Nikolay Basov

Nicolay Gennadiyevich Basov
Born	14 December 1922(1922-12-14) Usman, Russia
Died	1 July 2001(2001-07-01) (aged 78) Moscow, Russia
Fields	Physics
Institutions	Lebedev Physical Institute
Alma mater	Moscow Engineering Physics Institute
Known for	Invention of lasers and masers
Notable awards	Nobel Prize in Physics (1964)

Nikolay Gennadiyevich Basov (Russian: Никола́й Генна́диевич Ба́сов; 14 December 1922 – 1 July 2001) was a Soviet physicist and educator. For his fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics that led to the development of laser and maser, Basov shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics with Alexander Prokhorov and Charles Hard Townes.^[1]

Early life

Basov was born in the town Usman, now in Lipetsk Oblast in 1922.^[2] He finished school in 1941 in Voronezh, and was later called for the military service at Kuibyshev Military Medical Academy. In 1943 he left academy and served in the Soviet Army^[2] participating in the Second World War with the 1st Ukrainian Front.

Professional career

Basov graduated from Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPI) in 1950. He then held a professorship at MEPI and also worked in the Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI), where defended a dissertation for the Candidate of Sciences degree (equivalent to PhD) in 1953 and a dissertation for the Doctor of Sciences degree in 1956. Basov was the Director of the LPI in 1973-1988. He was elected as a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Russian Academy of Sciences since 1991) in 1962 and an Full Member of the Academy in 1966. In 1967 he was elected a Member of the Presidium of the Academy (1967—1990), and since 1990 he was the councillor of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He was an honorary member of the International Academy of Science. He was the head of the laboratory of quantum radiophysics at the LPI until his death in 2001.^[1]

Missile defense

Basov's contributions to the development of the laser and maser, which won him the Nobel Prize in 1964, led to new missile defense initiatives seeking to employ them.^[3]

Politics

He entered politics in 1951 and a member of parliament of the Supreme Soviet in 1974.^[2] Following U.S. President Ronald Reagan's speech on SDI in 1983, Basov signed a letter along with other Soviet scientists condemning the initiative, which was published in the New York Times.^[4] In 1985 he declared the Soviet Union was capable of matching SDI proposals made by the U.S.^[4]

Books

• N. G. Basov, K. A. Brueckner (Editor-in-Chief), S. W. Haan, C. Yamanaka. Inertial Confinement Fusion, 1992, Research Trends in Physics Series published by the American Institute of Physics Press (presently Springer, New York). ISBN 0-88318-925-9.
• V. Stefan and N. G. Basov (Editors). Semiconductor Science and Technology, Volume 1. Semiconductor Lasers. (Stefan University Press Series on Frontiers in Science and Technology) (Paperback), 1999. ISBN 1-889545-11-2.
• V. Stefan and N. G. Basov (Editors). Semiconductor Science and Technology, Volume 2: Quantum Dots and Quantum Wells. (Stefan University Press Series on Frontiers in Science and Technology) (Paperback), 1999. ISBN 1-889545-12-0.

Awards and honours

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Russian Wikipedia.

• Lenin Prize (1959)
• Nobel Prize in Physics (1964, with the pioneering work done in the field of quantum electronics)
• Hero of Socialist Labour — twice (1969, 1982)
• Gold Medal of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (1975)
• A. Volta Gold Medal (1977)
• Kalinga Prize (1986)
• USSR State Prize (1989)
• Lomonosov Grand Gold Medal, Moscow State University (1990)
• Order of Lenin - five times
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class
• Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd class

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Basov Nikolay Gennadiyevich"
2. ^ ^{a b c} "A century of Nobel Prizes recipients: chemistry, physics, and medicine", Francis Leroy. CRC Press, 2003. ISBN 0824708768, 9780824708764. p. 174-175
3. ^ "Soviet ballistic missile defense and the Western alliance", David Scott Yost. Harvard University Press, 1988. ISBN 0674826108, 9780674826106. p. 58
4. ^ ^{a b} "The strategic defence initiative: US policy and the Soviet Union", Mira Duric. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2003. ISBN 0754637336, 9780754637332. p. 43-45

See also

• Excimer laser

External links

• Basov's grave
• Detailed biography (Russian)
• Biography from the Nobel Foundation.
• Oral History interview transcript with Nikolay Basov 14 September 1984, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives

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Persondata
Name	Basov, Nicolay
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	14 December 1922
Place of birth	Usman, Russia
Date of death	1 July 2001
Place of death