. These substances are stored and decomposed by the plant under the influence of light and then become organic substances. This is what Timiryazev discovered while studying the process of photosynthesis.

The second discovery is related to light saturation. While performing experiments, Timiryazev refuted the assumption that bright light is necessary for plants. The brightness acts up to the limit, beyond which intense evaporation of moisture occurs.

The third discovery is about the cosmic role of green plants:

• stored solar energy is used by humans as a source of light;
• used as energy for the living world, which maintains a constant composition of the atmosphere through the circulation of substances;
• Living organisms on the planet breathe oxygen released by plants.

• Timiryazev’s book “The Life of Plants” was reprinted more than 20 times. English editions, in quantity, were not inferior to Dickens's novels. And the scientist was called a talented writer.
• The name of Timiryazev is given to: districts in Moscow, towns, villages and streets. The name of the scientist was given to a crater on the Moon and a motor ship, a Moscow metro station, universities, libraries and a biological museum.
• They opened an “Apartment Museum” named after him, approved a prize, and Timiryazev readings are held within the framework of the Russian Academy of Sciences. There was even a film made that was dedicated to Kliment Arkadyevich, called “Baltic Deputy”.

Results

The works of the famous scientist are still used by experienced scientists to find the right solutions to complex scientific issues. As a person, Kliment Arkadyevich remains an example for the younger generation.

Timiryazev, Kliment Arkadievich(1843–1920) - an outstanding Russian botanist and physiologist, researcher of the process of photosynthesis, supporter and popularizer of Darwinism.

Born on May 22 (June 3), 1843 in St. Petersburg, into a noble family. His parents, who themselves held republican views, passed on their love of freedom and democratic ideals to their children. K.A. Timiryazev received an excellent education at home, which allowed him to enter the law faculty of the university in 1860, from which he soon transferred to the natural sciences department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University.

His young years were covered in the revolutionary ideas of the 60s, which were expressed by Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Dobrolyubov, Pisarev, which explains the unconditional acceptance of the October Revolution by scientists.
Among his teachers at the university were the systematic botanist A.N. Beketov and the chemist D.I. Mendeleev. K.A. Timiryazev made a report on his first experiments on aerial nutrition of plants in 1868 at the First Congress of Naturalists in St. Petersburg. In this report, he already gave a broad plan for the study of photosynthesis.

After graduating from the university, Timiryazev worked in laboratories in France with the chemist P.E. Berthelot and plant physiologist J.B. Boussingault, and in Germany with the physicists G.R. Kirchhoff and Bunsen and one of the creators of spectral analysis, physiologist and physicist G. L. Helmholtz. Later he had a meeting with Charles Darwin, whose ardent supporter Timiryazev was all his life.

Upon returning from abroad, Timiryazev defended his dissertation at St. Petersburg University Spectral analysis of chlorophyll and began teaching in Moscow at the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy, which now bears his name. Later he became a professor at Moscow State University, from which he retired in his old age, in 1911.

The scientist welcomed the October Revolution. Despite his age and serious illness, he became a deputy of the Moscow Council.

Timiryazev worked all his life to solve the problem of aerial nutrition of plants, or photosynthesis.

This problem goes far beyond plant physiology, since the existence of not only plants, but also the entire animal world is associated with photosynthesis. Moreover, in photosynthesis, the plant takes and assimilates not only carbon dioxide from the air, but also the energy of the sun's rays. This gave Timiryazev the right to talk about the cosmic role of the plant as a transmitter of solar energy to our planet.

As a result of a long study of the absorption spectrum of the green pigment chlorophyll, the scientist found that red and somewhat weaker blue-violet rays are absorbed most intensely. In addition, he found out that chlorophyll not only absorbs light, but also chemically participates in the process of photosynthesis itself, and the law of conservation of energy also applies to the process of photosynthesis, and therefore to all living nature. Most researchers of those years, especially the German botanists J. Sachs and W. Pfeffer, denied this connection. Timiryazev showed that they made a number of experimental errors. Having developed a very precise research technique, K.A. Timiryazev established that only rays absorbed by the plant produce work, i.e. carry out photosynthesis. Green rays, for example, are not absorbed by chlorophyll, and photosynthesis does not occur in this part of the spectrum. In addition, he noted that there was a direct proportional relationship between the amount of rays absorbed and the work produced. In other words, the more light energy absorbed by chlorophyll, the more intense photosynthesis occurs. Chlorophyll absorbs red rays the most, so photosynthesis occurs more intensely in red rays than in blue or violet rays, which are less absorbed. Finally, Timiryazev proved that not all absorbed energy is spent on photosynthesis, but only 1–3 percent of it.
The main works of K.A. Timiryazev: Charles Darwin and his teachings; Plant life; Historical method in biology; Agriculture and plant physiology.

Professor at Moscow University; genus. in St. Petersburg in 1843. He received his primary education at home. In 1861 he entered the St. Petersburg University. to the office faculty, then moved to the physics and mathematics department, the course of which he graduated in 1866 with a candidate’s degree and was awarded a gold medal for the essay “On Liver Mosses” (not published). In 1868, his first scientific work, “A Device for Studying the Decomposition of Carbon Dioxide,” appeared in print, and in the same year T. was sent abroad to prepare for a professorship. He worked for Hofmeister, Bunsen, Kirchhoff, Berthelot and listened to lectures by Helmholtz, Claude Bernard and others. Returning to Russia, T. defended his master's thesis ("Spectral analysis of chlorophyll", 1871) and was appointed professor at the Petrovsky Agricultural Academy in Moscow. Here he lectured in all departments of botany until he was left on staff due to the closure of the academy (in 1892). In 1875, T. Doctor of Botany for his op. “On the absorption of light by plants,” and in 1877 he was invited to Moscow University to the department of anatomy and physiology of plants, which he continues to occupy to this day. He also gave lectures at women's “collective courses” in Moscow. In addition, T. is the chairman of the botanical department of the Society of Natural History Lovers at Moscow University. T.'s scientific works, distinguished by their unity of plan, strict consistency, precision of methods and elegance of experimental technology, are devoted to the question of the decomposition of atmospheric carbon dioxide by green plants under the influence of solar energy and have greatly contributed to the understanding of this most important and interesting chapter of plant physiology. The study of the composition and optical properties of the green pigment of plants (chlorophyll), its genesis, the physical and chemical conditions for the decomposition of carbon dioxide, the determination of the components of the solar ray involved in this phenomenon, the clarification of the fate of these rays in the plant and, finally, the study of the quantitative relationship between the absorbed energy and the work produced - these are the tasks outlined in T.’s first works and largely resolved in his subsequent works. To this it should be added that T. was the first to introduce experiments with plant cultivation in artificial soils in Russia. The first greenhouse for this purpose was built by him at the Petrovsky Academy back in the early 70s, i.e., soon after the appearance of this type of device in Germany. Later, the same greenhouse was built by T. at the All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. Outstanding scientific achievements of T. gave him the title of corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, honorary member of Kharkov and St. Petersburg universities, the Free Economic Society and many other scientific societies and institutions. Among educated Russian society, T. is widely known as a popularizer of natural science. His popular scientific lectures and articles, included in the collections “Public Lectures and Speeches” (M., 1888), “Some Basic Problems of Modern Natural Science” (M., 1895), “Agriculture and Plant Physiology” (M., 1893), "Charles Darwin and His Teaching" (4th ed., Moscow, 1898) is a happy combination of strict scientific knowledge, clarity of presentation, and brilliant style. His “Life of a Plant” (5th ed., Moscow, 1898; translated into foreign languages) is an example of a publicly accessible course in plant physiology. In his popular scientific works, T. is a staunch and consistent supporter of the mechanical view of the nature of physiological phenomena and an ardent defender and popularizer of Darwinism. A list of 27 scientific works by T. that appeared before 1884 is included in the appendix to his speech “L”etat actuel de nos connaissances sur la fonction chlorophyllienne” (“Bulletin du Congrès internation. de Botanique à St. Petersburg”, 1884) After 1884, the following appeared: "L"effet chimique et l"effet physiologique de la lumière sur la chlorophylle" ("Comptes Rendus", 1885), "Chemische und physiologische Wirkung des Lichtes auf das Chlorophyll" ("Chemisch. Centralblatt" , 1885, No. 17) "La protophylline dans les plantes étiolées" ("Compt. Rendus", 1889), "Enregistrement photographique de la fonction chlorophyllienne par la plante vivante" ("Compt. Rendus", CX, 1890), "Photochemical the action of the extreme rays of the visible spectrum" ("Proceedings of the Department of Physical Sciences of the Society of Lovers of Natural History", vol. V, 1893), "La protophylline naturelle et la protophylline artificielle" ("Comptes R.", 1895), etc. In addition, T belongs to the study of gas exchange in the root nodules of leguminous plants (Proceedings of St. Petersburg General Natural Sciences, vol. XXIII). Ed. T. published in Russian. translation of "Collected opus." Ch. Darwin and other books.

(Brockhaus)

Timiryazev, Kliment Arkadevich

Rus. Darwinian naturalist, outstanding botanist-physiologist, talented popularizer and promoter of scientific knowledge, corresponding member. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (since 1890). Born in St. Petersburg into a progressive-minded noble family. In 1860 T. entered St. Petersburg. University to the cameral (legal) fact, but soon switched to the natural sciences department of physics and mathematics. fact. For refusing to sign an obligation not to participate in student gatherings and organizations, he was expelled from the university in 1862 and returned there only a year later as a volunteer. As a student, publ. a number of articles on Darwinism and socio-political. themes ("Garibaldi on Caprera", 1862, "Famine in Lancashire", 1863, "Darwin's Book, Its Critics and Commentators", 1864). In 1865 he graduated from the university, receiving a candidate of science degree for his work on liver mosses; T. began his scientific activity under the guidance of the famous Russian. botany A. N. Beketova.

T.'s worldview was formed during the era of the rise of revolutionary democracies. movements in Russia; scientific thought was developed by a brilliant galaxy of naturalists: D. I. Mendeleev, I. M. Sechenov, brothers V. O. and A. O. Kovalevsky, I. I. Mechnikov, brothers A. N. and N. N. Beketov, A. M. Butlerov, L.S. Tsenkovsky, A.G. Stoletov and others. T. spoke of this time as the “era of renaissance” in Russian. natural sciences. In T., as in all Russians. naturalists of the "sixties", a strong influence was exerted by the works of the great revolutionary democrats V. G. Belinsky, A. I. Herzen, N. G. Chernyshevsky, D. I. Pisarev, N. A. Dobrolyubov, who were interested in natural science and used its achievements to justify materialistic view of nature. A huge role in the formation of T.’s worldview was played by the works of Sechenov, as well as materialism. evolutionary doctrine of Charles Darwin. T. was one of the first in Russia to become acquainted with K. Marx’s “Capital”.

In 1868 at the 1st Congress of the Russian Federation. naturalists and doctors T. made a report “A device for studying the air supply of leaves and the use of artificial lighting for studies of this kind.” This work marked the beginning of his research in the field of plant photosynthesis, to which he devoted his entire life. In 1868-70 he was on a business trip abroad and worked in the laboratories of leading scientists (in Germany - with physicists G. Kirchhoff and G. Helmholtz, chemist R. Bunsen, botanist W. Hofmeister, in France - with chemist P. Berthelot, agricultural chemist J. Boussingault, physiologist C. Bernard). In 1869 T. was elected teacher of botany in the Petrovskaya agricultural district. and the Forestry Academy (now the Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K. A. Timiryazev). In 1871 he defended his master's thesis. "Spectral analysis of chlorophyll" and became an extraordinary prof. academies; in 1875 he defended his doctoral dissertation. “On the absorption of light by plants” and received the title of ordinary prof. At the Academy, T. organized a laboratory of plant physiology and built (1872) the first in Russia (and one of the first in Europe) growing house for cultivating plants in vessels. In 1877, prof. Moscow University at the Department of Anatomy and Physiology of Plants. T. enjoyed enormous popularity and love among students. His public lectures on plant physiology, books on Darwinism, and articles on the history of science were extremely famous and aroused Russian sentiment among wide circles. intelligentsia interest in issues of biology and natural science in general.

T. was a materialist, an active fighter for freedom of scientific research and for democracy. All his life he fought against reactionary attempts to force science to serve the strengthening of autocracy and religion; He was constantly under suspicion from the tsarist government and was persecuted, although his name as a major physiologist and evolutionist was known throughout the world. In 1892 Petrovskaya agricultural Academy due to the “unreliability” of its prof. and students was closed and Moscow was organized instead. agricultural Institute; T., along with other scientists disliked by the tsarist government, was not allowed to see prof. activities and remained "on staff". In 1898 he was dismissed from the staff of the professor. Moscow University "for length of service" (30 years of teaching), and in 1902 he was removed from lecturing and left only as the head of botanical science. office. In 1911 he left the university along with a large group of professors and teachers in protest against Minister Casso’s gross violation of university autonomy. Only in 1917 T. was restored to the rank of professor. Moscow university, but due to illness he could no longer work at the department.

Recognition of T.'s outstanding services to world science was expressed in the election of its member. London. queens about-va, honorary doctor of the universities in Cambridge, Glasgow and Geneva, member. Edinburgh. and Manchester. botanical about-v. T. was an honorary member. many Russians un-tov and scientific about-v. However, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences limited itself to only electing him as a corresponding member.

T. enthusiastically welcomed the Great Oct. socialist revolution and devoted all his strength to selfless service to the young socialist. to the state; T. has always been an ardent patriot, but this was especially evident during the years of Soviet power. In protest against British intervention in Russia, he refused the title of honorary doctor of Cambridge in 1919. un-ta. Despite his serious illness, 75-year-old T. actively participated in the work of the State. Academic Council of the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR, helped in organizing the Socialist. (later Communist) Academy, a member of which he was elected in 1919. In 1920 Moscow. the workers elected him as a deputy to Moscow. advice. Until the end of his life, T. continued his scientific and literary work. He prepared for publication the collection “The Sun, Life and Chlorophyll” (1923), prepared his work “Historical Method in Biology...” (1922) for a separate publication, wrote and published. a number of articles. Shortly before T.'s death, a collection of his articles, Science and Democracy, was published (1920). Regarding this book, V.I. Lenin wrote in a letter to T.: “I was absolutely delighted when reading your comments against the bourgeoisie and for Soviet power” (Works, 4th ed., vol. 35, p. 380).

On the night of April 27-28, 1920, the great scientist died. T. was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery. The Soviet people deeply honor his memory. In Moscow, T. was erected a monument and a memorial apartment museum was created; his name was given to Moscow. agricultural Academy, Institute of Plant Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. One of the districts of Moscow and streets in many cities of the USSR are named after T. The USSR Academy of Sciences awards the T. Prize for the best work on plant physiology and annually holds the so-called. Timiryazev readings. By decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, T.'s "Works" were published in 10 volumes (1937-40).

The role of Timiryazev in the development of plant physiology. T. was one of the most prominent plant physiologists of the 2nd half of the 19th and early 20th centuries; its main merit as a physiologist lies in experimental and theoretical. development of the problem of plant photosynthesis. Works on the study of the dependence of photosynthesis on the intensity and qualitative composition of light, of which the most important are “Spectral Analysis of Chlorophyll” (1871) and “On the Assimilation of Light by Plants” (1875), are still of great importance and have made his name immortal. T. was able to show that at high light intensities close to full sunlight, the intensity of photosynthesis reaches a certain value and does not change further, i.e. he discovered the phenomena of light saturation of photosynthesis (“Dependence of carbon assimilation on light intensity”, 1889), currently recognized as one of the main. indicators characterizing the dependence of photosynthesis on the amount of light. Before T.’s research, it was believed that photosynthesis occurs most intensely in the yellow-green rays of the solar spectrum, which are very weakly absorbed by chlorophyll, and it was even suggested that chlorophyll has nothing to do with photosynthesis (N. Pringsheim). This idea was finally refuted by T.'s brilliant experiments, which showed that the use of light for the formation of organic matter. plant substances is the essence of photosynthesis. T. firmly established that sunlight cannot be used for chemicals. work performed in a green plant if it is not absorbed by the sensitizing pigment - chlorophyll, the main absorption maximum of which lies in the red rays of the spectrum. That. he experimentally proved the applicability of the law of conservation of energy and the first law of photochemistry to the process of photosynthesis. T. was the first to apply the concept of sensitization to photosynthesis, which was subsequently widely used in the study of light reactions in photosynthesis. Further research led T. to the discovery of the second maximum of light absorption by chlorophyll (and the second maximum of photosynthesis), located in the blue rays of the spectrum (“Photographic registration of carbon assimilation by chlorophyll on a living plant,” 1890).

The success of T.'s research in the field of photosynthesis is largely explained by the attention he invariably paid to the development of new, more advanced methods for studying physiological. processes in plants; proposed a highly sensitive device for gas analysis and a number of other devices for studying the absorption of various rays of the solar spectrum by the green leaf of a plant.

No less valuable than T.’s experimental work is the idea he expressed about the need to apply the principles of Darwinism, primarily natural selection, to explain physiological factors. processes in plants. Using historical method, he made an attempt to explain why it is chlorophyll, which has the optical properties described above. properties, became universally widespread in autotrophic plants and why the evolution of plants led to such a perfect way of using solar energy to carry out photosynthesis. From a modern point of view, this happened because it is the red rays, predominantly absorbed by chlorophyll, that carry the largest number of quanta with an energy reserve sufficient for photosynthesis. Therefore, they can provide the greatest photochemical. action with the highest useful coefficient. T. posed the problem of the evolution of photosynthesis, which has received widespread development in modern science. He attached great importance to the study of plant photosynthesis in a natural environment and developed special equipment for this, which is a prototype of many modern instruments. In the well-known so-called Cronian lecture given in London. queens about-ve - “The Cosmic Role of Plants” (1903, in Russian translation 1904), T. summed up the results of his thirty years of work on photosynthesis. The very invitation to give this lecture spoke of T.’s worldwide recognition as a major scientist in the field of plant physiology. T. expressed a number of theoretical ideas. regulations and other sections of plant physiology: on water regime, mineral nutrition and other issues of plant life.

T.’s activity was of great importance as a popularizer of achievements in the field of plant physiology and an active fighter for their implementation in Russian practice. With. x-va. He considered the task of a botanist-physiologist not only to describe and explain the phenomena of plant life, but also to control the processes of their life activity ("Agriculture and Plant Physiology", 1906, "Science and the Farmer", 1906). One of the main The principles of T.'s work were the study of plant physiology in connection with agriculture. For example, he considered it expedient to breed varieties with a powerfully developed root system or reduced transpiration, and substantiated the possibility of increasing transpiration productivity with the help of fertilizers; pointed out the need to use the vegetation method in the village. x-ve, the creation of factories for the production of nitrate; predicted the production value of growing plants under artificial electricity. lighting

The role of Timiryazev in the defense and development of Darwinism. While still a first-year student, T. became acquainted with Charles Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species” (1859). In Darwin's evolutionary theory, he was able to see a brilliant general theory of organic development. world and understand its philosophical materialism. basis. T. became one of the first and most talented propagandists of Darwinism in Russia. In 1864, he began publishing articles on Darwinism in the progressive journal Otechestvennye zapiski for that time. Having summarized them, the following year he published the book “A Brief Outline of Darwin’s Theory” (1865), which was the predecessor of the famous work “Charles Darwin and His Teachings,” which went through 15 editions between 1883 and 1941. A series of articles was published. T. (1908-10) in connection with the 50th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s book “The Origin of Species”. Other works of T. are largely devoted to the promotion of the ideas of Darwinism - “The Life of a Plant” (1878, 15th edition 1949) and “Historical Method in Biology” (published posthumously, 1922), etc.

Darwin's theory was enthusiastically received by advanced scientists, who saw in it one of the most important discoveries of the 19th century, marking a revolution in biology, and fierce attacks on it from reactionary scientists and churchmen who tried to preserve the doctrine of the constancy of species, the doctrine of final causes, in organisms tendencies towards improvement, etc. idealistic. concepts that led to the recognition of the divine will of the creator of all living things. T. was a militant materialist who defended science against the penetration of idealism in any form. He invariably emphasized that science has its origins in practice and that it develops under the pressure of the demands of human economic activity. T. was an atheist all his life; he never agreed that religion could be reconciled with science in one way or another. In Russia, anti-Darwinism in the 19th century. expressed himself most sharply in the speeches of N. Ya. Danilevsky, N. N. Strakhov, V. S. Solovyov and a number of other reactionaries. In defense of Darwinism from the attack on it by religious idealists. reaction immediately, with his characteristic passion, T. spoke with his brilliant public lectures and articles - “Will Darwinism be refuted?” (1887), “The powerless anger of the anti-Darwinist” (1889), “A strange example of scientific criticism” (1889), “Some basic tasks of modern natural science” (2 parts, 1895-1904). T. spoke no less passionately in defense of Darwinism at the beginning of the 20th century, when the English. geneticist W. Betson announced that genetics could replace Darwinism (“Reply to the Vitalists” and “Refuge of the Mendelians”, 1913). In the fight against anti-Darwinism, T. consistently defended Darwin's teachings as progressive materialistic. development theory.

Promoting Darwinism, T. at the same time developed it, overcoming the weaknesses of Darwin's theory and raising it to a higher level. Darwin, as is known, not only erroneously used Malthus's reactionary "theory" of overpopulation as one of the starting points in the chain of evidence for his correct explanation of evolution through the struggle for existence and natural selection in the animal and plant world, but also recognized that the progressive development of man also occurs under the influence of natural selection. T. fought fiercely all his life against any form of the so-called. social Darwinism. Realizing that social phenomena cannot be explained biologically. laws, T. declared that the doctrine of the struggle for existence stops at the threshold of cultural history and that “Malthus’s law is dangerous only for unconscious beings” (Works, vol. 3, 1937, p. 31).

Darwin gave a materialistic explanation of historical organic development peace. T. set as the immediate task of science the study of the question of physiological. the nature of variability, seeing this as the key to the success of active human intervention in the process of formation. Therefore, he fought with such energy for the development of experimental morphology, which, in his opinion, should lead to the development of methods for controlling the nature of the plant.

T. gave a deep analysis of the factors of evolution - variability, heredity and natural selection in their interrelationship, and, developing the teachings of Darwin, contributed a lot of his own to the understanding of each of the elements of this triad.

More specifically than Darwin, he spoke about the role of the environment in the variability of organisms; believed that the initial cause of changes in organisms is the direct or mediocre (indirect) effect of external conditions, and only then comes the action of secondary influences, such as correlations in the development of organs, etc.

T. defined heredity as the ability of organisms to retain the influence of previously existing conditions, as the ability to maintain similarity due to the successive transmission of the characteristics of organization and functions. To find ways to understand the physiology of heredity, he recommended studying the phenomenon of “aftereffect”, in which the effect of an absent but existing cause appears over several generations.

T. paid special attention to natural selection, developing and deepening this “characteristic essence of Darwinism,” emphasizing the creative role of selection. This is due to T. with a very clear understanding that the evolutionary process cannot be reduced to variability and heredity. He wrote: “The environment changes, but changing does not mean improving. Heredity complicates, but complication is not yet improvement. Of all the natural factors known to us, only that critical principle improves, which from this changed and complicated material preserves the useful and eliminates the harmful. Improves organisms that combination of limitless productivity and inexorable criticism, which we allegorically call natural selection" (Works, vol. 5, 1938, pp. 139-140). T. saw the fundamental flaw of anti-Darwinism in the lack of understanding of this basic position of Darwinism. evolutionary theories, against which he fought.

T. also brought greater clarity to the understanding of the species in comparison With Darwin. Darwin repeatedly noted that “species” is an arbitrary concept, invented for the sake of convenience to designate a group of closely similar individuals. At the same time, an analysis of Darwin's works shows that in fact he recognized the species as actually existing during a certain period of time. T. clearly said that a species is both an abstract general concept (a category of the general in relation to an individual - an individual) and a really existing fact. At the same time, living nature, the totality of organic. creatures, according to T., represents “an undoubted chain, but precisely a chain of individual links (species - ed.), and not a continuous thread” (Works, vol. 8, 1939, p. 115). T. epistemologically correctly saw the basis of the problem of species in the unity of discontinuous and continuous in the process of development of nature.

T.'s merit is his development of historical. method as an obligatory link in scientific knowledge of the world. Being a first-class experimenter and a tireless promoter of the experimental method, fighting for the rapprochement of biology with the “exact sciences,” primarily with physics and chemistry, T. nevertheless understood the inadequacy of this method when applied to the analysis of the laws of the evolutionary process. In this analysis, T., along with descriptive and experimental methods, takes a leading place in historical research. method - “neither morphology, with its brilliant and fruitful comparative method, nor physiology, with its even more powerful experimental method, covers the entire field of biology, does not exhaust its tasks; both seek complements in the historical method” (Op. , vol. 6, 1939, p. 61).

Timiryazev as a historian and popularizer of science. All the characteristic features of materialism. T.'s worldview and his passion for the struggle for free scientific thought were fully manifested in his numerous works on the history of science. Each of T.'s speeches on the history of science was polemical. character, was an integral part of the united struggle for science and democracy. He wrote generalizing works: “Centenary Results of Plant Physiology” (1901), “Main Features of the History of the Development of Biology in the 19th Century” (1907), “The Awakening of Natural Science in the Third Quarter of the Century” (1907; published in 1920 under the title “Development of Natural Science in Russia” in the era of the 60s"), "Advances of botany in the 20th century" (1917; in 1920 published under the title "The most important successes of botany at the beginning of the 20th century"), "Science. Essay on the development of natural science over 3 centuries (1620-1920)" (1920), etc. Proudly celebrating the achievements of science in Russia, promoting the works of outstanding Russians. natural scientists and emphasizing their contribution to world science, T. was alien to nationalism. He paid tribute to foreign progressive scientists, wrote about the influence that their ideas had on the development of science in Russia. He defended the idea of ​​the international character of true science and the enormous role of science in the struggle for peace. In 1917, T. wrote: “...Science and democracy by their very essence are hostile to war. Science is identical With truth; outside the truth it does not exist, it is simply unthinkable, that is why it is one” (Oc., vol. 9, 1939, p. 252).

The popularization of science was a real need for T. He wrote: “From the first steps of my mental activity, I set myself two parallel tasks: to work for science and to write for the people, that is, popularly” (ibid., pp. 13-14). He considered the popularization of scientific knowledge as a way to unite science and democracy. All articles and books by T. are written in clear and simple language - they are at a high scientific level and at the same time, by the nature of their presentation, are accessible to the widest circles. The extreme clarity of his figurative and temperamental language, the brightness and richness of comparisons, examples, juxtapositions, and especially the ability to reveal the logic of scientific research, show the paths of scientific discovery, and describe the picture of the development of science in its struggle for truth place T.’s popular science works among first places in world scientific literature.

In the person of T., science in Russia had not only a great scientist, but also a materialist thinker, who rose in his works to deep philosophical generalizations.

Studying the process of photosynthesis and seeing in it direct evidence of the unity of organic. and inorganic nature, developing historical. method in biology and using it in his research and generalizations, actively participating in public life on the side of the progressive forces of society and selflessly serving the people, T. walked “through the data of his science” from revolutionary democracy to scientific communism, to dialecticalism. materialism. T. cannot be called a consistent dialectician-materialist, but his philosophical statements and scientific generalizations, especially in the last period of his life, when he became more familiar with Marxism and, in particular, with the works of V. I. Lenin, played a huge role in the development of the Soviet Union. . biology. T. was the first of the large Russians. scientists who accepted the Great Oct. socialist revolution. Shortly before his death, he said: “...The Bolsheviks who are pursuing Leninism, I believe and am convinced, are working for the happiness of the people and will bring them To happiness."

Works: Works, vol. 1-10, M., 1937-40; Selected works, vol. 1-4, M., 1928-49; Selected works, vol. 1-2, M., 1957.

Lit.: In memory of K. A. Timiryazev. A collection of reports and materials from the session... dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the death of K. A. Timiryazev. 1920-1935, ed. P. P. Bondarenno [et al.], M.-L., 1936; Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev. Collection, M., 1940 (Moscow Agricultural Academician named after Timiryazev); A great scientist, fighter and thinker. Collection, ed. acad. L. A. Orbeli, M.-L., 1943; Komarov V.L., Maksimov N.A. and Kuznetsov B.G., Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev, M., 1945 (there is a bibliography of works on T. published before 1945); Korchagin A. I., K. A. Timiryazev. Life and creativity, M., 1948; Novikov S. A., K. A. Timiryazev, ed. A.K. Timiryazeva, M., 1948; Platonov G.V., Worldview of K.A. Timiryazev, 2nd ed., M., 1952 (there is a bibliography of works about T. published in 1945-52); Tsetlin L. S., K. A. Timiryazev, 2nd ed., M., 1952; Platonov G.V., Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev, M., 1955 (Figures of Russian agronomy).

Large biographical encyclopedia. 2009 .

naturalist, founder of the Russian scientific school of plant physiologists

Kliment Arkadevich Timiryazev(May 22 (June 3), St. Petersburg - April 28, Moscow) - Russian naturalist, physiologist, physicist, instrument maker, historian of science, writer, translator, publicist, professor at Moscow University, founder of the Russian and British scientific schools of plant physiologists. Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917; corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences since 1890). Member of the Royal Society (the British equivalent of the Academy of Sciences in other countries) since 1911. Honorary Doctor of Cambridge, the universities of Geneva and Glasgow. Corresponding Member of the Edinburgh and Manchester Botanical Societies. Member. Member of the Moscow Physical Society (named after P. N. Lebedev). He was the organizer of congresses of Russian naturalists and doctors, chairman of the IX Congress, chairman of the botanical department of the Society of Lovers of Natural History, Anthropology and Ethnography at Moscow University. Member of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society, St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists, Moscow Society of Naturalists, Russian Photographic Society. Deputy of the Moscow City Council (1920).

Biography

Very often found among Christian Tatars (in Muslim surnames the Arabic pronunciation of the root “gazi” is preserved) and among Russians, the surname Timiryazev is formed from the dialectical version of Timiryaz or the name (Temirgazy - Temirgazy - Tatar language) Timergazi - comes from words of Mongolian-Turkic origin Timir ( iron) and either from the Arabic Ghazi (a fighter for the faith, warlike), or a nickname for a blacksmith (from yaz - to straighten), but K. A. Timiryazev is from the only noble family of the Timiryazevs. “I am Russian,” wrote Kliment Arkadyevich Timiryazev, “although a significant portion of English is mixed with my Russian blood.” Kliment(s) Arkadyevich Timiryazev was born in St. Petersburg in 1843 in the second marriage of the widowed head of the customs district of St. Petersburg, a participant in the campaigns of 1812-1814, later an active state councilor and senator Arkady Semyonovich Timiryazev, known for freethinking and honesty, and therefore despite a brilliant career in the customs service he was very poor, and therefore, from the age of 15, Clement earned his own living. He received his primary education at home. Thanks to his mother, a Russian ethnic Englishwoman, the granddaughter of a semi-sovereign Alsatian landowner who fled from the French Revolution, Adelaide Klimentyevna Bode, not only was fluent in German and the international language of the nobility - French - but also knew the language and culture of Russians and English equally well, often visited the homeland of his ancestors, personally met Darwin, together with him contributed to the organization in the United Kingdom of plant physiology, which was previously absent there, and was proud that, thanks to their cooperation, Darwin's last work was devoted to chlorophyll. A huge influence on K. A. Timiryazev was exerted by his siblings, who especially introduced him to the study of organic chemistry D. A. Timiryazev, a specialist in the field of agricultural and factory statistics and a chemist who worked, among other things, on chlorophyll, Privy Councilor. Brother Timiryazev Vasily Arkadyevich (c. 1840-1912) - famous writer, journalist and theater reviewer, translator, collaborated in “Notes of the Fatherland” and “Historical Bulletin”; during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. - war correspondent, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Brother Nikolai Arkadyevich (1835-1906) - the largest military figure in Tsarist Russia, having entered the elite Cavalry Regiment as a cadet, rose to its commander in the war of 1877-1878. participated in affairs and battles near Gorny Dubnyak, Telish, Doctor, Lyutikov, Philippopolis (Plovdiv) and awarded golden weapons and the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd Art. with swords, in March 1878 he was appointed commander of the Kazan Dragoon Regiment and participated in the affairs of Pepsolan and Kadykioy. He subsequently retired as a cavalry general, is known for his charity work, and is an honorary guardian. Nephew of K. A. Timiryazev, son of his half-brother Ivan from his father’s first wife - V. I. Timiryazev. In 1860, K. A. Timiryazev entered the St. Petersburg University at the cameral category of the Faculty of Law, which was transformed in the same year into the category of administrative sciences and subsequently liquidated according to the Charter of 1863, then moved to the natural category of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics, and was awarded a gold medal for his essay “On liver mosses” (not published), the course was completed in 1866 with a candidate’s degree. In 1861, for participating in student unrest and refusing to cooperate with the police, he was expelled from the university. He was allowed to continue his studies at the university only as a volunteer after a year. In 1867, on behalf of D.I. Mendeleev, he was in charge of an experimental agrochemical station in the Simbirsk province, at which time, long before V.I. Lenin and G.V. Plekhanov, he became familiar with Marx’s “Capital” in the original. He believed that, unlike the Marxists, he was like-minded by Karl Marx himself. In 1868, his first scientific work, “A Device for Studying the Decomposition of Carbon Dioxide,” appeared in print, and in the same year Timiryazev was sent abroad to prepare for a professorship. He worked for W. Hoffmeister, R. Bunsen, G. Kirchhoff, M. Berthelot and listened to lectures by G. Helmholtz, J. Boussingault, C. Bernard and others. Returning to Russia, Timiryazev defended his master’s thesis (“Spectral analysis of chlorophyll”, ) and was appointed professor at the Petrovsky Agricultural and Forestry Academy in Moscow. Here he lectured in all departments of botany until he was left on staff due to the closure of the academy (in 1892). In 1875, Timiryazev received a doctorate in botany for his essay “On the absorption of light by plants.” Kharkov professor V.P. Buzeskul, and K.A. Timiryazev could have said this about himself, wrote: The position of a Russian professor is difficult: you feel like an extra person. Strikes threaten from left and right, from above and from below. For the extreme left, universities are just a tool to achieve their goals, and we professors are unnecessary trash, and from above we are looked at as an inevitable evil, only tolerated for the sake of shame in front of Europe. - OR RSL. F. 70. K. 28. D. 26 “Timiryazev,” recalls his student writer V. G. Korolenko, who portrayed Timiryazev as Professor Izborsky in his story “On Both Sides”, “had special sympathetic threads that connected him with the students, although very often his conversations outside the lecture turned into disputes on subjects outside his specialty. We felt that the questions that occupied us also interested him. In addition, true, ardent faith was heard in his nervous speech. It related to science and culture, which he defended against the wave of “forgiveness” that swept us, and there was a lot of sublime sincerity in this faith. Young people appreciated it." In 1877 he was invited to Moscow University to the department of anatomy and physiology of plants. He was a co-founder and teacher of women's “collective courses” (courses of Professor V. I. Gerye, Moscow Higher Women's Courses, which laid the foundation for higher women's education in Russia and stood at the origins of the Darwin Museum, Russian National Research Medical University named after N. I. Pirogov, Moscow State University of Fine Chemical Technologies named after M.V. Lomonosov, Moscow State Pedagogical University). In addition, Timiryazev was the chairman of the botanical department of the Society of Lovers of Natural History, Ethnography and Anthropology at Moscow University. Although he was half paralyzed after illness and had no other sources of income, he left the university in 1911 along with about 130 teachers, protesting against the oppression of students and the reactionary policies of the Minister of Education Casso. On the occasion of Timiryazev’s 70th anniversary on May 22, 1913, I. P. Pavlov described his colleague as follows: “Kliment Arkadyevich himself, like the plants he dearly loved, strove for the light all his life, storing up in himself the treasures of the mind and the highest truth, and he himself was a source of light for many generations who strove for light and knowledge and sought warmth and truth in the harsh conditions of life.” Like Darwin, Timiryazev sincerely strove for the rapprochement of science and, as it seemed to him then, the liberal policies of Russia (especially his nephew) and Great Britain, based on reason and liberation, since he considered both the conservatives and Bismarck and the German militarists who followed his course to be enemies of the interests and the common people England, and the Slavs, for whom his brothers fought, welcomed the Russian-Turkish war for the liberation of the Slavs and, initially, the Entente and Russia's performance in defense of Serbia. But, already disillusioned with the global carnage, he accepted A. M. Gorky’s invitation to head the science department in the anti-war magazine “Chronicle”, largely thanks to Timiryazev who united his fellow physiologists Nobel laureates I. I. Mechnikov, I. P. Pavlov, and cultural figures, the grandson of the “dear and beloved teacher” K. A. Timiryazev, A. N. Beketov, A. A. Blok, I. A. Bunin, V. Ya. Bryusov, V. V. Mayakovsky, S. Yesenin, L. Reisner, I. Babel, Janis Rainis, Jack London, Herbert Wells, Anatole France and internationalist socialists of different parties and trends. V. I. Lenin, considering the “Chronicle” as a bloc of “Machists” (positivist Timiryazev) with the Organizing Committee of the August Bloc of 1912, in a letter to A. G. Shlyapnikov dreamed of achieving an alliance with Timiryazev against the August Bloc, but, not believing in This, he asked to at least place his articles in this popular magazine. Nevertheless, formally only N.K. Krupskaya became Timiryazev’s employee. Since September, the Central Committee of the Socialist Revolutionary Party has nominated K. A. Timiryazev for the post of Minister of Education of the Homogeneous Socialist Government. But observing the dispossession of the “Germans” (who successfully competed with the landowners of peasant producers, especially front-line soldiers), the natural food crisis and surplus appropriation, the refusal of the Provisional Government to return to the peasants all the land illegally seized by the landowners, and to the land and plants of the peasants from the trenches, K. A. Timiryazev enthusiastically supported Lenin's April Theses and the October Revolution, which brought him back to Moscow University. In 1920, he sent one of the first copies of his book “Science and Democracy” to V.I. Lenin. In the dedicatory inscription, the scientist noted his happiness “to be his [Lenin’s] contemporary and a witness to his glorious activity.” “Only science and democracy,” testifies Timiryazev, who considered Soviet power, like many Luxemburgians, Smenovekhites and English liberals, as a form of transition to liberal democracy, “are inherently hostile to war, because both science and labor equally need a calm environment. Science based on democracy and democracy strong by science is what will bring peace to the peoples.” He participated in the work of the People's Commissariat of Education, and after the All-Russian Central Executive Committee canceled its decisions to exclude representatives of socialist parties and anarchists from the Soviets, he agreed to become a deputy of the Moscow Soviet, took this activity very seriously, because of which he caught a cold and died.

Scientific work

Timiryazev’s scientific works, distinguished by their unity of plan, strict consistency, precision of methods and elegance of experimental technology, are devoted to drought resistance of plants, issues of plant nutrition, in particular, the decomposition of atmospheric carbon dioxide by green plants under the influence of solar energy, and contributed greatly to the understanding of this most important and interesting chapter of plant physiology . The study of the composition and optical properties of the green pigment of plants (chlorophyll), its occurrence, the physical and chemical conditions for the decomposition of carbon dioxide, the determination of the components of the solar ray taking part in this phenomenon, the clarification of the fate of these rays in the plant and, finally, the study of the quantitative relationship between the absorbed energy and the work produced - these are the tasks outlined in Timiryazev’s first works and largely resolved in his subsequent works. The absorption spectra of chlorophyll were studied by K. A. Timiryazev, who, developing Mayer’s thesis on the role of chlorophyll in converting the energy of the sun’s rays into the energy of chemical bonds of organic substances, showed exactly how this happens: the red part of the spectrum creates instead of weak bonds C-O and O-H high-energy C-C (before this, it was believed that photosynthesis uses the brightest yellow rays in the spectrum of sunlight, in fact, as Timiryazev showed, they are almost not absorbed by leaf pigments). This was done thanks to the method created by K. A. Timiryazev for accounting for photosynthesis based on absorbed CO2; during experiments on illuminating a plant with light of different wavelengths (different colors), it turned out that the intensity of photosynthesis coincides with the absorption spectrum of chlorophyll. In addition, he discovered different efficiencies of chlorophyll absorption of all rays of the spectrum with a consistent decrease as the wavelength decreases. Timiryazev suggested that the light-catching function of chlorophyll evolved first in seaweeds, which is indirectly confirmed by the greatest diversity of pigments absorbing solar energy in this group of living beings; his teacher, Academician Famintsyn, developed this idea with a hypothesis about the origin of all plants from the symbiosis of such algae, transformed into chloroplasts , with other organisms. Timiryazev summed up his many years of research into photosynthesis in the so-called Crunian lecture “The Cosmic Role of Plants,” given at the Royal Society of London in 1903 - both this lecture and the title of member of the Society were associated with his status as a British rather than foreign scientist. Timiryazev establishes the extremely important position that assimilation only at relatively low light voltages increases in proportion to the amount of light, but then lags behind it and reaches a maximum “at a voltage approximately equal to half the voltage of a solar ray incident on a sheet in the normal direction.” A further increase in voltage is no longer accompanied by increased light assimilation. On a bright sunny day, the plant receives excess light, causing harmful overuse of water and even overheating of the leaf. Therefore, the position of the leaves of many plants is with an edge towards the light, especially pronounced in the so-called “compass plants”. The path to drought-resistant agriculture is the selection and cultivation of plants with a powerful root system and reduced transpiration. In his last article, K. A. Timiryazev wrote that “to prove the solar source of life - this was the task that I set from the very first steps of scientific activity and persistently and comprehensively carried it out for half a century.” According to Academician V.L. Komarov, Timiryazev’s scientific feat lies in the synthesis of Darwin’s historical and biological method with the experimental and theoretical discoveries of physics of the 19th century, and, in particular, with the law of conservation of energy. The works of K. A. Timiryazev became the theoretical basis for the development of agriculture, especially drought-resistant agriculture, and the “green revolution”. To this it should be added that Timiryazev was the first to introduce experiments with plant cultivation in artificial soils in Russia. The first greenhouse for this purpose was built by him at the Petrovsky Academy back in the early 1870s, that is, shortly after the appearance of this type of device in Germany. Later, the same greenhouse was built by Timiryazev at the All-Russian Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod. Greenhouses, especially those with artificial lighting, seemed to him extremely important not only for accelerating breeding work, but also as one of the main ways to intensify agriculture. Timiryazev’s research on the absorption spectrum of chlorophyll and light assimilation by plants is still the basis for the development of sources of artificial lighting for greenhouses. In one of the chapters of his book “Agriculture and Plant Physiology” Timiryazev described the structure and life of flax and showed how to apply this knowledge in agronomy. Thus, this work by K. A. Timiryazev was the first presentation of the particular ecology of plants. In addition to studying the magnesium enzyme chlorophyll - a structural analogue of iron-containing hemoglobin - Timiryazev was the first in the world to establish the essentiality (necessity for life) of zinc, the possibility of reducing the need of plants for iron when feeding them with zinc, which explained the mystery of the transition of flowering plants to hunting animals that interested him and Darwin (carnivory) on soils poor in iron. Timiryazev studied in detail not only the problems of plant physiology, plant assimilation of light, water, soil nutrients, fertilizers, problems of general biology, botany, and ecology. He considered it necessary to dispel speculation about the dry pedantry of eccentric professors and especially botanists; he was well versed not only in photography, “necessary for everyone who does not have Shishkin’s brush,” but also in painting, translated a book about the famous painter Turner, but still as a scientist - the natural scientist could not resist and wrote an introductory article to it, “Landscape and Natural Science,” which was of great value. Timiryazev's outstanding scientific achievements earned him the title of member of the Royal Society of London, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, honorary member of Kharkov and St. Petersburg universities, the Free Economic Society and many other scientific societies and institutions.

Denial of anti-Darwinism, including many supporters of the genetics of Mendel and Weismann

Timiryazev recognized the “enormous significance” of the results of G. Mendel himself and “Mendelism”, actively used “Mendelism”, regretting that Mendel published his works “in an unknown journal” and did not turn to Charles Darwin in time - then he and Darwin would probably have he was supported during his lifetime, “like hundreds of others.” Timiryazev emphasized that, although he became acquainted with the works of Mendel late (no earlier than 1881), he did this much earlier than both the Mendelists and the Mendelians, and categorically denied the opposite of Mendelism, “Mendelianism” - the transfer of the laws of inheritance of some simple traits of peas to the inheritance of those traits , which, according to the works of both Mendel and the Mendelists, do not and cannot obey these laws. He emphasized that Mendel, as a “serious researcher,” “could never become a Mendelian.” In the article “Mendel” for the dictionary “Pomegranate” Timiryazev wrote about the clerical and nationalist activities of his contemporary anti-Darwinists - supporters of this Mendelianism, distorting the teachings of Mendelism and the laws of G. Mendel:

The research recipe was extremely simple: do cross-pollination (which every gardener can do), then count in the second generation how many were born in one parent, how many in the other, and if, approximately, like 3:1, the work is ready; and then glorify the genius of Mendel and, certainly touching Darwin along the way, take on another. In Germany, the anti-Darwinist movement developed on more than one clerical basis. An outbreak of narrow nationalism, hatred of everything English and exaltation of the German provided even stronger support. This difference in points of departure was even expressed in relation to Mendel’s personality itself. While the cleric Bateson took special care to clear Mendel of any suspicion of Jewish origin (an attitude not long ago unthinkable in an educated Englishman), he was especially dear to the German biographer as “Ein Deutscher von echtem Schrot und Korn” (“ A real, genuine German." Ed.). The future historian of science will probably see with regret this intrusion of the clerical and nationalist element into the brightest area of ​​​​human activity, which has as its goal only the revelation of truth and its protection from all unworthy deposits.

Popularization of natural science

Timiryazev was widely known among educated Russian society as a popularizer of natural science. His popular scientific lectures and articles, included in the collections “Public lectures and speeches” (M.,), “Some basic tasks of modern natural science” (M.,), “Agriculture and plant physiology” (M.,), “Charles Darwin and his teaching" (4th ed., M., ) are a happy combination of strict scientificity, clarity of presentation, and brilliant style. His “Life of a Plant” (9th lifetime edition, Moscow, translated into all major foreign languages) is an example of a publicly accessible course in plant physiology. In his popular scientific works, Timiryazev is an ardent defender and popularizer of Darwinism and a staunch and consistent supporter of the rationalistic (as they said then, “mechanistic”, “Cartesian”) view of the nature of physiological phenomena. He contrasted reason with occultism, mysticism, spiritualism, and instinct. There were always six volumes of Comte on his desk, he called himself a supporter of positive philosophy - positivism, and he considered Darwinism and the political economy of Marx to be the correction of errors and the development of Comte's biology and the political economy of Saint-Simon and Comte, respectively, and was guided by Newton's motto - "Physics, Beware of metaphysics."

Publications

A list of 27 scientific works by Timiryazev that appeared before 1884 is included in the appendix to his speech “L’etat actuel de nos connaissances sur la fonction chlorophyllienne” (“Bulletin du Congrès internation. de Botanique à St. Petersburg”,). After 1884 there were:

• “L’effet chimique et l’effet physiologique de la lumière sur la chlorophylle” (“Comptes Rendus”, )
• “Chemische und physiologische Wirkung des Lichtes auf das Chlorophyll” (“Chemisch. Centralblatt”, no. 17)
• "La protophylline dans les plantes étiolées" (Compt. Rendus, )
• "Enregistrement photographique de la fonction chlorophyllienne par la plante vivante" (Compt. Rendus, CX, )
• “Photochemical action of the extreme rays of the visible spectrum” (“Proceedings of the Department of Physical Sciences of the Society of Lovers of Natural History”, vol. V,)
• “La protophylline naturelle et la protophylline artificielle” (“Comptes R.”, )
• "Science and Democracy". Collection of articles 1904-1919. Leningrad: “Surf”, 1926. 432 p.

and other works. In addition, Timiryazev is responsible for the study of gas exchange in the root nodules of leguminous plants (“Proceedings of St. Petersburg. General Natural History,” vol. XXIII). Under the editorship of Timiryazev, the Collected Works of Charles Darwin and other books were published in Russian translation. As a historian of science, he published biographies of many prominent scientists. Over the course of more than 50 years, he created a whole gallery of biographies of many fighters for the people's cause - from a biography of the socialist Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1862 to an essay about the "Friend of the People" Marat in 1919 - and showed that despite the impeccable personal integrity and devotion to the people and the Jacobins, and the Bolshevik leaders, unlike many of their opponents, were narrow-minded, bourgeois revolutionaries, and with this are connected the obstacles they created to the development of democracy and the violation of human rights.

Addresses

In St. Petersburg

• May 22, 1843 - 1854 - Galernaya Street, 16;
• 1854 - A.F. Juncker's house - Bolshoi Avenue of Vasilievsky Island, 8;
• 1867 - October 1868 - Sergievskaya street, 5;
• autumn 1870 - Kamennoostrovsky prospect, 8.

In Moscow

Memory

The following were named in honor of Timiryazev:

• Timiryazev village, Lipetsk region, many villages in Russia and Ukraine, a village in Azerbaijan
• Lunar crater
• Motor ship "Akademik Timiryazev"