Andrei Sergeyevich Monin ( or А. С. Монин; 2 July 1921 – 22 September 2007) was a Soviet and Russian

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and properties of Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. Geophysicists conduct investigations acros ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, and

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of top ...

. Monin was known for his contributions to statistical theory of

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers with no disruption between ...

and

atmospheric physics Within the atmospheric sciences, atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the study of the atmosphere. Atmospheric physicists attempt to model Earth's atmosphere and the atmospheres of the other planets using fluid flow equations, rad ...

. He served as the director of the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the

Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (un ...

. He was instrumental in developing the Shirshov Institute into one of the largest scientific centers for ocean and

earth science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

studies. The Monin–Obukhov similarity theory and the Monin–Obukhov length are named after Monin and Russian Academician

Alexander Obukhov Alexander Mikhailovich Obukhov (; 5 May 1918 – 3 December 1989) was a Soviet and Russian geophysicist and applied mathematician known for his contributions to statistical theory of turbulence and atmospheric physics. He was one of the founders o ...

Life and work

Monin was born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

to Sergei Aleksandrovich Monin, an assistant professor of the Moscow Pedagogical Institute. He joined the Mechanical and Mathematical Faculty of the

Lomonosov Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, and six branches. Al ...

in 1938 and received his bachelor's degree in 1942. Monin then enrolled for the postgraduate programme in the same university. ;Military career In 1943, Monin was called up for

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

in the ranks of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

where he was asked to join the military courses of weather forecasters organized at the Higher Hydrometeorological Institute of the Red Army. He joined in the rank of lieutenant and sent to the 3rd Baltic Front where he was section leader of a frontal meteorological station. He served in the army during the whole military campaign from the liberation of

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

until the liberation of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. In 1945, Monin was attached to the Central Institute of Weather Forecasting of the Red Army. In 1946, he was demobilized and worked as a research fellow at the Central Institute of Weather Forecasting. ;Education and early career In 1946, Monin came back to Moscow State University to continue his post-graduate programme under the direct guidance of Academician

Andrey Kolmogorov Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov ( rus, Андре́й Никола́евич Колмого́ров, p=ɐnˈdrʲej nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ kəlmɐˈɡorəf, a=Ru-Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov.ogg, 25 April 1903 – 20 October 1987) was a Soviet ...

who prepared and defended his Candidate's thesis on the theory of atmospheric turbulence. In 1951 Monin started to work at the Atmospheric Physics Department at Geophysical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union, which later recognized as the Atmospheric Physics Institute (presently The Obhukov Institute of Atmospheric Physics). At the latter Institute he was a senior scientist, Head of a department and a scientific consultant. In 1956 he defended his Doctor's thesis on the theory of turbulent diffusion.

Awards and honors

A. S. Monin had received many honors and medals: among them are: *Foreign member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

, 1973. *Foreign member of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

, 1976.*Honorary Doctor of the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

, Sweden, 1986. *Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, 1991. *

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

, 1980. * Yuly Shokalsky Prize, 1986. *

Alexander Friedmann Alexander Alexandrovich Friedmann (also spelled Friedman or Fridman; ; ; – September 16, 1925) was a Russian and Soviet physicist and mathematician. He originated the pioneering theory that the universe is expanding, governed by a set of eq ...

Prize by Russian Academy of Sciences in 1993.

Books authored

Monin was a prolific author of scientific works on various topics, including theory of turbulence, atmospheric physics, planetology, and meteorology. He was the author of about 620 scientific publications, including 24 monographs and the ten-volume "Okeanologia". Almost all of his books have been translated into foreign languages. Noted for its clarity as well as its comprehensive treatment, the book "Statistical Fluid Mechanics: Mechanics of Turbulence", co-authored with

Akiva Yaglom Akiva Moiseevich Yaglom (; 6 March 1921 – 13 December 2007) was a Soviet and Russian physicist, mathematician, statistician, and meteorologist. He was known for his contributions to the statistical theory of turbulence and theory of random proc ...

, is considered to be a classic work on theory of turbulence.

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

while reviewing this book had observed: "If ever a book on turbulence could be called definitive, it is this book by two of Russia's most eminent and productive scientists in turbulence, oceanography, and atmospheric physics." * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

*
Monin Andrei Sergeyevich
at the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monin, Andrei Sergeevich 1921 births 2007 deaths 20th-century Russian physicists Scientists from Moscow Academic staff of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow State University alumni Recipients of the Order of the October Revolution Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the USSR State Prize Fluid dynamicists Russian geophysicists Russian meteorologists Russian oceanographers Soviet geophysicists Soviet meteorologists Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet oceanographers Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery