History of science and technology

271-273

Authors: Oleh Pylypchuk, Oleh Strelko, Yulia Berdnychenko

The issue of the journal opens with an article dedicated to the formation of metrology as government regulated activity in France. The article has discussed the historical process of development of metrological activity in France. It was revealed that the history of metrology is considered as an auxiliary historical and ethnographic discipline from a social and philosophical point of view as the evolution of scientific approaches to the definition of individual units of physical quantities and branches of metrology. However, in the scientific literature, the little attention is paid to the process of a development of a centralized institutional metrology system that is the organizational basis for ensuring the uniformity of measurements. The article by Irena Grebtsova and Maryna Kovalska is devoted to the of the development of the source criticism’s knowledge in the Imperial Novorossiya University which was founded in the second half of the XIX century in Odesa. Grounding on a large complex of general scientific methods, and a historical method and source criticism, the authors identified the stages of the formation of source criticism in the process of teaching historical disciplines at the university, what they based on an analysis of the teaching activities of professors and associate professors of the Faculty of History and Philology. In the article, the development of the foundations of source criticism is considered as a complex process, which in Western European and Russian science was the result of the development of the theory and practice of everyday dialogue between scientists and historical sources. This process had a great influence on the advancement of a historical education in university, which was one of the important factors in the formation of source studies as a scientific discipline. The article by Tetiana Malovichko is devoted to the study of what changes the course of the probability theory has undergone from the end of the 19th century to our time based on the analysis of The Theory of Probabilities textbook by Vasyl P. Ermakov published in 1878. The paper contains a comparative analysis of The Probability Theory textbook and modern educational literature. The birth of children after infertility treatment of married couples with the help of assisted reproductive technologies has become a reality after many years of basic research on the physiology of reproductive system, development of oocyte’s in vitro fertilization methods and cultivation of embryos at pre-implantation stages. Given the widespread use of assisted reproductive technologies in modern medical practice and the great interest of society to this problem, the aim of the study authors from the Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was to trace the main stages and key events of assisted reproductive technologies in the world and in Ukraine, as well as to highlight the activities of outstanding scientists of domestic and world science who were at the origins of the development of this area. As a result of the work, it has been shown that despite certain ethical and social biases, the discovery of individual predecessor scientists became the basis for the efforts of Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe to ensure birth of the world's first child, whose conception occurred outside the mother's body. There are also historical facts and unique photos from our own archive, which confirm the fact of the first successful oocyte in vitro fertilization and the birth of a child after the use of assisted reproductive technologies in Ukraine. In the next article, the authors tried to consider and structure the stages of development and creation of the “Yermak”, the world's first Arctic icebreaker, and analyzed the stages of preparation and the results of its first expeditions to explore the Arctic. Systematic analysis of historical sources and biographical material allowed to separate and comprehensively consider the conditions and prehistory for the development and creation of “Yermak” icebreaker. Also, the authors gave an assessment to the role of Vice Admiral Stepan Osypovych Makarov in those events, and analyzed the role of Sergei Yulyevich Witte, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev and Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tian-Shansky in the preparation and implementation of the first Arctic expeditions of the “Yermak”icebreaker. The authors of the following article considered the historical aspects of construction and operation of train ferry routes. The article deals with the analysis and systematization of the data on the historical development of train ferry routes and describes the background for the construction of train ferry routes and their advantages over other combined transport types. It also deals with the basic features of the train ferries operating on the main international train ferry routes. The study is concerned with both sea routes and routes across rivers and lakes. The article shows the role of train ferry routes in the improvement of a national economy, and in the provision of the military defense. An analysis of numerous artefacts of the first third of the 20th century suggests that the production of many varieties of art-and-industrial ceramics developed in Halychyna, in particular architectural ceramic plastics, a variety of functional ceramics, decorative tiles, ceramic tiles, facing tiles, etc. The artistic features of Halychyna art ceramics, the richness of methods for decorating and shaping it, stylistic features, as well as numerous art societies, scientific and professional associations, groups, plants and factories specializing in the production of ceramics reflect the general development of this industry in the first half of the century and represent the prerequisites the emergence of the school of professional ceramics in Halychyna at the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose of the next paper is to analyze the formation and development of scientific and professional schools of art-and-industrial ceramics of Halychyna in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. During the environmental crisis, electric transport (e-transport) is becoming a matter for scientific inquiry, a subject of discussion in politics and among public figures. In the program for developing the municipal services of Ukraine, priorities are given to the development of the infrastructure of ecological transport: trolleybuses, electric buses, electric cars. The increased attention to e-transport on the part of the scientific community, politicians, and the public actualizes the study of its history, development, features of operation, etc. The aim of the next study is to highlight little-known facts of the history of production and operation of MAN trolleybuses in Ukrainian cities, as well as to introduce their technical characteristics into scientific circulation. The types, specific design solutions of the first MAN trolleybus generation and the prerequisites for their appearance in Chernivtsi have been determined. Particular attention has been paid to trolleybuses that were in operation in Germany and other Western European countries from the first half of the 1930s to the early 1950s. The paper traces the stages of operation of the MAN trolleybuses in Chernivtsi, where they worked during 1939–1944 and after the end of the Second World War, they were transferred to Kyiv. After two years of operation in the Ukrainian capital, the trolleybuses entered the routes in Dnipropetrovsk during 1947–1951. The purpose of the article by authors from the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies of Ukraine is to thoroughly analyze unpaved roads of the late 18th – early 19th century, as well as the project of the first wooden trackway as the forerunner of the Bukovyna railways. To achieve this purpose, the authors first reviewed how railways were constructed in the Austrian Empire during 1830s – 1850s. Then, in contrast with the first railway networks that emerged and developed in the Austrian Empire, the authors made an analysis of the condition and characteristics of unpaved roads in Bukovyna. In addition, the authors considered the first attempt to create a wooden trackway as a prototype and predecessor of the Bukovyna railway.

284-299

Authors: Irena Grebtsova, Maryna Kovalska

The article is devoted to the study of the development of the source criticism’s knowledge in the Imperial Novorossiya University which was founded in the second half of the XIX century in Odesa. Grounding on a large complex of general scientific methods, and a historical method and source criticism, the authors identified the stages of the formation of source criticism in the process of teaching historical disciplines at the university, what they based on an analysis of the teaching activities of professors and associate professors of the Faculty of History and Philology. In the article, the development of the foundations of source criticism is considered as a complex process, which in Western European and Russian science was the result of the development of the theory and practice of everyday dialogue between scientists and historical sources. This process had a great influence on the advancement of a historical education in university, which was one of the important factors in the formation of source studies as a scientific discipline. The history of individual scientific disciplines cannot be understood outside the context of the development of science altogether, therefore the authors paid attention to the change of scientific paradigms in the period under the study. It is noted that reforms in the field of education and the development of European historical knowledge have become the main components of the formation of historians, who, with their scientific activities at the theoretical and practical levels, contributed to the development of the special historical disciplines. The article reveals a gradual increase in the number of courses taught at the historical department of the Faculty of History and Philology, in which teachers used the opportunity to teach students to work with various types and kinds of sources. The authors examine the contribution of the historians of Odesa in the XIX – early XX century in the process of institutionalization of historical disciplines, in the formation of a complex of special historical disciplines, which resulted in the actualization of their scientific works in subsequent years. As a result of the study, the authors came to the conclusion that the professors of the departments of general and Russian history, with their teaching and scientific activities, laid the foundations of source criticism as a special scientific discipline, raising theoretical problems in their lecture courses, and at the training workshops, teaching students how to work with sources in practical terms.

315-328

Authors: Maryna Petrushko, Volodymyr Piniaiev, Taisiia Yurchuk

The birth of children after infertility treatment of married couples with the help of assisted reproductive technologies has become a reality after many years of basic research on the physiology of reproductive system, development of oocyte’s in vitro fertilization methods and cultivation of embryos at pre-implantation stages. Given the widespread use of assisted reproductive technologies in modern medical practice and the great interest of society to this problem, the aim of the study was to trace the main stages and key events of assisted reproductive technologies in the world and in Ukraine, as well as to highlight the activities of outstanding scientists of domestic and world science who were at the origins of the development of this area. The paper used historical methods to study and interpret the texts of primary sources and present scientific historical events. In addition, the current trends in assisted reproductive technologies are covered based on the results of our own, more than 30 years of experience in the field of reproductive biology and medicine, and the achievements of world scientists. As a result of the work, it has been shown that despite certain ethical and social biases, the discovery of individual predecessor scientists became the basis for the efforts of Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe to ensure birth of the world's first child, whose conception occurred outside the mother's body. There are also historical facts and unique photos from our own archive, which confirm the fact of the first successful oocyte in vitro fertilization and the birth of a child after the use of assisted reproductive technologies in Ukraine. Over the last 20 years, assisted reproductive technologies have continued to grow, addressing many other issues of reproductive potential preservation and infertility treatment. State of the art methods of assisted reproductive technologies include the development of cryopreservation method of gametes and embryos by vitrification, genetic screening of embryos in order to prevent the hereditary diseases transmission and embryo transfer with chromosomal abnormalities, the birth of a child “from three parents” in severe cases of mutations in the mitochondrial genome, etc.

351-382

Authors: Oleksij Fomin, Alyona Lovska, Anatolii Horban

Sustainable development of the transport industry can be provided through the introduction of combined transport systems. And one of the most promising ones is the train ferry transport system which combines railway and marine transport facilities. The article deals with the analysis and systematization of the data on the historical development of train ferry routes and describes the background for the construction of train ferry routes and their advantages over other combined transport types. It also deals with the basic features of the train ferries operating on the main international train ferry routes. The study is concerned with both sea routes and routes across rivers and lakes. The article shows the role of train ferry routes in the improvement of a national economy, and in the provision of the military defense, as it was described by Vinogradov at the example of Saratovskaya Pereprava (route) and by Karakashly and Shklyaruk at the example of the lighter Ishimbay which was loaded from the side. The authors have analyzed the development of the train ferry routes serviced by the ice-breaking train ferries Baikal across Lake Baikal, and the ferries Sakhalin linked mainland Russia and Sakhalin Island. The article deals with the peculiarities of transportation by trains ferries in the USA, Japan, Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Germany, Lithuania, and some other countries, and presents the analysis of the operational features of Ukrainian train ferries which connect Ukraine with Bulgaria, Georgia, and Turkey. Besides, the article describes some peculiarities of the loading and transportation of passenger trains by train ferries. The study deals with structural peculiarities, and processing technology used for modern train ferries operating across the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Baltic Sea. The research is based on the analysis of works by Egorov (the Marine Engineering Bureau, Ukraine). The research emphasizes the importance of train ferry transportation for the sustainable development of national economies including the economy of Ukraine.

411-436

Authors: Anatoliy Lytvynenko, Viktor Sarancha, Viktoriia Shabunina

The growth of the vehicle assets and bus services in Ukrainian cities increases the level of environmental pollution. During the environmental crisis, electric transport (e-transport) is becoming a matter for scientific inquiry, a subject of discussion in politics and among public figures. In the program for developing the municipal services of Ukraine, priorities are given to the development of the infrastructure of ecological transport: trolleybuses, electric buses, electric cars. The increased attention to e-transport on the part of the scientific community, politicians, and the public actualizes the study of its history, development, features of operation, etc. The historiographic analysis carried out by the authors allows us to say about insufficient coverage by Ukrainian researchers of a number of aspects and periods in the history of e-transport. A small number of special works on the history of the operation of foreign-made trolleybuses in Ukrainian cities in the first half of the 20th century and an analysis of their technical characteristics determine the relevance and scientific novelty of this study. When writing the work, Ukrainian and foreign scientific reference publications, monographs, papers, mainly from foreign electronic resources, have been used. The authors have used both general scientific (analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction) and historical research methods, in particular, problem-chronological, comparative-historical, retrospective methods, etc. The aim of the study is to highlight little-known facts of the history of production and operation of MAN trolleybuses in Ukrainian cities, as well as to introduce their technical characteristics into scientific circulation. The etymology of the model names of German trolleybuses, which usually consisted of the names of the manufacturers of chassis, body, and electrical equipment, has been clarified. The types, specific design solutions of the first MAN trolleybus generation and the prerequisites for their appearance in Chernivtsi have been determined. Particular attention has been paid to trolleybuses that were in operation in Germany and other Western European countries from the first half of the 1930s to the early 1950s. In the mid-1930s, the MAN plant in Nuremberg began production of trolleybuses; its models had the most modern constructive solutions at that time, a characteristic design and a state-of-the-art heating system. Depending on the length, German manufacturers divided the trolleybus models into four types. As a result of problems with the operation of the bus fleet in Chernivtsi, the city authorities have decided to build a trolleybus line in the city; four trolleybuses manufactured by the MAN plant were purchased. The paper traces the stages of operation of the MAN trolleybuses in Chernivtsi, where they worked during 1939–1944 and after the end of the Second World War, they were transferred to Kyiv. After two years of operation in the Ukrainian capital, the trolleybuses entered the routes in Dnipropetrovsk during 1947–1951. The technical characteristics of the first MAN trolleybus generation, which were operated in Ukrainian cities, have been presented and analyzed. It was determined that in all the main indicators and operational parameters, they were as close as possible to similar models of German trolleybuses. The proposed methodology and the structure of the study can later be used to write papers on the history of science and technology, in particular, of an e-transport.