Lev Nikolayevich Gassovsky (1894-1989) - Soviet scientist, specialist in the field of physiological and ophthalmic optics . Doctor of physico-mathematical sciences (1940), professor (1935). He is the author of the book “The Eye and the Ways to Improve Its Performance”, as well as sections in the books “Optics in Military Affairs” and “The Reference Book of Optics-Mechanics”, numerous manuals on military optics and more than 90 scientific papers.
| Gassovsky Lev Nikolaevich | |||||
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| Date of Birth | January 6, 1895 | ||||
| Place of Birth | Petersburg , Russian Empire | ||||
| Date of death | February 18, 1989 (94 years old) | ||||
| Place of death | Leningrad , RSFSR , USSR | ||||
| A country | Russian Empire →  the USSR | ||||
| Scientific field | applied optics | ||||
| Place of work | State Optical Institute , Leningrad Institute of Precision Mechanics and Optics | ||||
| Alma mater | Petersburg University Higher School of Ophthalmic Optics in Jena, Germany | ||||
| Academic degree | Doctor of physico-mathematical sciences ( 1940 ) | ||||
| Academic title | professor ( 1935 ) | ||||
| Known as | specialist in physiological and ophthalmic optics | ||||
| Awards and prizes |
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Biography
Lev Gassovsky was born on January 6, 1895 in a noble family of an official of the Department of Agriculture and a teacher. In 1913, having graduated from high school with a gold medal, he entered the mathematical department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of St. Petersburg University . In 1918 he graduated with honors from the University and was invited by D. N. Rozhdestvensky to the State Optical Institute (GOI), founded in December of the same year, in which he worked from February 1919 to 1981 [1] .
Work at the GOI was started by an employee of the Optotechnical Laboratory under the guidance of a professor at the Mining Institute S.O. Maisel , a well-known lighting technician who worked part-time at the GOI. In 1922-1923, L. N. Gassovsky conducted a study of normal eye sensitivity, the results of which were reported at meetings of the Russian Optical Society.
In December 1924, the Eye Optics Laboratory was separated from the Optotechnical Laboratory. In collaboration with ophthalmologists of the People’s Commissariat of Health and industry, with the active participation of L. N. Gassovsky in the State Optical Institute, the development of optical devices for the study of vision began, and prerequisites were created for the organization of serial production of spectacle glasses and frames. In 1925-1926 he participated in the work of the Provisional Committee for Spectacle Optics, created by the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures at the Supreme Economic Council of the USSR , made a report on its work at a meeting of the Russian Optical Society.
In 1926, he made reports on the activities of the Eye Optics Laboratory of the GOI and on new ways to increase visual acuity at the First All-Union Congress of Eye Physicians (Moscow) [2] .
In 1927 he was sent to France to familiarize himself with research in the field of ophthalmic optics and to Germany at the plants of K. Zeiss (Jena) to study the experience in the production of optical instruments. After listening to a course of lectures at the Optical Institute in Paris and then passing the exams, L. N. Gassovsky became the first and only holder of a diploma in the Higher Jena School of Medical Opticians in Russia. The diploma gave the right to study the state of vision of the patient, the appointment and manufacture of glasses necessary for vision correction. In 1927 he was appointed head of the Eye Optics Laboratory of the GOI. In the early 1930s, he organized an extensive study of the effect of visual fatigue on the complex of characteristics of the eye during intense, long-term work, using binocular devices and continuous observation of luminous objects.
The results of this period of the Laboratory of Ophthalmic (since 1933 - physiological) optics under the direction of L. N. Gassovsky were summarized in the collection “XY years of the State Optical Institute” [3] , in the collection of articles by L. N. Gassovsky and V. G. Samsonova “The Eye and the Ways to Improve Its Efficiency” [4] , the collection Optics in Military Affairs [5] , published in 1933 (2nd edition in 1934), as well as in the Handbook of Optical Mechanics (1936 ) [6] .
In 1934, he headed the organizing committee of the First Conference on Physiological Optics, held at the GOI on December 25–29 of the same year, at which he made three reports, including on the prospects for studying the optical apparatus of the eye [7] .
From 1930 to 1941 he combined work at the GOI with teaching at the Leningrad Institute of Fine Mechanics and Optics (LITMO) - associate professor, professor (from 1935), dean of the evening institute as part of LITMO (1932-1933), head of the department of laboratory devices and microscopes; founded and headed the laboratory of physiological and spectacle optics. Periodically gave lecture courses at the State Institute for Advanced Medical Studies (LenGIDUV), at the Mining, Pedagogical and Electromechanical institutes.
From 1936 to 1941, he held the post of executive editor of the journal Proceedings of the Leningrad Institute of Precision Mechanics and Optics.
In the prewar years, he published a number of works on the study of stereoscopic perception, adaptation, light and color sensitivity of the eye, sharpness of discrimination, methods of vision correction and reorganization of the production of spectacle lenses. By the totality of the works, he received the degrees of a candidate of technical sciences (1938) and a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences (1941).
During the Great Patriotic War he worked in the evacuated GOI in Yoshkar-Ola . In 1940-1941, he developed and tested with the participation of the Department of Ophthalmology of the Military Medical Academy (Professor V.N. Dolganov , Associate Professor B.L. Polyak ) stenooptic (perforated) glasses for correcting eye ametropia in snipers - such metal mask glasses at the same time helped with visual defects and protected the eyes from small fragments [8] . He proposed the construction of spherical flight goggles that improve the visibility of pilots with a certain vision correction. He studied the features of vision during long-term observation of targets [9] and the visibility of objects in low light conditions [10] . These and other results were presented by him in the "Handbook of Military Optics" (1945) [11] and in the third edition of the collection "Optics in Military Affairs" (1945) [12] .
In the postwar years, the Laboratory of Physiological Optics, under the leadership of L.N. Gassovsky, continued research on various aspects of vision and patterns of the eye as an optical device (visual field boundaries, astigmatism and methods for its correction, dark adaptation, etc.). Much attention was paid to the laboratory’s industry activity - the speedy transition of the industry to the mass production of meniscus spectacle lenses, which have a number of advantages over previously used biconvex or biconcave, bifocal whole and sintered lenses. The nomenclature of spectacle glasses for non-astigmatic and astigmatic eyes was determined, prepared and in 1960 a collection of GOSTs for spectacle optics was published. He headed the laboratory until 1959, then a senior researcher. In 1960-1970, L. N. Gassovsky actively participated in the development and implementation of new ophthalmic devices in medical practice. With his direct participation, the first domestic accommodator (1974) was created and transferred to industrial production, then the “Device for the study of vision and the appointment of glasses for near ones” (1972, 1976). He prepared a number of textbooks and programs for the first time opened in the country in 1972 specialty "medical optician" and then "optometrist", combining both medical and technical training. In 1981, he retired due to visual impairment.
He died on February 18, 1989 at the 95th year of his life.
He was awarded the Order of Lenin (1953), the Order of the Badge of Honor (1943) and USSR medals.
Notes
- ↑ Gassovsky Lev Nikolaevich // Who is who in GOI: a biographical guide / Ed. Corr. RAS M. M. Miroshnikova. - SPb. : GOI, 1998. - T. 1. - S. 49 - 50. - 108 p. - 600 copies.
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N. // The latest ways to increase visual acuity in people who partially lost it. - Proceedings of the 1st All-Union Congress of Ophthalmologists (Moscow, September 27 - October 1, 1926). - M. , 1927. - S. 273 - 278.
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N. // Questions of studying the eye at the GOI for 15 years. - XY years of the State Optical Institute. Collection of articles edited by Acad. S. I. Vavilova. - L.-M.: State. tech.-theoret. Publishing House, 1934. - S. 214 - 222. - 180 p. - 1000 copies.
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N., Samsonova V.G. Eye and ways to increase the efficiency of his work. - L .: Redizdat VOOMPa, 1934 .-- 480 p.
- ↑ Optics in military affairs. - L.-M.: State. tech.-theoret. ed., 1933. - 278 p. - 10,000 copies.
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N. // Physiological optics (Chapter 3). Instruments for correction, protection and examination of the eye (Chapter 22). - A reference book of optical mechanics. Part 1. - L.-M.: ONTI NKTP USSR, 1936. - 758 p.
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N. // New ways in the study of the apparatus of the eye. - Proceedings of the First Conference on Physiological Optics (December 25 - 29, 1934). - M.-L.: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1936 .-- S. 381 - 391. - 479 p.
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N. Stenoscopic (holey) glasses // Nature. - 1942. - T. 31 , No. 7-8 . - S. 92-95 .
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N., Nikolskaya N.A. Influence of the observation duration on the value of the deep vision threshold // Dokl. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - 1943. - T. 38 , No. 1 . - S. 18-22 .
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N., Bulanova K.N., Enno Z. N. Visibility of objects in low light conditions // Dokl. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - 1943. - T. 40 , No. 5 . - S. 208-211 .
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N. // Eye. - Handbook of military optics. - M.-L .: Gostekhizdat, 1945. - S. 28–47. - 263 p. - 5000 copies
- ↑ Gassovsky L.N. // Eye on the war. - Optics in the military. Sat articles edited by Acad. S. I. Vavilova and prof. M.V. Sevastyanova (3rd edition, re-read. And supplemented, in 2 volumes). - M.-L.: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1945. - T. 1. - S. 177–236. - 392 p. - 3000 copies.
Links
Literature
- Lev Nikolaevich Gassovsky (on the occasion of the 100th birthday) // Optical Journal. - 1995.— No. 3. - S. 73-74
- Aizenshtat L. D., Ovchinnikov B. V. The first optometrist of Russia L. N. Gassovsky // Problems of social hygiene and the history of medicine. - 1997. - No. 2. - S. 358-375.
- Pinegin N. I. Physiological optics // 50 years of the State Optical Institute. S. I. Vavilova (1918-1968). Collection of articles / Resp. ed. M.M. Miroshnikov. - L.: Mechanical Engineering, 1968 .-- S. 371-383. - 708 p. - 2100 copies.