PYOTR KAPITSA. 2015

“To lead means not to disturb good people from working” .

PYOTR KAPITSA

1894-1984

Soviet physicist and engineer, member of the Royal Society of London, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, Nobel laureate in physics.

Kapitsa made a significant contribution to the study of magnetic phenomena, low-temperature physics and technology, quantum condensed matter physics, and electronics. He studied the distortion of the trajectories of alpha particles, creating superstrong magnetic fields. He invented a fluidizing machine for cooling helium. In 1937, Kapitsa discovered the superfluidity of helium, which marked the beginning of condensed matter physics.

In addition to advances in science, Kapitsa was a prominent organizer: he founded the Kapitsa Club in Cambridge, and the Kapichnik seminar at the Institute for Physical Problems in Moscow, where not only science but also art and literature were discussed.

WORKS “The liquefaction of helium by an adiabatic method”, “Wave flow of thin layers of viscous liquid”, “The hydrodynamic theory of lubrication in the presence of rolling”.