Illustration of the Russian physicist Vitaly Ginzburg (1916-2009). After gaining his doctorate in physics in 1940, Ginzberg worked at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow. He worked on superconductivity, the physics of the ionosphere, and on theories concerning cosmic radiation. He also played a role in the development of the Soviet hydrogen bomb. He was a member of USSR Academy of Sciences, succeeding Igor Tamm as head of the Academys physics branch. He received a share of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on superconductivity.