Vladimir Nikolaevich Chikolev

Chikolev, Vladimir Nikolaevich

 

Born July 23 (Aug. 4), 1845, in the village of Peski, Gzhatsk District, in what is now Smolensk Oblast; died Feb. 22 (Mar. 5), 1898, in St. Petersburg. Russian scientist, specialist in electrical engineering.

After graduating from Moscow University in 1867, Chikolev joined the staff of the Petrovskoe Farming and Forestry Academy (now called the K. A. Timiriazev Moscow Agricultural Academy). In 1870 he joined the faculty of the Moscow Technical School (now known as the Moscow Higher Technical School). He helped organize the Moscow Industrial Exhibition in 1872 and helped found the Polytechnical Museum. In 1876 he moved to St. Petersburg and joined the staff of the Main Artillery Directorate.

Chikolev was a founder of the electrical engineering section of the Russian Technical Society and became the first editor of the journal Elektrichestvo (Electricity). His main works dealt with illuminating engineering.

In 1869, Chikolev proposed for the first time that the principle of differential control be used in arc lamps. Subsequently, he developed a number of designs for differential regulators. The first industrial model of an arc lamp with a regulating mechanism powered by an electric motor appeared in 1877.

In 1876, Chikolev initiated a series of original studies in projector illumination. Between 1892 and 1895, the results of the studies were summarized in The Illuminance of Electric Light Projectors, which was written by Chikolev, V. A. Tiurin, and R. E. Klasson. Chikolev’s original technique for plotting the luminous-intensity curve of a projector was first presented in the book. His technique was used to develop a theory of projector-beam analysis. Chikolev proposed a system for the “optical breakup of light” by means of tubular and plane mirrors.

In 1895 and 1896, Chikolev designed the lighting of the Liteinyi Bridge in St. Petersburg and, together with Klasson, modernized the lighting of the Okhta powder mill. Chikolev was one of the first to use electrical illumination for military purposes.

WORKS

Izbrannye trudy po elektrotekhnike, svetotekhnike i prozhektornoi tekhnike. Moscow-Leningrad, 1949.

REFERENCES

Artamonov, I. D. Vladimir Nikolaevich Chikolev. Moscow-Leningrad, 1948.
Novikov, V. V. “Biograficheskii ocherk.” In V. N. Chikolev, Izbr. trudy. Moscow-Leningrad, 1949. Pages 281–359.

G. K. TSVERAVA