David A. Frank-Kamenetskii
Encyclopedia
David Albertovich Frank-Kamenetskii ' onMouseout='HidePop("20823")' href="/topics/Russia">Russia
- June 2, 1970, Moscow
, Soviet Union
) was a Soviet theoretical physicist and chemist, professor and doctor of physical, chemical and mathemetical sciences. He developed the thermal explosion theory, worked on plasma physics problems and in astrophysics.
; now Vilnius
, Lithuania
) in a Jewish family. His parents were Albert G. Frank-Kamenetskii (1873–1935) and Anna A. Frank-Kamenetskii (née Hannah A. Arons; 1883–1948). In 1917-1918 the family left Vilna, spent one year near Moscow
and finally resided in Irkutsk
(Eastern Siberia), where Albert G. Frank-Kamenetskii became the chair of the Chemistry Department in the newly organized Irkutsk State University
. In 1931 Frank-Kamenetskii graduated from the Siberian Technological Institute (now Tomsk Polytechnic University
, Tomsk
, Russia) in Metallurgy Engineering.
In 1932 he married Klavdia A. Kopytova and in the same year their daughter Tema was born.
From 1931 to 1934 Frank-Kamenetskii worked as a mining engineer in the Chita
gold mines in Eastern Siberia and he was also teaching in a Chita engineering college.
In 1934 Frank-Kamenetskii wrote a letter to Professor Nikolay Nikolaevich Semenov
in Leningrad
(now Saint Petersburg
, Russia) about chemical thermodynamics
. Being impressed by the letter, Professor Semenov invited Frank-Kamenetskii to join the Institute of Chemical Physics as a graduate student. The Institute of Chemical Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences was organized by Professor Semenov in 1931 in Leningrad. From 1934 to 1941 Frank Kamenetskii lived in Leningrad and worked in the Institute of Chemical Physics. He met here Yakov B. Zeldovich and started a close friendship and a fruitful collaboration with him. He published several chemical papers in the topics of chain reactions, combustion theory and periodic chemical reactions.
In 1935 Frank-Kamenetskii divorced from his first wife Klavdia and married to Elena E. Fridman (1910–1992). Their first son was born two years later (Albert D. Frank-Kamentskii, 1937–1979). In 1938 Frank-Kamenetskii received his Candidate of Sciences (CSc) degree (PhD equivalent) in chemistry from the Institute of Chemical Physics.
After the Nazi Germany invasion at the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa
) in June, 1941, Frank-Kamenetskii and his family was evacuated to Kazan
on the Volga River, where the Institute of Chemical Physics was relocated. During the family relocation, the second son, Maxim (1941- ), was born in
Gorky. During years 1941 to 1944 he worked in Kazan on the problem of graphite conversion to diamond. In 1943 he received the Doktor Nauk
degree (DSc equivalent) in physics and mathematics from the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In 1944-1946 Frank-Kamenetskii lived in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod
, Russia) and headed the Department of Technical Chemistry of the Gorky State University (now Nizhny Novgorod State University
).
In 1947-1948 Frank-Kamenetskii lived in Moscow and worked in the Institute of Chemical Physics. In 1947 he published his major work "Diffusion and Heat Transfer in Chemical Kinetics" in Russian. Between 1948 and 1956 Frank-Kamenetskii lived in Sarov
and worked on the Soviet atomic bomb project
in the secret military research institute codenamed "Arzamas-16" or the "Installation". (In 1993, the Sarov became a sister city to Los Alamos
, New Mexico, USA).
In 1952 his second daughter, Maria was born and in the same year he suffered a major heart attack. In 1956 Frank-Kamenetskii left the "Installation" for Moscow. Between 1956 and 1970 Frank-Kamenetskii was the head of a laboratory in the I. V. Kurchatov Institute
of Atomic Energy and organized and headed the Department of Plasma Physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He was teaching plasma physics and published several major works in plasma physics and biophysics. Between 1960 and 1970 he was the editor of the major Russian popular science magazine, Priroda (Природа, in English: Nature). Frank-Kamenetskii died in Moscow on 2 June 1970 due to a heart failure.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
- June 2, 1970, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
) was a Soviet theoretical physicist and chemist, professor and doctor of physical, chemical and mathemetical sciences. He developed the thermal explosion theory, worked on plasma physics problems and in astrophysics.
Life
David A. Frank-Kamenetskii was born on 1910, August 3 in Vilna (RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
; now Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
) in a Jewish family. His parents were Albert G. Frank-Kamenetskii (1873–1935) and Anna A. Frank-Kamenetskii (née Hannah A. Arons; 1883–1948). In 1917-1918 the family left Vilna, spent one year near Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and finally resided in Irkutsk
Irkutsk
Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...
(Eastern Siberia), where Albert G. Frank-Kamenetskii became the chair of the Chemistry Department in the newly organized Irkutsk State University
Irkutsk State University
Irkutsk State University was founded in October 1918 in Irkutsk, Siberia.At present, the University consists of 10 faculties, 4 educational institutions and 2 branches. Over 18 thousand students including 300 foreign students from 27 countries study at University in 52 specialties. More than 620...
. In 1931 Frank-Kamenetskii graduated from the Siberian Technological Institute (now Tomsk Polytechnic University
Tomsk Polytechnic University
Tomsk Polytechnic University in Tomsk, Russia, is the oldest technical university in Russia east of the Urals. The university was founded in 1896 and opened in 1900 as the Tomsk Technological Institute. In 1923, the school was renamed the Siberian Technological Institute and in 1930, the institute...
, Tomsk
Tomsk
Tomsk is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004...
, Russia) in Metallurgy Engineering.
In 1932 he married Klavdia A. Kopytova and in the same year their daughter Tema was born.
From 1931 to 1934 Frank-Kamenetskii worked as a mining engineer in the Chita
Chita
-Places:* Chita, Aichi, a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan* Chita District, Aichi, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan* Chita Peninsula, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan* Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai, a city in Russia...
gold mines in Eastern Siberia and he was also teaching in a Chita engineering college.
In 1934 Frank-Kamenetskii wrote a letter to Professor Nikolay Nikolaevich Semenov
Nikolay Semyonov
Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov was a Russian/Soviet physicist and chemist. Semyonov was awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on the mechanism of chemical transformation.-Life:...
in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
(now Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia) about chemical thermodynamics
Chemical thermodynamics
Chemical thermodynamics is the study of the interrelation of heat and work with chemical reactions or with physical changes of state within the confines of the laws of thermodynamics...
. Being impressed by the letter, Professor Semenov invited Frank-Kamenetskii to join the Institute of Chemical Physics as a graduate student. The Institute of Chemical Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences was organized by Professor Semenov in 1931 in Leningrad. From 1934 to 1941 Frank Kamenetskii lived in Leningrad and worked in the Institute of Chemical Physics. He met here Yakov B. Zeldovich and started a close friendship and a fruitful collaboration with him. He published several chemical papers in the topics of chain reactions, combustion theory and periodic chemical reactions.
In 1935 Frank-Kamenetskii divorced from his first wife Klavdia and married to Elena E. Fridman (1910–1992). Their first son was born two years later (Albert D. Frank-Kamentskii, 1937–1979). In 1938 Frank-Kamenetskii received his Candidate of Sciences (CSc) degree (PhD equivalent) in chemistry from the Institute of Chemical Physics.
After the Nazi Germany invasion at the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
) in June, 1941, Frank-Kamenetskii and his family was evacuated to Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
on the Volga River, where the Institute of Chemical Physics was relocated. During the family relocation, the second son, Maxim (1941- ), was born in
Gorky. During years 1941 to 1944 he worked in Kazan on the problem of graphite conversion to diamond. In 1943 he received the Doktor Nauk
Doktor nauk
Doktor nauk is a higher doctoral degree, the second and the highest post-graduate academic degree in the Soviet Union, Russia and in many post-Soviet states. Sometimes referred to as Dr. Hab. The prerequisite is the first degree, Kandidat nauk which is informally regarded equivalent to Ph.D....
degree (DSc equivalent) in physics and mathematics from the USSR Academy of Sciences.
In 1944-1946 Frank-Kamenetskii lived in Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
, Russia) and headed the Department of Technical Chemistry of the Gorky State University (now Nizhny Novgorod State University
Nizhny Novgorod State University
N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod , also known as Lobachevsky University, was established in 1916 as a People's University. From 1932 to 1956, its name was State University of Gorky – from 1932 to 1990 the city of Nizhny Novgorod was known as Gorky – and from 1956...
).
In 1947-1948 Frank-Kamenetskii lived in Moscow and worked in the Institute of Chemical Physics. In 1947 he published his major work "Diffusion and Heat Transfer in Chemical Kinetics" in Russian. Between 1948 and 1956 Frank-Kamenetskii lived in Sarov
Sarov
Sarov is a closed town in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia. Until 1995 it was known as Kremlyov ., while from 1946 to 1991 it was called Arzamas-16 . The town is off limits to foreigners as it is the Russian center for nuclear research. Population: -History:The history of the town can be divided...
and worked on the Soviet atomic bomb project
Soviet atomic bomb project
The Soviet project to develop an atomic bomb , was a clandestine research and development program began during and post-World War II, in the wake of the Soviet Union's discovery of the United States' nuclear project...
in the secret military research institute codenamed "Arzamas-16" or the "Installation". (In 1993, the Sarov became a sister city to Los Alamos
Los Alamos
-United States:*Los Alamos, California*Los Alamos, New Mexico**Los Alamos Ranch School, boys' school**Los Alamos National Laboratory**Los Alamos County, New Mexico**Los Alamos Museum, unofficial name of the Bradbury Science Museum was a large floating dry dock...
, New Mexico, USA).
In 1952 his second daughter, Maria was born and in the same year he suffered a major heart attack. In 1956 Frank-Kamenetskii left the "Installation" for Moscow. Between 1956 and 1970 Frank-Kamenetskii was the head of a laboratory in the I. V. Kurchatov Institute
Kurchatov Institute
The Kurchatov Institute is Russia's leading research and development institution in the field of nuclear energy. In the Soviet Union it was known as I. V. Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy , abbreviated KIAE . It is named after Igor Kurchatov....
of Atomic Energy and organized and headed the Department of Plasma Physics at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He was teaching plasma physics and published several major works in plasma physics and biophysics. Between 1960 and 1970 he was the editor of the major Russian popular science magazine, Priroda (Природа, in English: Nature). Frank-Kamenetskii died in Moscow on 2 June 1970 due to a heart failure.