Nikolai Kardashev
Encyclopedia
Nikolai Semenovich Kardashev (Никола́й Семёнович Кардашёв) (born April 25, 1932 in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

) is a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

n (formerly Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

) astrophysicist, and is the deputy director of the Russian Space Research Institute
Russian Space Research Institute
The Russian Space Research Institute is the leading organization of the Russian Academy of Sciences on space exploration to benefit fundamental science....

 (sometimes translated as The Institute for Cosmic Research) of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....

 in Moscow.

Kardashev graduated from Moscow State University
Moscow State University
Lomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...

 in 1955, following up at Sternberg Astronomical Institute
Sternberg Astronomical Institute
The Sternberg Astronomical Institute , also known as GAISh , is a research institution in Moscow, Russia, a division of Moscow State University. The institute is named after astronomer Pavel Karlovich Shternberg.The asteroid 14789 GAISH was named in its honour.-External links:*...

. He studied under Shklovskii and finished his PhD in 1962.

In 1963 Kardashev examined quasar CTA-102
CTA-102
In astronomy, CTA 102, also known by its B1950 coordinates as 2230+114 and its J2000 coordinates as J2232+1143 , is a quasar discovered in the early 1960s by a radio survey carried out by the California Institute of Technology...

, the first Soviet effort in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Some of the most well known projects are run by the SETI Institute. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for intelligent life...

). In this work he came up with the idea that some galactic civilizations would be perhaps millions or billions of years ahead of us, and created the Kardashev classification scheme
Kardashev scale
The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring an advanced civilization's level of technological advancement. The scale is only theoretical and in terms of an actual civilization highly speculative; however, it puts energy consumption of an entire civilization in a cosmic perspective. It was first...

 to rank such civilizations. Serious Russian efforts in SETI
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Some of the most well known projects are run by the SETI Institute. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for intelligent life...

 predate similar programs in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by some years. Other notable experts in the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 were Vsevolod Troitskii and Iosif Samuilovich Shklovskii (Kardashev's former professor).

Kardashev became a corresponding (associate) member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Division of General Physics and Astronomy on December 12, 1976. He became a full member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....

on March 21, 1994.

Publications

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