Lev Landau's 111th Birth Anniversary: Top 6 Quotes by the Soviet Physicist on Science and Life

Lev Landau, a Soviet theoretical physicist was born in Azerbaijan on January 22, 1908. On his 111th birth anniversary, Google has dedicated a doodle to the man honouring his contributions to theoretical physics. While he passed away on April 1, 1968, at the age of 60, his quotes on science and life, physics, cosmology and much more are remembered even today.

In 1961, Landau won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research into liquid helium's behaviour at extremely low temperatures. He was a "quiet, shy boy," in school and brilliant at math and science. He completed his studies at the age of 13 and almost began to go to college before any of his classmates. He enrolled in the Physics Department of Leningrad University and his first publication, 'On the Theory of the Spectra of Diatomic Molecules' ready to be printed when he was just 18 years old. Lev Landau 111th Birth Anniversary: Google Honours Soviet-Era Physicist With Special Doodle.

On  Landau's 111th birth anniversary, we have listed down some of his quotes popular in the world of science, especially physics.

1. "Most important part of doing physics is the knowledge of approximation."

2. "A method is more important than a discovery, since the right method will lead to new and even more important discoveries."

3. "Product of optimism and knowledge is a constant."

4. "Cosmologists are often in error, but never in doubt."

5. "Money is in the exponent. And exponent needs to be calculated precisely."

6. "Why add prime numbers? Prime numbers are made to be multiplied, not added."

After completing his PhD at age 21, Landau earned a Rockefeller fellowship and a Soviet stipend. Using which he visited research facilities in Zurich, Cambridge, and Copenhagen where he got the opportunity to study with Nobel Laureate Niels Bohr. Bohr who was known for his work in quantum theory had quite an impact on him.

In 1946, he was elected to the U.S.S.R.'s Academy of Science and received the Lenin Science Prize for his monumental Course of Theoretical Physics. He was the first to describe Landau Levels, which are the focus of today’s Doodle, Landau diamagnetism, Landau damping, and the Landau energy spectrum. His legacy today continues to live through his work. He even has a crater on the moon named after him!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 22, 2019 09:21 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).