This research reconstructs the traditions of scientific enlightenment in Russia. The turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was chosen as the most representative period. The modern age saw the establishment of the optimal model for advancing science in the global context and its crucial segment--Russian science. This period was characterized by significant scientific and sociopolitical changes. The level of education in Russia was extremely low; good education was accessible only to the upper class. Therefore, a program for popularizing science was launched. This research investigates the means and methods that were used to popularize science in Russia. In order to achieve the set goal, a set of complementary methods was used, including analysis, didactic method, and structural-functional analysis. The research also generalizes the experience of Russian and foreign experts in the subject at hand and applies the principles of historicism, systematicity, and dialectic unity of the historical and the logical. The main means of popularization of science were as follows: publication of popular-science periodicals, granting of considerable autonomy to higher educational institutions, and establishment of out-of-school institutions. During the soviet period, the popularization of science continued, but in the light of Marxism-Leninism, which included the launch of a state program for eliminating illiteracy.