On the history of the development of ocean hydrophysics in Russia

Abstract

The paper in summary presents a description of the history of the emergence and development in Russia of ocean hydrophysics, one of the main parts of the multidisciplinary science — Oceanology. The beginning of hydrophysics in Russia was laid by the works of the great Russian scientist Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, who in the second half of the 18th century for the first time analyzed and described the main features of the hydrophysical regime of the Arctic Ocean. The first domestic instrumental observations on the temperature of ocean water at great depths were made by Ivan Fedorovich Krusenstern in 1803—1806 during his round-the-world voyage on the ship “Nadezhda”. An important event in the development of hydrophysics in the 20th century was the publication of the book by Yuli Mikhailovich Shokalsky “Oceanography” (1917) — the first national monograph, which gave a detailed idea of the state of hydrophysical knowledge at that time. In the framework of a systematic review of the major milestones in the subsequent formation and development of ocean hydrophysics, the names of the leading figures of Russian science, who created its foundations and their own scientific schools that have been active for many decades and have many world-class achievements in their work, are named in the paper.