The article is devoted to the development of the theoretical foundations of testing of agricultural machinery and equipment in Ukraine in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The role of scientists who made a significant contribution to the development of this scientific field, both in the ukrainian lands of the former Russian Empire and in the ukrainian territories of Austria-Hungary, is separately highlighted and analysed. The study examines the main scientific approaches and methodological principles used in the process of testing agricultural machinery during this period.

In the course of the study, the author used general scientific and special historical research methods, such as analysis, synthesis, classification, comparative, problematic and chronological, and source studies. In addition, the biographical method was used, which became the basis for recreating the creative path of individual scientists who worked in the field of development of agricultural mechanics and testing of agricultural machinery. These methodological approaches made it possible to trace the peculiarities of the evolution of testing technologies, identify key stages in the development of testing and assess the importance of the contribution of individual scientists to this process.

It has been established that the field of testing of agricultural machinery has gone through an extremely long and difficult path of formation. The development of the theoretical foundations of testing is inseparably linked to the overall process of improving agricultural machinery. Tracing the place and role of individual agricultural scientists helps to identify the features and patterns of historical development of machine testing in Ukraine.

The development of the testing system for agricultural machinery has become the basis for the formation of new areas of agronomic science: the theory of agricultural machinery design, agricultural mechanics, arable engineering, and the theory of agricultural mechanisation. The introduction of scientifically based test methods has not only helped to assess the efficiency of new machines, but also significantly improved their performance for further mass use in agriculture.

The role of some well-known scientists in the field of testing of agricultural machinery and tools is summarised: Tomasz Rylski, G. O. Latyshev, K. G. Schindler, V. P. Goryachkin, V. I. Nagibin.

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