Yakov Borissovich Zel'Dovich, 8 March 1914 - 2 December 1987

Abstract

Yakov Borissovich Zel'Dovich was an exceedingly bright star in the firmament of Soviet and world physics and astrophysics. To these fields can be added physical chemistry or, as is sometimes said, chemical physics. More specifically, mention may be made of researches in catalysis, phase transitions, hydrodynamics, combustion and detonation theory, nuclear chain reactions, nuclear physics, the theory of elementary particles and, finally, the general theory of relativity and cosmology. To mark Ya.B.’s 70th birthday, two volumes of his selected works were published under the titles: Vol. 1 Chemical Physics and Hydrodynamics (1) and Vol. II Particles, Nuclei and the Universe (2). These volumes contain a complete list of Ya.B.’s works. As far as I know, both volumes are to be published in English in 1989 by Princeton University Press. The second volume concludes with an autobiographical afterword dated 3 March 1984. Unfortunately, Ya.B. died less than four years later and, although he continued to work with his former energy, these volumes (1,2) can and will provide the basis for this obituary. Access to all Ya.B.’s existing works in English translation, accompanied by expert and often highly detailed commentaries by leading specialists, together with a long editorial article of 56 pages introducing (1), provide abundant detail and references to many of Ya.B.’s articles. Ya.B.’s life can to a first approximation be divided into four periods: 1914-30, childhood and schooldays; 1931-47, the Institute of Chemical Physics, mainly work on physicochemical problems; 1947-63, work on the creation of a new technology, nuclear physics and the theory of elementary particles; 1964-87, mainly astronomy, with emphasis on the application of the general theory of relativity and on cosmology. This chronology, taken from (1,2), will also be used here.