Nothing was done in defense of his priority, even by the few people who actually regarded themselves, and really were, his personal disciples. Furthermore, they did not grasp the essence of the entire issue, namely that Tsiolkovskii's complete works inaugurated a new scientific era— the era of interplanetary space: This idea was beyong their comprehension: They regarded Tsiolkovskii as an engineering amateur at best, but in no way as the founder of a new trend in world science in general.
Some people said: "Tsiolkovskii has nothing to do with this. His writings are no more than 'rough drafts', glittering generalities; no precision, no experiment; many others wrote on the same subject and in the same manner long before Tsiolkovskii. Tsiolkovskii can lay no claims to priority..." These people were quite ready to deny Tsiolkovskii the priority in favor of Esnault-Pelterie, Jules Verne, or Cyrano de Bergerac, yet they knew very well that Tsiolkovskii alone had provided the first valid foundation for rocket dynamics and astronautics. They were ready to recognize the priority of Goddard or Oberth but not that of Tsiolkovskii. These tenden cies were obvious; considerable energy was needed to defend Russian priority in rocket dynamics and astronautics in face of the entire world despite any obstacles.
In the first place I had to make a preliminary study of Oberth's book to see how close his ideas were to Tsiolkovskii's. Once Tsiolkovskiihadtold me in the course of a conversation, "In the hands of a capable engineer the rocket may become a powerful weapon, with a range thousands of times longer than that of any artillery gun." Consequently one had to act with circumspection. I decided to find Oberth's book; I went to the editorial office of the newspaper "Izvestiya" and was referred to several people. It was only after several days that I succeeded in tracing the book I sought. Only ten or fifteen minutes after getting the book into my hands I was able to see that his arguments proceeded along the same path as those of Tsiolkovskii; the basic results of the two authors were identical, and therefore there was no further need to maintain the "secrecy" of Tsiolkovskii's work. Immediate action was needed to restore the Russian priority in rocket dynamics.
On the following day I set out for Kaluga. After a discussion with Tsiolkovskii we decided to act with determination in defense of his priority. On the following morning the two of us visited the head of the Kaluga Provincial Department of Education, N. N. Kostromin, who received us immediately, listened to us attentively, and agreed with our arguments.
He immediately called M. P. Abarshalin at the printing office and reached an agreement concerning the printing of Tsiolkovskii's book.
Kostromin was a progressive person and understood that priority in the theory of rocket flight might have been unjustly claimed by someone abroad and that it would then be difficult to rightfully restore the priority to the Russians. However, the printing office did not have any reserve paper; we had to find the paper ourselves.
Kostromin advised me that the paper could be obtained at the Kondrovo paper mill. He gave me a letter in the name of the provincial education department but advised me to deliver the letter personally.
The Kondrovo paper mill (it had once belonged to the Goncharovs and had been visited by A. S. Pushkin [the famous Russian poet] while he was engaged to Natalia Nikolaevna Gonchareva) is situated 40 km from Kaluga.
I started out for the paper mill on the following day and stayed with the Gribanovs who resided at the mill.. (I happened to know Madame T. D. Gribanova from Kaluga.) However it was not so easy to get the paper. Having learned that I was a scientific worker, the factory manager A. V. Kaiyats requested me to deliver several lectures to the factory workers— for the paper. I agreed, and delivered a short series of lectures on the then modern achievements in physiology and medicine. The factory workers liked my lectures, and the necessary quantity of paper was supplied. A few small paper rolls were loaded on a low wide sledge and we trudged back to Kaluga over a snow-covered country lane. We reached the printing office toward evening and delivered the paper to their warehouse. The first part of the work was done.
At the same time my father L. V. Chizhevskii was busy translating Tsiolkovskii's book into German (so as not to lose time), and Tsiolkovskii himself was writing an introductory chapter to his new book.