Творец и лидер. Николай Геннадиевич Басов 1922-2001

Abstract

Like the titans of the Renaissance, N.G. Basov represented the heroic era of our science. He was both the leader and the scientist who coexisted in him in the closest possible way. You can say that he was an armchair scientist who defines, thinks over and solves scientific problems one on one. In 1952, thirty-year-old N.G. Basov was the first to point out the fundamental possibility of creating a molecular generator. In the next four years, he carried out work on its theoretical justification and experimental implementation working with the participation of a small group of young scientists, the eldest of whom was A.M. Prokhorov. Already in 1958, N.G. Basov started to organize work in the field of quantum electronics at the Lebedev Physical Institute under the auspices of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1961 he delivered a concept paper on this subject at the All-Union Meeting of Scientists in the Kremlin. The article uses materials that appeared in the scientific literature and the media timed to the centenary of N.G. Basov, as well as impressions of joint work and meetings with him at the Lebedev Physical Institute and MEPhI.