Abstract:
In the middle of XIX-th century the certain cabinets and laboratories came into being at the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the Imperial Saint Petersburg University. Among them there were the physical cabinet and the physical laboratory, the cabinet of practical mechanics. Professor Fedor Fomich Petrushevskiy (1828 -1904) introduced reforms [1] in physics education, drawing more attention of teachers and students to the models of mechanisms, physical instruments, experiments, and organization of a physical laboratory course. In 1865 the practical classes in physics were organized for students in Russia for the first time [2]. Staffing increased, and Georg Konstantinovich (Khristianovich) Brauer, a then-noted optic-mechanician from the Pulkovo Observatory, was invited. After G.K. Brauer died, his subworker Victor Leopoldovich Frantzen (1853-1924) was appointed a mechanician, Frantzen was “a prodigy, rapidly growing, soon becoming famous in Russian universities of that time” [1].
The biographical data of these two mechanicians, including archive materials earlier unknown to the general public, will be presented in the report.
[1] Sominskiy M.S. Reforma F. F. Petrushevskogo/ Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk. T. XXXVII. Vyp. 3. 1949. S. 378-387 (in Russian)
[2] Borgman I.I. Pamyati F.F. Petrushevskogo // Zhurnal Russkogo fiziko-khimicheskogo obshchestva. Fizicheskiy otdel. Otdel pervyy. – 1904. – S. 51 – 55 (in Russian)
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