The Scientific Contribution of Dmytro Pedayev (1873—1936), a Ukrainian Geophysicist and Meteorologist

Abstract

The article summarizes the results of a comprehensive historical and scientific study of the life and scientific work of Professor Dmytro Pedayev. It is a continuation of a series of historical and biographical studies devoted to highlighting the scientific achievements of scientists who laid the foundations of modern natural science through their tireless work in the late 19th — early 20th centuries. Dmytro Pedayev is one of the founders of the Kharkiv meteorological school and belongs to a small group of scientists who conducted the first aerological and actinometric studies in Ukraine. Under the editorship of Prof. Pedayev, a series of reference publications were published, which during the 1910s — 1930s formed the basis for further work in the field of regional climatology and served as a convincing guideline for further generalizations. The main areas of work of this talented scientist and organizer of science were concentrated in the fields of geophysics, meteorology, and climatology in Slobozhanshchyna and the Dnieper Region. It has been established that a number of publications briefly mention certain aspects of the scientist’s scientific, organizational, and pedagogical activities, but there is no comprehensive work devoted to reconstructing his complete scientific biography. Due to the study of archival retro-information resources, the main milestones in the scientific biography of Prof. Pedayev have been established, the stages of the scientist’s research work have been identified, his participation in the development of meteorological science in Ukraine and the creation of hydrometeorological structures in the 1920s and 1930s has been confirmed, and examples of the scientist’s extensive public and educational activities have been provided. The multifaceted organizational and administrative activities of Prof. Pedayev in the Agricultural Scientific Committee of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Meteorological Service, and the Hydrometeorological Committee of the Ukrainian SSR are considered; the main milestones of the scientist’s scientific and pedagogical activities at the Kharkiv Institute of Public Education, the Scientific Research Hydrometeorological Institute, the Kharkiv Engineering Hydrometeorological Institute, and the Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory are highlighted.