Lev Davidovic Landau was born in Baku, Russia on January 22, 1908. Landau completed his school course at the age of
13. In 1922, Landau enrolled at the Physics Department of Leningrad
University. After graduation, he began his scientific career working
at the Leningrad Physico-Technical Institute. From 1932-1937, Landau
headed the Theoretical Department of the Ukrainian Physico-Technical
Institute in Kharkov (now Ukraine).
In 1937, he became head of the Department of Theory of the Institute
for Physical Problems in Moscow. In 1965, his research laboratory was
transformed into what is now known as Landau Institute for Theoretical
Physics.
In 1938, following P.L. Kapitsa’s discovery
of the surperfluidity of liquid helium, Landau began researching and
within a few years had devised the theory of the “quantum liquids”
at low temperatures. From 1956 to 1958, he formulated the theory of
the quantum liquids of the “Fermi type,” which includes
helium.
In 1946, Landau was elected a full member of the USSR
Academy of Sciences. In 1951, he was elected member of the Danish Royal
Academy of Sciences and, in 1956, he became a member of the Netherlands Royal Academy of Sciences. In 1960, Landau was the recipient of the
F. London Prize (United States)
and the Max Planck Medal (West Germany).
In 1962, he was awarded the Nobel
Prize in Physics for his pioneering theories for condensed matter,
especially liquid helium. He is also admired for a prolific series of
textbooks on theoretical physics, co-authored with E. M. Lifshitz, Course
in Theoretical Physics, as well as science books for high school and
earlier grades.
Lev Landau died on April 1, 1968.
