Every reader interested in understanding the important problems in physics and astrophysics and their historic development over the past 60 years will enjoy this book immensely. The philosophy, history and the individual views of famous scientists of the 20th century known personally to the author, make this book fascinating for non-physicists, too. The book consists of three parts on (I) major problems of physics and astrophysics, (II) the philosophy and history of science and (III) memorial essays on famous physicists. The author is an internationally renowned scientist, who summarizes here his life-long interests, experience, and insights into the work of other eminent 20th-century physicists. Professor Ginzburg’s fundamental contributions to the theory of superconductivity, encapsulated in the famous and widely-used Ginzburg-Landau equations, have been recognized with the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with A.A. Abrikosov and A.E. Leggett.

Translated by: M.S. Aksent'eva