Portrait of Mikhail Lomonosov

Mikhail Lomonosov

Russian polymath

Lived
1711–1765
Country
Russia

Updated September 2026

About Mikhail Lomonosov

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries were the atmosphere of Venus, the law of conservation of mass in chemical reactions, the theoretical prediction of Antarctica, and the idea of coaxial rotors. His spheres of science were natural science, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history, art, philology, optical devices and others. One of the founders of modern geology, Lomonosov was also a poet and influenced the formation of the modern Russian literary language.

Biography from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Sources: book lists and dates from Wikidata and Open Library, ratings from Open Library readers. Last updated September 2026.