Under the Spell of Landau: When Theoretical Physics was Shaping Destinies

This volume is filled with fascinating reminiscences of the Landau school of theoretical physics that flourished in the then Soviet Union. Life was often difficult but the science was top-notch. We can all be grateful that these reminiscences have been written down and collected and are now being published in English. Professor Edward Witten Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton In this book we get to know about not only Landau but many from his circle, persons who are now gone. People who are still active give very personal and detailed narrations of the masters of the Landau circle. They come back to life for us and we get a very good understanding of how these people worked and lived. We can follow the history of theoretical physics through the achievements of these people. In this sense the book is a must for anyone interested in the history of science. Professor Lars Brink Chalmers Univ. of Tech., Sweden This invaluable collection of memoirs and reviews on scientific activities of the most prominent theoretical physicists belonging to the Landau School - Landau, Migdal, Zeldovich, Smorodinsky, Ter-Martirosyan, Kirzhnits, Gribov, Larkin and Anselm - are being published in English for the first time. The main goal is to acquaint readers with the life and work of outstanding Soviet physicists who, to a large extent, shaped theoretical physics in the 1950s 70s. Many intriguing details have remained unknown beyond the Iron Curtain which was dismantled only with the fall of the Ussr.