Nikolay Mikhailovich Sibirtsev. The 160th anniversary of the birth of a famous soil scientist, geologist, agronomist

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the 160th anniversary of the birth of a famous soil scientist, the head of the world first department of soil science at the Novo-Alexandria Institute of Agriculture and Forestry (now Kharkiv National Agrarian University (KhNAU) named after V.V. Dokuchaev) Soil Science (1900) for high school students. The article presents in chronological order the main stages of a short but colorful life of a scientist, who is called one of the co-founders of scientific soil science. M.M. Sibirtsev began his work as a chairman of the department with extensive experience as a scientist and practice in territorial research and soil mapping. He participated in the expedition of V.V. Dokuchaev studied geological structure and soils of the Nizhny Novgorod province, then organized a museum of nature in the Nizhny Novgorod region, was an official assistant to V.V. Dokuchaev, as head of the Special Expedition of the Forest Department, participated in the development of the program of this expedition in 1892–1894. Sibirtsev organized educational, scientific and methodological work at the department, developed a program in soil science for agronomists and foresters, which consisted of a lecture course and laboratory and practical classes. Particular attention is paid to the methodology of field practice of students. The scientist organized the work of chemical laboratories at the department, where each student had a workplace, chemical utensils and reagents for analytical work. The students' analysis of field and laboratory research materials was the basis for determining soil fertility and carrying out land evaluation works - soil assessment, the method developed by V.V. Dokuchaev, and supplemented by M.M. Sibirtsev. The bibliography of the article includes a list of scientific works of a scientist from the Fund of the Fundamental Library of KhNAU, as well as publications about the life and work of N.N. Sibirtsev. The text of the article contains quotes from the memoirs of the contemporary scientist and the historical essays of his students and scientific descendants