Dream of reason

Sergey Nechaev , Dokt. Fiz.-Mat.Saok, V.N.S. The sectors of mathematical physics Fian, Directeur de Recherche au Cnrs, sent such a letter to the editors:

Doctors Fiz.-Mat. sciences, leading researcher ITEF, head. lab. Theoretical physics of Alexander Gorsky was fired on April 16, 2014 for “absenteeism” from the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Physics. In my opinion, by the degree of idiocy, this decision could compete, for example, with a proposal to select musical awards from Valery Gergiev for the fact that he is unshaven.

Physics and mathematicians do not need to explain who Alexander Gorsky is - his name is well known outside the field of quantum theory of fields and physics of high energies. For people working in other areas of science, I think enough: Sasha is the author (and co -author) of a number of classical works, and many of his students work in the leading world physical centers of America and Europe.

Hegel said that the story is repeated twice: the first time in the form of a tragedy, and the second time in the form of a farce. However, it seems that this time the farce again turns into a tragedy. In the 30s of the last century, a person could be destroyed by incriminating his digging tunnel from Bombay to London. The degree of absurdity of argumentation for the totalitarian system of that time did not matter. Symptoms of the behavior of the current system are the loss of reflection and ignoring causal relationships. If one of the leading Russian physicists is expelled from the institute in which he worked for almost his whole life, creating a wonderful school there, and the system calmly digested this, it means it is deeply ill.

Over the past few years, Alexander Gorsky (together with the former leadership of the ITEF) tried to create an international scientific center on the basis of the Institute, built in the image of Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), ISAAC Newton Institute (Cambridge) or Poincare Institute (Paris). Unfortunately, the new leadership of ITEF, patronized by Member Kovalchuk (ITEF had the misfortune of falling under the auspices of the Kurchatov Center), this initiative did not appeal. Moreover, the director of the ITEF Dok. tech. The sciences of Yu. Kozlov are attempts to turn a number of theoretical directions in which the positions of ITEF are traditionally one of the most powerful in the world. Sasha actively objected to such a policy. How the confrontation ended now: Alexander Gorsky, by the way, is the chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Honorary Prize named after Pomeranchu, who was awarded the great physicists, was dismissed from the ITEF. Pandora's box opened. "The dream of reason gives rise to monsters." I think, alas, it was not long to wait for these monsters.