by Michael Levinshtein (Ioffe Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences)

About the Author

Michael E Levinshtein was awarded prizes for the best paper of the Ioffe Institute in 1968 to 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977 and 1978, 1980, 1982 to 1984, 1986, 1989; and lastly, in 1995. He was later named the Outstanding Scientist of Russia by State Russian Stipend from 1997 to 2000. He received prizes for the best paper by the Solid State Electronics Division of the Ioffe Institute in 1999 and 2000. He is now the Principal Scientist of the Ioffe Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences.

The Spirit of Russian Science comprises dozens of short and funny true stories about the relations between people working in science, the ways people of science interacted, and their attitudes towards life. On the one hand, these stories are very Russian. On the other hand, the spirit of science displayed is very international. One cannot help feeling it, and it is something that is very difficult to define. This book shows the way this spirit manifests itself, providing amusing examples.