Yuri Orlov's CV is a giant amongst CVs.
November 10, 2018 3:39 PM Subscribe
CURRICULUM VITAE OF YURI ORLOV (PDF). @davidkelliher: "Wow, this accelerator physicist's CV is something else..." [Note: this is not an obit.]
In the early hours of Nov. 8, 2018, while looking for an obscure paper on coherent modes of particle beams, accelerator physicist David Kelliher came across the CV of Yuri Orlov, a giant of the accelerator physics field. "Wow" Kelliher wrote, struck by the overall awesomeness of the CV, which could be described as "badass" in the nomenclature of today's youth, and so inspired he proceeded to author a twitter thread about Orlov and his remarkable life. There can be little argument that it is one of the best CVs ever.
[/silliness]
Yuri Orlov was born in 1924 and has worked on particle accelerator theory from the birth of strong focusing synchrotrons in the early 1950s. He was also a founder of the human rights movement in the Soviet Union. A former Soviet dissident, he served nine years in prison and internal exile for monitoring the Helsinki human rights accords as part of the Moscow Helsinki Group, of which he was a founder. While imprisoned he wrote and smuggled out 3 scientific papers and several human rights appeals. He was deported from the USSR to the US in 1986. Orlov celebrated his 90th birthday in 2014, and is still a working professor at Cornell University, where he's been working since 1987 and holds the title of Professor of Physics and Government.
[It seems like we usually have threads about great people's lives in response to their obituaries, often including praise or criticism for the obit itself. Well, I thought Orlov's CV and Kelliher's thread was a perfect opportunity to have one for a remarkable person who is still alive. So Huzzah for Yuri Orlov!]
In the early hours of Nov. 8, 2018, while looking for an obscure paper on coherent modes of particle beams, accelerator physicist David Kelliher came across the CV of Yuri Orlov, a giant of the accelerator physics field. "Wow" Kelliher wrote, struck by the overall awesomeness of the CV, which could be described as "badass" in the nomenclature of today's youth, and so inspired he proceeded to author a twitter thread about Orlov and his remarkable life. There can be little argument that it is one of the best CVs ever.
[/silliness]
Yuri Orlov was born in 1924 and has worked on particle accelerator theory from the birth of strong focusing synchrotrons in the early 1950s. He was also a founder of the human rights movement in the Soviet Union. A former Soviet dissident, he served nine years in prison and internal exile for monitoring the Helsinki human rights accords as part of the Moscow Helsinki Group, of which he was a founder. While imprisoned he wrote and smuggled out 3 scientific papers and several human rights appeals. He was deported from the USSR to the US in 1986. Orlov celebrated his 90th birthday in 2014, and is still a working professor at Cornell University, where he's been working since 1987 and holds the title of Professor of Physics and Government.
[It seems like we usually have threads about great people's lives in response to their obituaries, often including praise or criticism for the obit itself. Well, I thought Orlov's CV and Kelliher's thread was a perfect opportunity to have one for a remarkable person who is still alive. So Huzzah for Yuri Orlov!]
Thanks homunculus for this well-researched post about an incredible person. He's truly dedicated to his work, even publishing while he was in a labor camp.
Did you find anything in your investigation about whether he'd prefer to fight five human-sized ducks or five duck-sized humans?
posted by bendy at 5:25 PM on November 10, 2018
Did you find anything in your investigation about whether he'd prefer to fight five human-sized ducks or five duck-sized humans?
posted by bendy at 5:25 PM on November 10, 2018
Did you find anything in your investigation about whether he'd prefer to fight five human-sized ducks or five duck-sized humans?
Actually, most of the links were in the twitter thread, so I didn't do much research myself. Thus I have little insight into whether he'd prefer to fight five human-sized ducks or five duck-sized humans. That question would probably be better addressed by an actual accelerator physicist with access to a poultry accelerator.
posted by homunculus at 5:42 PM on November 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
Actually, most of the links were in the twitter thread, so I didn't do much research myself. Thus I have little insight into whether he'd prefer to fight five human-sized ducks or five duck-sized humans. That question would probably be better addressed by an actual accelerator physicist with access to a poultry accelerator.
posted by homunculus at 5:42 PM on November 10, 2018 [4 favorites]
I think the question is: Would he fire a particle at 5 chicken-sized Ducks, or fire 5 duck-sized particles at a chicken? Either way, you get strange matter. Particle physics is weird like that, even for badasses.
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:39 PM on November 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Devils Rancher at 6:39 PM on November 10, 2018 [1 favorite]
More particle accelerator science links from Kelliher's physicist colleague Suzie Sheehy:
How To Trap Particles in a Particle Accelerator. "In particle accelerators, beams of particles are focused and fired forward at almost the speed of light. But how are those particles controlled? With the help of two visual demonstrations, Suzie Sheehy explains."
The case for curiosity-driven research. "Seemingly pointless scientific research can lead to extraordinary discoveries, says physicist Suzie Sheehy. In a talk and tech demo, she shows how many of our modern technologies are tied to centuries-old, curiosity-driven experiments -- and makes the case for investing in more to arrive at a deeper understanding of the world."
posted by homunculus at 9:53 PM on November 10, 2018
How To Trap Particles in a Particle Accelerator. "In particle accelerators, beams of particles are focused and fired forward at almost the speed of light. But how are those particles controlled? With the help of two visual demonstrations, Suzie Sheehy explains."
The case for curiosity-driven research. "Seemingly pointless scientific research can lead to extraordinary discoveries, says physicist Suzie Sheehy. In a talk and tech demo, she shows how many of our modern technologies are tied to centuries-old, curiosity-driven experiments -- and makes the case for investing in more to arrive at a deeper understanding of the world."
posted by homunculus at 9:53 PM on November 10, 2018
I mean the last entry, in 2015, he became a Jedi. Where do you go from there really?
OK, don't answer that.
posted by merlynkline at 12:44 AM on November 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
OK, don't answer that.
posted by merlynkline at 12:44 AM on November 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
Right before "KGB Prison", and after "Fired", from his position at the Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism and Dissemination of Radio Waves:
1973-1977: Private Tutoring
This is simultaneously the most relatable part of the CV (because who hasn't put together piecemeal private tutoring/teaching/editing/contract/whatever work in between positions?) and well, the least because of why he was fired and what happened next.
posted by damayanti at 5:13 AM on November 11, 2018 [4 favorites]
1973-1977: Private Tutoring
This is simultaneously the most relatable part of the CV (because who hasn't put together piecemeal private tutoring/teaching/editing/contract/whatever work in between positions?) and well, the least because of why he was fired and what happened next.
posted by damayanti at 5:13 AM on November 11, 2018 [4 favorites]
From a comment in the Twitter feed:
cant believe he was sentenced to 21 years at Cornell... harsh
posted by chavenet at 7:42 AM on November 11, 2018 [6 favorites]
cant believe he was sentenced to 21 years at Cornell... harsh
posted by chavenet at 7:42 AM on November 11, 2018 [6 favorites]
Suzanne Nossel, Foreign Policy, July 11, 2018: Once Upon a Time, Helsinki Meant Human Rights. Trump’s summit with Putin risks tarnishing a legacy of Republican moral leadership.
As it turned out, the compact that some feared would consolidate Soviet control over Eastern Europe did the opposite. Shortly after the Soviet newspaper Pravda published the accord, courageous Muscovites, led by the physicist Yuri Orlov, formed the Moscow Helsinki Group to monitor their government’s compliance. Activists established similar Helsinki Watch groups in the Soviet Republics of Ukraine, Lithuania, and Georgia, as well as in Poland and Czechoslovakia. The U.S. Congress created its own Helsinki Commission, which exists to this day, now headed by Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey.posted by homunculus at 9:28 AM on November 11, 2018 [3 favorites]
The path to greater freedom wasn’t smooth. Soon after the Moscow Helsinki Group began compiling and distributing hard-hitting reports on its government’s human rights abuses, Orlov was arrested along with Anatoly Shcharansky (who now goes by the name Natan Sharansky) and other Helsinki monitoring leaders. The Soviets sentenced Orlov to seven years in a labor camp and Sharansky to 13. The former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg led a U.S. delegation to the first international Helsinki review conference in Belgrade, where he shocked the government delegates by recognizing the imprisoned dissidents by name.
...
President Ronald Reagan also made human rights a centerpiece of his effort to discredit the Soviet Union around the world and promote change from within. In 1986, the Soviets freed Orlov, whom Reagan promptly welcomed to the White House. Again in 1988, before a summit in Moscow, the Soviet Union assailed Reagan’s plan to meet with dissidents, but the president invoked Helsinki to deliver a ringing coda on freedom of speech, religion, and travel. “Whatever the future may bring,” he said, “the commitment of the United States will nevertheless remain unshakable on human rights.”
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Lifetime achievement award: unlocked.
posted by Devonian at 4:48 PM on November 10, 2018 [5 favorites]