Famous biologists of Russia and the world and their discoveries

The advancement of science is the destiny of talented and hardworking people who were not afraid at the time to put forward their own hypothesis, to propose a project, to invent a new device. Perfected, humanity for every millennium saw a lot of special, interesting and important discoveries in the field of biology. Who are the very people who glorified Russia? Who are these famous biologists?

From antiquity to the nineteenth century

Well-known biologists and their discoveries began to appear for a long time. Even in ancient times, when even speech was not about such a science, people appeared who wanted to comprehend the secrets of the surrounding world. These are such famous personalities as Aristotle, Pliny, Dioscorides.

Biology as a science began to emerge closer to the 17th century. There was a systematics of living organisms, such disciplines as microbiology, physiology were born. The anatomy continued to develop: the second circle of circulation was discovered, the erythrocytes and spermatozoa of animals were first studied. Well-known biologists of that time are William Garvey, A. Levenguk, T. Morgan.

XIX and XX century - this is the peak of the emergence of new discoveries that have changed the world. The most famous biologists, who lived at that time, were able to radically change the course of the development of science. The importance of the 19th and 20th centuries can not be overestimated, because the main hypotheses and innovations appeared just at this time, not only in biology, but also in other areas of science. Perhaps the most important studies were carried out only thanks to such personalities as Pavlov, Vernadsky, Mechnikov and many other well-known Russian biologists.

Jean Baptiste Lamarque

He was born in 1744 in Picardy. He put forward his hypothesis of the evolution of life on earth, for which he was nicknamed the predecessor of Darwin. Lamarck also introduced the term "biology" and initiated such disciplines as zoology and paleontology of invertebrate animals.

Anthony van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)

After the death of his father, Levenguk began to work as an ordinary glass grinder. A few years later he became a master in his business, which helped him to design his own microscope 200 times magnification. With the help of this microscope, Levenguk discovered free-living organisms - bacteria and protists.

Also, the scientist first proved that blood is a liquid with a large number of cells. Blood cells, erythrocytes, were also discovered by Levenguk.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

IP Pavlov was born in Ryazan in 1849. After graduating from a theological seminary in his hometown, he decided to link his life with science. The future scientist graduated from the medical and surgical academy, taking over from the teachers masterful possession of a scalpel. What successes did the most famous biologists of the 19th century achieve?

Pavlov's research activity was based on the functions of the nervous system. He studied the structure of the brain, the process of transmission of a nerve impulse. Also, the scientist was engaged in research of the digestive system, for which in 1904 he received the Nobel Prize. Until his death, IP Pavlov worked as rector of the Institute of Physiology of the Academy of Sciences.

Like all well-known biologists, Pavlov spent most of his life on science. For about 35 years he was engaged in research, connecting the work of the central nervous system with the features of psychological behavior. The scientist became the founder of a new direction in science - the physiology of higher nervous activity. Studies were conducted in the laboratory, mental hospitals and animal nurseries. In general, all conditions for normal work were provided by the government of the USSR itself, since the results of the research helped to make a big step towards the scientific revolution in the field of nervous activity.

Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky

Almost all the well-known Russian biologists were outstanding chemists, physicists, and mathematicians. A vivid example is VI Vernadsky, a great thinker, natural scientist, researcher.

Vernadsky was born in 1863 in St. Petersburg. After graduating from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the University of St. Petersburg, he began to study the properties of radioactive elements, the composition of the earth's crust, the structure of minerals. His research gave impetus to the foundation of a new discipline - biogeochemistry.

Vernadsky also put forward his hypothesis about the development of the biosphere, according to which all organisms are living matter. Involving radioactive solar energy in the cycle of substances, he united the living and the inanimate in one biological system.

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov

Well-known biologists of the 19th century made many discoveries in the field of human physiology and immunology.

Mechnikov was born in 1845 in the village of Ivanovka in the Kharkov province, graduated in 1862 from the school and entered the physics and mathematics department of Kharkov University. After graduation from the university, the scientist began his research in the field of embryology of invertebrates.

In 1882 Mechnikov meets with Louis Pasteur, who offers him a good job at Pasteur University. There Ilya Ilyich worked for several more years. During this time, he not only made several important discoveries in the field of embryology, but also began studying the phenomenon of phagocytosis. Actually, Mechnikov was able to open it for the first time on the example of leukocytes.

In 1908, the scientist received the Nobel Prize for the development of immunology and medicine. Thanks to his research, these disciplines were able to rise to a new level of development.

Mechnikov worked for the rest of his life at the University of Paris and died after several heart attacks.

Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov

Famous Russian biologists can boast of the importance of their discoveries. Was not an exception and NI Vavilov - microbiologist, botanist, plant physiologist, astronomer and geographer.

Vavilov was born in 1887 in Moscow. From his earliest childhood, he was fond of collecting plants, making herbaria, studying the properties of chemicals. It is not surprising that his future place of study will be the Moscow Agricultural Institute, where he was able to show his talent.

The most important discovery of Vavilov is the law of homologous series, which explains the parallelism in the inheritance of the characters of several generations of organisms. The scientist found out that in closely related species, the same alleles of the same gene are found. This phenomenon is used in breeding to anticipate the possible properties of plants.

Dmitry Iosifovich Ivanovsky (1864-1920)

Famous biologists worked not only in the field of botany, anatomy, physiology, but also promoted new disciplines. For example, DI Ivanovsky contributed to the development of virology.

Ivanovsky graduated from St. Petersburg University in 1888 at the Department of Botany. Under the guidance of talented teachers, he studied plant physiology and microbiology, which enabled him to find the source material for his future discovery.

Dmitry Iosifovich conducted his research on tobacco. He noticed that the causative agent of tobacco mosaic is not visible in the most powerful microscope and does not grow on ordinary nutrient media. A little later he concluded that there are organisms of non-cellular origin that cause similar diseases. Ivanovsky called them viruses, and since that time the beginning of such a section of biology as virology, which other well-known biologists of the world could not achieve.

Conclusion

This is not a complete list of scientists who were able to glorify Russia by their research. Well-known biologists and their discoveries gave impetus to the qualitative development of science. Therefore, we can fairly call the 19-20th century the peak of scientific activity, the time of great discoveries.