This three-volume book, translated into Russian by the rector of Moscow University D. Carriers as early as 1859, contains detailed information about the history of the development of the natural sciences and the political deeds of the great representatives of science of different times. Volume II. This volume contains biographies of Malus, Thomas Jung, Fresnel, Gay-Lussac, Volta, and Ampere, arranged in order of their discoveries in optics, general physics, the theory of electricity, and magnetism. Here are also essays of biographies of members of the French Institute, which Arago did not have time to finish before his death. Volume III. The latter volume contains two biographies, of Poisson and James Watt, as well as an autobiography of Arago himself. As an addition, an article by an interpreter containing a few words about Arago's character, his influence on his contemporaries, and the meaning of his writings and discoveries in the natural sciences is presented. For a wide range of readers.