DISCOVERY AND STUDY
OF RADIOACTIVITY
Rikhvanov Leonid P., professor,
DSc in Geology and Mineralogy
Nadeina Luiza V., associate professor,
PhD in Philology
TOMSK -2015
Meeting of Russian scientists with a merchant Ryabushinsky
P.P. was a historical event in radioactivity and radioactive
substances study.
There are interesting notes about his meeting with a famous
businessman and a sponsor of science in personal archives of
cofounder well-known scholar, writer and traveller, academician
V. A. Obruchev. This meeting took place in P.P. Ryabushinsky
Moscow flat on Thursday November 14, in 1913. Vernadsky V.i.,
Obruchev V.A., Sokolov V.D. and other famous scientists were
invited to this meeting. There were 12 persons.
Saying good bye, he promised to finance search radium and
radioactive elements.
After meeting with merchant
Ryabushinsky in Moscow, Vladimir
Afanasievich Obruchev began to
organize radium search in Siberia. He sent
a great article “Search radium” to his
scholar, head of the department in Tomsk
technological institute, professor Gudkov
P.P. It was published in Tomsk
newspaper “Siberian life”.
In this article Obruchev V.A. told about
radium, its properties and call to search
minefield of radium and radioelements.
The former student of Tomsk technological institute,
afterwards a famous Siberian geologist, professor N.N. Urvantsev discoverer Norilsk ore district, told in detail how siberians searched
radium those years.
Student Urvantsev worked onto exploration ironstone in
Kuzbuss in 1913-1917. There were no devices to search radioactive
ore. Recommendations of Gudkov P.P. were used.
Special expedition equipped by Ryabushinsky P.P. searched
radioactive elements in Transbaikalia in summer and autumn in
1914. It was headed by M.N. Sobolev, economist, great scientist.
He had been working at Tomsk state university and Tomsk
technological institute for many years. He was a friend of professor
Obruchev V.A., and Potanin G.N., a researcher of Transbaikalia
and Mongolia, who investigated Siberia.
Working on radioactive element
study in Transbaikalia, doctor
Bagashev I.A. noted that inhabitants of
Cossack villages used water from the
well as drinking water and this water
was of high level of radioactivity
(2,25-10,22 ед. Махе).
Radioactivity was studied by a geologist Kotulsky, who carried out the
investigations in Barguzin district.
He tested for radioactivity Turkinskie hot sulfur water, Garginsky
hot sulfur spring, Seyuiskie sulfur water, Mongoiskie hot springs, warm
springs on the shore of the lake Irkano, cold spring on the left bank Of the
Angara and hot spring on the right bank of the Dzhelinda (1912). Besides,
V.V. Kotulsky measured radioactivity of the cave based in limestone of
Pestchernaya.
The paper by D.V. Alekseev in the
newspaper “Siberian life” in 1905 was very
interesting for inhabitants of Tomsk region. In
which the author, an employee of chemistry
department of technological institute told about
radium properties and applications. Alekseev
D.V. published a number of articles devoted
radioactivity effect on living organisms.
According to Lozovsky I.T., he had already
studied radioactiviry and radioactive elements
in 1904.
Sorry to say, he and later Titov V.S. were
sent from Tomsk as unreliable teachers, and
further they did not study radioactivity.
It was very difficult to study radioactivity during
World War I and Civil War. Many geologists and
students served in Army. It collapsed researches.
There was сhaos in Siberia. Many researchers had to
leave Tomsk.
Geologist Gudkov P.P. had to leave Tomsk to go to
Vladivostok in 1919. and then 2 years later he came to
the USA and worked and lived there until he died in
1955. Gudkov P.P. died as academician and a
member of many scientific communities. He died as
great geologist all over the world, very famous
American scientist, but he always was and became
Russian and Russian scientist. All letters sent by him
from the USA told about it..
Nobody noted Vernadsky V.I. arrival in Tomsk and
Irkutsk
regions
and
Marie
Curie-Sklodowska
in
Krasnoyarsk region in the pre-war and prerevolutionary
period.
Stay Maria Curie in Siberia. Reality or
myth?
The regions of Siberia were known to be attractive to search ores containing
radium. So, about 30 papers dealing with radium, were published, such as:
- “Radium in Siberia” №2,1914,-p.36;
- “Uranium ore on the Baikal area” - №12,1914,-p.257.
Last work has been reported that the expedition headed by Curie onto Baikal for
research of uranium ore.
О About Curie’s stay in Krasnoyarsk Prokhorov I.G. wrote in
his memoirs. Starkov V.P. in his report wrote in 1936 “Prokhorov
I.G. delivered samples of high radioactivity rocks in Krasnoyarsk
for Sklodowska-Curie…”
Who is that person Prokhorov I.G.?
Ivan Grigorievich Prokhorov (1887 -.
1963), peasant of KazanskoBogorodskaya village, can be called
the first prospector and miner of
uranium ore in Siberia.
Prokhorov I.G. wrote about his meeting with Marie CurieSklodowska in Siberia:
«In 1914 I met a mental attentive to ordinary people woman.
I was told that she is a great scientist, that she is a well-known
person all over the world because she discovered radium. I was
told that she would investigate our samples and would estimate
them. Above this assessment there would be nothing!».
But from her personal diary it was found that Marie Curie in
1914 did not visit Russia and there is no any information about
Prokhorov I.G.
The idea was supposed to be that it is one of the beautiful
legends. L.P. Pikhvanov, professor of Tomsk polytechnic
university suggested to do in museum the exhibit called “Legends
and realities about Marie Curie”. He promised to give all materials
about Prokhorov I.G. and his meeting with Maria Curie in
Krasnoyarsk.
In 1920s radioactivity investigations began to be regenerated
in Siberia. The works of Orlov P.P. and Orlova M.P., Labazin
G.S., Kurbatov S.M., Bilibin Yu.A., Shakhov F.N. had been
published by that time.
There were microradiographies in works of Labazin G.S.
(1925,1930). They characterized radioactive substance
distribution in rocks of number of objects.
Map of Labazin G.S. completed due to studied objects in Khakassia (1930)
Feliks Nikolaevich Shakhov
founder of the department and the fist Siberian expert in uranium
deposit geology in Siberia
Today the center of radioactivity investigation in Siberia is
located in Tomsk
III All-Union radiochemical conference was held in Tomsk in 1991. It
was considered to use radiography method to solve problems dealing with
radioecology.
I International conference “ Radioactivity and radioactive elements in
human environment” was held in 1996.
II International conference “ Radioactivity and radioactive elements in
human environment” was held in 2004.
How was it?
Read in books.