There in the Department of world literature is organized the book exhibition named “Nauka i Zhizn”. The exhibition is dedicated to the Day of workers of science of Kazakhstan which is celebrated on April 12 and the World Day of aviation and cosmonautics.

   With the development of written literature in the countries of ancient civilizations there were accumulated and understood the knowledge about nature, man and society, there appeared the rudiments of mathematics, logic, geometry, astronomy, medicine.

   The predecessors of the modern scientists were the philosophers of Ancient Greece and Rome, for whom the meditations and the search for truth become the main preoccupation. There in ancient Greece appear the variants of knowledge classification.

   Science in its modern understanding began being formed from the XVI-XVII-th centuries. In the course of historical development its influence went beyond the framework of development of technologies and technics. Science has become the most important social, humanitarian institution exerting considerable influence upon all spheres of society and culture. The volume of scientific activity beginning from the XVII-th century doubles approximately each 10-15 years (the growth of discoveries, scientific information, the number of scientific workers).

   As for today science in modern society plays an important role in many branches and spheres of human life. With the appearance of rocket-space technologies there began the mastering of cosmic space by people. With each day there widens the sphere of applied use of cosmonautics: the weather forecasts, navigation, the salvation of people and of forests, the world television, the universal communication, extra-pure medicines and semiconductors from the orbit, the most advanced technologies.

   In the whole history of cosmonautics there flew to space 295 cosmonauts from different countries of the world. Besides there were at the extra-earthly orbit 8 cosmic tourists.

   The first cosmonaut who flew to space was Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin (April 12, 1961). The spaceship “Vostok” with the pilot-cosmonaut on board started from Kazakhstani land from the space complex Baikonur. The first cosmonaut from Kazakhstan who flew to space was Tokhtar Ongarbayevich Aubakirov – the 256-th cosmonaut of the world, the 72-nd (and the last) cosmonaut of the USSR. The other Kazakh cosmonaut Talgat Musabayev has established the world record since nobody before him ever spent in open space more than one full day during one flight.

   Kazakhstan in the XXI-st century goes through the rise of science-intensive kinds of production, the number of elaborations and mastering of modern information technologies aimed at getting competitive production and provision of interests of national economic security and development of industrial and scientific-technical potential of the republic.

   There at the book exhibition from the fond of the National library of the RK are presented books on the achievements of the world and Kazakhstani science and cosmonautics on the whole.

   We invite everybody to visit the book exhibition!