Lev Landau: Who was the notable physicist and why should we remember him?

Google Doodle celebrates physicist's life

Google's latest Doodle celebrates the life of Lev Landau, a Soviet physicist who made pioneering contributions to many areas of theoretical physics and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1962 for his work in the field of superfluidity.

The Soviet researcher was born in Azerbaijan on 22 January 1908 and his brilliance at mathematics and science was evident at an early age.

But though he excelled within academia, he struggled socially and found it difficult as a child to relate to his schoolmates.

Landau was just 13 when he began university and 21 when he finished his PhD, winning a coveted Rockerfeller scholarship which launched his career as a groundbreaking scientist.

By 18 the scientist released his first publication on physics and Soviet funding allowed him to travel to research facilities in Zurich, Cambridge and Copenhagen.

Here the young physicist had the chance to study under Danish physicist Niels Bohr, who had a profound influence on the rest of his career.

Landau went on to win the Nobel Prize for Physics himself in 1962, for his research into liquid helium’s behaviour at very low temperatures.

His name is also scattered aross the landscape of modern science, with the Landau Levels, Landau diamagnetism, Landau damping, and the Landau energy spectrum are all linked to the physicist.

A crater of the moon is also named after him.

On Tuesday, Google celebrated Lev Landau's 111th birthday with a Google Doodle dedicated to the scientist.