Academic research
Artsimovich worked on the field of nuclear fusion and plasma physics.[1]
From 1930 to 1944 he worked at the Ioffe Institute, and in 1944 he joined the "Laboratory number 2" (currently Kurchatov Institute) for work on the Soviet atomic bomb project. From 1951 to his death in 1973, he was the head of the Soviet fusion power program.
He was known as "the father of the Tokamak",[2] a special concept for a fusion reactor. Once Artsimovich was asked when the first thermonuclear reactor would start its work. He replied: "When mankind needs it, maybe a short time before that."[3]
Under his guidance a thermonuclear fusion reaction was produced in the laboratory for the first time.
From 1963 to 1973 he was the vice-chairman of the Soviet Pugwash Committee and the chairman of the National Committee of Soviet Physicists.
He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1966.[4] The crater Artsimovich on the Moon is named after him.
Honours and awards
1946 - Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences
1953 - Academician of the USSR
1953 - Stalin Prize, first class
1957 - Academician-secretary of the Department of General Physics and Astronomy, USSR Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the USSR
1958 - Lenin Prize
1965 - Honorary Member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences
1966 - Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1968 - Honorary Member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences
1969 - Honorary Member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences
1969 - Hero of Socialist Labour
1970 - Honorary Citizen of Texas (USA)
1971 - USSR State Prize
1972 - Honorary Doctor of the University of Warsaw
Four Orders of Lenin
Order of the Red Banner, twice (incl. 1945)
See also
Russian Alsos
References
Coppi, Bruno; Feld, Bernard T. (July 1973). "Obituary: L. A. Artsimovich". Physics Today. 26 (7): 60–61. Bibcode:1973PhT....26g..60C. doi:10.1063/1.3128152.
Fusion power - a step in the right direction.
"Chris Smith, The Path to Fusion Power".
"Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter A" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
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