№ 1913. S. P. Kapitsa (1928-2012), physicist, winner of the State prize

Sergei Kapitsa was born in 1928 in a family of prominent scientists. His grandfather Academician Alexei Krylov was a shipbuilding scientist, represented the intellectual power of the Russian Empire in the early twentieth century. His father Pyotr L. Kapitsa was a great experimental physicist, engineer and philosopher, Nobel laureate. His brother Andrei Kapitsa was a famous geographer, Professor Emeritus of MSU and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Sergei Kapitsa was a professor, broadcaster, writer, chief editor of the magazine “In the world of science”, the vice-president of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. He owns the scientific work in the field of supersonic aerodynamics, terrestrial magnetism, applied electromagnetics, methods and theories of education, population and demography.

In 1973, Sergei Kapitsa published a book “Life of Sciences”, which served as a prerequisite to the appearance of the TV program “Obvious – unbelievable”. The program was aired almost 40 years, and Sergei Kapitsa was its permanent host. In 2008, Kapitsa was awarded a special prize “Taffy” for his personal contribution to the development of Russian television.

March 5, 2014 President issued a decree of the Russian Federation № 113 to perpetuate the memory of Sergei Kapitsa.