Vol 45, No 3 (2024)

After the defeat of Charles XII at Poltava, thousands of soldiers and officers of his army ended up in Russian captivity. Many of them were then exiled beyond the Urals, where they lived from 1711 to 1722. It is the Swedish officers that the beginnings of mathematical cartography of Siberia are associated with. The article analyzes the aspects of the work of the best known Swedish cartographer, Captain Philip Johan Tabbert (Philipp Johann von Strahlenberg) and provides information about other Swedes who engaged in cartography. At the early stage of the formation of mathematical cartography, an important problem was converting Russian linear measures into degrees. Various ratios used by both the Swedish captives and the Russian land surveyors are given. The methodology for longitude coordinates determination was studied based on the analysis of the maps and diary entries, made by Tabbert during D. G. Messerschmidt’s expedition. Indirect evidence of measurements of latitudinal coordinates, carried out by Swedish captives before the arrival of Russian surveyors in Siberia, has been collected. All of this enabled the analysis of mathematical basis of the two manuscript maps made by the Swedes in Siberia. It is concluded that the geographical maps, drawn in the Siberian captivity by Charles XII’s officers, continued the European tradition of mapping Siberia, being a separate stage in this process. What distinguished such maps was that their authors lived in the region they mapped. The Swedish captives became the first cartographers of Siberia, who created mathematically precise geographical maps with a grade grid, rather than hand-drawn, artistic maps. At the same time, Swedish officers’ efforts associated with creating geographical maps of Siberia had no impact on the development of Russian cartography. It was not the Swedes who broke the tradition of cartographic isography but, rather, the Russian graduates of the Maritime Academy who began working in Siberia in 1719.

In the late 19^th century a military statistician and a pioneers of the Russian cooperative movement, Viktor Semyonovich Kozlov (1842–1920), designed and built a unique mechanical analog computing device he named “tsifrar-diagrammometer”. It was intended for operational visual presentation of numerical results of observations, calculations, experiments, etc. (tsifrar) and for calculating their statistical characteristics (diagrammometer). At the 1889 Paris Exposition this device that represented Russia was awarded the bronze medal. Drawing on the archival records and the materials from the Russian and European periodicals, the history of the inventor’s work on this device is reconstructed for the first time and some facts from his biography are described. The authors also attempt to describe the design of the device and analyze the mechanism of its functioning. Since no sources contain a detailed description of the design with the diagrams, charts, etc. or the mechanism of its functioning while available information is often contradictory, the authors present their own version of the device’s description and operation. The tsifrar-diagrammometer aroused much interest among the most prominent Russian and French scientists of the time, including P. L. Chebyshev, D. I. Mendeleev, E. Lucas, and many others. They viewed Kozlov’s device as a forerunner of a future universal instrument for numerical data analysis and for discovering new laws of nature. The appraisals of the device by the contemporaries are also given and analyzed in the article.

The article is devoted to scientific and teaching activities of the Soviet biochemist M. I. Ravich-Shcherbo whose scientific career was largely spent in Kursk. The results of his studies into the development of ways to control malaria, carried out jointly with I. A. Smorodintsev and A. N. Adova during their work at the Tropical Institute of the RSFSR Peopleʼs Commissariat of Public Health (Narkomzdrav) in the 1920s and 1930s, and his research aimed at reducing the incidence of syphilis, conducted at the V. M. Bronner State Institute for Venereal Diseases in the 1930s – 1950s, are analyzed. His contribution to the development of wound healing and radiopaque contrast agents during World War II is also shown. Particular attention is given to the results of the studies into the mechanisms of biosynthesis of antibodies, gamma-globulin metabolism, and the ways to regulate these processes, carried out by Ravich-Shcherbo’s postgraduate and postdoctoral students in the 1950s – 1970s. The article also sheds light on the history of the scientific school of biological chemistry that became established at the Kursk Medical Institute.

The article reviews an episode in the Soviet-French scientific cooperation in the field of biochemistry in the 1950s – 1980s, as reflected in a unique historical source – the correspondence between a renowned Soviet biochemist, Academician A. E. Braunshtein (Braunstein), and his French colleague Ernest Kahane that lasted about 30 years. The remaining 16 letters (5 addressed to Kahane and 11, to Braunshtein) with commentary are published in the end of the article. From this correspondence one can learn about the aspects of convening certain scientific events, some details from the correspondents’ biographies, discussions of joint Soviet-French scientific projects, etc. The style of the letters varies, with Kahane being more emotional and allowing himself to criticize the authorities that withheld issuing visa to Braunshtein and give emotional characteristics of his colleagues-biochemists. Braunshtein’s epistolary style is more reserved, which was in line with his character. Apart from the letters, the article uses a wide range of sources many of which are introduced for scientific use for the first time. These materials concerning Braunshtein’s international secondments, autobiographies, and memoirs about Braunshtein allow reconstructing the historical context in which the communication between Soviet and French biochemists occurred. Thus, despite France not being the main foreign partner for Braunshtein and his laboratory, the materials published here cast light on some of the less studied aspects of the French-Soviet scientific cooperation.

Drawing on the archival materials, the article examines the activities of the Petrograd (Leningrad) Physical and Mathematical Society in the 1920s, focusing on those concerned with research, science management, publishing and international relations. Despite its relatively short lifespan, the Society’s efforts proved to be very fruitful: regular meetings were held where scientific papers were presented and discussed, a dedicated scientific journal was published, and scientific links were maintained both domestically and internationally. Prominent Russian scientists took an active part in the Society’s activities, including Ya. V. Uspensky, V. I. Smirnov, B. N. Delone (Delaunay), G. M. Fikhtengol’ts (Fichtenholz), V. A. Steklov, A. A. Fridman (Friedmann), V. A. Fok (Fock), A. S. Besikovich, S. N. Bernshtein (Bernstein), Ya. D. Tamarkin, R. O. Kuzmin, N. I. Muskhelishvili, L. G. Loitsyansky, B. G. Galerkin. Society members attended international congresses and conferences, establishing and promoting important scientific contacts with foreign scientists and enhancing the worldwide authority of Soviet mathematicians and physicists. However, in 1930, the Society decided upon self-dissolution due to a number of reasons: introduction of new regulation aimed at the reorganization of scientific societies, the escalation of conflicts among the mathematical community, and the beginning of repressions against some mathematicians. Nevertheless the Petrograd (Leningrad) Physical and Mathematical Society had made a significant contribution to the advancement of physical and mathematical sciences in our country.

From the start, the Central House of Scientists that was opened in the early years of the Soviet regime as a result of the efforts the Commission for Improving the Scholars’ Living Conditions (KUBU) has been uniting Soviet (Russian) researchers of various specialties and offering them opportunities for socialization and professional communication. Inter alia, it became a place to celebrate significant scientific events or decently commemorate prominent scholars. The Section of Mathematics has been working at the Central House of Scientists for more than 50 years. Founded when Soviet mathematics was in its prime, it keeps up the traditions of national schools of mathematical research and education. The article is devoted to the history of the Section of Mathematics.