The brilliant scientist and brave dreamer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is recognized by the world community as the founder and theorist of astronautics. Without his writings, the creation of powerful missiles and stations in near-Earth orbit would be unrealistic. In the works of Tsiolkovsky (there are about 400 of them) you can find thoughts and ideas that have overtaken time. And some of them, for example, the idea of an elevator into space, are still waiting for their implementation.
Childhood and a trip to Moscow
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was born in the fall of 1857 in the village of Izhevsk, which is a hundred kilometers from Ryazan, in the family of a forester. However, after a certain time, Tsiolkovsky moved to Vyatka - the current Kirov.
At the age of nine, little Kostya contracted scarlet fever. Then complications arose and as a result, the boy almost completely lost his hearing. This did not allow him to finish school. It is incredible, but true: in 1873, the future scientist was expelled for poor progress. Further Tsiolkovsky studied only himself, without mentors or assistants.
After being expelled, Konstantin went to Moscow, where he went to the Chertkov library every day to read literature in various disciplines - astronomy, algebra, physics, mechanics … At this time he had a chance to personally meet Nikolai Fedorov, the original thinker, who is rightly considered one from the ideologists of "Russian cosmism." Communication with Fedorov undoubtedly affected the young Konstantin Eduardovich. He spent several years in Moscow, but still had to return due to lack of money back to his parents.
Life in Vyatka and Borovsk
In Vyatka, Tsiolkovsky began to work as an ordinary teacher and tutor. And he did it brilliantly: in order to surprise the children and make the lessons interesting, he resorted to illustrative examples - he himself made model models for geometry lessons, and carried out memorable experiments in chemistry classes. As a result, he gained the fame of a teacher who knows how to explain even boring and complex topics.
In 1880, Tsiolkovsky moved to the quiet patriarchal Borovsk. In this town he lived and taught for twelve years, his first strictly scientific works were written right there. In addition to everything in Borovsk, Konstantin Eduardovich was waiting for a change in his personal life. He created a family - he married with Barbara Sokolova, the daughter of the owner of the house, where at one time he rented a corner. From Tsiolkovsky Varvara gave birth to four children - three sons and a daughter.
Relocation and accommodation in Kaluga
In 1892, Tsiolkovsky with his beloved wife and children moved to Kaluga, where he continued to earn a living as a teacher, and to conduct scientific work in his spare time. In 1895, in one of the publishing houses, Tsiolkovsky’s work was printed under the heading “Dreams of Earth and Sky, ” where he outlined in simple terms his point of view on many issues related to space exploration by people. But only eight years later, in 1903, Tsiolkovsky will create the main work in his biography - “The study of world spaces with jet devices.”
It is also known that Tsiolkovsky in Kaluga, right at his house, made a tunnel where he set up experiments concerning jet propulsion. When innovative experiments began to give testable results, the Academy of Sciences even allocated funds to the self-taught scientist - about 500 rubles.
