Conversations with History: Institute
of International Studies, UC Berkeley
This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations
with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public
Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.
Welcome to a Conversation with History. I'm Harry
Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today
is Zhores Alferov who is Vice President of the U.S.S.R. Russian Academy
of Sciences and President of its St. Petersburg Scientific Center. He won
the 2000 Nobel Prize in physics.
- Background ... home village of
Vedipsk ... parents' early chance at good education ... father's participation
in 1917 revolution ... influence of brother ... high school physics teacher
in Minsk
- Being a Physicist ... the influence
of school ... the Nosoizina lab ... the Ioffe Institute ... the need for deep
focus ... living at the lab ... new ideas move from unbelievable to trivial
... support from the institute director
- Russian and Soviet Science ...
importance of the Ioffe Institute ... international collaboration ... history
of Russian scientific study ... building a new generation of scientists ...
post-Soviet status of science ... need for state to continue supporting applied
science ... collegiality
- Heterostructures ... building on
the work of Bardine, Ho, and others ... seeing the potential ... healthy competition
... wide range of applications ... early skepticism ... leap of faith ...
invention of the transistor ... bureaucracy
- Conclusion ... hope ... science
is young ... dual sides of technology

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