Polytechnical Museum
Encyclopedia
Polytechnical Museum is a science museum
in Moscow
that emphasizes the progress of Russia
n and Soviet
technology and science, as well as modern inventions and developments. It was founded in 1872 after the first All-Russian Technical Exhibition on the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great. The first stage of the museum was designed by Ippolit Monighetti
and completed in 1877. Almost from the beginning the collection was too big for the space. The north wing was added in 1896 and the south wing in 1907.
It is the largest technical museum in Russia, offering a wide array of historical inventions and technological achievements, including humanoid automata of the 18th century and the first Soviet computers. Its collection contains more than 160,000 items in 65 halls including, Chemistry
, Mining
, Metallurgy
, Transport
, Energy
, Optics
, Automation
, Computer Engineering
, Radio electronics
, Communications, and Space exploration
.
Highlights include the first Achromatic telescope
; an early solar microscope, created by German anatomists Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn
; an early seismograph created by Boris Borisovich Galitzine
; galvanoplastics
by Moritz von Jacobi; and early electric lights by Pavel Yablochkov
. The automobile exhibit includes a Russo-Balt
K12/20 and a GAZ-M20 Pobeda
.
Science museum
A science museum or a science centre is a museum devoted primarily to science. Older science museums tended to concentrate on static displays of objects related to natural history, paleontology, geology, industry and industrial machinery, etc. Modern trends in museology have broadened the range of...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
that emphasizes the progress of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
technology and science, as well as modern inventions and developments. It was founded in 1872 after the first All-Russian Technical Exhibition on the bicentennial anniversary of the birth of Peter the Great. The first stage of the museum was designed by Ippolit Monighetti
Ippolit Monighetti
Ippolit Antonovich Monighetti was a Russian architect of Swiss descent who worked for the Romanov family.Monighetti attended the Stroganov Art School and then studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts under Alexander Brullov, matriculating in 1839 with a gold medal...
and completed in 1877. Almost from the beginning the collection was too big for the space. The north wing was added in 1896 and the south wing in 1907.
It is the largest technical museum in Russia, offering a wide array of historical inventions and technological achievements, including humanoid automata of the 18th century and the first Soviet computers. Its collection contains more than 160,000 items in 65 halls including, Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, Mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, Metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
, Transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
, Energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
, Optics
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
, Automation
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
, Computer Engineering
Computer engineering
Computer engineering, also called computer systems engineering, is a discipline that integrates several fields of electrical engineering and computer science required to develop computer systems. Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering, software design, and...
, Radio electronics
Radio electronics
*For the magazine, see Radio-ElectronicsRadio electronics is the sub-field of electrical engineering concerning itself with the class of electronic circuits which receive or transmit radio signals....
, Communications, and Space exploration
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
.
Highlights include the first Achromatic telescope
Achromatic telescope
The achromatic telescope is a refracting telescope that uses an achromatic lens to correct for chromatic aberration.-How it works:When an image passes through a lens, the light is refracted at different angles for different wavelengths. This produces focal lengths that are dependent on the color of...
; an early solar microscope, created by German anatomists Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn
Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn
Johann Nathanael Lieberkühn was a German physician. His middle name is sometimes misspelled Nathaniel....
; an early seismograph created by Boris Borisovich Galitzine
Boris Borisovich Galitzine
Prince Boris Borisovich Galitzine was a prominent Russian physicist who invented the first electromagnetic seismograph in 1906. He was one of the founders of modern Seismology. In 1911 he was chosen to be the president of the International Sesmiology Association...
; galvanoplastics
Electrotyping
Electrotyping is a chemical method for forming metal parts that exactly reproduce a model. The method was invented by Moritz von Jacobi in Russia in 1838, and was immediately adopted for applications in printing and several other fields...
by Moritz von Jacobi; and early electric lights by Pavel Yablochkov
Pavel Yablochkov
Pavel Nikolayevich Yablochkov was a Russian electrical engineer, the inventor of the Yablochkov candle and businessman.-Biography:...
. The automobile exhibit includes a Russo-Balt
Russo-Balt
Russo-Balt was one of the first Russian companies that produced cars between 1909 and 1923.- Russo-Baltic Wagon Corp. :...
K12/20 and a GAZ-M20 Pobeda
GAZ-M20 Pobeda
The GAZ-M20 "Pobeda" was a passenger car produced in the Soviet Union by GAZ from 1946 until 1958. It was also licensed to Polish Fabryka Samochodów Osobowych.The first Pobeda was developed in the Soviet Union under chief engineer Andrei A. Liphart...
.