From the History of Physics

Academician B. S. Jacobi on His Scientific and Practical Activities

M. I. Radovsky

The early history of technical physics in our country is closely connected with the name of the Russian academician Boris Semyonovich Jacobi (1801–1874). As is known, from the very beginning of the existence of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, scientific-applied questions were set before it, and it dealt with them a good deal. However, on a broad scale the development of scientific and technical problems at the Academy began with the organization under it of the “Commission for the Application of Electromagnetism to the Propulsion of Machines by the Method of Professor Jacobi.” This commission existed for about five years (1837–1842) and was concerned chiefly with the problem of applying the electric motor to navigation. Jacobi himself had in mind a universal motor, and in his memorandum to the president of the Academy of Sciences and minister of public education, S. Uvarov) he speaks precisely of such a motor. Uvarov understood Jacobi in just this way—that the matter concerned a new motor which in the near future would replace the steam engine. Reporting to Nicholas I on Jacobi’s proposal (1837), Uvarov emphasized: “The discovery—or, more correctly, the application—of a new force, hitherto still immeasurable, but significant in its consequences, electromagnetism, is beginning everywhere to attract attention and curiosity. The immediate result of this would be the replacement of the steam engine by another, more reliable one, less dangerous and requiring almost no expenditures.”*)

The commission included highly authoritative representatives of the scientific world and of the fleet. Its members were academicians E. Kh. Lenz, M. V. Ostrogradsky, A. Ya. Kupffer, P. N. Fuss (permanent secretary of the Academy), corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, inventor of the electromagnetic telegraph P. L. Schilling, and naval figures—the famous admiral I. F. Kruzenshtern and the then captain in the Corps of Naval Engineers, later Lieutenant General S. A. Burachek, the predecessor of Academician A. N. Krylov in the fleet.

*) First published in the Archive of the History of Science and Technology. Issue III, pp. 242–249.
**) Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, fond 44, inventory 1, No. 1, sheet 4.

Of course, on the narrow technical base of the 1830s and 1840s of the last century, it was impossible to solve the problem of the electric motor while using galvanic cells as the generator of electrical energy. But the investigations that had been undertaken did not remain without results. In its report the Commission noted: “Although the chief attention was directed to the practical side of the discovery, yet, as already follows from its highly approved membership, it was also to have in view the scientific side, especially since it was operating on ground that until that time had been almost uncultivated. It was this scientific side of the subject, which must henceforth be the foundation of every practical adaptation of the new motor, that Professor Jacobi and Academician Lenz pursued with mutual zeal, and the Commission takes pleasure in attesting that their investigations served more, and more essentially, to explain the quantitative relations of electromagnetism than any other experiments of recent times”*).

The other works of Jacobi that followed then found broad practical application and were honored by more than one act of official recognition. The galvanoplasty invented by him immediately called into being one of the earliest branches of electrical engineering and rendered substantial benefit to the government in carrying out the financial reform of 1839. The new banknotes produced with the aid of galvanoplasty were reproduced much more rapidly and, most importantly, the new method made counterfeiting more difficult.

Jacobi’s work on the electric motor and his invention of galvanoplasty attracted the attention of the greatest scientists of that time, who placed their brightest hopes precisely in him. In the Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR there is preserved a large number of letters from scientists—celebrities of that time—to Jacobi, expressing to him their admiration for his researches. Among Jacobi’s correspondents we shall name Faraday, Oersted, Becquerel, Humboldt, Grobe. Here, for example, is what Faraday wrote concerning Jacobi’s electric motor: “I most heartily wish that your great labors may receive the high reward which they deserve... How I think only of the electromagnetic machine on the Great Western or British Queen) and of sending them in this way on voyages across the Atlantic Ocean or even to the East Indies! What a glorious thing that would be.”). And concerning galvanoplasty, when Jacobi sent him a specimen of his galvanoplastic product with the inscription: “To Faraday from Jacobi with greetings,” Faraday wrote to Jacobi: “The plates which you sent me are not only very pleasant and flattering to me, they are excellent in themselves in theoretical and practical respects. All who have seen them here have admired them”***).

*) Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, fond 187, inventory 1, No. 74, fol. 34.
*) The largest ships of that time (M. R.)
*) Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, fond 187, inventory 1, fol. 129.
***) Ibid.

At approximately the same time (1839) dates the beginning of Jacobi’s work on questions of national defense. His participation in the labors of the “Committee on Underwater Experiments” culminated in the creation of mines with electric fuses, which were used in the defense of the Baltic coast during the Crimean campaign. The electric telegraph invented by Jacobi was intended for military purposes. In the above-listed fields of electrical engineering, Jacobi was a pioneer in the literal sense of the word. Among his contemporaries he stands out sharply for his deep and subtle understanding of everything that the scientific achievements of that time entailed. In this respect characteristic are the words he uttered in a report to the Academy of Sciences in 1842: “A special charm, in my opinion, is imparted to our investigations by the fact that we are dealing with the first clearly expressed example of the powerful and direct influence exerted by a scientific achievement upon life in all its diversity.”*) This was said at a time when the dawn of the practical application of electrical energy for industrial purposes had barely begun. But the keen and far-seeing eye of the pioneer of electrical engineering clearly discerned the clear picture of that new thing which the recently arisen field of physics—electromagnetism—was bringing with it.

Unfortunately, it must be acknowledged that the creative work of this remarkable scholar, who left so deep a trace in the history of science in Russia, has not been studied, although all the data for this exist. In the Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR there is an enormous quantity of documents reflecting the life and activity of the famous academician. However, his autographs have essentially not yet been examined. The study of all Jacobi’s activity is a task for an entire group of specialists.

The memorandum by Jacobi to the minister of finance, published below with some abridgments, in which the author gave, as it were, his own creative biography, sheds a bright light on the most important aspects of his activity and revives the remarkable image of an indefatigable laborer of science, who found an immense field for his fruitful activity precisely in Russia, which he regarded as his fatherland, giving to it almost his entire creative life.

MEMORANDUM OF B. S. JACOBI TO THE MINISTER OF FINANCE

M. Kh. REITERN, 1872**)

If the results achieved in the sphere of science bring benefit to the whole world, then, without doubt, they have still greater significance for the country within whose borders these results were obtained. It cannot be denied that the cultural-historical significance and development of peoples are assessed according to the worth of the contribution that each of them—

*) See Dynamo Machine in Its Historical Development. Documents and Materials. Compiled by V. V. Efremov and M. I. Radovsky, edited by Academician V. F. Mitkevich. Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, L., 1934, p. 91.

**) Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, fond 187, inventory 1, No. 299.

contributes to the common treasury of human thought and activity. Therefore the undersigned turns, with a feeling of satisfied conscience, to his 37 years of scholarly activity, devoted wholly to the country which he has grown accustomed to regard as his second fatherland, being bound to it not only by the duty of allegiance and by the close ties of family*), but also by the personal feelings of a citizen.

The undersigned is proud of this activity because it, having proved fruitful in the common interest of all mankind, at the same time brought direct and substantial benefit to Russia.

The beginning of the undersigned’s scholarly activity coincided with an epoch of great discoveries in the field of physics, which not only enriched the world with knowledge but also, in their application, exerted an immeasurable influence on the transformation of many social conditions and relations. This circumstance determined the direction of the undersigned’s activity, and he did not fail to turn his investigations to these newly opened paths of science.

Having been called to Russia first to occupy a professorial chair at the University of Dorpat**), and then soon, by imperial command, in St. Petersburg***), he found here a broad field for application, for the benefit of his new fatherland, both of the improvements he had undertaken in scientific investigations already existing before him, and likewise of those new discoveries and inventions which were made by him himself.

On the other hand, the undersigned cannot but dwell with regret on the sad thought for him that in many important cases circumstances afforded him only the possibility of initiative, but did not assist in the fullest realization of his ardent desire to give to the indicated scientific works such development that Russia might, in this respect, without resorting to the aid of foreign technology, itself become a scientific and industrial center to which other peoples and countries would have to turn as to a source of scientific methods and practical applications.

The undersigned consoles himself in the awareness that, on the path toward the proposed goal, he, for his part, insofar as this could be achieved by the individual efforts of one person, did everything he could so that in all his scientific works in Russia he would use exclusively local means and materials, avoiding, with respect to physico-technical production, dependence on foreign manufacturers.

The paths and sources newly opened by science in the field of physics, contributing, on the one hand, to the increase of national wealth, and, on the other, assisting in the strengthening of the state’s means of defense

*) Having moved to Russia, Jacobi married A. I. Kokhanovskaya. (M. R.)
**) In 1835. (M. R.)
***) In 1837. (M. R.)

In Russia, much earlier than anywhere else, attention was paid to the enormous auxiliary means that the application of galvanism and electromagnetism could provide in the defense of fortresses and in telegraphy. Familiar with all the successes achieved in this respect by science, and supplied with the results of his own research and experience, the undersigned was able to make serious use of Baron Schilling’s legacy.

With the assistance of excellent collaborators of the undersigned, after becoming acquainted with the needs of mine warfare, it proved possible to improve the known applications of galvanism to this field—applications which only since the recent American war attracted the particular attention of other powers, consequently almost thirty years later than in our country—to such a practical degree that these applications became the subject of a specially organized branch of military service, and special teams of galvanists could be formed under the Engineering Department, as well as in sapper, pioneer, and pontoon units.

Already in 1847 the undersigned had the good fortune to present to the Emperor the galvanic self-acting torpedoes newly invented by him, to demonstrate by a series of experiments the successful application in practice of this important means of naval defense, and to give all the required explanations concerning the construction of such projectiles. The annual experiments and exercises subsequently established, by the highest command, and the improvements called forth by them made it possible to employ these galvanic torpedoes, under the direction of the undersigned, during the blockade of Kronstadt in 1854–56, and thereby to impede the approach of the hostile allied fleet, thus preventing the bombardment of Kronstadt and the serious losses and damage that might have resulted from it.

Other powers have begun to concern themselves seriously with galvanic mines only in recent times; but it may be boldly asserted that, despite the considerable sums they have spent on this subject, they have not yet achieved those fully satisfactory practical results which Russia has already enjoyed for 25 years.

When the undersigned (more than thirty years ago) was commanded by the highest authority to install an electric telegraph in the study of Emperor Nicholas I, electrical telegraphy was at that time, so to speak, still in its infancy.

In order to carry out, in a fully satisfactory manner, all the varied requirements and conditions with which the aforementioned assignment was surrounded, the undersigned had to overcome many obstacles and difficulties. The nature and importance of these obstacles and difficulties can be fully understood and properly appreciated only by one who knows the shortage that then existed in practically suitable tests and observations in this field, and who knows the extreme inadequacy of the technical means at the disposal of the undersigned at that time.

As regards assistance and advice from outside in general, the undersigned could not count on this, because, owing to the novelty of electro-telegraphy, he could not expect effective help and cooperation from foreign scholars. Thus he had to rely on his own activity and to count only on his own powers.

Nevertheless, in the case indicated, he succeeded in creating and arranging a considerable number of peculiar telegraphic devices, which not only satisfied the conditions of the special commission most highly entrusted to the undersigned, but could also be used with benefit in domestic life, and in particular proved suitable for military-land and naval affairs.

In this last respect it is enough only to recall the military telegraph which operated in 1845 during siege exercises near Narva. This telegraph even then proved in practice the unquestionable usefulness of military-field telegraphs, the importance and, one may say, the urgent necessity of which has been fully realized only in very recent times, on the occasion of the last wars.

By the Highest will, the undersigned was not permitted to publish his works on the arrangement of the aforementioned telegraphic devices. And although subsequently this prohibition was lifted, the undersigned could no longer take advantage of such monarchic favor, because by that time such great demands had been placed upon methods of rapid communication, and such enormous funds employed for their fulfillment, that his devices were bound soon to prove obsolete and to give way to others*).

*) Jacobi’s work on electric telegraphs is one of the most dramatic pages of his biography. Forced to keep his invention secret, Jacobi could not make it the property of science, and an important milestone in the history of telegraphy became associated with the name of the German entrepreneur Werner Siemens, who had relied on an invention belonging to Jacobi. Little is known about this in the literature. But Jacobi’s appearance in 1857 at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences sheds bright light on a very unattractive trait of Siemens. Here is what Jacobi wrote: “Two synchronous telegraph apparatuses were invented by me in January 1845 and presented to the physics-and-mathematics class at the session of 7 March 1845. By my order many other instruments were made, of which some served in the same (1845) year during experimental military maneuvers at the siege of Narva. At the end of these maneuvers, at which I was present, the late emperor was pleased to allow me foreign leave. Among other things, I visited my old friends in Berlin. To one of them I showed a sketch of my new apparatus, explained to him the operation of the instrument, and asked him to tell no one about it until I myself should publish its description. At the moment of my departure Mr. Siemens entered, who then, if I am not mistaken, still wore the uniform of a Prussian artillery officer and who, as far as I know, at that time was not yet engaged with telegraphs, but was working on the construction of a chronoscope for measuring the speed of flight of cannonballs. My drawing remained on the table. I relate only the fact, accusing no one of plagiarism. It is known that the telegraph with synchronous motion brought fame and wealth—”

These telegraph apparatuses created by the undersigned, as being at present of only historical interest, are located partly in the museum of the Department of Railways and Telegraphs, and partly—namely those of them that were constructed at the undersigned’s own expense—were presented by him as a gift to the Imperial Academy of Sciences and became part of the physical cabinet of that Academy.

Although in this way the apparatuses themselves have lost their practical significance, given the present development of telegraphy, the same cannot be said of the undersigned’s numerous works and investigations in this field, which, having exerted a great influence on the development of telegraphy, have not lost their significance even at the present time.

Among these should be included: investigations on the laws of electromagnetism, observations of underground conductors and their polarization, and the discovery of means for eliminating stoppages and interruptions, which so often occur in the operation of both underground and overhead wires.

Soon after the discovery of electromagnetism, the undersigned’s attention was drawn to the possibility of imparting extraordinary force to an electromagnet and to the fact that this force disappeared as soon as the galvanic circuit was broken. These phenomena indicated the possibility of using them for the production of mechanical motive power.

Although until now neither the undersigned nor anyone else has succeeded in realizing this proposal in an economical manner, the undersigned nevertheless succeeded in determining the laws of this problematic force and in positively establishing that the application of the indicated force may have a future, if it proves possible to obtain galvanic currents of sufficiently long-lasting energy and constancy, and moreover in a more economical manner than at present.

If this problem is solved in the more or less distant or near future, then in any case the merit of initiative in this matter must unquestionably belong to Russia, because already in the years 1838–42 it proved possible to equip a 12-oared boat, which sailed with a crew of 16 men along one of the best Russian rivers,* being set in motion exclusively by the force of electromagnetism.

The further scholarly and official activity of the undersigned was constantly devoted to the fulfillment of the many varied duties connected with the rank of member of those institutions in which he is in service.

stvo g. Siemens. In the protocols of the Academy, however, there is the supreme command of His Majesty the late Sovereign, by which the publication of descriptions of my telegraphic apparatuses was forbidden. Now it would be easy to correct the possibly erroneous view that gave rise to this prohibition. But if they were now to propose that I make this publication, then with regret I could only say: “Too late.” (Archive of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, fonds 187, inventory 3, No. 79.)

* Neva. (M. R.)

Being already for 32 years a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences*), he, to the best of his ability, strove to carry out all the assignments entrusted to him and the demands addressed to him both by this learned institution and by other departments which wished, on various questions, to make use of his knowledge and experience in the subjects of his specialty.

The undersigned had the good fortune, in solving the tasks set before him, to achieve successful results which earned him flattering expressions of gratitude on behalf of various high learned assemblies and societies.

By virtue of the title of member of the Manufacturing Council (in which the undersigned has served for more than 20 years, receiving no remuneration whatever), he participates in the work of this Council, engaging in the preparation of reports assigned to him on matters of privileges being requested.

In view of the importance and the responsibility connected with them, the preparation of such reports, which required a thorough and comprehensive treatment of the subject, cost the undersigned much time and labor.

It was often necessary to carry out preliminary special investigations in those cases when the report concerned a subject with whose development the undersigned was not yet fully acquainted.

When, on March 4, 1838, the undersigned presented to the Imperial Academy of Sciences the first, fully successful products of electrotyping, no one could have foreseen what brilliant results were to fall to the lot of this invention, which, after certain preceding disputes, was recognized by a solemn European act**) as the exclusive property of the undersigned and, consequently, as an invention whose honor belongs to Russia.

This is not the place to enter into details and to indicate all the various directions in which electrotyping found its application, all the benefit which it brought to science and to the arts, both liberal and technical, the influence which it had on general education and schooling by making it possible to reproduce to infinity and with complete precision the most varied objects of book printing, cartography, and graphic work in general, and, finally, those applications which it found in various branches of handicraft.

But it must be noted, in particular, that electrotyping took part to a considerable degree in the production of decorative ornaments during the construction of St. Isaac’s Cathedral.

Nor can one fail to draw special attention to the fact that electrotyping, almost immediately after its appearance in the world, received an extraordinarily extensive and important application in the department of the Ministry of Fi—

*) In 1840 Jacobi was elected an adjunct. At that time the members of the Academy were considered: adjuncts, extraordinary members, and ordinary academicians. (M. R.)

**) This refers to the diploma and monetary prize received by Jacobi at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867. (M. R.)

finances, where the galvanoplastic method is in constant and uninterrupted use in the manufacture of government securities.

If one compares the limited scope, inaccuracy, and expensiveness of the former methods of reproduction used in the manufacture of government securities with the almost unlimited reproductive capacity, absolute accuracy, and greater cheapness of the modern galvanoplastic method, then it is impossible to value highly enough the advantages and benefits delivered by galvanoplasty, for more than 30 years, to the entire state.

But galvanoplasty, under certain conditions, can provide still incomparably greater benefits, especially in cases where the success of important financial measures depends on the speed of their implementation.

Although, in this way, the undersigned may look with a feeling of some satisfaction upon the successful results achieved by him during his 37 years of service in Russia, although he fully appreciates the happiness that he had the opportunity to give his three sons such upbringing and education as a result of which they already now occupy an honorable place in state service—nevertheless, for all that, he can only with difficulty free himself from the burdensome awareness of the insufficient security of his material well-being in the present and the future.

By his laborious initiative, overcoming considerable obstacles and difficulties in the process, he opened to certain branches of physics new paths for important applications both in peacetime and in war, and thereby delivered to the state not only undoubted direct, but also indirect benefits, having made it easier, by means of spoken and printed word, for other persons to continue the work along the newly opened paths and to make use of the contemporary progress of science.

But, devoting all his time and all his strength to the conscientious fulfillment of the tasks assigned to him, and not using this time and strength to acquire material advantages for himself and his family, the undersigned thereby deprived himself of the possibility of ensuring his further existence in accordance with his position in society, even within the limits of the most moderate demands.

The undersigned now finds himself, more than ever, in a struggle with the pressing necessities of life and the urgent need to maintain his intellectual activity by freeing it from the petty cares of everyday life—a struggle which, with the constantly increasing cost of all articles of consumption, becomes more and more difficult with each day.

All these circumstances the undersigned has the honor to submit, with a feeling of the deepest confidence, to the benevolent attention of His Excellency Mr. Minister.