B. S. Jacobi’s Works in the Field of Electric Telegraphy: Results and Comparative Analysis of Their Novelty

Borisova, Nina

doi:10.31857/S020596060009438-3

Home

Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki

B. S. Jacobi’s Works in the Field of Electric Telegraphy: Results and Comparative Analysis of Their Novelty

Annotation
Reviews
References

B. S. Jacobi’s Works in the Field of Electric Telegraphy: Results and Comparative Analysis of Their Novelty

PII

S020596060009438-3-1

DOI

10.31857/S020596060009438-3

Publication type

Article

Status

Published

Authors

Nina Borisova

Affiliation: A. S. Popov Central Museum of Communications
Address: St. Petersburg, Pochtamtsky per., 4

Journal name

Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki

Edition

Volume 41 2

Pages

311-333

Abstract

B. S. Jacobi’s fundamental works in the field of electrical machines, electroplating, metrology, and platinum metallurgy made him known to the world; however, his applied works in the area of electric telegraphy (development of telegraphs, construction of telegraph lines) failed to win the same recognition. These works had been classified as secret by Emperor Nicholas I because of the similarity of technical solutions used in these devices and technologies to those used in electric minelaying, practiced by the Russian Army. This paper offers a scientifically grounded assessment of novelty of Jacobi’s inventions, and analyzes the factors that impacted on their effectiveness. When comparing Jacobi’s works with their international counterparts, the patenting date or the date of informing scientific community about a respective innovation was used as comparison parameter. Eight inventions and technologies, common for Jacobi and international engineers, were selected as objects for comparison: electromagnetic recording telegraph, electrochemical telegraph, type-printing telegraph, synchronous pointer telegraph, underground laying of telegraph conductors, the use of earth as return telegraph wire, the principle of retransmission on long-distance lines, and counter-battery. This study established Jacobi’s global priority in the further development of six of these eight inventions and technologies although at the stage of their practical implementation only. Inventing devices by himself and tackling the problems with telegraph lines in Russia, Jacobi had not been the first globally at the stages of their invention, mass production, and spread. Despite censorial restrictions, Jacobi’s theoretical inferences (as opposed to his practical results) became known to international scientists and helped to tackle the problems in telegraph construction internationally.

Keywords

B. S. Jacobi, S. Morse, electric telegraphy, history of telegraphy, practical application of telegraphic devices, A. S. Popov Central Museum of Communications

Received

16.06.2020

Publication date

20.06.2020

Number of characters

54843

Cite

GOST	Borisova N. B. S. Jacobi’s Works in the Field of Electric Telegraphy: Results and Comparative Analysis of Their Novelty // Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki – 2020. – V. 41. – 2 C. 311-333 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://vietmag.org/S020596060009438-3-1 (circulation date: 25.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S020596060009438-3
MLA	Borisova, Nina "B. S. Jacobi’s Works in the Field of Electric Telegraphy: Results and Comparative Analysis of Their Novelty." Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 41.2 (2020):311-333. DOI: 10.31857/S020596060009438-3
APA	Borisova N. (2020). B. S. Jacobi’s Works in the Field of Electric Telegraphy: Results and Comparative Analysis of Their Novelty. Voprosy istorii estestvoznaniia i tekhniki 41(2), pp.311-333 DOI: 10.31857/S020596060009438-3

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 0, views: 848

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Bocharova, M. D. (1959) Elektrotekhnicheskie raboty B. S. Iakobi [Electrical Works by B. S. Jacobi]. Moskva: Gosenergoizdat.
2. Eliseev, A. A. (1978) B. S. Iakobi [B. S. Jacobi]. Moskva: Prosveshchenie.
3. Harlow, А. F. (1936) Old Wires and New Waves. New York and London: D. Appleton – Century Company.
4. Huurdeman, А. (2003) The Worldwide History of Telecommunications. New York: Wiley – Interscience.
5. Iarotskii, A. V. (1988) Boris Semenovich Iakobi [Boris Semyonovich Jacobi]. Moskva: Nauka.
6. Lykov, A. (1939) Pervye russkie izobretateli telegrafa [The First Russian Inventors of Telegraph], Master sviazi, no. 1, pp. 59–60.
7. Miliugin, A. (1939) Boris Semenovich Iakobi (1801–1874) [Boris Semyonovich Jacobi (1801–1874)], Master sviazi, no. 10, pp. 48–50.
8. Novikov, A. S. (2003) Nauchnye otkrytiia: povtornye, svoevremennye, prezhdevremennye, zapozdalye [Scientific Discoveries: Repeated, Timely, Premature, Belated]. Moskva: Editorial URSS.
9. Novlianskaia, M. G. (1953) Boris Semenovich Iakobi: Bibliograficheskii ukazatel’ [Boris Semyonovich Jakobi: A Bibliographic Index]. Moskva and Leningrad: Izdatel’stvo AN SSSR.
10. Orlov, V. (1950) Rasskazy o russkom pervenstve [Stories about Russian Priority]. Moskva: Molodaia gvardiia.
11. Pashentsev, D. S. (1949) Rossiia – rodina elektricheskoi telegrafii [Russia, the Birthplace of Electric Telegraphy], in: Voprosy istorii otechestvennoi nauki. Obshchee sobranie AN SSSR, posviashchennoe istorii otechestvennoi nauki. 5–11 ianvaria 1949 g. [Issues in the History of National Science. General Meeting of the USSR Academy of Science, Devoted to the History of National Science, January 5–11, 1949]. Moskva and Leningrad: Izdatel’stvo AN SSSR, pp. 196–227.
12. Radovskii, M. I. (1948) Akademik B. S. Iakobi o svoei nauchnoi i prakticheskoi deiatel’nosti [Academician B. S. Jacobi on His Scientific and Practical Work], Uspekhi fizicheskikh nauk, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 580–588.
13. Radovskii, M. I. (1949) Boris Semenovich Iakobi [Boris Semyonovich Jacobi]. Moskva and Leningrad: Gosenergoizdat.
14. Radovskii, M. I. (1953) Boris Semenovich Iakobi [Boris Semyonovich Jacobi]. Moskva and Leningrad: Gosenergoizdat.
15. Sabine, R. (1867) The Electric Telegraph. London: Virtue Brothers & Company.
16. Shaffner, Т. (1859) The Telegraph Manual: A Complete History and Description of the Semaphoric, Electric and Magnetic Telegraphs of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, Ancient and Modern. New York: Pudney & Russell.
17. Simens, V. (Siemens, W., von) (2015) Kak ia izobretal mir [How I Invented the World]. Sank-Peterburg: Piter.
18. Tsverava, G. K. (1983) Dzhozef Genri [Joseph Henry]. Leningrad: Nauka.
19. Vavilov, S. I. (1956) Ocherk razvitiia fiziki v Akademii nauk SSSR za 220 let [An Essay on the Development of Physics in the USSR Academy of Sciences over 220 Years], in: Vavilov, S. I. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected Works]. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo AN SSSR, vol. 3, pp. 530–552.
20. Veitkov, F. L. (1950) Rasskaz o tvortsakh telegrafa [A Narration about the Creators of Telegraph]. Moscow: Sviaz’izdat.
21. Vishnevetskii, L. M., Ivanov B. I., and Levin L. G. (1990) Formula prioriteta: vozniknovenie i razvitie avtorskogo i patentnogo prava [Priority Formula: Emergence and Development of Copyright and Patent Law]. Leningrad: Nauka.
22. Vysokov, M. S. (2010) Istoriia elektrosviazi Rossiiskoi imperii [History of Telecommunications in the Russian Empire]. Moskva: RetnNet.