V. L. Pulver

On August 11, as the result of an accident, the young and talented physicist Valentin Lvovich Pulver died in the Caucasus at the age of 27. V. L. was born in 1907 in Leningrad. After graduating from Moscow University in 1930, V. L. entered the All-Union Electrotechnical Institute (VEI), where he began work as a trainee, but very quickly distinguished himself and in that same year was appointed senior research associate. While still a trainee, V. L. carried out a highly responsible examination of the lighting design for the machine hall of Dneproges; on the basis of his calculations and recommendations, substantial changes were introduced into the final design. In 1931 V. L. completed a work (together with Antonov-Romanovsky) on the calculation of a projector beam, which was of great practical importance. This work presented a method for taking account of mirror aberrations. In 1932 V. L. developed an extremely ingenious scheme for objective monitoring of the luminous intensity of incandescent lamps with the aid of photocells (Zhurnal “Elektroindustriya”, 1933). In the same year he developed a scheme for objective pyrometry with the aid of a photocell with filters (Svetotekhnika, 1932). This scheme was implemented in the factory laboratory of Elektro-zavod. Thus, although V. L. was not an engineer, he handled the solution of important technical problems well.

Beginning in 1932, V. L. turned to less applied work. In 1932 V. L., together with V. L. Ginzburg and myself, carried out a large study on the scattering of light in strongly turbid media (Z. Physik 81, 1933, and Trudy GOI). In this work a number of regularities were established for the scattering of light in strongly turbid media, and the connection between the macroscopic properties of a medium and the properties of the elementary scattering particles was clarified. In this work V. L. showed great inventiveness in overcoming experimental difficulties, always finding simple and ingenious solutions; he also deserves a considerable share of credit for the theoretical discussion of the results. In 1933 V. L., together with me, carried out a study of discharge in mercury vapor, in which the concentrations of excited atoms in the discharge were determined by optical methods (see Reports of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1934). This work was to have been the first in a whole series of studies on the optics of gas discharge. Despite his youth, V. L. had already succeeded in establishing himself as an outstanding scientific worker. We shall cite here an excerpt from a general characterization of him as a physicist, given by Academician S. I. Vavilov in connection with the award to V. L. of the title of docent:

“V. L. Pulver is one of the principal leading scientific workers of the lighting-engineering department of the All-Union Electrotechnical Institute. The works he has carried out concern a variety of questions in applied and scientific optics (calculation of a parabolic projector, the theory of turbid media, photoelectric photometry, the atomic mechanism of discharge in gases) and testify to him as an outstanding specialist in optics, who deals easily and by original methods with very complex problems.”

Carrying on intensive scientific work, V. L. at the same time did not break his ties with production. He was a regular consultant to the Elektrosvet factory. The factory laboratory turned to him with every difficulty and always received precise, clear, and detailed answers to the questions posed. Some of the answers were, in essence, small studies in geometrical optics.

V. L. Pulver

In addition, V. L. devoted much time to helping inventors; here again his advice was concrete, clear, and deeply thought out. Possessing a literary gift, V. L. began systematic work as early as 1924. In recent years he wrote a number of articles for the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, a number of review articles on cosmic rays, a large survey on television, and many translations. In 1933 V. L. began, very successfully, to teach a course in optics at the Bubnov Pedagogical Institute.

An untimely death cut short this life, only just beginning to surge, full of deep content and creative energy, a young life.

V. Fabrikant

List of Printed Works by V. L. Pulver

Original Works

1. A method for calculating the beam of a parabolic reflector, Journal of Technical Physics No. 3, 1934.

2. An objective photometer for mass testing of incandescent lamps, Elektrichestvo No. 16, 1933.

3. Objective pyrometry, Svetotekhnika No. 4, 1932.

4. Scattering of light in highly turbid media (brief communication, printed in Z. Physik, 1934). Printed in full in the Proceedings of the State Optical Institute, 1934.

5. On the concentration of 2 \(P\)-levels in a high-pressure mercury discharge (printed in Reports of the Academy of Sciences, 1934).

6. Optical characteristics of a high-pressure mercury discharge.

Articles and Translations

1. A number of popular-science and technical articles in the journal Radio Amateur (up to 1928).

2. The problem of television and ways of solving it (Govorit SSSR No. 20, 1933).

3. New studies of cosmic rays, Mirovedenie No. 4, 1933.

4. Chapters “Optics” in the physics course for pedagogical higher educational institutions. Uchpedgiz, 1934.

5. Mirrors (article for the GSE).

6. Specular reflection (article for the GSE).