Historical Figure
Vitaly Ginzburg
d. 2009
Russian physicist (1916–2009)
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Biography
Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg ForMemRS was a Russian physicist who was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2003, together with Alexei Abrikosov and Anthony Leggett for their "pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids."
In Their Own Words (2)
Every physicist (naturally, this equally applies to other specialities, but I restrict myself to physicists for definitiveness) should simultaneously know, apart from theoretical physics, a wealth of facts from different branches of physics and be familiar with the newest notable accomplishments.
in his Nobel lecture, December 8, 2003, at Aula Magna, Stockholm University. , 2003
In the past century, and even nowadays, one could encounter the opinion that in physics nearly everything had been done. There allegedly are only dim 'cloudlets' in the sky or theory, which will soon be eliminated to give rise to the 'theory of everything'. I consider these views as some kind of blindness. The entire history of physics, as well as the state of present-day physics and, in particular, astrophysics, testifies to the opposite. In my view we are facing a boundless sea of unresolved problems.
in his Nobel lecture, December 8, 2003, at Aula Magna, Stockholm University. , 2003
Timeline
The story of Vitaly Ginzburg, told in moments.
Developed the Ginzburg-Landau theory of superconductivity with Lev Landau. A partly phenomenological model that explained how materials lose all electrical resistance. It became foundational to condensed matter physics.
Worked on the Soviet hydrogen bomb program. His theoretical contribution, using lithium-6 deuteride as the thermonuclear fuel, proved essential. He never received public credit during the Soviet era. The bomb was considered more important than the physicist.
Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics at age 87, shared with Abrikosov and Leggett, for pioneering work on superconductors and superfluids. He'd waited over 50 years for the recognition. He was also one of the scientists who helped bring down Lysenko's anti-genetics campaign in Soviet biology.
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