Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

See the Conversations with History Blog See a webcast of this interview: Alferov

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.

1. 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
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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
5. Conclusion ... hope ... science is young ... dual sides of technology

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