About this DVD

This DVD is devoted to V.A. Ambartsumian’s life and activity and is the fullest collection of his biography, scientific results, achievements, publications, photos, etc. Along with (mostly) internal references, there are some external references that require Internet connection and can give access to web pages related to Ambartsumian.

Most of the material given on this DVD was not freely available before and in this sense is new; scanned publications, photos, digitized videos. We have collected PDF files from Internet or scanned 237 original publications (including 18 books) and 37 translated versions of papers. We have also collected from Internet or scanned 433 photos that describe Ambartsumian’s life and activity, family and colleagues, etc. Three video movies about the Byurakan Observatory and Ambartsumian are also available.

In addition, the most complete lists of Ambartsumian’s publications (610 counts), dates of life (330), achievements (135), and important publications about Ambartsumian (71) have been compiled and are present on the DVD. Some statistics on the publications and achievements is also given. We have carried out cross-translations and we give most of the materials in English, Russian, and Armenian.

The texts describing Ambartsumian’s science are taken from Prof. L.V. Mirzoyan’s books. For the first time, we definitely list 20 most important scientific results by Ambartsumian, which are significant contributions in astrophysics and cosmogony, theoretical physics and mathematics. An interactive Curriculum Vitae is also complied for the first time, as well as the list of items named after V.A. Ambartsumian (scientific terms, an asteroid, etc.).

Scientific compiler Areg Mickaelian (Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory)

Editor and adviser Haik Harutyunian (Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory)

Technical compilation and design by Gor Mikayelyan (Yerevan State University)

Scanned material and translations by Anush Mikayelyan (Yerevan Linguistic University)

Acknowledgements. We acknowledge the Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory associates for their aid in collection and preparation of the materials; papers, photos, and other information. We are especially thankful to Prof. E.S. Parsamian, Emma Balayan, Julietta Gharibyan, Dr. A.A. Hakopian, Dr. N.D. Melikian, and Dr. E.H. Nikoghosyan.

We acknowledge Ambartsumian’s family for part of the material taken from their webpage at www.misakian.ru and the Fundamental Library of the Armenian National Academy of Sciences for providing Ambartsumian’s bibliography.