March 11, 2016 at 13:05A happy man who managed to realize all his dreams and plans. Admiral engineer and academician A.I. Berg and ki berg netika
The mirror of the era is the fate of great people who have dedicated their lives to science, research. In the essays and biographies of talented People with a capital letter we draw information not only about a person, personality, but also about the development of history, valuable achievements of that time.
At the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, cybernetics was considered (no matter how marvelous it sounds now) to be "bourgeois pseudoscience." The conservatism of scientists, physicists and mathematicians made it difficult to perceive the importance of cybernetic models when creating control systems for complex objects. And here the speech in this article will be about Axel Ivanovich Berg, whose life and merits are invaluable in the development of cybernetics, its formation as a science.
“Cybernetics is a science that has great prospects, looks far ahead, and therefore ensuring management in the most advantageous way becomes an increasingly important goal for it.”
Nobleman, midshipman, naval officer, first specialist submariner, later - teacher, professor, deputy commissar of electric industry, deputy chairman of the Radar Council of the Civil Defense Committee, academician, deputy defense minister of the USSR, admiral engineer, director of the institute, outstanding scientist Axel Berg , the creator of the Council on Cybernetics - a center for organizing and conducting the most important theoretical and applied works in various areas of cybernetics for 20 years - was an authoritative scientist who clearly formed an isolated main task of cybernetics, thanks to his determination and energy were generated work on cybernetics and computer science in Russia.
According to Berg, cybernetics should be an interdisciplinary science, from which different sciences could borrow common models and research methods. Not only cybernetics, but also scientific areas such as structural linguistics, semiotics, bionics, information theory, programmed instruction, mathematical theory of experiment, chemical cybernetics were grown under the roof of the Scientific Council.
Berg was an opponent of complete automation in management. More than once, he argued that even a computer, even if equipped with a super-intellectual program, will not replace a person, but will only act as a “human intelligence amplifier”. The ideas and principles of Axel Ivanovich are relevant in our modern society, the existence of which is inconceivable without the use of methods and means of processing information ... "grown on the basis of cybernetics."
The Scientific Council on Cybernetics brought together a large number of scientists from various scientific and educational institutions of the USSR. Already in the years 60-70, 16 sections headed by leading experts of the country worked here for the good of the fatherland, there was a section on mathematical issues of cybernetics, a section on a computer system, a section on chemical cybernetics, a section on artificial intelligence, numerous scientific conferences and seminars were held, and organized schools.
In Orenburg, back in 1893, Axel Ivanovich Berg was born on November 10. His parents: father - Russian general of Swedish descent Johann Alexandrovich Berg, mother half-Italian half-Swedish Elizaveta Kamillovna Bertholdi, later worked as the head of a female gymnasium in Tsarskoye Selo. Axel Ivanovich himself always considered himself Russian. At age 6, he was left without a father, who instilled in Axel a love of books, music, drawing, rarities.
This is how Axel Ivanovich wrote about his mother:
“In Orenburg,” Axel Ivanovich recalled, “she was a very young woman - beautiful, charming. And even then she was the central figure of society. This is not an ordinary general’s wife; she was never a philistine, a wimp. Sensible, educated, she was fond of Schopenhauer, Spencer, Buckle, Vladimir Solovyov and instilled in children a love of reflection, analysis. She always did something, although we, of course, had a servant. She made sure that we did not hang out, but did something useful. Girls knitted, embroidered or practiced tongues and playing the piano. We always had a relaxed business atmosphere. Mother created a special style of relationship. And it was of great importance to me. After all, the character is formed in early childhood. This situation instilled in children the best inclinations. No one lied. You know, when I first found out that people can lie, I was very surprised, I was not prepared for this. For a long time I did not suspect that there were bad people in the world. I don’t remember that we were scandalized, noisy, that someone gossiped or drank, except for the unfortunate Alexander, my half-brother. ”
Elizaveta Kamillovna Bertoldi
After the death of her father, left alone with three children, the mother was forced to move to Vyborg to her husband’s sister. But, later moved to the parents of Elizabeth in St. Petersburg. Life was slowly getting better.
Axel Ivanovich became a frequent guest in the house of R.R. Betlingka, a state adviser, a doctor by profession, a well-known physician in St. Petersburg. Axel liked to be in his house, Betlingk’s office was full of bookcases, paintings were hanging all over the house, sculptures were standing, Berg took rare books from Betlingka that were impossible to get in the library of the Marine Corps.
R.R. Betlingka had two daughters. With the younger Ellionora Rudolfovna Betlingk in the winter of 1914, Berg got married in the Lutheran church of Saints Peter and Paul, Petrikirche, on Nevsky Prospect.
In 1914, Berg graduated from the special classes of the Marine Corps in St. Petersburg, served as a junior navigator on the Tsesarevich battleship, starting in 1919, Berg served in the submarine fleet as the navigator of the Panther submarine, then he was the commander of the Lynx submarines, “ Wolf ”,“ Snake ”.
battleship “Tsesarevich”
About the submarine “Snake” Berg recalled: “This boat was special,” said Axel Ivanovich, “with a three-thousandth engine. She did not participate in the war - they were late with delivery, she was unfinished, in reserve. We finished it with our own hands. " For the work of restoring the submarine and putting it on alert, Berg was awarded the title of Hero of Labor of the Separate Submarine Division of the Baltic Sea.
submarine "Snake"
Passion for radio communications began at a time when he served as a navigator on the English submarine E-8. It was on it that he met with hardware radio communications. Berg was poisoned by sulfur dioxide in the submarine E-8, which stood out from the burned winding of the left main electric motor in the submerged position of the boat at the position at about. Gotland, was written off to the Helsingfors
Hospital due to shaky health.
submarine E-8
In 1923, Axel Ivanovich externally graduated from the Naval Engineering School and received a diploma in electrical engineering.
“It was in the Marine Corps that I was accustomed to the ability to conduct experiments,” said Axel Ivanovich, “and to evaluate the accuracy of the results. This skill we now call collecting information ... I have never been fond of artillery, torpedoes and mines, but I was very interested in astronomy, mission, navigation and other navigational disciplines. I dreamed of becoming a navigator. The best scientists-sailors, including such outstanding ones as Shokalsky and Krylov, taught at the Marine Corps. "Their attitude to the task entrusted also the cadet children to work with full load."
He graduated from the Naval Academy with a degree in radio engineering, after which he was appointed a member of the communications section of the Naval Scientific and Technical Committee, while he still managed to read radio engineering disciplines at the Naval Engineering School, the Naval Academy, and the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute. He organized the Naval Institute of Communications, where he continued to work on the development of radio communications equipment in the Fleet “Blockade-1” and “Blockade-2”.
“Blockade-1”, “Blockade-2”
In 1931, the scientifically based, fairly complete, unified radio weapons system of the Fleet "Blockade-1" was created. A significant contribution to its development was made by sailors and scientists Berg and Siforov. The basic principles for the construction of integrated radio communication systems for the Navy were formulated. In 1934, the Blockade-1 complex was developed; it consisted of the Reid ultra-short-wave radio transceiver, Bay, Breeze transmitters (7 types of long-wave and 2 types of short-wave radio transmitters), Dozor, and KUB receivers -4".
KV-band radio receiver KUB-4M
KV-band radio receiver 45-PK-1
Radio station "Raid" was for intra-squad communication and communication with the landing parties. For sending orders from the base to the boat, the main was a long-wave communication, the backup - a short-wave. The boats contacted the base at short wavelengths, in case of failure of the HF transmitter, communication took place at long wavelengths. On large and medium-sized submarines, the Shkval-Shch HF / DV transmitter and the Reid VHF radio station were installed. We can say that such a complex has become a symbol of the transition from the old spark radio technology to tube transmitters and receivers that could provide more reliable radio communications. Later, for the development of the North and the Far East, it was required to improve the complex; the Blockade-2 complex was created.
HF radio transmitter "Bay"
HF radio receiver "Metel"
The Blockade-2 radio weapons complex consisted of three radios: instead of Dozor and KUB-4M receivers, the superheterodyne Groza-M (200-2500 meters), Whirlwind (200-10000 meters), and Purga came to submarines "(15-220 meters). The transmitters of medium and large boats were replaced by “Perch” of the DV range, “Breeze-MK”, “Pike” and “Skat”. The HF range was installed on small, medium and large submarines, and the Shkval-M universal HF / LF transmitter for large and medium-sized submarines. All ships were equipped with a Reid radio receiver, which worked in the radiotelephony mode in the range of 4-5 meters, with a transmitter power of 5 W, communication range of 4-15 miles, depending on the height of the antenna.
Bit personal
... In 1928, Axel Ivanovich divorced Nora Rudolfovna and married a second time to Marianne Penzina. Marianne lived in the city of Tuapse in a house abandoned by her deceased father, worked as a typist in the port to earn some more penny, rented rooms to visiting sailors. Axel Ivanovich also became such a visiting sailor in 1923, during the journey of Professor Freiman and three students at the Naval Academy to the Black Sea, where they conducted experiments with underwater radio communications. When he met a girl, he showed her a boat and went to drink tea with her comrades. Friendship struck up, in 1924 Berg and his wife came to Marianne, stayed with her for a couple of weeks, after which they corresponded for a couple of years. In 1927, they invited her to her home in Leningrad, she sold her house and moved to them.
However, Berg Axel Ivanovich was married three times, his third wife was Raisa Pavlovna.
In 1935, he became a professor at the Naval Academy in Petrograd, teaching at the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute (LETI). Axel Ivanovich was the ideologist of all higher education in communications and observation in the Navy, he checked all theoretical calculations experimentally, the calculation method should have been accurate, but affordable and simple. Under his leadership, the properties of ultrashort waves and the possibilities of their application in communication and navigation techniques were investigated.
Everything seemed to be just beginning, career growth, determination, many plans ... but 1937 came. A wave of repression swept across the country. Axel Ivanovich - a man of noble origin, with a non-Russian surname, a track record (service in the tsarist navy), trips abroad, all this did not play to the benefit of the scientist. He was arrested on December 21, 1937. Axel Ivanovich was accused of sabotage ... "The wrecking work of A. Berg was reduced to the fact that he expanded the work of the NIMIS departments to create the largest possible number of communication samples and special equipment, creating the impression of intensive work of the institute, but not bringing the samples to complete completeness and final tests for the possibility of their transfer to the arsenal of the fleet, "a commission was created, which somehow totaled the damage of 154 million rubles, brought to the state by Berg and his subordinates when creating new communication technology and special equipment. Axel Ivanovich denied guilt in this group case. Axel Ivanovich, being a man of courage, was not afraid to show a protest against the composition of the commission. The new commission, headed by the head of the NIMIST, J. G. Varaksin (composed of Professor M. A. Krupsky and M. S. Beschastnov), announced that the charges against Berg had no basis. Axel Ivanovich in his defense and the defense of his wards, recalling from memory! He denied all the charges against the relevant documents. The charges were dropped! In May 1940, Berg was rehabilitated, he was reinstated in a military rank and assigned the military rank of Rear Admiral Engineer. Axel Ivanovich returned to teaching.
In total, Axel Ivanovich spent 1000 days in custody. Berg came to Shpalernaya, later was transferred to Moscow to the Lubyanka, followed by transfer to Butyrskaya prison. Surprisingly, even being in captivity, he spent every day with benefit, he happened to meet very talented people, such as K.K. Rokossovsky (future marshal), A.N. Tupolev (famous aircraft designer), P. I. . Lukirsky (future academician). Alas, in those days great minds often sat in chambers than truly villains. They did not waste time in vain, organized scientific seminars, everyone gave lectures from their field of knowledge. Berg, not only knowing the Russian language, but also German, French and English, could read poems and poems in memory of these languages for long evenings.
I do not stop admiring his courage and sense of humor, according to Neumann: during the interrogations of Axel Ivanovich they beat him hard ... Berg “broke down”. He asked for a piece of paper, began to write an upright confession, in which he pleaded guilty for carrying out espionage activities in favor of the Navy of the Swiss Confederation for several years. The investigator immediately finished the interrogation, put down the time for the interrogation, ran to the authorities. I did not realize that Switzerland had no navy ...
From the memoirs of V. I. Siforov:
“... there was talk that“ Axel Ivanovich serves in foreign intelligence, that his books on radio engineering are wrecking. ”Then, in 1938, A.I. Berg was arrested, declaring the enemy of the people“ Spouse of A.I. Berg Maryana Ivanovna [3] was left without a livelihood. She lived on Pesochnaya street in a house owned by LETI. Many teachers and professors, when meeting her, crossed the street to protect themselves. At that time, even short-term contacts with relatives and friends of enemies of the people could lead to arrest However, my wife and I did not avoid contacts with Maryana Ivanovna, and, deeply respecting AI Berg, we invited her to our house and regularly provided her with money. Of course, at that time it was very dangerous. But somehow we had the feeling of helping Axel Ivanovich’s relatives prevailed. ”
Little is known about what happened in prisons with Axel Ivanovich, since he gave a non-disclosure subscription. From his memoirs: usually one of the sailors was sitting in neighboring chambers, he made contact with them using the Morse code. "... and he tried his best to maintain the good spirits of his brethren by misfortune. 35 years after these events, when Berg was the chairman of the Council, a letter from Siberia came to his address at his official address. We, the Council employees, were amazed how much this letter excited Berga: An old, very sick man who turned out to be Berg’s “colleague” in one of the prisons wrote to him, or rather, he dictated a letter to his daughter because he was blind. He found out about Axel Ivanovich from the press. The letter contained memories of those days when Berg was the headman t prison cell, and heartfelt thanks were expressed to Berg for his optimism, friendliness, and willingness to help. The author of the letter claimed that he survived in those terrible dungeons only thanks to the moral support of Axel Ivanovich. "
The Second World War began and Axel Ivanovich was involved in activities related to strengthening the country's defense capabilities. In 1941, by a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars, Berg was awarded the title of engineer-counter-admiral. During these war years, Berg undoubtedly made a huge contribution to the development of radio-technical and electronic weapons of the USSR Army.
He was not afraid to negotiate with Stalin about the creation of radar facilities, and made a positive decision. In the USSR at that time, not everyone imagined what radar was and what its function was, whether it was important for defense. Berg with his energy came to Moscow to explain the principles of radar operation and their effectiveness, met with ministers, conducted wide propaganda. Reached Stalin himself.
“The Central Committee of the CPSU (B.) Considered it necessary to draw attention to this matter. And then I reported that it was necessary to create a Radar Council with the appropriate powers ... Stalin held a meeting at which I was and reported that it was necessary for each People’s Commissariat to build its own radar stations, but using the unified weapons system that we developed. Many objected, but they did not know that before that for three hours all this had been reported to Stalin face to face. Stalin walked, smoked a pipe, cursed that he didn’t understand anything — that I wasn’t explaining it to him that way. He walked around, puffing on his pipe, and then said: “And in my opinion, Comrade Berg is right.” And Berg was the son of his time. Even, having completely taken a sip of the grief of Stalin's repressions, he, until the end of his days, had great respect for Stalin's personality. “Yes, there was a cult, but there was a personality!” Said Berg.
It was decided to establish a location committee, where A.I. Berg was appointed deputy chairman. On July 4, 1943, a decree was issued on the creation of the Radar Council, the tasks assigned to it were as follows: to prepare draft military-technical assignments for T-bills for designers on armaments of the Red Army and Navy by means of radar, to develop the radar industry in every possible way, and to engage in radar the largest scientific, design and engineering forces, systematize all the achievements of science and technology in the field of radar both in the USSR and abroad, prepare pre Proposals for GKO (State Defense Committee) on the import of radar equipment.
At the beginning of the 50s, Axel Ivanovich headed the Central Research Institute 108, which developed radar equipment. The Radar Council was a kind of organization: “it did not have at its disposal a single research institution or production enterprise — all of them were under the jurisdiction of defense people's commissariats; even VNII-108, the closest to the Radar Council, and he was administratively subordinate to the 8th Directorate of the NKEP. However, all the recommendations and instructions of the Radar Council were carried out unconditionally: it was under the authority of the State Defense Committee and the laws of the war. "
In 1953 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR for radio weapons. But for health reasons, after a severe heart attack (June 20, 1956) he was dismissed from this post in 1957. Berg was returning from a trip to Leningrad, he lost consciousness in a train carriage due to severe chest pain, there was no doctor in the train, a message was transmitted on the radio: “There is a dying man in the carriage, a request from any doctor to appear on the last carriage”. A young man came who provided first aid. Berg spent the next three months in the hospital.
In 1951, Axel Ivanovich was awarded the A. S. Popov Gold Medal of the USSR Academy of Sciences for his merits in the development of radio electronics.
In 1955, Axel Ivanovich Berg was awarded the military rank of engineer admiral.
In 1960 he was dismissed from the armed forces, he was left in the group of inspectors general under the Minister of Defense of the USSR.
This was the institution in which Berg Axel Ivanovich not only worked for 20 years, but lived in it his last 20 years of his life. The sections of the council built their work on a voluntary basis, 800 scientific workers were involved in such work - 11 academicians of the USSR Academy of Sciences or academies of the Union republics, 22 corresponding members of the USSR Academy of Sciences or Union republics, about 200 doctors and more than 350 candidates of sciences. Work was planned for the next 5 years on the issue of Cybernetics. In this institution, cybernetics has turned from pseudoscience into real. International level conferences and symposia were held every year. Seminars, publishing ... in a word, scientific activity “blossomed”. The institutes of cybernetics were created in the USSR, departments and laboratories began to work in universities
"... There are new scientific directions of the cybernetic sense: situational control, robotics, noise-resistant coding, bionics, artificial intelligence, the theory of large (general) systems, and many others. Emphasis and priorities in mathematics changed, interest in probabilistic and statistical methods increased: with the availability of powerful computers, it became possible to process large amounts of information. "
Colleagues and his wards spoke only with the best words about Axel Ivanovich" ... charming, collected, passionate and so disinterested loyal to the cause that he infected everyone around with his zeal. "
During the leadership of Berg, the composition of the Council almost did not change. During interviews (hiring) with potential colleagues, Berg asked only a couple of questions: “A sensible person? Can you work? ” Everything else interested him, neither biographical essays, nor characteristics.
According to colleagues, Berg's working day rhythm did not change. He came to work at 9.30, in his hands was a large heavy briefcase in which he carried new books or magazines, not only of the Russian edition, but also of foreign ones. Until two in the afternoon, Berg was at work, he also took a break (lunch) without much "enthusiasm", ate little "... and urged everyone to eat little, not to smoke and not to drink alcohol. He spoke about the fight against alcoholism during public speaking and in private conversations and in print. "
A case from Berg's life:
“At the corner of Gubkin and Vavilov streets stood a beer stall. This annoyed Axel Ivanovich very much. Many times he said that the stall should be closed, that employees of academic institutes drink beer there, and this is a shame. One morning, while driving past a stall for work, he stopped the car and quickly got out. He was in admiral's uniform. The story follows from the words of an eyewitness - the driver of the car. Berg asked everyone in the queue in which institute he works and why, not in the laboratory, but is drinking beer? The crowd quickly dispersed, the unfinished mugs remained on the counter, the saleswoman closed the window just in case. Berg, pleased, got into the car and, entering the office, told how he had dispersed the loafers. A few days later, the stall was closed. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe they were afraid of the “formidable admiral”. And the admiral himself was happy as a child. ”
Axel Ivanovich Berg wrote and edited many books and brochures that are devoted to the history of radio and cybernetics. The main attention in his works is now paid to cybernetics and radio electronics. Many of these books have been translated into foreign languages and published abroad. Until the last minute of his life, Berg was an energetic, outstanding scientific and public figure. A charming person, with an inexhaustible sense of humor, a noble man with a sense of honor and duty passed away on July 9, 1979, at 86 years of age.
“Just at the moment Khokhlov determined, a dry volley made everyone startle and echoed at the tops of the cemetery trees. Then - the second, third. A second - and a platoon of sailors to the music of the "Varyag" with a marching step was already moving away from the grave. The minute came when it was time to throw a handful of earth. Alas, this was by no means the clean sand that they probably mean when they say the traditional: "May the earth rest in peace for him." It was heavy, red, clay soil. Yu. N. Majorov and I took a handful.
And down there, on the coffin lid, Axel Ivanovich's admiral cap shone with snow-white whiteness. It seemed unnatural to throw sour clay on this white top of the cap. “I threw my handful somewhere to the side so as not to stain this whiteness.”
From the diary of Axel Ivanovich:
“... No, life was not lived in vain. Although I did not discover a single new law, I did not make a single invention, but 30 years of work in the field of radio electronics undoubtedly brought a lot of benefit to my country. I don’t know how much time I still have to live and work, but I am eager to do much more. My interest in work and business has not cooled off, there are no signs of lethargy, old age - only I get tired sooner than before. But I work a lot. ”
At the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, cybernetics was considered (no matter how marvelous it sounds now) to be "bourgeois pseudoscience." The conservatism of scientists, physicists and mathematicians made it difficult to perceive the importance of cybernetic models when creating control systems for complex objects. And here the speech in this article will be about Axel Ivanovich Berg, whose life and merits are invaluable in the development of cybernetics, its formation as a science.
“Cybernetics is a science that has great prospects, looks far ahead, and therefore ensuring management in the most advantageous way becomes an increasingly important goal for it.”
Nobleman, midshipman, naval officer, first specialist submariner, later - teacher, professor, deputy commissar of electric industry, deputy chairman of the Radar Council of the Civil Defense Committee, academician, deputy defense minister of the USSR, admiral engineer, director of the institute, outstanding scientist Axel Berg , the creator of the Council on Cybernetics - a center for organizing and conducting the most important theoretical and applied works in various areas of cybernetics for 20 years - was an authoritative scientist who clearly formed an isolated main task of cybernetics, thanks to his determination and energy were generated work on cybernetics and computer science in Russia.
According to Berg, cybernetics should be an interdisciplinary science, from which different sciences could borrow common models and research methods. Not only cybernetics, but also scientific areas such as structural linguistics, semiotics, bionics, information theory, programmed instruction, mathematical theory of experiment, chemical cybernetics were grown under the roof of the Scientific Council.
The task of cybernetics is to increase the effectiveness of human activity in all cases when it needs to be managed.
Berg was an opponent of complete automation in management. More than once, he argued that even a computer, even if equipped with a super-intellectual program, will not replace a person, but will only act as a “human intelligence amplifier”. The ideas and principles of Axel Ivanovich are relevant in our modern society, the existence of which is inconceivable without the use of methods and means of processing information ... "grown on the basis of cybernetics."
The Scientific Council on Cybernetics brought together a large number of scientists from various scientific and educational institutions of the USSR. Already in the years 60-70, 16 sections headed by leading experts of the country worked here for the good of the fatherland, there was a section on mathematical issues of cybernetics, a section on a computer system, a section on chemical cybernetics, a section on artificial intelligence, numerous scientific conferences and seminars were held, and organized schools.
From biography
In Orenburg, back in 1893, Axel Ivanovich Berg was born on November 10. His parents: father - Russian general of Swedish descent Johann Alexandrovich Berg, mother half-Italian half-Swedish Elizaveta Kamillovna Bertholdi, later worked as the head of a female gymnasium in Tsarskoye Selo. Axel Ivanovich himself always considered himself Russian. At age 6, he was left without a father, who instilled in Axel a love of books, music, drawing, rarities.
This is how Axel Ivanovich wrote about his mother:
“In Orenburg,” Axel Ivanovich recalled, “she was a very young woman - beautiful, charming. And even then she was the central figure of society. This is not an ordinary general’s wife; she was never a philistine, a wimp. Sensible, educated, she was fond of Schopenhauer, Spencer, Buckle, Vladimir Solovyov and instilled in children a love of reflection, analysis. She always did something, although we, of course, had a servant. She made sure that we did not hang out, but did something useful. Girls knitted, embroidered or practiced tongues and playing the piano. We always had a relaxed business atmosphere. Mother created a special style of relationship. And it was of great importance to me. After all, the character is formed in early childhood. This situation instilled in children the best inclinations. No one lied. You know, when I first found out that people can lie, I was very surprised, I was not prepared for this. For a long time I did not suspect that there were bad people in the world. I don’t remember that we were scandalized, noisy, that someone gossiped or drank, except for the unfortunate Alexander, my half-brother. ”
Elizaveta Kamillovna Bertoldi
After the death of her father, left alone with three children, the mother was forced to move to Vyborg to her husband’s sister. But, later moved to the parents of Elizabeth in St. Petersburg. Life was slowly getting better.
Axel Ivanovich became a frequent guest in the house of R.R. Betlingka, a state adviser, a doctor by profession, a well-known physician in St. Petersburg. Axel liked to be in his house, Betlingk’s office was full of bookcases, paintings were hanging all over the house, sculptures were standing, Berg took rare books from Betlingka that were impossible to get in the library of the Marine Corps.
R.R. Betlingka had two daughters. With the younger Ellionora Rudolfovna Betlingk in the winter of 1914, Berg got married in the Lutheran church of Saints Peter and Paul, Petrikirche, on Nevsky Prospect.
In 1914, Berg graduated from the special classes of the Marine Corps in St. Petersburg, served as a junior navigator on the Tsesarevich battleship, starting in 1919, Berg served in the submarine fleet as the navigator of the Panther submarine, then he was the commander of the Lynx submarines, “ Wolf ”,“ Snake ”.
battleship “Tsesarevich”
About the submarine “Snake” Berg recalled: “This boat was special,” said Axel Ivanovich, “with a three-thousandth engine. She did not participate in the war - they were late with delivery, she was unfinished, in reserve. We finished it with our own hands. " For the work of restoring the submarine and putting it on alert, Berg was awarded the title of Hero of Labor of the Separate Submarine Division of the Baltic Sea.
submarine "Snake"
Passion for radio communications began at a time when he served as a navigator on the English submarine E-8. It was on it that he met with hardware radio communications. Berg was poisoned by sulfur dioxide in the submarine E-8, which stood out from the burned winding of the left main electric motor in the submerged position of the boat at the position at about. Gotland, was written off to the Helsingfors
Hospital due to shaky health.
submarine E-8
In 1923, Axel Ivanovich externally graduated from the Naval Engineering School and received a diploma in electrical engineering.
“It was in the Marine Corps that I was accustomed to the ability to conduct experiments,” said Axel Ivanovich, “and to evaluate the accuracy of the results. This skill we now call collecting information ... I have never been fond of artillery, torpedoes and mines, but I was very interested in astronomy, mission, navigation and other navigational disciplines. I dreamed of becoming a navigator. The best scientists-sailors, including such outstanding ones as Shokalsky and Krylov, taught at the Marine Corps. "Their attitude to the task entrusted also the cadet children to work with full load."
He graduated from the Naval Academy with a degree in radio engineering, after which he was appointed a member of the communications section of the Naval Scientific and Technical Committee, while he still managed to read radio engineering disciplines at the Naval Engineering School, the Naval Academy, and the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute. He organized the Naval Institute of Communications, where he continued to work on the development of radio communications equipment in the Fleet “Blockade-1” and “Blockade-2”.
“Blockade-1”, “Blockade-2”
In 1931, the scientifically based, fairly complete, unified radio weapons system of the Fleet "Blockade-1" was created. A significant contribution to its development was made by sailors and scientists Berg and Siforov. The basic principles for the construction of integrated radio communication systems for the Navy were formulated. In 1934, the Blockade-1 complex was developed; it consisted of the Reid ultra-short-wave radio transceiver, Bay, Breeze transmitters (7 types of long-wave and 2 types of short-wave radio transmitters), Dozor, and KUB receivers -4".
KV-band radio receiver KUB-4M
KV-band radio receiver 45-PK-1
Radio station "Raid" was for intra-squad communication and communication with the landing parties. For sending orders from the base to the boat, the main was a long-wave communication, the backup - a short-wave. The boats contacted the base at short wavelengths, in case of failure of the HF transmitter, communication took place at long wavelengths. On large and medium-sized submarines, the Shkval-Shch HF / DV transmitter and the Reid VHF radio station were installed. We can say that such a complex has become a symbol of the transition from the old spark radio technology to tube transmitters and receivers that could provide more reliable radio communications. Later, for the development of the North and the Far East, it was required to improve the complex; the Blockade-2 complex was created.
HF radio transmitter "Bay"
HF radio receiver "Metel"
The Blockade-2 radio weapons complex consisted of three radios: instead of Dozor and KUB-4M receivers, the superheterodyne Groza-M (200-2500 meters), Whirlwind (200-10000 meters), and Purga came to submarines "(15-220 meters). The transmitters of medium and large boats were replaced by “Perch” of the DV range, “Breeze-MK”, “Pike” and “Skat”. The HF range was installed on small, medium and large submarines, and the Shkval-M universal HF / LF transmitter for large and medium-sized submarines. All ships were equipped with a Reid radio receiver, which worked in the radiotelephony mode in the range of 4-5 meters, with a transmitter power of 5 W, communication range of 4-15 miles, depending on the height of the antenna.
Bit personal
... In 1928, Axel Ivanovich divorced Nora Rudolfovna and married a second time to Marianne Penzina. Marianne lived in the city of Tuapse in a house abandoned by her deceased father, worked as a typist in the port to earn some more penny, rented rooms to visiting sailors. Axel Ivanovich also became such a visiting sailor in 1923, during the journey of Professor Freiman and three students at the Naval Academy to the Black Sea, where they conducted experiments with underwater radio communications. When he met a girl, he showed her a boat and went to drink tea with her comrades. Friendship struck up, in 1924 Berg and his wife came to Marianne, stayed with her for a couple of weeks, after which they corresponded for a couple of years. In 1927, they invited her to her home in Leningrad, she sold her house and moved to them.
However, Berg Axel Ivanovich was married three times, his third wife was Raisa Pavlovna.
In 1935, he became a professor at the Naval Academy in Petrograd, teaching at the Leningrad Electrotechnical Institute (LETI). Axel Ivanovich was the ideologist of all higher education in communications and observation in the Navy, he checked all theoretical calculations experimentally, the calculation method should have been accurate, but affordable and simple. Under his leadership, the properties of ultrashort waves and the possibilities of their application in communication and navigation techniques were investigated.
Teaching activities captured Axel Ivanovich. He was an excellent lecturer, clearly and consistently presented the material, and his hand in a white like glove accurately wrote out complex formulas on the board.
Years of repression
A broken cup can be glued. But she will no longer ring.
Everything seemed to be just beginning, career growth, determination, many plans ... but 1937 came. A wave of repression swept across the country. Axel Ivanovich - a man of noble origin, with a non-Russian surname, a track record (service in the tsarist navy), trips abroad, all this did not play to the benefit of the scientist. He was arrested on December 21, 1937. Axel Ivanovich was accused of sabotage ... "The wrecking work of A. Berg was reduced to the fact that he expanded the work of the NIMIS departments to create the largest possible number of communication samples and special equipment, creating the impression of intensive work of the institute, but not bringing the samples to complete completeness and final tests for the possibility of their transfer to the arsenal of the fleet, "a commission was created, which somehow totaled the damage of 154 million rubles, brought to the state by Berg and his subordinates when creating new communication technology and special equipment. Axel Ivanovich denied guilt in this group case. Axel Ivanovich, being a man of courage, was not afraid to show a protest against the composition of the commission. The new commission, headed by the head of the NIMIST, J. G. Varaksin (composed of Professor M. A. Krupsky and M. S. Beschastnov), announced that the charges against Berg had no basis. Axel Ivanovich in his defense and the defense of his wards, recalling from memory! He denied all the charges against the relevant documents. The charges were dropped! In May 1940, Berg was rehabilitated, he was reinstated in a military rank and assigned the military rank of Rear Admiral Engineer. Axel Ivanovich returned to teaching.
In total, Axel Ivanovich spent 1000 days in custody. Berg came to Shpalernaya, later was transferred to Moscow to the Lubyanka, followed by transfer to Butyrskaya prison. Surprisingly, even being in captivity, he spent every day with benefit, he happened to meet very talented people, such as K.K. Rokossovsky (future marshal), A.N. Tupolev (famous aircraft designer), P. I. . Lukirsky (future academician). Alas, in those days great minds often sat in chambers than truly villains. They did not waste time in vain, organized scientific seminars, everyone gave lectures from their field of knowledge. Berg, not only knowing the Russian language, but also German, French and English, could read poems and poems in memory of these languages for long evenings.
I do not stop admiring his courage and sense of humor, according to Neumann: during the interrogations of Axel Ivanovich they beat him hard ... Berg “broke down”. He asked for a piece of paper, began to write an upright confession, in which he pleaded guilty for carrying out espionage activities in favor of the Navy of the Swiss Confederation for several years. The investigator immediately finished the interrogation, put down the time for the interrogation, ran to the authorities. I did not realize that Switzerland had no navy ...
From the memoirs of V. I. Siforov:
“... there was talk that“ Axel Ivanovich serves in foreign intelligence, that his books on radio engineering are wrecking. ”Then, in 1938, A.I. Berg was arrested, declaring the enemy of the people“ Spouse of A.I. Berg Maryana Ivanovna [3] was left without a livelihood. She lived on Pesochnaya street in a house owned by LETI. Many teachers and professors, when meeting her, crossed the street to protect themselves. At that time, even short-term contacts with relatives and friends of enemies of the people could lead to arrest However, my wife and I did not avoid contacts with Maryana Ivanovna, and, deeply respecting AI Berg, we invited her to our house and regularly provided her with money. Of course, at that time it was very dangerous. But somehow we had the feeling of helping Axel Ivanovich’s relatives prevailed. ”
Little is known about what happened in prisons with Axel Ivanovich, since he gave a non-disclosure subscription. From his memoirs: usually one of the sailors was sitting in neighboring chambers, he made contact with them using the Morse code. "... and he tried his best to maintain the good spirits of his brethren by misfortune. 35 years after these events, when Berg was the chairman of the Council, a letter from Siberia came to his address at his official address. We, the Council employees, were amazed how much this letter excited Berga: An old, very sick man who turned out to be Berg’s “colleague” in one of the prisons wrote to him, or rather, he dictated a letter to his daughter because he was blind. He found out about Axel Ivanovich from the press. The letter contained memories of those days when Berg was the headman t prison cell, and heartfelt thanks were expressed to Berg for his optimism, friendliness, and willingness to help. The author of the letter claimed that he survived in those terrible dungeons only thanks to the moral support of Axel Ivanovich. "
From the counter-revolutionary he immediately fell into rear admirals
The Second World War began and Axel Ivanovich was involved in activities related to strengthening the country's defense capabilities. In 1941, by a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars, Berg was awarded the title of engineer-counter-admiral. During these war years, Berg undoubtedly made a huge contribution to the development of radio-technical and electronic weapons of the USSR Army.
He was not afraid to negotiate with Stalin about the creation of radar facilities, and made a positive decision. In the USSR at that time, not everyone imagined what radar was and what its function was, whether it was important for defense. Berg with his energy came to Moscow to explain the principles of radar operation and their effectiveness, met with ministers, conducted wide propaganda. Reached Stalin himself.
“The Central Committee of the CPSU (B.) Considered it necessary to draw attention to this matter. And then I reported that it was necessary to create a Radar Council with the appropriate powers ... Stalin held a meeting at which I was and reported that it was necessary for each People’s Commissariat to build its own radar stations, but using the unified weapons system that we developed. Many objected, but they did not know that before that for three hours all this had been reported to Stalin face to face. Stalin walked, smoked a pipe, cursed that he didn’t understand anything — that I wasn’t explaining it to him that way. He walked around, puffing on his pipe, and then said: “And in my opinion, Comrade Berg is right.” And Berg was the son of his time. Even, having completely taken a sip of the grief of Stalin's repressions, he, until the end of his days, had great respect for Stalin's personality. “Yes, there was a cult, but there was a personality!” Said Berg.
It was decided to establish a location committee, where A.I. Berg was appointed deputy chairman. On July 4, 1943, a decree was issued on the creation of the Radar Council, the tasks assigned to it were as follows: to prepare draft military-technical assignments for T-bills for designers on armaments of the Red Army and Navy by means of radar, to develop the radar industry in every possible way, and to engage in radar the largest scientific, design and engineering forces, systematize all the achievements of science and technology in the field of radar both in the USSR and abroad, prepare pre Proposals for GKO (State Defense Committee) on the import of radar equipment.
At the beginning of the 50s, Axel Ivanovich headed the Central Research Institute 108, which developed radar equipment. The Radar Council was a kind of organization: “it did not have at its disposal a single research institution or production enterprise — all of them were under the jurisdiction of defense people's commissariats; even VNII-108, the closest to the Radar Council, and he was administratively subordinate to the 8th Directorate of the NKEP. However, all the recommendations and instructions of the Radar Council were carried out unconditionally: it was under the authority of the State Defense Committee and the laws of the war. "
In 1953 he was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR for radio weapons. But for health reasons, after a severe heart attack (June 20, 1956) he was dismissed from this post in 1957. Berg was returning from a trip to Leningrad, he lost consciousness in a train carriage due to severe chest pain, there was no doctor in the train, a message was transmitted on the radio: “There is a dying man in the carriage, a request from any doctor to appear on the last carriage”. A young man came who provided first aid. Berg spent the next three months in the hospital.
In 1951, Axel Ivanovich was awarded the A. S. Popov Gold Medal of the USSR Academy of Sciences for his merits in the development of radio electronics.
In 1955, Axel Ivanovich Berg was awarded the military rank of engineer admiral.
In 1960 he was dismissed from the armed forces, he was left in the group of inspectors general under the Minister of Defense of the USSR.
Life in the scientific council on the complex issue of Cybernetics
This was the institution in which Berg Axel Ivanovich not only worked for 20 years, but lived in it his last 20 years of his life. The sections of the council built their work on a voluntary basis, 800 scientific workers were involved in such work - 11 academicians of the USSR Academy of Sciences or academies of the Union republics, 22 corresponding members of the USSR Academy of Sciences or Union republics, about 200 doctors and more than 350 candidates of sciences. Work was planned for the next 5 years on the issue of Cybernetics. In this institution, cybernetics has turned from pseudoscience into real. International level conferences and symposia were held every year. Seminars, publishing ... in a word, scientific activity “blossomed”. The institutes of cybernetics were created in the USSR, departments and laboratories began to work in universities
"... There are new scientific directions of the cybernetic sense: situational control, robotics, noise-resistant coding, bionics, artificial intelligence, the theory of large (general) systems, and many others. Emphasis and priorities in mathematics changed, interest in probabilistic and statistical methods increased: with the availability of powerful computers, it became possible to process large amounts of information. "
Colleagues and his wards spoke only with the best words about Axel Ivanovich" ... charming, collected, passionate and so disinterested loyal to the cause that he infected everyone around with his zeal. "
In communication, Axel Ivanovich made a bewitching impression - as a person who was keen on business, not tolerating lies and falsehoods, not tolerating half-hearted work; he devoted himself entirely to the work and believed that everyone should do this.
During the leadership of Berg, the composition of the Council almost did not change. During interviews (hiring) with potential colleagues, Berg asked only a couple of questions: “A sensible person? Can you work? ” Everything else interested him, neither biographical essays, nor characteristics.
According to colleagues, Berg's working day rhythm did not change. He came to work at 9.30, in his hands was a large heavy briefcase in which he carried new books or magazines, not only of the Russian edition, but also of foreign ones. Until two in the afternoon, Berg was at work, he also took a break (lunch) without much "enthusiasm", ate little "... and urged everyone to eat little, not to smoke and not to drink alcohol. He spoke about the fight against alcoholism during public speaking and in private conversations and in print. "
A case from Berg's life:
“At the corner of Gubkin and Vavilov streets stood a beer stall. This annoyed Axel Ivanovich very much. Many times he said that the stall should be closed, that employees of academic institutes drink beer there, and this is a shame. One morning, while driving past a stall for work, he stopped the car and quickly got out. He was in admiral's uniform. The story follows from the words of an eyewitness - the driver of the car. Berg asked everyone in the queue in which institute he works and why, not in the laboratory, but is drinking beer? The crowd quickly dispersed, the unfinished mugs remained on the counter, the saleswoman closed the window just in case. Berg, pleased, got into the car and, entering the office, told how he had dispersed the loafers. A few days later, the stall was closed. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe they were afraid of the “formidable admiral”. And the admiral himself was happy as a child. ”
Axel Ivanovich Berg wrote and edited many books and brochures that are devoted to the history of radio and cybernetics. The main attention in his works is now paid to cybernetics and radio electronics. Many of these books have been translated into foreign languages and published abroad. Until the last minute of his life, Berg was an energetic, outstanding scientific and public figure. A charming person, with an inexhaustible sense of humor, a noble man with a sense of honor and duty passed away on July 9, 1979, at 86 years of age.
“Just at the moment Khokhlov determined, a dry volley made everyone startle and echoed at the tops of the cemetery trees. Then - the second, third. A second - and a platoon of sailors to the music of the "Varyag" with a marching step was already moving away from the grave. The minute came when it was time to throw a handful of earth. Alas, this was by no means the clean sand that they probably mean when they say the traditional: "May the earth rest in peace for him." It was heavy, red, clay soil. Yu. N. Majorov and I took a handful.
And down there, on the coffin lid, Axel Ivanovich's admiral cap shone with snow-white whiteness. It seemed unnatural to throw sour clay on this white top of the cap. “I threw my handful somewhere to the side so as not to stain this whiteness.”
From the diary of Axel Ivanovich:
“... No, life was not lived in vain. Although I did not discover a single new law, I did not make a single invention, but 30 years of work in the field of radio electronics undoubtedly brought a lot of benefit to my country. I don’t know how much time I still have to live and work, but I am eager to do much more. My interest in work and business has not cooled off, there are no signs of lethargy, old age - only I get tired sooner than before. But I work a lot. ”