The era of "Impulse" and of young Dubna
"This exhibition was prepared by our young colleagues together with senior comrades," MLIT Director Sergey Shmatov opened the exhibition. “Here, before you the prospect of the life of the Laboratory is unfolding almost from the moment of its establishment, since this newspaper was published after a couple of years. You can see how LCTA has developed not through the eyes of Directorate, but through the eyes of its employees that created those achievements and discoveries that we are rightfully proud of. What I especially liked about the preparation of this exhibition: a team of our young colleagues prepared it with a spark in their eyes. I thought that working on this project became a kind of transfer of the spirit of the Laboratory from the older generation to the younger one, because those who published this newspaper, who participated in the events captured in “Impulse” participated in the preparation together with the youth. I think each of us will find something in these already yellowed pages: someone – his or her past, someone will draw parallels with the present, the youth present here may find guidelines for later life and the continuation of the glorious traditions laid down by the founders of the Laboratory. Welcome to our exhibition and many thanks to all those who prepared it."
"I have never participated in the work of “Impulse”," MLIT Scientific Leader Vladimir Korenkov admitted. “Yet, almost all of my friends were members of the editorial board, starting with my supervisor V.P. Shirikov that wrote a lot for wall newspapers, as well as G.L. Mazny, E. Yu. Mazepa and many other colleagues. The whole story of this wall newspaper has passed before my eyes. We were waiting for the publication of each new issue. In those years, the “Impulse” was known far beyond LCTA.
Today is a historic day, today is the birthday of Mikhail Meshcheryakov, the founder of Dubna, JINR, our laboratory. One of the expositions of the exhibition is dedicated to M. G. Meshcheryakov, the other - to N. N. Govorun, the second great founder of LCTA, we always honor them and remember that they established a laboratory and gathered a staff of like-minded people. Our task is to convey the traditions laid down at the origins of LCTA. And the young people involved in the preparation of this exhibition that had not worked in the Laboratory at that time and had not even been born yet, were imbued with the spirit of “Impulse”. When I look at the stand with the BESM-6, I feel like I entered the machine room again, returned to the years of the Laboratory. Many thanks to everyone, both the founders and those who came today!"
JINR Chief Scientific Secretary Sergey Nedelko recalled that the anniversary year for the United Institute is rich in events: an exhibition in the Cultural Centre "First star: Birth of new interaction", a retro transport festival and a new exhibition. "The difference between this whole series of events is that it is possible to reproduce the atmosphere of time," S.N. Nedelko said. “Here is a multicomponent scan in time, this exhibition is not only about the wall newspaper, but about the founders of the Laboratory, computers, life of LCTA. I remember very well when I first arrived in Dubna, 64 KB of memory was allocated for my analytical task but they were not enough for me. And by the decision of the high authorities, I was allocated as much as 77 KB! And whatever the name of this laboratory, it is always at the forefront, is a powerful tool for itself and for everyone else. Congratulations to all of us with this suddenly discovered talent to reproduce the atmosphere of the past. Let's keep it up."
“Today is doubly a holiday, since today is the birthday of Mikhail Grigorievich,” MLIT Deputy Scientific Leader and Exhibition Producor Tatyana Strizh said. “This exhibition returns to the time when we were all young and Dubna was young. The young creators of “Impulse” had strong leaders. As E.V. Sharapova said, if the editorial board did not have time to make a newspaper by the deadline, it locked its members in the party bureau room until they finished it. Five to six issues a year were published and almost all issues over 25 years have survived. Probably, because they were made with love - for people, for the laboratory, for everything we did: we collected potatoes, celebrated the New Year, reported at party meetings or worked by car. This exhibition is not only about "Impulse", but also about the spirit of the Laboratory. Here, you can see the documents that were the basis of LCTA and also sit at the BESM-6 emulator in the very chair that stood at the machine. Enjoy, remember, feel the love and interest that the Laboratory staff demonstrated on the pages of the newspaper. They knew how to laugh, to write sharp notes, which everyone loved them for, too. Even M. G. Meshcheryakov, who they wrote about not at all with obsequiousness."
As MLIT Scientific Secretary Olga Derenovskaya said, the researchers of the Laboratory D. I. Pryakhin and E. N. Voitishin during the preparation of the exhibition mastered the specialty of archivist, printing and in the last days before the opening, they practically spent the night in the Cultural Centre. "Katya and I are grateful that this mission was entrusted to us," Daria Pryakhina said. "We tried to approach the selection of material with love. Our main inspirer was Tatyana Strizh. She helped us to understand all the nuances, historical facts, we are very grateful to her for it. We were helped by colleagues in the Laboratory - from finding exhibits for the exhibition to helping them to carry them to the Cultural Centre, for which many thanks to everyone. It seems to me that the spirit, that cohesion of the 1960s–1980s that were talked about here, reign today. Thanks to colleagues from the Museum of History of Science and Technology and the JINR Historical Archive, we can demonstrate historical documents. And nothing would have happened without our wonderful designers Natalia Zyumchenko and Leonid Shilovsky that brought all our ideas to life." "We will be very happy with all your reviews, we are inviting you to travel through time and to feel the spirit of that era," Ekaterina Voitishina added.
From the first days, Head of the JINR Historical Archive Elena Malaya worked hand in hand with MLIT employees on the exhibition, "It is important for us in the archive to preserve not only what the Institute is engaged in, but also the spirit of the times, some habits, things that imprint time. The exposition contains three monophones-headphones, with the help of which you can listen to interviews with N. Yu. Shirikova, J. Shmulbekov, A. A. Rastorguev - authors, editors, artists of “Impulse” that we specially recorded for this exhibition. Many thanks to their colleagues, whose memories we did not have time to place here, but we will save them in the archive."
One of the editors and artists of the wall newspaper “Impulse”, a researcher at MLIT Genis Musulmanbekov recalled, "I was lucky enough to be an editor for about three years and as an artist, I created, among other things, cartoons for the anniversaries of two LCTA Directors. M. G. Meshcheryakov liked the cartoon, he even took the newspaper home. Of course, “Impulse” was an organ of Directorate, party and trade union organizations of LCTA, its task was to shape the builder’s profile of the communism. And although our activities did not meet the criteria of party bodies, the success of “Impulse” was huge."
This exhibition would not have taken place without the help of Head of Sector of MLIT Tatyana Sapozhnikova, she spoke about the work of the early 1990s, which she had to get engaged in. "The story began with F.V. Levchanovsky that said, the BESM‑6 can be carried out on an advanced element base. A group of enthusiasts gathered, wrote a project, N. N. Govorun supported this amateur performance. I. N. Silin headed our staff and by the time, the BESM‑6 was decommissioned, our desktop microBESM - a cube measuring 60 x 60 x 60 cm was ready and carried out all the functions of a large machine. Its own OS was written for it, the replacement was full‑fledged. The work was very interesting and promising but the turning point of the 1990s and the inability of the industry institute to replicate microBESM put an end to this story."
The man who invented at night what and how to draw in these wall newspapers, as O. Yu. Derenovskaya presented N. Yu. Shirikova, explained the “Impulse” phenomenon by the youth and enthusiasm of its creators and urged young people to take an example from them. On the birthday of M. G. Meshcheryakov, his great‑nephew I. V. Ivanov was in Dubna, "I am very glad that the memory of M. G. persists. He was a very cheerful and witty person, although, as they say, a strict leader. He loved jokes and welcomed such a newspaper, I think. I am very glad, coming to Dubna, to meet people who remember and love him. Thank you very much for your memory!" N. N. Govorun's daughter T. N. Vabishchevich shared her memories, "I remember how Nikolay Nikolaevich constantly discussed something with colleagues in the kitchen or on the phone at night. They had such excitement, such inspiration, they were models of service to their cause. I am very glad that there are two corners dedicated to Meshcheryakov and Govorun. Nikolay Nikolaevich appeared in Dubna after graduate school and became the first user of the first computer of the Institute, which he calculated his Ph.D on. I really like that in "Impulse" one can feel the lively spirit of young employees that criticized something, talked about something, offered something, reflected what was happening, how the process of computer technology development was going on. Life pulsed in the newspaper, the spirit of young Dubna was preserved in it. I wish the Institute creative success, further development, new scientific horizons, so that employees have the same creative inspiration and passion for their work as in the days of “Impulse”."
Even newspaper headlines can convey the spirit of “Impulse”. Here are some of those presented at the exhibition, "The average time that a programmer gives to work", "Potato rhapsody", "Anthem to punched cards, or confession of a gambler", "Miss LCTA (generalized and averaged according to the questionnaire image of a woman)", "To the 15th anniversary of the old woman BESM-6". I admire the imagination of the creators of the issue "LCTA in 2000 (guide)" that depicts the sleeping building of operators, the kiosk of the Press Agency "Impulse" and other exotics for the DLNP site. At the exhibition, you can learn about some terms from explanatory and stupid dictionaries, an explanatory dictionary of a Russian-speaking user. The "biography" of "Impulse" is also presented. Before the establishment of Computing Centre in BLTP, the wall newspaper "Theorist" was published, later, transformed into "Impulse". The wall newspaper could reach eight meters in length and covered not only scientific work and important events in the life of LCTA, but also the news of JINR and Member States, political events, while recording laboratory folklore, all kinds of stories and jokes. A separate stand is dedicated to the creators of “Impulse”: its first editors were B. V. Feoktistov, E. V. Sharapova, A. I. Efimov, A. A. Korneychuk, V. P. Shirikov, O. V. Blagonravova filled the newspaper with content and humor, designed by N. P. Alekseeva and N. Yu. Shirikova, serious information was supplied by G. L. Semashko and G. A. Ososkov.
The exhibition also presents the history of equipping LCTA with various computers, starting with the first computer that appeared at JINR before the establishment of LCTA and of course, relations with those who were "affectionately called "users" in the laboratory". LCTA employees always found time and helped physicists to prepare software packages for debugging and counting, to read lectures, compiled textbooks and manuals (preserved copies can be seen at the exhibition) and at the same time, composed poems, stories and jokes to add a little humor to life. What is "folk wisdom" - "Count yourself on CDC, on BESM - with a system friend, give the EU to the enemy," and there is also "User's lament" in verse.
A separate stand is dedicated to the legendary BESM-6 machine, its developers, software authors are indicated, including N.N. Govorun, V.P. Shirikov, I.N. Silin in LCTA, its characteristics (for example, occupied area - 150–200 sq. M.). On 27 March, 1968, the BESM‑6 was commissioned that was an important step towards the development of a single JINR computing complex. Later, a translator from the Fortran language, the Dubna monitor system appeared, a number of LCTA employees were awarded the USSR Council of Ministers Prize "For the development and implementation of multipurpose software in engineering calculations and the design of complex technical systems on computers". The glorious history ended on 1 November, 1989, when BESM‑6 was decommissioned. Back in 1985, the idea of building a desktop BESM-6 emulator arose and in 1992, a prototype MKB-8601, aka MicroB, was successfully launched that became a logical continuation of the BESM‑6 machine.
Indeed, the wall newspaper "Impulse" became the cultural heritage of LCTA - MLIT, retained the spirit of that time. You can make sure of this until 14 October in the exhibition hall of the Cultural Centre “Mir”.
Olga TARANTINA, photos by Elena PUZYNINA