Dmitry Aleksandrovich Lachinov was a Russian physicist, electrical engineer, inventor, meteorologist and climatologist.
Education
Dmitry Lachinov studied in the Saint St. Petersburg University, where he was a pupil of Heinrich Lenz, Pafnuty Chebyshev and Feodor Petrushevsky. In 1862, when the University was closed because of the students" unrest, Lachinov went to Germany and for two and a half years studied there under the guidance of Gustav Kirchhoff, Robert Bunsen and Hermann Helmholtz, attending practical lessons in their laboratories in Heidelberg and Tübingen.
Career
In 1889 Lachinov wrote the first textbook on meteorology and climatology in Russia. In its 2nd edition (July 1895) he gave the first description of the lightning detector invented earlier by Alexander Popov (the device was also a prototype of the first practical radio receiver). Lachinov"s own inventions include a mercury pump, economizer for electricity consumption, electrical insulation tester (or defectoscope), optical dynamometer, a special types of photometer and elecrolyser.
Dmitry Lachinov is great-grandfather of physical chemist Mikhail Schultz.
Lachinov was The Officer of the Order Légion d"honneur.