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."
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.
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
Artifacts (14)
we were constantly on mountaintops; we grew accustomed to a vast horizon.
him about painting from nature. His father frequently took him into the mountains around the town. He wrote later, "we were constantly on mountaintops; we grew accustomed to a vast horizon." He...
that Auguste Perret left more in me than Peter Behrens.
ical forms. A large open hall with a chandelier occupied the centre of the building. "You can see," he wrote to Auguste Perret in July 1916, "that Auguste Perret left more in me than Peter...
I had a horror of architecture and architects,
d to a vast horizon." He reported later that it was L'Eplattenier who made him choose architecture. "I had a horror of architecture and architects," he wrote. "...I was sixteen, I accepted the verdict...
I would have liked to live in one of what they called their cells,
lorence, he visited the Florence Charterhouse in Galluzzo, which made a lifelong impression on him. "I would have liked to live in one of what they called their cells," he wrote later. "It was the...
Reinforced concrete provided me with incredible resources,
et, the pioneer of reinforced concrete architecture in Paris, but now wanted to use it in new ways. "Reinforced concrete provided me with incredible resources," he wrote later, "and variety, and a...
...I was sixteen, I accepted the verdict and I obeyed. I moved into architecture...
as L'Eplattenier who made him choose architecture. "I had a horror of architecture and architects," he wrote. "...I was sixteen, I accepted the verdict and I obeyed. I moved into architecture." His...
It was the solution for a unique kind of worker's housing, or rather for a terre...
a lifelong impression on him. "I would have liked to live in one of what they called their cells," he wrote later. "It was the solution for a unique kind of worker's housing, or rather for a...
and variety, and a passionate plasticity in which by themselves my structures wi...
but now wanted to use it in new ways. "Reinforced concrete provided me with incredible resources," he wrote later, "and variety, and a passionate plasticity in which by themselves my structures will...
a juxtiposable system of construction according to an infinite number of combina...
columns and stairways, and residents could build exterior walls with the materials around the site. He described it in his patent application as "a juxtiposable system of construction according to an...
is a cell within the body of a city. The cell is made up of the vital elements w...
small pavilion at the Exposition, representing his idea of the future urban housing unit. A house, he wrote, "is a cell within the body of a city. The cell is made up of the vital elements which are...
Whether you like it or not, my presence is inscribed in every corner of your hou...
to court and denied Le Corbusier access to the site, or the right to claim to be the architect. Le Corbusier responded, "Whether you like it or not, my presence is inscribed in every corner of your...
the construction of the dividing walls at any point on the façade or the interio...
em of construction according to an infinite number of combinations of plans.” This would permit, he wrote, "the construction of the dividing walls at any point on the façade or the interior." Under...
Right now one thing is sure. 1925 marks the decisive turning point in the quarre...
bs in the 1950s and 1960s. The Pavilion was ridiculed by many critics, but Le Corbusier, undaunted, wrote: "Right now one thing is sure. 1925 marks the decisive turning point in the quarrel between...
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