In Memory of T. K. Molodyi

E. V. Shpolsky.

On October 14, 1929, Trofim Kononovich Molodyi died of a repeated cerebral hemorrhage. This death is a grave loss not only for the family of Soviet physicists, but also for all of Soviet science, to whose organization he devoted all his strength.

Trofim Kononovich Molodyi lived a short, but exceptionally vivid and full life. He was born in 1889 in the town of Gizhiginsk in Kamchatka. His father was Ukrainian by nationality, thrown by chance of circumstance to Kamchatka; his mother was a native woman, half-Lamut. His childhood passed in the quite unusual surroundings of this remote borderland, with its harsh nature and distinctive way of life. This nature and this way of life were vividly imprinted in his consciousness for his whole life, and his national origin was sharply emphasized in his distinctive appearance. At the age of ten T. K. made the long journey from Kamchatka to Khabarovsk, where he entered a real school. There, according to those who had known him from childhood, he immediately stood out by the extraordinary liveliness of his character and by his excellent abilities. After completing the real school in 1908, he made a second long journey—from the Far East to the center of Russia—and spent the rest of his life here.

At first he entered the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of St. Petersburg University, where with particular enthusiasm he attended lectures on physics by Prof. O. D. Khvolson. At that time, however, the recognized and indisputable

“capital” of Russian physics was Moscow, for it was precisely here that, for the first time in the history of Russian physics, around the brilliant scholar and no less brilliant teacher P. N. Lebedev, a considerable group of physicists had gathered—the first Russian school of physicists. And already in the following year, 1909, T. K. transferred to Moscow University, with the firm intention of devoting himself to the study of physics. In 1910 he turned to P. P. Lazarev, at that time still a privat-docent of Moscow University, with the request that he give him a topic for independent scientific work, and he received this topic. However, in January 1911 the well-known “student disturbances” took place, in which T. K. took an active part; as a result he was expelled from the university and banished from Moscow. To complete his education he intended to go to Germany; however, six months later the authorities “tempered justice with mercy,” and those expelled, including T. K., were again admitted to the university. But the university was no longer the same: as a result of the departure of Lebedev, Lazarev, and all the physicists of the Lebedev school, the university’s Physics Institute was a desert. All life had moved into two small laboratories organized by Lebedev and Lazarev at the A. L. Shanyavsky City People’s University. In one of them, under the direction of P. P. Lazarev, T. K. Molody began his scientific work.

After graduating from the university, in 1913, T. K. taught physics in various secondary educational institutions in Moscow; in 1914 he was elected lecturer in physics in the Popular-Science Department of Shanyavsky University; and from 1915 he was an instructor in the Academic Department of the same University. With the liquidation of Shanyavsky University in 1919, T. K. moved to the First Moscow University, where he taught until his very death. In the period 1920–1924 he also taught at the Moscow Higher Technical School. As a teacher he was outstanding: he was enthusiastic himself and knew how to kindle the interest of his listeners and pupils.

From the beginning of the revolution T. K. was gradually drawn into broad work of a public character. The revolution as

In Memory of T. K. Molodoy

could not have suited his frame of mind and his active, energetic nature better. It is understandable that he accepted it with enthusiasm and, sparing no effort, sacrificing the interests of his scientific work, threw himself into public work.

The beginning of this period of his activity was marked by his work in the “Commission for Improving the Living Conditions of Learned Physicians” (KUBUV). In 1921, at the height of the civil war and the difficulties with food supplies, the above-named commission was organized under the People’s Commissariat of Health, under the chairmanship of Academician P. P. Lazarev. We all still remember well what an exceptionally important role its creation played in the life of scientific workers. It is difficult to reckon how much the productivity of work increased thanks to the significant improvement in living conditions that it brought about. Being closely connected with the People’s Commissariat of Health through his work at the Institute of Biological Physics, T. K. Molodoy became the secretary of this commission and very quickly became perhaps its most active worker. Into this work he put not only all his enormous energy, but also great tact and extreme scrupulousness—qualities especially important in the work of such an institution, which supplied its charges with entirely real benefits in life. Those who knew T. K. Molodoy at that time—and very many knew him—will of course remember the conditions in which he lived and worked. He was literally besieged by dozens of people; he found no rest even at home, and a succession of visitors and constant telephone calls often continued until late at night. He was attentive to everyone, ready to do everything possible for each, but never, for anyone or anything, did he do anything “as a favor”; in this respect he was inexorably strict and pedantic.

Everyday difficulties, however, were not the only ones at that time. The World War and the subsequent blockade cut us off from the rest of the world; current scientific literature was unavailable, we did not know what had been done abroad, and not infrequently undertook work that had already been done there. When at last the barrier was removed, one of the first to go abroad was, of course, Molodoy. His task was

E. V. SHPOLSKY

the supply of the scientific institutions of the People’s Commissariat of Health with scientific literature, and he solved this task with lightning speed. Already from Revel he began sending countless crates of journals and books. He knew that these crates brought much joy to his comrades, and he rejoiced together with them, giving expression to this joy in little humorous notes that he put into almost every crate.

At about the same time T. K. undertook another task, which was destined to become the chief work of his life: the publication of scientific journals. In 1920, on the initiative of Academician P. P. Lazarev, the journal Proceedings of the Physical Institute at the Moscow Scientific Institute began to be published. This journal was to print brief reports on works carried out at the institute. The realization of this publication was entrusted to T. K. Today this seems to us a very small matter, but at that time it required great energy, enthusiasm, and the ability to attract attention to the necessary cause. For T. K., the publication of the Proceedings was the first step in organizing the publication of journals on an all-Union scale.

At the end of 1921 T. K. was invited by O. Yu. Schmidt and A. G. Kalashnikov to work in the State Publishing House, which had only just been transformed into an economic institution. At first he took part in the creation of scientific series. But already after a year or a year and a half he was entrusted with an even broader task: organizing the publication of scientific journals. On the pages of Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk there is no need to speak of the role that the proper organization of scientific periodicals plays in the scientific life of the country. A scientific journal not only makes it possible to record the results of completed works, but is also one of the most powerful stimuli for the fruitful development of science. T. K. Molodyi found the publication of scientific journals still in a completely chaotic state. From the pre-revolutionary period there remained a certain number of journals that had established themselves in world literature, but they eked out a miserable existence: they appeared irregularly, in reduced size

IN MEMORY OF T. K. MOLODY

and had become, alongside this, very unattractive in appearance. A number of scientific disciplines had no organs of their own at all. All this entailed the accumulation of an enormous quantity of unpublished works. T. K. not only understood with perfect clarity, but literally felt with his whole being, the full importance of the task entrusted to him. And he put into this work all his energy and all his unsurpassed organizational talent. His efforts were crowned rather quickly with success. Probably everyone remembers that, until comparatively quite recently, in our newspapers there often appeared reproaches about the “deposits” of unpublished scientific investigations; but perhaps not everyone noticed that in the very last years these complaints have completely ceased. It may be said without exaggeration that if the publication of scientific journals has been set on firm ground and has expanded so widely, this is entirely the merit of T. K. Molody. He held in his hands all the threads of the management of this complex affair. He not only knew excellently and took the necessary account of the individual peculiarities of each of his numerous journals; he remembered all the articles that were printed in these journals. He entered into every detail, took an interest in the commercial side of the journals, and himself made calculations. It was an enormous pleasure for him to assist in improving the appearance of the journals: every extra three-color plate that he could give to some medical or biological journal brought him sincere joy.

With all these numerous and responsible duties, T. K. never forgot science. In publishing activity, an inspiration for him was his direct participation in editing and managing the Journal of Applied Physics, created by his efforts. He also devoted much strength and attention to the popularization of science. As a member of the board of the Central House of Scientists, he took a significant part in the broad educational work of this institution. He was a most active member of the Lecture Commission and himself repeatedly appeared with popular lectures in various auditoriums of Moscow.

And during the last five years of his life T. K. was a member of the editorial board and the actual editor of the popular-science journal Iskra and editor of the popular-science series Science and Technology. Likewise, he never for a moment broke his connection with that scientific institution where he had been formed and had grown spiritually—with the laboratory of Academician P. P. Lazarev, which in 1920 was transformed into the Institute of Physics and Biophysics of the People’s Commissariat of Health. T. K. was a very gifted experimental physicist. He loved small objects and delicate work and was not afraid of any experimental difficulties. But human strength is limited, and a day has only 24 hours! Naturally, given his overburdened schedule, T. K. could devote only crumbs of time to scientific work. Had he lived in another epoch, he would probably have enriched science with a considerable number of elegant experimental studies. What he did manage to bring to completion, and especially what was published by him, is only a hint of what he could have done.

His first work, “Investigation of the Surface Tension of a Liquid by the Method of Photographing a Drop at the Moment of Detachment,” was carried out by him jointly with P. P. Pavlov. In it the methodological aspect is especially interesting: by means of the spark discharge of a capacitor, on a rapidly moving photographic plate there was obtained a series of images of drops at a moment close to detachment. Further, by studying the photograph obtained, it was established that tracing the change over time in the larger diameter of a drop makes it possible to overcome the chief difficulty connected with this method—to determine the true moment at which the drop begins to neck down, and at the same time to find the “neck” of the drop, knowledge of which permits the surface tension to be calculated. Under such conditions the method of weighing drops, which earlier had yielded notoriously incorrect results, proved to be a fully suitable and very convenient method for determining surface tension. It was proposed to apply this method to the solution of a number of problems in molecular and biological physics; however, this proposal was not carried out.

The second work of T. K. was devoted to the study of the sensitive flame of Govi, which, as is known, is a very convenient detector of sound. This work is of a purely empirical character. The best conditions for the action of this flame were studied with great care—the conditions under which it proves most sensitive and convenient for solving various acoustic problems. This work was also to serve as a methodological introduction to a series of acoustic studies of purely practical significance. However, constantly distracted from scientific work by other duties, T. K. was unable to carry out these studies.

Finally, the last of T. K.’s published works was carried out by him jointly with the writer of these lines and was devoted to the study of the chemical actions of X-rays. Using the well-known Eder reaction as an example, the kinetics of a typical X-ray-chemical process were studied in detail. In doing so, a number of very substantial facts were discovered that shed light on the nature of the action of X-rays and on the mechanism of this complex, but highly interesting, reaction.

In addition to these published works, T. K. undertook a number of other studies which, however, remained unfinished. Thus, at one time (1924–1925) he was very much taken up with X-ray spectral analysis. Having obtained a Müller spectrograph, T. K. quickly mastered the methods of X-ray spectrometry. He proposed to use the method he had acquired for searching for the then still unknown elements 43 and 75. However, this problem presented great difficulties of a purely chemical nature, as was very well shown soon afterward by the works of Noddack, Berg, and others, which gave rise to a long controversy not exhausted even today. In addition, at various times he was interested in problems in the theory of radiation (determination of the “sigma” constant in the Stefan–Boltzmann law), in photochemistry (the reaction and oxidation of quinine by chromic acid), and, in recent times, in purely practical problems (the construction of a muffler for motors).

In the last year of his life he was already completely ill.

Despite this, he continued to carry all his difficult duties. Those around him and those close to him tried more than once insistently to persuade him to reduce his work. But this was entirely in vain. He did not want to surrender: to the very last moment of his life he remained at his post.

There are two types of figures in science. Some concentrate all their strength on the work of the investigator. They usually leave behind a great intellectual legacy; their work often yields results important for the development of science, and therefore their names are preserved for a long time in the memory of posterity. Others—by the properties of their mental disposition, and sometimes by force of circumstances—devote the greater part of their strength to work of a public character, for example, to the organization of science. The role of such people in the development of science in a given country may be in no way less than the role of scholars directly engaged in working out particular scientific problems. But since few scientific facts are associated with their names, posterity often forgets them. T. K. Molodoy undoubtedly belonged to the second category of scientific workers. In that great struggle for a better future for mankind which is taking place in our country, he was one of the foremost fighters. Upon his responsibility lay one of the most important sectors of the front, and in that sector he proved victorious. He did not have the time or the strength to make use of his scientific gift as a physicist, but the great and responsible organizational work which he carried out with such success obliges us to the greatest gratitude and deep respect for his memory.

Let us hope, then, that the history of our revolution and of our science will preserve for posterity the name of the gifted scholar who devoted all his strength to making it possible for others to work in the best possible way—the name of T. K. Molodoy.