Ivan Yefremov
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Ivan Antonovich (real patronymic Antipovich) Yefremov, sometimes spelled Ivan Antonovich Efremov (Russian: Ива́н Анто́нович Ефре́мов; April 22, 1908–October 5, 1972) was a Soviet paleontologist and science fiction author. He originated taphonomy, the study of fossilization patterns.
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[edit] Biography
Born in the village of Vyritsa in St. Petersburg's province on the 22nd (old style 9th) of April, 1908. His parents divorced during the Russian Revolution. His mother married a Red Army commander and left the children in Herson to be cared for by an aunt who soon died of typhus. Yefremov then joined a Red Army unit as a "son of the regiment" and reached Perekop with it. In 1921, he was discharged and went to Petrograd (today's Saint Petersburg) to study. He completed his school education there while combining his studies with a variety of odd jobs. He later commented that "the Revolution was also my own liberation from philistinism" ("Революция была также и моим освобождением от мещанства").
In 1924, due to the influence of academician Sushkin, he became interested in paleontology. Yefremov entered the Leningrad State University but dropped out later. In mid-1930s he took part in several paleontological expeditions to the Volga region, the Urals, and Central Asia. He headed a research laboratory at the Institute of Paleontology. In 1935, he took exit examinations and graduated from the Leningrad Mining Institute. The same year he got his Candidate of Science degree in Biological Sciences. In 1941, he got his doctorate degree in Biological Sciences.
In the 1940s Yefremov developed a new scientific field called taphonomy. His book "Taphonomy" was published in 1950. He applied many taphonomic principles in his field work during a paleontological expedition to the Gobi desert in Mongolia. During these years he was recognized as a successful scientist and won a state science award.
Yefremov wrote his first work of fiction, a short story, in 1944. His first novel The Land of Foam (Great Arc, 1946) was published in 1946. His most widely recognized sci-fi novel Andromeda Nebula (Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale came out in 1957. This book is a panegyric to the Communist future of the mankind. The society developed such that there is no material inequality between individuals and each person is allowed to pursue his self-development unconstrained. The intergalactic communication system --- the Great Circle binds the mankind into the commonwealth of sentient civilizations of the Universe. The book became a moral guideline for many people in the Soviet Union. Besides the heavy didactic aspect, the book also contained an interesting space travel adventure subplot so a lot of people appreciated it for its entertainment value.
[edit] Honors
A minor planet 2269 Efremiana discovered in 1976 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh is named after him. [1]
[edit] Fiction
Novels:
- The Land of Foam (At the Edge of Oikoumene also known as Great Arc, 1946)
- Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale (Andromeda Nebula, 1957, 1959)
- Razor's Edge (1963)
- The Bull's Hour (1968)
- Thais of Athens (Thais Athenian, 1972)
Short fiction:
- Olgoi-Khorkhoi (1944)
- A Meeting Over Tuscarora (1944)
- The Heart of the Serpent (Cor Serpentis, 1958, 1961)
- The Yurt of the Raven (1959)
- Aphaneor, The Arkharkhellen's Daughter (1959)
- Five Paintings (1965)
[edit] Non-fiction
- Road of Winds (1956)
[edit] Scientific works
Ivan Efremov has written more than 100 scientific works. Only few of them were published in languages other than Russian. Below is a list of the works published in German or English. Source - the book "Ivan Antonovich Efremov" by Petr Tchudinov (issued in 1987 by the Publishing House "Nauka", Moscow)
- Bentosaurus sushkini ein neuer Labirinthodont aus den Permo-Triassischen Ablagerungen des Scharchenga-Flussess, Nord-Duna Gouvernement , Izvestia Akademii Nauk SSSR (Proceedings of Acad. Sci. USSR. Phys. and Math.), N. 8, P. 757-770 (1929)
- Uber die Labyrinthodonten der UdUSSR. II. Permische Labyrinthodonten des fruheren Gouvernement Wjatka, Trudy Paleozoologicheskogo Instituta (Proceedings of Paleozoological Institute), Vol. 2, P. 117-158 (1933)
- Some new Permian reptiles of the USSR, Comptes Rendus (Doklady) Acad. Sci. USSR. Paleontol., Vol 19, N 9, P. 771-776 (1938)
- Die Mesen-Fauna der Permischen Reptilien , Neues Jahrb. Min. Geol. Pal., Bd. 84. Abt. B, S.379-466 (1940)
- Kurze Ubersicht uber die Formen der Perm- und Trias Tetrapoden - Fauna der UdUSSR, Centralbl. Min. Geol., Abth. B. N 12, S. 372-383 (1940)
- Taphonomy: a new branch of Paleontology, Pan.-Amer. Geol., Vol. 74, P. 81-93 (1940)
- Ulemosaurus svijagensis Riab. - ein Deinocephale aus den Ablagerungen des Perm der USSR, Nove Acta Leopold. (N. F.). Bd 9, S. 155-205 (1940)
- The Godwana system of India, and the live history in the later Paleozoic, J. Paleontol. Soc. India, Lucknow D.N. Wadia Jubilee number, Vol. 2, P. 24-28 (1957)
- Some consideration on biological bases of Paleontology, Vertebr. Palasiatica, Vol 2, N. 2/3, P. 83-99 (1958)
[edit] References
- ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (5th ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 185. ISBN 3540002383. http://books.google.com/books?q=2269+efremiana.
[edit] External links
- Yefremov's bibliography
- Yefremov's books available for download (Russian)
- Ivan Antonovich Yefremov, his life and creation (Russian)
- Club of SF and prognostication "Ivan Yefremov" (Bulgarian)
- Ivan Yefremov at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Olson, E.C. The other side of the medal: a paleobiologist reflects on the art and serendipity of science. Blacksburg, Virginia, The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, 1990, 182 p.
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