Alexander A Friedmann: The Man who Made the Universe Expand

277 Pages·2006·11.92 MB·English

by  Eduard A. Tropp

Our Universe can be described mathematically by a simple model devel-
oped in 1922 at Petrograd (St. Petersburg) by Alexander Friedmann
(1888-1925), who predicted, before there was any observational evidence,
that the whole Universe would expand and evolve with time. He was an
outstanding Soviet physicist, and this vivid biography is set against a wide
historical background. The book is a window on his school and university
years, military service, and teaching and research during a seminal period
of Soviet history. The authors include unique archival material, such as
Friedmann's letters from the Front, as well as contemporary records and
reminiscences of colleagues. There is a detailed treatment of his work in
theoretical cosmology (1922-24), set in the context of the organization of
Soviet science at the time.

ALEXANDER A. FRIEDMANN:
THE MAN WHO MADE THE UNIVERSE EXPAND

ALEXANDER A. FRIEDMANN
THE MAN WHO MADE
THE UNIVERSE EXPAND
EDUARD A. TROPP
VIKTOR Ya. FRENKEL
and
ARTUR D. CHERNIN
Translated by
ALEXANDER DRON and MICHAEL BUROV
CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521384704
© Cambridge University Press 1993
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1993
This digitally printed first paperback version 2006
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Tropp, E. A. (Eduard Abramovich)
[Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Fridman. English]
Alexander A. Friedmann: the man who made the universe expand / by
Eduard A. Tropp, Viktor Ya. Frenkel, and Artur D. Chernin;
translated by Alexander Dron and Michael Burov,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-521-38470-2
1. Fridman, A. A. (Aleksandr Aleksandrovich), 1888-1925.
2. Cosmology. 3. Physicists — Soviet Union — Biography.
4. Astrophysics — Soviet Union — Biography. I. Frenkel, Viktor IAkovlevich.
II. Chernin, A. D. (Artur Davidovich). III. Title.
QC16.F73T7613 1993
530'.092-dc20 [B] 92-28315 CIP
ISBN-13 978-0-521-38470-4 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-38470-2 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-02588-1 paperback
ISBN-10 0-521-02588-5 paperback
Contents
Preface page ix
1 The Friedmanns and the Voyacheks 1
2 At the 2nd St. Petersburg Gymnasium 12
3 University years, 1906-14 28
4 In search of a way 58
5 War years 68
6 Moscow-Perm-Petrograd 86
7 Theoretical department of the Main Geophysical Observatory 97
8 Space and time 114
9 Geometry and dynamics of the Universe 144
10 Petrograd, 1920-24 176
11 The final year 194
12 Friedmann's world 215
Conclusion 254
Main dates in Friedmann's life and work 256
Bibliography 258
Name index 262
vn

Preface
This book came out in Russian in 1988, the centenary of the birth of
Alexander Friedmann, an outstanding Soviet scientist. The anniversary
was widely marked by the scientific community with national and inter-
national conferences and symposia dedicated to this event as a tribute to
the enormous contribution A. A. Friedmann made to the development of
hydrodynamics, meteorology and, particularly, relativistic cosmology.
Very little has been written about Friedmann. The present book is the first
detailed biography of the scientist. The material is generally given
chronologically and is based on the scientific works of Friedmann, docu-
mentary records and reminiscences by his contemporaries published in
the late 1920s. The book also includes unpublished reminiscences about
Alexander Friedmann.
The division of the work between the authors was as follows: Chapters
1-3, 5, 6 and 10, as well as the last section of Chapter 9, have been written
by V. Ya. Frenkel; Chapters 4, 7 and 11 by E. A. Tropp; Chapters 8, 9
and 12 by A. D. Chernin. Given this clear division, in some chapters the
material is presented in the first person singular. As to the method of
citation, given that the book is popular science, the authors decided not to
overburden it with footnotes. Quotations are either from archives or from
the literature given at the end of the book.
The authors would like to thank the staff workers of the Leningrad
archives for their assistance. We are grateful to Professor G. A. Grinberg
and Professor L. G. Loitsyansky, and also to S. Ye. Malinina, O. N.
Trapeznikova and A. B. Shekhter who shared their reminiscences with us.
We owe much important information to Ye. B. Belodubrovsky, A. S.
Korovchenko, L. V. Rukhovets, Ye. S. Selezneva and I. I. Shakura. We
would like to thank Professor A. A. Grib and Professor V. V. Ivanov for
reading the manuscript and making valuable suggestions.
IX
x Preface
We are glad that the book is finally coming out in English. We would
like to express our sincere gratitude to Professor M. Demianski and Pro-
fessor M. S. Longair whose kind attention made this English edition
possible.