“OWE THEIR BEGINNING TO THE ACADEMY”: MAGNETIC AND METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORIES IN THE FAR EAST IN THE XIX CENTURY

Abstract

For the first time in the modern historiography in the article discusses the history of the organization and activity of the magnetic and meteorological observatories of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the Pacific coast (Russian Far East, China, Alaska). The novelty of the claimed topic is the widespread application of sources from the Russian archives (Saint-Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of sciences, Russian State Historical Archive, the Russian State Navy Archive, the Russian National Library (Department of Manuscripts) and legislative acts, which were not previously achievable to the scientific community. These materials made possible to painstakingly cover the history of those observatories. The author paid special attention to the role of the Academy in the establishment of the observatories. In the article were established the names of the observatory’s directors, under whose leadership magnetic and meteorological research was expanded in the Far East and Sibiria, difficult both of socio-political conditions and transport accessibility. The author also analyzed the role of the international scientific community and the contribution of academician of the Russian Academy of sciences A.Ya. Kupfer in the establishment of some observatories.