"There is no such thing in England." Famous mathematician Roger Penrose supported the idea of ​​creating a science town in Russia for schoolchildren and students

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"Science is interesting, but if you don't agree, then fuck it ..." - Richard Dawkins, English biologist.

Probably, no one will argue with the fact that science is not only the engine of progress, but also one of the most beautiful and useful types of creativity for mankind. Every scientific research is a process of creation, every scientist is a creator, rethinking and changing reality in his own way. Like all creative people, scientists know what inspiration is, how difficult it is sometimes to find and keep it. But if they find it, then they are happy to share their wisdom with everyone who wants it - and this really pleases.

Science Day is celebrated all over the world on November 10. By this date site collected the famous quotes of great scientists, which we gleaned from their works, letters, Nobel speeches and other sources.

Albert Einstein,
one of the most significant physicists of the 20th century, the creator of the special and general theory of relativity, the Nobel Prize laureate in physics (1921).

• Theory is when everything is known, but nothing works. Practice is when everything works, but nobody knows why. We combine theory and practice: nothing works ... and no one knows why!
• We are all geniuses. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its entire life, considering itself a fool.
• If you cannot explain something to a six-year-old child, you yourself do not understand it.
• Only a fool needs order - genius dominates chaos.
• There are only two ways to live life. The first is that miracles do not exist. The second - as if there were only miracles all around.
• The only thing that prevents me from studying is the education I received.

Leonardo da Vinci,
Italian painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, engineer of the Renaissance.

• Anyone who wants to get rich during the day will be hanged within a year.
• Work on a work of art can never be finished, it can only be abandoned.
• An adversary who reveals your mistakes is more useful to you than a friend who wants to hide them.
• Experience flight once, and your eyes will forever be directed to the sky. Having been there once, you are doomed to yearn for him for the rest of your life.
• Where hope dies, emptiness arises.

Lev Landau,
Soviet theoretical physicist, founder of a scientific school, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Nobel Prize laureate in physics (1962).

• The greatest achievement of human genius is that a person can understand things that he can no longer imagine.
• You need to know English! Even the dumbest Englishmen know him well.
• The worst sin is being bored! … When the Last Judgment comes, the Lord God will call and ask: “Why didn't you use all the blessings of life? Why did you miss? "
• Everyone has enough strength to live a life with dignity. And all this talk about what a difficult time is now - this is a clever way to justify your inaction, laziness and various sadness. You have to work, and then, you see, and times will change.

Nikola Tesla,
inventor in the field of electrical and radio engineering, engineer, physicist.

• Do you know the expression "You can't jump above your head"? It's a delusion. A person can do anything.
• The action of even the smallest creature leads to changes in the entire universe.
• Modern scientists think deeply, instead of thinking clearly. To think clearly, you need to have a sound mind, and you can think deeply even being completely crazy.

Niels Bohr,
Danish physicist and philosopher, Nobel Prize laureate in physics (1922).

• There are such serious things in the world that you can only talk about them in jest.
• An expert is a person who has made all possible mistakes in a very narrow specialty.
• Your idea is, of course, insane. The whole question is, is she crazy enough to be faithful.

Peter Kapitsa,
Soviet engineer, physicist, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, laureateNobel Prize in Physics (1978).

• Freedom to create is the freedom to make mistakes.
• A man is young when he is not yet afraid to do stupid things.
• Leading is not getting in the way good people work.

Now humanity uses the benefits of civilization and the technical process, without thinking about how much time and effort was spent on their invention. Who are they - the people who helped make the most important discoveries on our planet?

Aristotle

Philosopher and scientist ancient greece... He developed the foundations of logic, studied natural sciences - astronomy, biology and physics. He is considered one of the greatest scientists in the history of mankind and the most influential in ancient times.

Archimedes

Another famous scientist from ancient Greece. He was especially famous for his works in the field of mathematics. But he also studied physics, astronomy, engineering. Defined the basic principles of hydrostatics, and formulated an explanation of the principle of action on the lever.

Nikola Tesla

He is considered the greatest figure in the world of science. He was engaged in physics, electromechanics, achieved the greatest success in the field of alternating current, magnetism and electrical engineering. He discovered fluorescent light, wireless transmission of energy over distance, and voiced the basics of remote control. He is the inventor of the first electric clock, a solar powered motor.

Isaac Newton

Everyone knows that the discovery of the law universal gravitation belongs to Newton. Discoverer of the laws of motion. In addition, the scientist formulated the principle of conservation of momentum, voiced the empirical law of heat transfer, developed the basic principles of modern physical optics, was engaged in the development of color theory and many other theories in various branches of science.

Albert Einstein

Physicist from Germany, Nobel laureate. The author of the theory of relativity - the most important discovery in physics. However, the famous scientist received the award for his other achievement - the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. He also studied quantum theory and Brownian motion.

Galileo Galilei

He is considered one of the most famous astronomers. He had a significant impact on the development of mathematics, physics and philosophy. Improved the telescope, confirmed the phases of Venus, discovered the moons of Jupiter. For his advanced views, he was in conflict with the Catholic Church.

Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev

One of the most outstanding scientists in the history of mankind. His main discovery is the periodic law chemical elements, to which all things are subject. This is far from his only achievement in the field of science; many of them have become the basis of human progress.

Niels Bohr

Known for his works on quantum theory and the structure of the atom. In 1922 he was awarded the Nobel Prize. One of the chemical elements "Borium" is named after him. The scientist took an active part in the creation of CERN - the European Organization for Nuclear Research

Maria Curie

Known for the study of radioactive elements. Together with her husband Pierre Curie, she discovered polonium and radium. She won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Physics. Before her, no woman has been awarded this award. She is the only scientist who has received this award for various sciences.

Not all of these people were understood and appreciated by their contemporaries. However, their names are inscribed in the history of mankind and will remain in it forever.

Circles of Time

So, let's imagine our hero: Sir Roger Penrose was born in Colchester (England) on August 8, 1931. Both parents are physicians with a passionate interest in geometry. The boy's love for mathematics was instilled by his father, Lionel Penrose - geneticist, professor at University College London. Together with his father in his youth, Roger discovered two classic impossible figures - an impossible triangle and an endless staircase ( famous artist Maurice Escher, whose drawings inspired the Penrose, subsequently dedicated two new paintings to these figures). Graduated from Cambridge. He taught mathematics at the University of Oxford and geometry at Gresham College in London. Honorary professor of many foreign universities.

Developer of the theory of twistors, author of theories related to quantum consciousness, quantum leap, quantum biology. Published a number of scientific works - "The New Mind of the King", "Shadows of the Mind", "The Path to Reality", "Circles of Time". Member of the Royal Society of London, among the awards - the Wolf Prize in Physics (together with Stephen Hawking), the Albert Einstein Medal, the Copley Medal, the Royal Medal of the Royal Society of London and others. In 1994, the Queen of Great Britain awarded him a knightly title for outstanding achievements in the development of science.

And now, imagine, this giant of thought - in life not a prim British gentleman, but the most humble person with a shy expression on his face - is ready to state his thoughts, for which it would be nice to know the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, in the most accessible language possible, with the help of visual examples and pictures drawn by him. So, in particular, he explained his revolutionary theory of the origin of the Universe at a public lecture at the Moscow Polytechnic Museum (there were two more lectures in Baumank, but the level is more complicated there). Those interested can listen to the author of the theory himself on the Internet: http://elementy.ru/penrose

So, modern science tells us that once (more than 13, 7 billion years) ago, the universe began with the Big Bang, before which there was nothing. This nothingness condensed into a state of singularity, that is, a tiny point at which temperature, density and entropy (a measure of total disorder) reached infinity. Then the Universe began to expand (that's why this model of the Universe is called inflationary) at a breakneck speed. The order increased, and the density and temperature dropped. This is the logic of quantum mechanics prevailing in modern cosmology and physics.

But it comes into great contradiction with the laws of classical physics, remarks Sir Roger and is upset that his colleagues stubbornly pass over him in silence. According to the main postulate of physics - the second law of thermodynamics - entropy in a closed system must inevitably increase with time. “She's growing in England too,” Sir Roger joked. This means that the measure of chaos in the Universe is now immeasurably greater than it was at the very beginning. It turns out a paradox - quantum mechanics requires the Big Bang and complete chaos at the beginning, while classical physics requires initial orderliness.

Penrose believes that an unaccounted phenomenon called gravity is designed to eliminate the contradiction, only it can bring together quantum mechanics and Einstein's general theory of relativity, on which the scientist relies. At the moment of the Big Bang, our hero claims, all fundamental interactions were in the most chaotic state, and only gravity was maximally ordered.

Einstein himself, as you know, opposed the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, saying his famous: "God does not play dice." He insisted that it only seems to us that God is playing dice with us, because we do not understand everything. Thus, he was the first to formulate hidden variable hypothesis in the equations of quantum mechanics. Penrose believes that this variable is gravity.

And in order to understand why the Big Bang happened, Penrose calls to look ... behind it. For clarity, he suggests using mathematical tricks - in fact, Penrose's latter are truly virtuoso and worthy of serious study (his world scientific fame began with one of them).

I will show you two mathematical tricks, - the scientist said at a lecture at the Polytechnic Museum. - I tried to stretch this point of the Big Bang and turn it into a line, I also squeezed the infinity of the distant future - and both "edges" turned into boundaries.

This trick is actually a conformal space-time geometry, designed to artificially eliminate, smooth out or squash infinity, as if to extend it to its finitude. An example of this can be seen in one of the paintings by Maurice Escher. Thus, our Universe is not the only one, it has a beginning and an end, or rather, as Penrose says, it is only one of the eons of its endless rebirths. In general, the Universe, relatively speaking, does not look like a cone with a base at the moment of the Big Bang, as it is drawn, but like a bamboo trunk, consisting of aeons. This is truly a revolution in both cosmology and philosophy - after all, everyone needed a starting point. And now how to be without her? In this way, you can agree to the Creator, Who was always and everywhere.

"Tricks" are not the only argument for the cyclical nature of the universe. The evidence obtained in the study of relic or cosmic microwave background radiation that has come down to us, it is believed, since the creation of the universe. Penrose, on the other hand, agrees with his student and colleague Paul Todd that these are traces of the previous expansion and contraction of the universe. A little over a month ago, Penrose and his other colleague Vakha Gurzadyan published an article in which they drew the attention of scientists to concentric circles in the relic radiation, which, in their idea, should diverge in the Universe after some grandiose cosmic cataclysms.

For example, after the collision and absorption of galaxies with each other (ours in hundreds of thousands of years may also collide with the Andromeda galaxy - or rather, it will be a collision of black holes) or the explosion of the last black hole, which, most likely, will end the current eon of the Universe. Black holes are another favorite subject of Penrose's discussion, because there is once again this mysterious singularity (as at the point of the Big Bang) - a state in which the laws of the known physics do not work. But here, unlike the Big Bang, the measure of chaos is the highest possible. By the way, it is the study of black holes, says Penrose, that can advance us in finding intelligent life in the Universe.

Assuming that somewhere exists highly developed civilization, which can send signals from one eon to another, how could she do this? - the scientist shared with Russian journalists. “To do this, you probably need to manipulate supermassive black holes.

When the last black hole in the Universe collapses in the future distant from us for billions of years, the entropy of gravity will again become practically zero, matter will be ordered and a new eon will begin.

Here Penrose, like other cosmologists (most do not share his bold views), approaches the main question that science is unable to explain: how does this singularity arise, giving rise to new eons of the Universe? What is this "infinitely complex and ordered form of matter", which is not subject to the laws of physics? And again, does this definition not fit suspiciously close to the act of Creation?

Sir Roger partly agrees with this, despite the fact that he considers himself an atheist. As he said in an interview: “I do not believe in any religious concepts. But there is some kind of order in the world. And the fact that consciousness has something to do with how the universe is arranged - of course, I believe in it. For me, the word "god" implies some kind of intelligence. This is the very consciousness that precedes understanding. "

That is why, says Penrose, the creation of artificial intelligence is impossible.

Of course, computers can already do such calculations that people cannot do, ”Sir Roger popularly explained to me at a press conference. - But if you use them to, for example, decipher astrophysical phenomena, you yourself must first understand what calculations need to be made, on what physical processes it depends, etc. ... A computer cannot possess this property of consciousness. Understanding is quality that we bring to our common business.

It’s not far from the definition of the soul.

To answer the question of whether there is a soul, I need a technical definition - as a true scientist says Penrose. - I think there is something that we do not understand from the point of view of modern science. So far we do not have sufficient grounds to say that we are well aware of this problem.

Is it all by chance, or is God not playing dice?

I don’t know, - once admitted our hero, who understood, it seems, everything except the main secret. “But I don't like it when God plays dice. I would rather think that the behavior of a god seems to be random, but it is not ...

And further:

I cannot imagine myself in the place of God. I believe there are absolute truths and absolute beauty. And the word "god" ... well, it doesn't help me ...

To Russia with love

82-year-old Penrose did not come to Russia by accident. As one of the organizers of the visit told us, he was attracted here ... grandmother, Baumanka (new research) and unusual theories of scientists from the Research Institute of the Institute of Hypercomplex Systems in Geometry and Physics.

First, about my grandmother.

When I was in the USSR in the 1980s, my mother asked me to find the house where her mother, my grandmother lived, - Sir Roger entrusted us with his family history. - She was born in Latvia, lived in St. Petersburg, and then left for England and married my grandfather. For some strange reason, perhaps because of the difference in confessions (maternal relatives are Jews), my grandmother completely cut off the connection with her family in Russia, hid everything, her surname was unknown even to my mother. We learned this later. I found this home. Now we are finding out whether my blood relatives (descendants of my grandmother's brother) remained in St. Petersburg or Moscow ...

At the Moscow State Technical University. Bauman Penrose gave two lectures and listened with interest about the achievements of the largest technical university in Russia. He was no less interested in the ideas of the research institute “Institute of Hypercomplex Systems in Geometry and Physics”. The organization itself is interesting for its uniqueness - it is the first and probably the only private institute in our country engaged in fundamental scientific research and at the same time not afraid of alternative hypotheses for the construction of the Universe, which they did not fail to tell the English guest about.

In such an area of ​​science, which has not yet received recognition, the state cannot afford financial risk, but business can, - Dmitry Pavlov, director of the research institute, explained to us. - I risk my means, I persuade my business friends, because if we turn out to be right and the future of physics at least partially turns out to be connected with hypercomplex numbers, with geometry, which is arranged more interestingly than the dominant pseudo-Riemannian with its derivatives today, then not only our investments, but any. But the likelihood of this, of course, is not 100 percent.

This madness of the brave is certainly to the liking of Sir Roger. Penrose not only attended two seminars and listened to the ideas of Russian colleagues Sergei Siparov and Sergei Kokarev, proposing a "new physics" of our world, but also approved them.

The reports made the other day by my colleagues are examples of two approaches that are original and very different from what is in the mainstream, - said Sir Roger at a press conference following his visit to Russia. - They are completely self-consistent and well thought out. This is exactly what one would like to have in science: open discussion, originality of ideas, admission of the right to error - whether they are correct or not, perhaps these ideas will push on some other ideas. I do my best to support such activities ...

More importantly, a world-renowned scientist announced support for the project of the Research Institute "Institute of Hypercomplex Systems in Geometry and Physics" of a scientific and educational center for schoolchildren and students in Russia. According to Dmitry Pavlov, in the case of administrative assistance from the authorities (the construction of the center is supposed to be near the Korolev science city near Moscow) and attracting money from business, the idea can be realized within 2-3 years. It should be a mini scientific town, modeled on those that have been working in the West for a long time, in particular, at the Institute of Higher Scientific Research near Paris. In it scientists and students live together and study and communicate.

In England, as far as I know, there is no such thing, - admitted Sir Roger. “Therefore, I wish you all the best in your endeavor. The project of the scientific and educational center is important for the further development of science both in Russia and in the world.

From Roger Penrose's responses to a press conference at RIA Novosti:

- Who were your teachers?

I started out as a mathematician, studied at University College London in the department of mathematics - we consider pure mathematics and applied mathematics in England. At the time, I was concentrating on pure mathematics. I did what I thought was quite original, and on this basis I was allowed to study pure mathematics, algebra, geometry at Cambridge and I worked there under the guidance of the famous scientist William Hodge. I didn't know then that he would become famous, we had four people in the group, then there were only two left - me and Michael Tia, a fairly well-known mathematician in physics.

I think one of the important points that influenced my 1st year student learning was the freedom I had. I attended 3 courses in parallel, which had nothing to do with mathematics. These were lectures by the famous specialist in the field of cosmology, another brilliant course in quantum mechanics was taught by the even more famous scientist Paul Dirac. This course was very clear, understandable, accurate, thanks to it, I understood quantum mechanics very well. I took another course - in mathematical logic. From there I learned about the Turing machine, about the basics of modern computing.

I think these were the things that shaped me. Dirac's course gave me an understanding of the limitations of quantum mechanics, a course in logic literally told me how we can transform computation to deeply understand mathematics. This formed my philosophical outlook and, I think, led to the creation of my book, The New Mind of the King. I also got a lot from my friendship with Dennis Sherman. We were good friends and spent a lot of time together, in which he tried to make me more of a physics than a mathematician. He was my inspiring teacher. He was great at popularizing the theory of cosmology. When the Big Bang theory appeared, from a philosophical point of view, it was interesting and exciting. One of the reasons why these models were introduced is that at the time there was a great contradiction between the age of the Universe, which was younger than some of the ancient star systems we are familiar with. It was believed that the Big Bang originated after the birth of these stars. Hence the paradox of why it happened. From a philosophical point of view, this new theory is interesting, because it helps not to resort to this paradox and the balance is restored.

I talked about conformal cyclic geometry in my other book, Circles of Time. She talks about my model of space-time, about eons that are not in a stationary state, but which are constantly evolving - expanding from the Big Bang and then again coming to the Big Bang, from which a new eon begins. This is a rather curious scenario, I am trying to attract other scientists to it. I think someday we'll get proof of the theory.

- Any ordinary mortal will confirm to you that a person is guided in making decisions not so much by logic as by emotions and intuition. So why don't the proponents of artificial intelligence understand this?

I talked about artificial intelligence (AI) in the books "The New Mind of the King" and "Shadows of the Mind". AI ideas were formulated when I was a graduate student. At that stage, I would probably be a supporter of strong AI, which believe that our brain is a computing machine. But the question is how this is done. We can, of course, create machines and the power of these machines will exceed the power that we can get as a result of the interaction of neurons. When we talk about mental activity, it is very important to distinguish between conscious and unconscious thinking. To move in the chair, your brain sends signals to the muscles, but all this is done unconsciously. I think there are many processes going on in the human brain that can be explained by such approaches.

But there are many more points involved when we talk about conscious thinking. When we talk about emotions, about the perception of colors, beauty, what feelings musical works evoke in us - this is what happens at the level of consciousness. I don’t think I can answer your question well, because I don’t know what is going on in the human brain. I think we should understand that there is a connection with mathematics. I think that what we mean by mathematics can be fully simulated on a computer. This is the theory formulated by Alan Turing. It sounds like this: if you can explain some results, you need ordinary primes. But when you deduce such mathematical conclusions, you must draw conclusions and understand whether they are true or not, what rules you followed.

Some AI people use rules that we may not understand. How, for example, can natural selection be explained? Of course, with the help of the experience that came to us from our distant ancestors. This is the argument I would use, and it is compelling enough that we are not proceeding from pure computation in this case.

If it's not computation, then what? Some people will say that something mysterious is happening in the brain that cannot be explained by science. I do not think so. It can be explained by science, it just doesn't exist yet. Maybe this is beyond the scope of existing science ...

When I wrote The New Mind of the King, I saw that it could stimulate young scientists and interest scientists working in other fields. For example, Stephen Cameron, an anesthesiologist from the United States, was interested in what happens when you put people to sleep. It turned out that anesthetic drugs act on certain parts of the brain. It is very likely that fundamental components outside of quantum mechanics and physics should be needed. If you ask if strong AI is possible, if that means computation, then no. The computer will never get real consciousness.

- You will participate this summer in the conference in New York "Global Future-2045", where they are actively discussing the problem of creating an avatar ...

If this is a separate consciousness, then I do not believe in it. This requires a computer that will have its own consciousness. In addition, if it is a conscious being, you and I will have a moral dilemma to bring it back to Earth. But if this is a robot controlled by you, for example, on distant planets, then it is possible. This can be investigated. You, sitting here, have sensors, move your arms here, and then it is reflected in the robot. But this is complicated by time delays. Imagine a robot climbing a rock: first it will put one hand, and then it will wait for the signal to move the other, etc. This may not be effective.

- Are there any promising students among your students who could be the successor of your ideas, research, whom are you proud of?

Currently I have a very good student and we are discussing these ideas. In the past, I have had many students who have achieved great success. It's great to have such students.

- How has Russia changed?

Of course, Moscow has changed - both politically and others. I see and appreciate these changes. On the other hand, there are traditions. This time my wife and son and I went to a symphony concert and to the Bolshoi Theater. It was great to see how your culture has survived. I have been to St. Petersburg, too, and have seen tremendous changes. But he was glad that the cultural masterpieces were not destroyed.

Photo by Irina Leskova

When a genius appears in the world, you can recognize him at least by the fact that all the dull-headed people unite in the struggle against him.
D. Swift

What is the difference between a genius and an ordinary person? First of all, the fact that a genius lives outside of time and thinks in completely different categories than ordinary and even very talented people. Therefore, it is not surprising that many brilliant scientists who made a real breakthrough in science were not recognized during their lifetime: few of their contemporaries were able to appreciate the depth of their scientific thought and the importance of their discoveries. It is enough to remember several names known to the whole world to be convinced of this.

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543), Polish astronomy reformer, creator heliocentric system the world

The teachings of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus became truly revolutionary during the Middle Ages, when power actually belonged to the church. The scientist literally threw a challenge to the church authority, overturning the idea of ​​mankind about the universe. The main idea of ​​Copernicus was the discovery that the Earth is not the center of the Universe, as the church claimed - it is just one of the many planets that exist in the Cosmos. His system was set forth in a book, which was compiled by his student Johannes Retik 3 years before Copernicus' death. The main work of the scientist "On the rotation of the celestial spheres" saw the light only in the year of his death.

Despite the fact that Copernicus's teachings seemed fantastic to many, the churchmen quickly realized that his system was a direct undermining of the foundations of theology, and hence of church authority. It is not surprising that in 1616 the Inquisition adopted a Decree, which declared Copernicus's work a heresy and was included in the index of prohibited books. The ban on the works of the scientist lasted for more than two hundred years.

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), German astronomer and mathematician

Johannes Kepler, known to science as the founder of celestial mechanics, was the successor of the ideas of N. Copernicus, setting out his hypotheses about the motion of celestial bodies in the treatise "Reduction of Copernicus Astronomy". Having received a versatile education, the scientist taught for a long time in High school Austrian city of Graz mathematics and astronomy. Then he moved to Prague, where he helped astronomer T. Braga in calculating the orbits of the planets. Solar system in particular Mars. It was during this period that Kepler made one of his main discoveries: the planets move in elliptical rather than circular orbits, and the Sun is located at one of the foci of these orbits. Moreover, the degree of elongation of the orbit of each planet differs from others. In addition, the scientist derived several more mathematical laws of motion of celestial bodies, known to modern mathematicians and physicists as Kepler's laws.

Unfortunately, the scientist's works did not find support from his contemporaries, who considered him a dreamer and eccentric. Kepler died in poverty, without receiving the salary due to him for several years. After his death, the imperial treasury owed the family of the scientist 13 thousand guilders of the salary that was due to him - but his wife and four children did not wait for this money.

Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642), Italian astronomer, physicist and mechanic, one of the founders of natural science

Galileo's worldview is based on the objective existence of the world, that is, outside of human consciousness and independently of it. The world is endless, matter is eternal - the scientist believed. Nothing in nature and its processes is destroyed or generated - there is only a change in the mutual arrangement of bodies or their parts, and matter itself consists of indivisible atoms. And the heavenly bodies obey the same laws of mechanics, like the Earth.

In 1597, while working in Padua, Galileo wrote: “I came to the opinion of Copernicus many years ago and, proceeding from it, found the causes of many natural phenomena that are far from being explained by conventional hypotheses. He wrote many considerations and refutations of contrary arguments, which, however, did not dare to publish, frightened by the fate of our Copernicus teacher. From a few he acquired immortal fame and countless numbers - for such is the number of fools - was ridiculed and booed. "

Galileo himself was "ridiculed and booed" during his lifetime: the Inquisition, by order of the Pope, initiated a case against the scientist. An elderly sick man was brought to Rome under escort on a stretcher and forced to publicly renounce his teachings, having read a text prepared by the Inquisition. But, despite this formal renunciation, Galileo continued to work, and 5 years later saw the light of his main work, "Conversations on two new sciences", which became the foundation for his followers - scientists of the next generations.

Giordano Bruno (1548 - 1600), Italian materialist philosopher, fighter against theology and scholasticism, passionate propagandist of the teachings of N. Copernicus

The whole life of Giordano Bruno is a worthy example of fearless service to science. In his writings, Bruno developed Copernicus's theory of the heliocentric structure of the world. Just like Copernicus, he believed that the Sun is not the center of the world, since the Universe is infinite, and in it any star can be mistaken for such a center. He taught that in the Universe there is an infinite number of stars, like our Sun, the same laws reign in it - which means that there is no opposition between the Earth and the sky. The main philosophical conclusion that followed from the teachings of Bruno is the statement about the set inhabited worlds in the universe, undermining the foundations of the church worldview.

Due to the persecution by the Inquisition, Giordano Bruno was forced to wander around different cities and countries of Europe, promoting his worldview. In 1592, at the invitation of the Venetian patrician Mocenigo, he moved to Venice, where he was betrayed by a clergyman and, falling into the hands of the Inquisition, was accused of heresy. Bruno spent the last 8 years of his life in prison, but even there he courageously defended his beliefs, refusing to renounce them. As a result, the Inquisition sentenced the scientist to death penalty and it was publicly burned in Rome's Square of Flowers.

Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky (1792 - 1856), Russian mathematician, creator of non-Euclidean geometry

The great mathematician Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, who made a revolutionary revolution in philosophy and geometry, was respectfully called by the English mathematician Clifford “our Copernicus of geometry”. The genius of the scientist manifested itself early: he graduated from the university at the age of 19 with a Master of Science degree, and at the age of 24 he became a professor of mathematics at Kazan University. N.I. Lobachevsky in science can hardly be overestimated. He is the creator of "non-Euclidean geometry", and the scientist's discoveries were half a century ahead of the development of mathematical thought at that time. For this reason, during his lifetime, he found himself in the difficult position of an "unrecognized scientist", and his theories were subjected to ridicule and harsh criticism. And only 50 years later, one of his followers wrote with bitterness:

"Nikolai Ivanovich, forgive us,

This is how the Euclidean world works.

In life, cretins are also rewarded,

After death - geniuses alone! "

Évariste Galois (1811-1832), French mathematician

The life of the brilliant French mathematician was, unfortunately, too short - at the age of 21 he was killed in a duel set up by his political enemies. However, in this short time, he managed to present three scientific papers to the French Academy of Sciences, which made a significant contribution to the development of mathematics. But that was later, and during the life of the young genius, no one took it seriously, and even the manuscripts were lost for a long time.

The brilliant works of Evariste Galois received full recognition only in the seventies of the XIX century. And today the name of this genius with an amazing destiny is one of the most famous and popular in mathematics.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857 - 1935), Russian and Soviet scientist, founder of the theory of interplanetary communications

The main works of the Russian and Soviet scientist K.E. Tsiolkovsky were devoted to four important problems: the creation of a streamlined airplane, the scientific substantiation of an all-metal balloon (airship), the design of an air cushion train, and the design of a rocket for interplanetary travel.

The first scientific work on airships was "Controlled metal balloon" (1892), where Tsiolkovsky gave a scientific and technical substantiation of the design of an airship with a metal shell. However, despite the progressiveness, the Tsiolkovsky airship project was not supported by the state - the author was denied a subsidy for the construction of the model. Tsiolkovsky also turned to the General Staff of the Russian Army for support - but also unsuccessfully.

The scientist also belongs to the idea of ​​creating an airplane with a metal frame. In his article "Airplane or Bird-like (Aviation) Flying Machine", published in 1894, the scientist described and presented drawings of a monoplane, which in appearance and aerodynamic characteristics anticipated the designs of aircraft that appeared only 15-18 years later. But the work on the airplane also received no recognition either from the state or from the official representatives of Russian science. Tsiolkovsky had neither the means nor moral support to carry out further research.

In 1897, Tsiolkovsky built the first wind tunnel in Russia with an open test section, and many years later, in 1932, he developed a theory of jet aircraft flight in the stratosphere, and also presented to the scientific community schemes for the design of aircraft for flying at supersonic speeds.

The most important scientific results were obtained by Tsiolkovsky in the theory of rocket motion, and also, already in Soviet times, in the development of the theory of multistage rockets. His works greatly contributed to the development of rocket and space technology both in the USSR and in other countries.

Throughout his long and difficult life, the great scientist was ridiculed, and his theories caused bewilderment and mistrust. And only in 1932, three years before his death, the Soviet scientist K.E. Tsiolkovsky received recognition from science and the state and was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for "Special services in the field of inventions of great importance for the economic power and defense of the USSR."

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It would seem that historical examples are very indicative, but it turns out that history tends to repeat itself, and modernity is not unique. The same thing that happened to brilliant scientists one hundred, two hundred, three hundred years ago is happening today with our contemporary, Soviet scientist, Russian academician, talented engineer, inventor, creator of the innovative Sky Way string transport. Despite ridicule, misunderstanding and harsh (if not cruel) criticism, Anatoly Yunitskiy has been working hard to improve string technologies for almost forty years, since the days of the USSR. And his works will surely turn into success, because his invention, like everything of genius, was several steps ahead of its time.