Alexey Alexeyevich Petrovsky (February 2 [14 N.S.], 1873, Lukoyanov, now in Nizhny Novgorod Region — August 24, 1942, Sverdlovsk) was a Russian and Soviet scientist in the fields of radio engineering and electrical engineering, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (1935), and Honored Scientist and Engineer of the RSFSR (1941). A native of Lukoyanov, a town in present-day Nizhny Novgorod Region.[1]

Education and Teaching Career

In 1897 he graduated from Saint Petersburg University.[1] He subsequently taught at a number of educational institutions: the Mine Officers' Class in Kronstadt (1901–1910; with the rank of professor from 1912), the Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical Institute (1909–1922), the Naval Academy (1910–1924), the Leningrad Mining Institute (1928–1938), and others.[1] Contemporaries and researchers described him as the successor of A. S. Popov.[3]

Scientific Work

From 1923 to 1930 he worked at the Institute of Applied Geophysics in Leningrad.[1] From 1923 he worked mainly on developing electrical methods for prospecting mineral deposits; he was the first in the USSR to apply the radio-transillumination method to determine the depth of permafrost rock formations.[1]

He was the author of the monograph "Scientific Foundations of Wireless Telegraphy" (1907; 2nd ed., part 1, 1913), one of the first manuals in Russia for training highly qualified radio engineering specialists.[1] His other works include "Electricity and Magnetism" (1917), "Direct-Current Electrical Prospecting" (co-authored with L. Ya. Nesterov; 1932), and the four-volume "Special Course in Electricity for Geophysical Prospectors" (1932–1935).[1][2]

Recognition

In 1935 Petrovsky was awarded the degree of Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and in 1941 the title of Honored Scientist and Engineer of the RSFSR.[1] His obituary, published in the "Proceedings of the USSR Academy of Sciences" (geological series, 1942, no. 5–6), was signed by V. A. Obruchev, L. D. Shevyakov, and A. T. Donabedov.[1] For the 150th anniversary of the scientist's birth, in February 2023, Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI" dedicated a special publication to him.[3]

Sources

  1. lukped.ru — Petrovsky came from the family of a Lukoyanov petty bourgeois (meshchanin): his father, Alexey Petrovsky, held a modest position as a scribe in one of the government offices. In 1887 (archive)
  1. dic.academic.ru — Petrovsky Alexey Alexeyevich — What is this?... What is Petrovsky Alexey Alexeyevich? (archive)
  2. search.rsl.ru — Petrovsky, Alexey Alexeyevich. — A Special Course in Electricity for Geophysical Prospectors [Text] / Prof. A. A. Petrovsky.
  3. etu.ru — Petrovsky Alexey Alexeyevich (1873–1942) (archive)