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🙂 Hello dear readers! Thank you for choosing this article – “Lev Landau: biography, interesting facts.” Here is information about the main stages in the life of a world-famous theoretical physicist.
Lev Davidovich Landau, who forever inscribed his name in the history of physics in gold letters, became a Nobel Prize winner in 1962.
L. D. Landau reads congratulations on being awarded the Nobel Prize
The scientist wrote many scientific articles and voluminous works on physics, in which many will not understand a single word, but people remember his catch phrases, which gradually passed into the category of folk wisdom.
Americans consider him to be faithful to the cause of communism. The NKVD is firmly convinced that he is actively involved in a conspiracy against the existing regime in the country.
He sharply, regardless of faces, criticizes the state system of the USSR for the “Iron Curtain” and the complete absence of freedoms. However, he devoted all his strength and knowledge to strengthening the country’s defense.
Several books have been written about him, and directors have shot more than one film. Portraits of the famous scientist adorn the physics classrooms of many educational institutions throughout Russia and abroad.
Lev Davidovich Landau: biography
Leo was born on January 22, 1908 in Baku, which was rapidly developing economically. There was not only oil production, but also its processing. Large investments flowed into the city from the descendants of Nobel and Rothschild.
The Landau family moved to Baku from Mogilev as labor migrants. There was a lot of work to do, which attracted many specialists to the Caspian.
David Lvovich (father) – a petroleum engineer was engaged in scientific work, he published several articles in scientific journals. Lyubov Veniaminovna (mother) graduated with honors from the St. Petersburg Medical Institute and worked as a doctor.
At the age of 8, Leva was assigned to the gymnasium. From childhood, the boy was a curious “discoverer of the world around”. In the gymnasium, Levu was interested in: how the atomic nucleus is arranged, how the chemical processes of various substances proceed. He was looking for answers to complex problems in higher mathematics and biology questions.
At the age of 14, he could not make the final choice between mathematics and chemistry and entered two faculties of the local university at the same time.
War is raging in the Caucasus. Turkey, Britain and the USSR are fighting for the possession of the city of Baku, with its huge deposits of oil. Battles and bloody massacres continue, but the young man seems to exist in another world, the world of science. He is completely absorbed in his new discoveries.
In 1924, the young man made a choice in favor of physics, and moved to Leningrad. Then the whole family moved to the city on the Neva.
Niels Bohr – teacher and friend
At the age of 19, Landau, under the scientific leadership of A.F. Ioffe, laid the foundations of quantum theory. The People’s Commissariat for Education sends a gifted young man to Europe for further studies and pays for six months of his studies and accommodation. The remaining amount is provided by the Rockefeller Foundation at the request of N. Bohr.
Niels Bohr (1885-1962) Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics in 1922
A tall student with shaggy hair and burning eyes, words do not always keep up with the flight of his thoughts and he gesticulates desperately. So he speaks at almost all conferences, this is how European scientists remembered him.
With Bohr, whom Landau always called his teacher, he worked in the capital of Denmark. A. Einstein, M. Born, V. Heisenberg, P. Kapitsa are people who left their bright mark on science, lived and worked at the same time.
Landau returned home, but, as expected, the faculty was already too small for two world-scale scientists, and in 1932 Landau left for Kharkov. Here, in 5 years, he laid the foundations of the theory of physics in three universities in Ukraine. In 1937 he was invited to Moscow to head the department of the Institute for Physical Problems (IPP).
Lev miraculously managed to avoid being brought to trial in the “UPTI case”. During the “thorough investigation and on presentation of irrefutable evidence”, the institute employees were detained and then shot. But the NKVD did not stop there; arrests and searches in the IFP began.
In 1938, Landau was recruited for campaigning against the state system. Freedom was returned to the scientist at the insistence of N. Bohr. He was “bailed out” to Peter Kapitsa. The “agitator” was rehabilitated in 1990.
Having freed himself, Landau continues his, as always, ebullient scientific activity. List of interests: low temperatures, superconductivity and superfluidity, atomic project. The result was a textbook of theoretical physics, created together with EM Lifshitz. The last volume was already completed by Landau’s students.
In 1941, IFP was evacuated to Kazan. All work was directed to the defense. The physicist writes articles on the detonation of explosives.
Personal life of Lev Landau
Lev Davidovich in his youth seriously argued that a scientist should not smoke, drink and marry. But the last point was canceled and the reason for this was the beautiful girl Concordia Drobanskaya, who lived with Lev Landau from 1934 until the end of his life. In 1946, the son Igor was born, who continued the work of his famous father.
The scientist clearly divided his life into practice and theory. To prevent lies and jealousy from destroying their union, the couple entered into an agreement that the spouses will be free and can meet with whoever they wish. In his entire life, he had only one marriage, which lasted until the end of his life, but he was often fond of interesting women.
Landau loved measurements and calculations, and he divided all people into categories according to the classification he developed. He also deduced the formula for absolute happiness – this is work, love and communication.
The scientist was distinguished by a great sense of humor, and many of his sayings became a meme “so spoke Landau”. Quotes from serious lectures have become popular aphorisms.
The scientist’s views on education are reflected in one phrase: “Do not give your child a single drop of peace and constantly repeat that he has to do something, and he will never be able to experience feelings of complete happiness.”
The life of the scientist was described in detail by his wife in the book “Academician Landau. How We Lived ”, the film“ My Husband is a Genius ”(2008) was created based on it. The memoirs and the film were perceived ambiguously by the society. The role of the scientist was brilliantly played by the actor Daniil Spivakovsky.
last years of life
On January 7, 1962, the scientist got into a car accident and received many serious injuries. Lev Davidovich was in a coma for two months. Physicists around the world were alarmed by his state of health. The necessary medicines and even medical equipment were delivered on the next flights from Europe and the USA. And he survived.
However, Landau’s health deteriorated significantly. Several operations were performed, but the body’s resource was exhausted and on April 1, 1968, Lev Davidovich died. He is buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Video
Additional information on the topic “Lev Landau: biography and personal life” in the documentary
Landau: scientific works and contributions to physics
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