The scientist–head of state who discovered the sampling theorem and led the first radar probe of Venus
When the Eduard Rhein Foundation awarded its prize in 1999 for a paper written 66 years earlier, the 91-year-old Kotelnikov said: 'I was just solving the problem that lay before me.'
A pioneer of information theory and radar astronomy. In 1933 he formulated the sampling theorem (Kotelnikov's theorem); in 1941 he independently proved the absolute security of the one-time pad and created the theory of optimum noise immunity. He directed the first radar probes of Venus (1961) and Mercury (1962), opening planetary radar astronomy. During WWII he built encrypted voice communications; after the war he trained a generation of Soviet electronics engineers at MPEI. He served as director of IRE (1954–1988), vice-president of the Academy of Sciences (1970–1988), and chairman of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet (1973–1980). Twice Hero of Socialist Labour, Lenin Prize laureate, and IEEE Bell Medal recipient.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1930–1941Graduated MPEI; engineer at Communications Research Institute; lecturer and laboratory head at MPEI
- 1933Published the sampling theorem (Kotelnikov's theorem)
- 1939–1942Led development of the Sobol-P encrypted voice communications system
- 1941–1944Developer in the telecommunications industry during the war
- 1944–1980Full professor at MPEI; dean of radio-engineering faculty (1947–1953); director of OKB MPEI (1948–1953)
- 1954–1988Director, Institute of Radio-engineering and Electronics, USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1970–1988Vice-president and First Vice-president, USSR Academy of Sciences
- 1973–1980Chairman, Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR (republican head of state)
- 1981–1992Chairman, Intercosmos Council, USSR Academy of Sciences
Related historical events
From secure communications to planetary radar
Before the war, Kotelnikov helped develop multichannel single-sideband radio equipment for the Moscow–Khabarovsk communications link. During 1941–1945 he worked on special communications equipment, including covert radio systems using encryption. He received the first-degree Stalin Prize in 1943 and again in 1946 for this work. From 1947 to 1953 he organized and developed the Special Design Bureau at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, serving as its first director and chief designer. The bureau's engineering work contributed to postwar applied radio technology and the development of space technology.
In 1953 Kotelnikov was elected a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1954 became director of its newly established Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics. Together with Aleksandr Berg, he recruited researchers and research groups to build the institute's initial staff. There Kotelnikov personally supervised the development of planetary radar and studies of the planets, while also taking part in the research. Radar measurements improved the determination of the scale of the Solar System by more than a factor of 100, helping refine the calculations needed to guide spacecraft to distant planets. For this work, Kotelnikov and the research group he led jointly received the Lenin Prize in 1964.
Planetary radar research continued under his leadership. In 1984, the Venera 15 and Venera 16 spacecraft produced a radar map of about 115 million square kilometres of Venus's northern hemisphere, with spatial resolution of approximately one kilometre. The observations made it possible to study terrain hidden by Venus's clouds, and their data were later used by the American Magellan spacecraft in its radar mapping of the planet. As vice-president of the Academy of Sciences, Kotelnikov also helped coordinate research across the country in communications, radio engineering, radio astronomy and space research. He taught and headed departments at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, training generations of engineers and scientists.