The development of fundamental science in the Soviet Union was given great attention. Talented people with powerful intellect were involved in this field of activity. Vladimir Zuev headed the world's only research institute of Atmospheric Optics.
Starting conditions
For a long period of time, Siberia was considered and used as a place for criminals to be sent to hard labor. And only in Soviet times, scientific centers and industrial enterprises began to be intensively created in this territory. Tomsk, an ancient Russian city, has long been considered a forge of qualified personnel. The local university trained specialists who, having received an education, traveled throughout the territory from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean.
Vladimir Evseevich Zuev was born on January 29, 1925 in an ordinary Soviet family. Parents at that time lived in the taiga village of Small Goals in the north-east of the Irkutsk region. Father worked in the procurement office. Mother was engaged in housework. The main activity of the local population was fishing. Mushrooms and berries were collected in the taiga. They got furs and meat. Each house had hunting weapons, and the children knew how to handle it.
A child from an early age was prepared for independent life in harsh climatic conditions. The future academician was able to do all the housework. Chop wood. Get water from the well. Fix the fence. Hem boots. Harness the horse, and go for hay to a remote area. He knew the habits of game animals and birds. He was able to get grouse, and capercaillie, and hare, and red deer. At school, Vladimir studied well. His favorite subjects were mathematics and physics.
In 1942, Zuev graduated from high school and went to work as a slayer at a gold mine. Six months later, he was drafted into the army and sent to the war zone. Vladimir served in the artillery unit. After a brief preparation, he was appointed the chief computer at the headquarters of the division. In the summer of 1945, the artillery regiment took part in the offensive operation in the Manchurian direction. For accurate calculations and the issuance of the goal instructions, the fighter Zuev received thanks from the command. After demobilization in 1946, Vladimir Evseevich left for Tomsk.
Scientific activity
Zuev passed the entrance exams the first time, and he was enrolled in the physics department of the famous Tomsk University. Active and purposeful student from the first year began to engage in research. It so happened, Vladimir had to moonlight as a laboratory assistant at the Department of Optics and Spectrographic Analysis. The supervisory student quickly grasped the essence of the experiments and made several interesting suggestions. Already in his third year, Zuev published an article on the methods of spectral analysis of minerals in a scientific journal.
In 1951, Vladimir Zuev defended his thesis and entered graduate school. According to the regulations valid in those years, three years later, after the successful defense of the dissertation, he received the title of candidate of physical and mathematical sciences. For the next fifteen years, he was engaged in scientific activities within the walls of the Siberian Physical-Technical Institute. At that time, the confrontation between the USSR and the USA sharply intensified. Competition fully extended to the field of research.
To reveal the secrets of nature and to penetrate into the essence of processes, a scientist needs a variety of tools. One of these tools was the laser. This optoelectronic device was created by Soviet scientists. However, like any measuring device, it must have certain technical characteristics. In 1969, Vladimir Evseevich Zuev was instructed to form a department of optoelectronic devices at Tomsk University. The department began to train specialized specialists. At the same time, the foundations of the Institute of Atmospheric Optics were laid under the auspices of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
