Eduard Shpolsky

Who was Eduard Shpolsky?

Eduard Vladimirovich Shpolsky, also Shpolsk'ii, Shpolskii was a Russian and Soviet physicist and educator, co-founder and lifelong editor of Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk journal.

Shpolsky primary scientific contribution belongs to the field of molecular spectroscopy, particularly luminescence and absorption spectra of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In 1952 Shpolsky and his junior researchers A. A. Ilyina and L. A. Klimov discovered Shpolsky effect in organic compounds, a property that allows highly selective spectroscopic identification of substances that normally do not possess clearly defined spectral lines or bands. The discovery evolved into a discipline of its own, Shpolsky spectroscopy. Shpolsky authored the definitive Russian language university textbook on Atomic Physics, first printed in 1944 and reissued until 1974.