The Contribution of Latvian Scientists to Aviation Science and Technology in the 20th Century

The book provides a brief overview of the development of aviation science and technology in Latvia during the 20th century, beginning with the first flights of aircraft. It presents the main directions of development in aviation science, the industrial application of research results, the role of leading scientists and their scientific schools established at Riga's research centers-including higher aviation educational institutions and civil aviation research institutes-as well as their connections with the Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences and other scientific centers in the republic and the USSR as a whole. All of these scientific centers disappeared in the 1990s with the collapse of the USSR. The content of the chapters is based on an analysis of publications and new technical solutions resulting from research and inventions, a list of which accompanies each chapter of the book, as well as materials received from the heads and staff of the scientific departments. Their names are listed in the corresponding chapters of the book. This book also presents brief scientific biographies of some of them who achieved particularly significant results in the field of aviation science and technology while working at Riga's aviation research centers and educational institutions.