Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
Today, the outstanding scientist and teacher, head of the Department of Solid State Chemistry, celebrates his birthday Faculty of Natural Sciences, Novosibirsk State University, Academician Vladimir Vyacheslavovich Boldyrev. He turns 98 years old.
One of the founding fathers of mechanochemistry, the founder of the first department of solid state chemistry in the USSR, a man of amazingly sharp mind – these are just a few strokes to his portrait. Vladimir Vyacheslavovich himself tells about how his childhood passion for chemistry grew into a life’s work, what real research should be like, how to find your way in science.
— When did you first become interested in chemistry and who was your first teacher?
— I started studying chemistry in the 4th grade of school. My first teacher was my father. He was not a chemist himself, but he knew well what books I needed to start with. He turned out to be a good teacher, he knew how to direct a child in the right direction, support, teach the general principles of studying any science. This is much more important than giving specific knowledge.
— Who do you consider your main teachers?
— First of all, Professor Alexander Pavlovich Buntin of Tomsk State University. He was one of the first in our country to study the reactivity of solids; in 1941 he defended his doctoral dissertation “Reactivity of Solids and Kinetics of Topochemical Reactions.” It was he who introduced me to this field of science. Initially, I wanted to study coal chemistry, and I had never even heard of topochemical reactions. Then, of course, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Simon Zalmanovich Roginsky, the creator of the electron theory of catalysis and the theory of active states.
— Why did you decide to go into science?
— My childhood coincided with the time when the country sang: “Hello, country of heroes, country of dreamers, country of scientists.” Many people dreamed of going into science, and in our family this also coincided with our parents’ ideas about what the most wonderful occupation in life was. Since childhood, I was surrounded by books, I saw my father looking at minerals through a microscope right at home in our common room crowded with people, the children’s technical station was actively working, which I actively visited. At the age of 13, as a fifth-grader, I participated in the All-Union Chemistry Olympiad for grades 8-10 and, as a winner, was awarded a trip to Artek, where I celebrated the New Year of 1941.
— What teaching difficulties did you encounter when you came to work at the university?
— At Tomsk State University, my work involved both teaching and research. From my first days as a student, I worked in the lab at the same time. I started teaching right after finishing my postgraduate studies at TSU — I was assigned to teach a general chemistry course to the streams of geologists, biologists, physicists, and students from the special departments. I also taught a practical course for chemists on inorganic synthesis. My workload was the same as that of university teachers: 1-2 pairs of lectures and 6 hours of practical training every day. So the hardest part was finding time not only to teach classes and prepare for them, but also to do my own research and supervise the research work of students and postgraduates. But it was even harder for my wife — she also worked at the university, and no less than I did, but she also had a small child on her hands, and she also took on all the everyday problems, which were immeasurably more difficult than today. If it weren’t for my wife, I would never have succeeded as a scientist. She, being no less capable of scientific work, loving science and teaching no less than me, having at our meeting no less “initial achievements”, sacrificed her scientific career for her family. Of course, she herself achieved a lot in science, and educated many students, but this was far from her “ceiling” in terms of her abilities.
— Have you ever experienced fear of public speaking? If so, how did you cope with it?
– No, I didn’t. I had no time for that. I needed to convey the subject to the audience, and there was no time for self-reflection.
— What techniques for activating students’ cognitive activity do you use during lectures, seminars or practical classes?
— I always tried to talk to the audience, to have a dialogue, not to avoid difficult questions, on the contrary — I provoked them myself. I always started classes by getting to know the audience, to understand what background and expectations the students brought to my classes. The assignments for practical classes were selected in such a way that as a result of their completion, joint scientific articles were obtained, many of which are still relevant. It is a great joy for me that I still meet very old people who tell me that they listened to and remember my lectures. I guess I really managed to read interestingly.
— Have you had any “difficult” students? How did you deal with them?
— Over more than 70 years of teaching, of course, there were. Whenever possible, I tried to part with them. I didn’t part with some in time, felt sorry for them, for which I later had to pay dearly.
— Do you have a teaching motto? If so, what is it?
— You can’t say it better than Academician Budker: “Teacher, educate a student so that he has someone to learn from.”
— What advice would you give to a beginning teacher?
– Never stop learning yourself and don’t give up when faced with difficulties.
— How, in your opinion, should one approach the choice of topic for scientific work?
— And again, you couldn’t say it better than Academician Budker: “Choose not what to do, but who to work with.”
— What should real scientific research be like?
— Unpredictable in advance in terms of the result. A real researcher will not pass by a strange observation, an unexpected result, and will not rest until he finds an explanation for them, perhaps by setting up a whole series of new experiments for this purpose.
— What advice could you give to a chemistry student who is just choosing his path in science?
— As the creator of the first department of solid state chemistry in the USSR and still its head, of course, I consider it the best, and our science the most interesting. But seriously, when choosing a path in science, as with any other choice, I advise you to try, analyze and, most importantly, think with your own head.
— Do you have a hobby?
“I am a happy person – my work was and remains my main hobby in life.
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