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The Museum Collections

Click mouse for closing this window The forming of the Museum funds during the whole period of its existence remains one of the top priority directions in its activ­ity. In collections are reflected the sighs of this or that epoch, the peculiar marks, undoubtedly provoking the interest in researchers and common visitors, The first exhibits of the Museum were the objects, taken from the Poiytechnieal exhibi­tion of 1872. Some of them moved to our days. Click mouse for closing this window The perspective scientific concept, adopted in 1987, compelled to look at the fund collection as a multi-staged system, having certain organization and structure, as well as helped to single out the problematic aims of its devel­opment.

Today the collection of the Pelvteehnical Museum numbers over 160 thousand items of material, documentary, printing and graphic funds. The Museum is a depository of over 150 collections of various technical equipment, machines; the essential part of them is of national significance. We should note some of them.

For instance, the collection of galvanic-plastic articles accounts for 100 items, made in the i9th and 20th centuries. Some of them were made by Academician B. S. Yakobi in person.

Click mouse for closing this windowWorks, entering the collection, represent both, technical and artistic value. The collection of microscopes of the Museum is one of the best in the world. It is a unique gathering of instruments, demonstrating the history of their beginnings and progress. From the very first microscope, dated by the 17th century up to the electronic ones of the 20th century. Among them - the solar microscope, designed by German anatomist I. N. Liebercune and his «anatomic surgery» (collection of micro-preparations and micro­scopes). Click mouse for closing this windowFirst in the world achromatic micro­scope, designed by Th. U. Epinus, a scientist of St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Furthermore, the collection possesses very rare instruments of foreign and domestic origin, as well as memorial microscopes, that belonged to N. I. Pirogov, Ê. Ì. Beer and other Russian scientists. The collection «The Sources of light», formed in the first years of the Muse urn's existence yet, includes over 500 items. Click mouse for closing this window The base of it served the collection of the well-known scientist - power engineering specialist, Academician M. A. Shatelene, that, he complet­ed in the Leningrad Pohtechnical Institute.

In the number of early exhibits - electric lights of P. N. Yablochkov (collection of coals), electric lamps, engineered by A. N. Lodygin and A. M. Khotinski.

Some very rare exhibits saved til! the present time: an arc lamp, designed by V. N. Tchikolev, Click mouse for closing this windowfilament lamps by V. Nernst and T. A. Eddison. The up-to-date Sight sources were presented to the Museum by the electric lamp works and research institutions for the exhibition, devoted to a centenary of invention by A. N. Lodygln an electric filament lamp. One of the fundamental collections of the Museum - the typewriting machines (type­writers), li accounts for about 150 items: beginning with the first mechanical machines of late 19th century to modern, with an elec­tronic control. Click mouse for closing this windowThe collection; of typewriters of the Museum is one of the most complete among the similar world collections and it brightly shows the evolution of the given type of equipment.

The collection of steel writing pens, where arc over thousand items - one of the world's best, allows to trace back the development of this writing article, history of its making during a century by the leading companies of the world. Click mouse for closing this window

«Time and its measurement» - the subject collection, represented by 6 systematic collections: «Chronometer instruments and systems», «Scientific instruments and devices of exact time service», «Chronometers», «Clock & Watch of Russian Workshops», «Clock & Watch of Soviet Watch Enterprises» and «Instruments of a watch-maker of the 17th - 20th centuries». Click mouse for closing this windowThe collections include the solar, water, sandy and fire clock, chronometers and time standards, electric clock and electric clock systems, gauges to measure time for general and scientific purposes. There are also the clock and watch of Russian watch-masters and artisans Th. T. Skorodumov, Th. Karas', Brothers Bronnikovs and others. The interesting concord of technology, musi­cal and applied arts, philosophy is shown in the collection «The musical and entertaining slot-machines with program control». In these objects, referring to the 18th century - early 2oth century, mirror the general history of musical and entertaining slot-machines of non-industrial purpose, their production development in Russia and the world, signifi­cance in history of musical and spiritual cul­ture. Click mouse for closing this window

We should also note the collection of the bar hinged mechanisms, designed and made by the Russian mathematician and engineer P. L. Tchebyshev. It is of particular interest the collection «Scales and Balance gauges», where are the general-purpose and special scales of 1799 - 1964, including the beam balance of 1799 and 1812 years, spring balances of the early 19th century, very rare scales of Quintents system of the early 20th century, grain testers, dated by the 19th - early 20th cen­turies.

Click mouse for closing this windowOut of «Laboratory scales» necessary to mark the analilical and counter balance of the 19th-20th centuries, of foreign and domestic pro­duction: rare specimen of «P. Bunghe», «Sortorius» companies, I. Mantsevich's balance, mechanic of the Main Weights and Measures Department, «Geo-physics» Works.

«Geo-physical Gauges» include the devices for radio-magneto-electro-gravimetrie and seismic surveying. First of all, that is the unique ver­tical seismograph by B. Golitsyn, 1910, com­plete set of seismographs of Golitsyn system, 1920 for seismic stations.

«Geodetic devices and instruments» illustrate astrolabes, geodetic levels, theodolites, mir­rors, optical, reflecting prism squares. Altogether the collection possesses over 100 items of domestic and foreign production. It includes the compass-theodolite of the Military Topographic Department of lifyo, astrolabe of master Th. Neigh, 1850, University of Kazan', unique instruments of G. Belaugh, Th. Schwabe. Ye. Tryndin and P. Gromov companies. Click mouse for closing this window

The pride of the Museum is the collection of motor vehicles. It is a single collectionof antiquities in the country, they became the valuable relics of time and technology. Many of the old patterns - the fore-runners of up-to-date motor cars and motorcycles - were reconstructed by the staff members of the Museum, using the old photographs and drawings.

The very first motor-car was demonstrated to Muscovites in May of 1901. It was a French «De Dion Bouton». a small four-seat carriage. where the passengers sat against each oilier. Besides that, «De Dion Boaton» had no steer­ing wheel, its functions fulfiled the lever, called a «coffee-mill»,

The first Russian-made motor-car was built in St. Petersburg in 1896 with the efforts of the carriage factory P. Ë. Phreze and Ye. A. Yakovlev's Engine Works. Especially valuable in the collection is the original and the only one saved Russian motor-car of the prc revolutionary design -the «Russo-Balt» K12/20 of 1911 output. in the collection of the Polytechnical Museum there are also first motor-cars of Soviet peri­od of time: a small car NAMT-i, famous «one-and-a-half-ton» truck, indispensable on the front roads of the Great Patriotic War, the after-war «Pobeda» («Victory») car. lorry-amphibian GAZ-on. The modern cars, surely, took their deserving place in display.

The Polytechnical Museum obtains the unique collection of motorcycles, that makes it possi­ble to watch the development of Soviet motor­cycle building. The collection boasts its 90

motorcycles and motor-rollers of 1899 - 1979. The most interesting motorcycle is the IZII-12; it was shown to the Government commission by the designer V. V. Rogozhm. This same motorcycle number Îìå was used by Rogozhm at the USSR championship, where he won the competition.

We should mark out some other rare motor­cycles. Motorcycle «Russia», made by Riga bicycle factory, designed by A. A. Leithner, 1903, the very rare pre-war model of motorcy­cle ML-3 1936, Moscow «Moto-Reve-Dux», 1909. German tricycle «Gudell», 1899, stored in the Polytechnical Museum, got the Big Gold Medal at the first motor-car exhibition in Berlin, 1899.

The display of bicycles boasts the exhibits of the 19th and 20th centuries. Among them is the bicycle «Spider», 1880, lady's bicycle of the «Piers» company, 1910, the folding military bicycle of «Leithner» company, 1914. In the basement of the «Telephone appara­tuses» collection are the phones of the early 20th century, some phones are home-made of 1930 - 1940 years; there are also the trophy telephones dated by the end of the 19th centu­ry and the beginning of the20th century.

Today this collection amounts to over 180 objects.

From 1973 the Museum replenished its collec­tion of micro-miniatures. Among the first, entering the collection, was the work of N. S. Syadristy «The shod flea». The Polyteehnical Museum is a holder of works of the well-known craftsmen - micro miniatur­ists, among them are M. G. Maslvuk, E. A. Ter-Kazaryan and A. L. Rykovanov. Nowadays the collection numbers 47 works, made in various technique and materials -starting from graphics on plant seeds to work­ing micro miniature mechanisms.

Special attention should be paid to the works of E. A. Ter-Kazaryan: «The first Russian motorcycle». 1983 - the view of the machine is engraved on a hair 3 mm long, and «The vio­lin of Stradivari», 1984, representing the accu­rate copy of the original violin, made of wood, lacquered and placed into the ear of the steel sewing needle.

Micro miniature «Steam locomotive», 1974, made of 22 golden parts by M. G. Maslyuk. That model is 24000 times smaller of a poppyseed.

The work of N. S. Syadrysty «In memory of Alexander Green» represents by itself the golden sailing frigate, consisting of 337 minor parts, with the hull length 3,15 mm and thick­ness of rigging - 0,003 mm Undoubtedly, that the list of collections is far from being full, that the Polytechnical Museum owns today.

It has no less unique and rare collections: «Telegraph apparatuses», «Photo cameras and fittings to them», «Electric machines», «Counting devices», «Computing machines», «Radio sets», «Cinema shooting equipment», «Sewing machines», «TV-sets», «Microscopes and scientific instruments» and many others. Each and every collection can be shown indi­vidually as the most interesting mini-museum. Coming to the Polytechnical Museum, a visi­tor of any age or occupation, can receive the most of information. One could get acquaint­ed with the history of every branch in tenths of museums, united under one big roof and one name - the Polytechnical Museum.

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