Seminars

Physicist by the Grace of God

On 17 July, the JINR Museum of History of Science and Technology hosted a memorial seminar dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Alexander Tarasov. Relatives, friends and former colleagues recalled this outstanding person with an unusually bright talent of a scientist and unique personality traits.

The scientific activity of A.V.Tarasov relates to the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, where he had begun to work since 1964 after graduating from the Faculty of Physics and Technology of the Kharkiv University. For 47 years, Alexander Vasilievich had carried out a large amount of theoretical research, the results of which were published in more than 200 articles in world's top scientific journals and were presented at numerous international conferences.

The colleagues Leonid Afanasiev, Sergey Gevorkyan and Gennady Lykasov spoke at the seminar at the Museum, an audio message by an old friend and co-author of Boris Kopeliovich's research papers from Germany, as well as an audio message by his daughter Irina Tarasova from Tallinn were switched on. For many participants who gathered in the hall of the museum, he was remembered not only as a unique scientist for whom there had never been impossible tasks, but also as a Teacher who had an amazing ability to explain complex things in a very accessible way. Due to his high scientific qualifications, he was an indispensable consultant in many experiments, one of the largest experts on the interactions of particles and nuclei at high energies, in particular, in the DIRAC and NA48/2 experiments at CERN. His friend and colleague S.R.Gevorkyan spoke about the most prominent research activities of Alexander Vasilievich.

Such seminars, initiated by the scientist's relatives and friends, are not held very often at the Museum. It's a pity. It is the participation of close people that makes such evenings especially warm and sincere. It should be noted in this case the role of the widow of Alexander Vasilievich Olga Voskresenskaya, who organised a wonderful exhibition for the anniversary seminar, at which one can learn about some archival documents, research papers, photographs, articles.

This exhibition will be open until 15 August. It is accompanied by a slide show of photos from the family album. Everyone is invited to learn about the life and scientific activities of the outstanding theoretical physicist A.V.Tarasov, whose memory lives on and is carefully preserved by close people.

Director of the Museum of History of Science and Technology Nadezhda KAVALEROVA,
photo by Vera KORENSKOVA