The present paper concerns the preconditions served as the basis for the scientific discovery of the phenomenon of paramagnetic resonance, the stages of its development are discussed. The first stage is associated with the invention of the principle of autodyne reception of radiotelegraph signals with the help of the Meissner oscillator in the beats mode (Henry Round, 1913). The next stage is the autodynes usage as transceivers of radio altimeters designed to determine the height of an aircraft above the Earth's surface (Ernst Alexanderson, 20-30s). At the 3rd stage, the autodyne sensors of proximity for remote fuses have been proposed for aircraft bombs and rocket projectiles (William Alan Stewart Butement, 1939) and sensors for anti-aircraft shells that can withstand mechanical overload during an artillery shot (Merle Antony Tuve). At that, the new compounds were used to fill the nodes of electronic circuits and for the first time - the technology of PCB. In physical experiments, the autodyne becomes a tool by which the discovery of the phenomenon of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) was made. The associate professor of the Department of physics of Kazan State University Ye. K. Zavoisky became the author of this discovery, and the founder of a new direction in physics. Description of the operation principle is given and the acting device of the autodyne radiospectroscopy he created, which working model is illustrated in the museum-laboratory of Ye. K. Zavoisky in Kazan State University. The contribution of the development of the VHF range (together with P. M. Vinnik), as well as in the theory and technique of autodyne and super-regenerative reception of radio signals.
history of science and technology, paramagnetic resonance, the museum and laboratory at Kazan University, P. M. Vinnik, autodyne, super-regenerative reception
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