Television in Our Life

The name "Television" comes from Greek word meaning "far" and Latin word meaning "to see", so it means "to see far". TV is one of the best inventions the man has ever made.

Experiments in broadcasting television began in the 1920s but were interrupted by World War II. Nowadays television is wide spread all our the world. It is the main source of news and popular means of entertainment. It gives wonderful possibilities for education. It enriches our intellect.

TV brings the world to our room. We see people in our country and in other lands and learn about their customs, occupations, traditions, problems. TV gives an opportunity to see the best actors, sport matches, to meet famous people.

There is a considerable amount of TV programmes: news, TV games, concerts, variety shows, talk shows, science programmes, sport programmes, feature films, serials, documentaries and so on.

Newsdeals with political, social, economic and ecological problems of modern society. This program is very popular with TV viewers.

Musical Review presents songs, pop groups, folk songs. It helps us to relax. Other programs broaden our minds, introduce us to new ideas and activities.

But tastes differ. Some people are against TV. They say that TV is doing a lot of harm. It occupies a lot of free time. Watching TV for a long time may lead to poor health and ruin eye-sight.

Nobody makes you watch TV for hours. You can simply switch your TV-set off. Nobody can deny the fact, that TV is a great force which attracts millions of people to the screens.

The Inventor of the Radio

Radio, one of the most accessible mass media, was invented by Alexander Popov on May 7 (April 25) 1895. It was one of the greatest inventions of man.

A. Popov (1859-1906) was the greatest Russian scientist and inventor. He was born in the family of a priest. First he studied at Perm Clergy Seminary. In 1882 he graduated from Petersburg University.

Popov was a unique man. He had great knowledge of electrical theory. Being a scientist he carried on much practical work. He introduced electricity in the Russian Navy.

Popov turned attention to the work of Hertz, a famous German scientist-physicist who proved the existence of electromagnetic waves. Popov used this discovery to construct a device, which was able to receive electromagnetic waves at a long distance. He called his device a radio-receiver.

The work of the receiver was based on the arc discharge principle. The receiver recorded waves generated by lightning discharges. It was able to catch electromagnetic oscillations in the atmosphere.

On May 7 (April 25) 1895 A. Popov first demonstrated his radio-receiver. It was a fundamentally new device transmitting signals at a distance by means of rapid electrical oscillations.

Popov constantly perfected his radio-receiver. He found out that a free wire connected to his device increased its range. Thus he invented the first antenna in the world.

In 1896 his radio-receiver was used to forecast thunderstorms. Later Popov's wireless communication became the basis of radiolocation for detecting ships in the Russian Navy.

In 1898 Popov perfected his radio-receiver for the reception of audible signals.

Popov's inventions excited interest all over the world. Foreign commercial organizations offered immense profits to him. But being a Russian patriot he turned them down. He wanted to serve his motherland.

The tsarist government did nothing for home production of his device and training specialists for the newly born brunch.

Only after the Great October revolution the new means of communication invented by Popov was widely used by the young Soviet government.