Soviet physicist of the mechanist school who rejected relativity and quantum mechanics as idealism
The son of the plant physiologist Kliment Timiryazev, he studied physics at Moscow University and worked on rarefied gases. After the revolution he became professor of theoretical physics at Moscow University and joined the Communist Party in 1921. In “On the Significance of Militant Materialism” Lenin cited his article on relativity in Pod znamenem marksizma as a hopeful sign of alliance with natural scientists, but he went on to reject relativity and quantum mechanics as idealism, publishing "An Experimental Refutation of the Theory of Relativity" in the same journal in 1925. He was one of the leaders of the mechanists, who opposed Deborin's school in Soviet philosophy in the 1920s, and in 1944 Academy physicists singled him out as an example of pseudoscience.
Also known as: Arkadii Timiriazev
Activities and affiliations
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1918–1930
Soviet Union state institutionsProfessor of physics, Moscow UniversityMain
Science and technology -
1921–
Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
Science and technology
Career Timeline
- 1904Graduated in physics and mathematics, Moscow University
- 1914Master of physics (internal friction in rarefied gases)
- 1918–1930Professor of theoretical physics, Moscow University
- 1921Joined the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
- 1922–1924Acting vice-rector for research and teaching, Moscow University
- 1925"An Experimental Refutation of the Theory of Relativity"
- 1944–1954Head of the chair of the history of physics, Moscow University