MIKHAIL LOMONOSOV

          Mikhail Lomonosov was born in 1711 in Archangelsk pro­vince. His father was a fisher and young Mikhail liked to help him. He always strove for knowledge and liked reading books. As he was 19 years old, he decided to study in Moscow. He went there on foot. In Moscow he entered the Slavic- Greek-Latin Academy. After his graduation from Academy he was sent abroad to complete his knowledge in chemistry and mining. After he had returned from abroad, he became the first Rus­sian professor of chemistry in 1745.

         At first he was engaged in research in physics and chemis­try. Since 1748 he had conducted works in the first Russian chemical research laboratory, which was built at his request. Since 1753 he was engaged in research in many fields of natu­ral and applied sciences. He wrote works on physics, astrono­my, geography, history. Besides scientific works, he wrote poems as well. He is the author of the first scientifical gram­mar of the Russian language.

          He founded the factory producing coloured glass. He cre­ated some mosaics using the glass produced at the factory.

          Lomonosov was the founder of the first Russian universi­ty. This university is situated in Moscow and still carries his name.

          Mikhail Lomonosov died in 1765. But he is still known as the father of the Russian science, an outstanding poet, the founder of Russian literature.

QUESTIONS:

1. When was Lomonosov born?

2. Where did he study?

3. In what fields of science did he write works?

4. What did he write besides scientific works?

5. What university is named after his name?

6. When did he die?

VOCABULARY:

province — губерния

to strive for — стремиться к

Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy — Славяно-греко-латинская академия

chemistry — химия

mining — горное дело

to be engaged in research — заниматься исследованиями

natural sciences  — естественные науки

applied sciences — прикладные науки

founder— основоположник