Sokolov Boris Sergeevich academician childhood memories. Local history at the origins of Russian culture

On September 2, Academician Boris Sergeevich Sokolov, a world-famous scientist, an outstanding geologist, an internationally recognized paleontologist, the author of numerous works on the development of the organic world and the Earth’s biosphere, a prominent educator and public figure, passed away.

Boris Sergeevich was born on April 9 (March 28, old style) 1914 in Vyshny Volochyok. In 1932 he entered the Faculty of Geology, Soils and Geography of Leningrad University and after graduating in 1937, he was enrolled as an assistant in the Department of Paleontology of this faculty. From his very first steps in geology, B.S. Sokolov showed his brilliant scientific and scientific-organizational abilities. In the spring of 1941, he was appointed one of the leaders of a complex expedition to Western China. Returning to Leningrad at the end of 1945, B. S. Sokolov resumed teaching at Leningrad State University, expanding the scope of his research interests. For 15 years (1945-1960), working at Leningrad University and the Oil Institute, B. S. Sokolov conducted research in different regions of the Soviet Union. In 1968, B. S. Sokolov was elected corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. B. S. Sokolov created fundamental works on fossil corals, which were included in the golden fund of world paleontological literature and became a desktop methodological guide for several generations of coral specialists around the world. He is one of the main creators of the unique 15-volume reference and methodological publication “Fundamentals of Paleontology,” awarded the Lenin Prize in 1967. Boris Sergeevich is the author of more than 600 scientific works, including 23 monographs devoted to various aspects of geology, paleontology, stratigraphy and the general evolution of the biosphere. He is also known as the author of brilliant essays on the history of geological science, as well as scientific and journalistic articles on a wide variety of scientific problems, the organization of scientific research, the development of the country's mineral resource base, etc. The brilliant scientific achievements of B. S. Sokolov earned him high international authority. He was elected to the leadership of a number of international geological organizations, an honorary member of geological societies in the USA and a number of Western European countries. For outstanding achievements in science, scientific and organizational activities, and personnel training, B. S. Sokolov was awarded many highest state and academic awards: the Lenin Prize (1967), the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1984), a prize and the highest academic award in in the field of Earth Sciences - the gold medal named after A.P. Karpinsky, and in 1992 - the Karpinsky-Schweitzer Prize of the Hamburg Foundation and the Karl von Baer medal for geological research. He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and the Order of the Badge of Honor. In 1998, B. S. Sokolov was the first geologist to receive the highest award of the Russian Academy of Sciences - the Great Gold Medal named after M. V. Lomonosov. He stood at the origins of scientific Roerich studies and the creation of the Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family. In 2005 he became the Laureate of the International Prize named after. Nicholas Roerich. The scale of scientific achievements, brilliant journalistic talent, style of scientific research, foresight of the main trends in the development of modern science and an extensive school of students and followers - all this places Boris Sergeevich Sokolov among the most interesting representatives of Russian science. Employees of the St. Petersburg State Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family expressed their condolences to the family and friends of Boris Sergeevich. Eternal memory to him!

The conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of academician Boris Sokolov was held in our city on April 11. After the funeral service in the Epiphany Cathedral, the action moved to the local history museum, the exhibition of which includes many personal belongings of the famous paleontologist, as well as geological exhibits from his own collection. The conference participants were welcomed by the Chairman of the Vyshnevolotsk City Duma, Alexander Bashilov, and the Deputy Head of the Vyshnevolotsk District, Natalya Sharapova.

The fact that it was decided to hold the event in the museum is very symbolic, because Boris Sergeevich is a witness to its occurrence. Galina Monakhova, head of the Vyshnevolotsk branch of TGOM, spoke about this in her speech, as well as about the exhibition that was prepared for the 100th anniversary of the great scientist and is of interest to everyone who wants to learn more about the history of their native land.

The very acquaintance with the nature department begins with the geographical location of the Vyshnevolotsk region and its geological features. Fossilized corals, arthropods, mollusks, and mineral collections testify to the eras that Vyshny Volochek experienced. On display are rocks collected by Boris Sokolov and geological souvenirs. Core samples were taken from the depths of the Russian Platform, which he had been studying for so long and enthusiastically. For Boris Sergeevich, whose childhood was spent in the village of Berezki, Vyshnevolotsk region, nature was one of the main educators. While still at school, he attended science and chemistry clubs, and the desire to learn everything about the subject of interest led him over the years to world fame. Suffice it to say that he is the first geologist in history to be awarded the big gold medal named after Lomonosov.

“He who does not strive for anything is the true poor man of the human race,” Boris Sergeevich liked to repeat. The scientist’s personal belongings, presented in the museum’s exhibition, give us the opportunity to better understand his character. Here is the geologist’s faithful companion - a hammer, and a typewriter on which many scientific works were printed, and a Zorkiy camera next to the photographs he took. On the insulated rubber boots, which have left their marks all over the world, you can see patches - their owner was a thrifty man, and the habit of living economically began with him since childhood. This is also evidenced by a curious incident that happened to Boris Sokolov, then still a young man, while walking along Red Square. On his feet were summer canvas shoes rubbed with chalk. Suddenly it started to rain, and Boris Sergeevich, without thinking twice, took off his shoes and hid his shoes in his bosom for safekeeping. “I’m probably the only academician who walked barefoot across Red Square,” he joked later.

He was a man of strong will and an amazing optimist. Even in recent years, without leaving his study-bedroom, he did not feel cut off from life and, with his characteristic humor, found the “advantages” of his position. “I have so much time to read, write and think,” said Boris Sergeevich, and he really used this time to work - until his last days.

Guest from St. Petersburg Vladimir Melnikov, deputy director for scientific work of the State Museum-Institute of the Roerich Family, began his speech with personal memories. He spoke about Boris Sergeevich’s interest in history and his friendship with the Roerich family. In the same areas in the Tien Shan where Nicholas Roerich visited, 20 years later Boris Sokolov conducted his expeditions. The scientist became a trustee of the Roerich Museum and worked to give it official status. Vladimir Leonidovich donated a letter from Boris Sokolov to the Roerich Museum, written for his anniversary, to the fund of the local history museum.

It was very interesting to find out what the world-famous geologist was like in his family. The portrait of the grandfather in the description of Andrei Gnilovsky turned out to be bright and lively. Half a century of teaching has so honed Boris Sergeevich’s ability to clearly and literaryly express his thoughts correctly that even at the age of 90 he remained a wonderful storyteller, benevolent and cheerful. It can be assumed that, having chosen a career not as a scientist, but as a writer, he could achieve success in this too. Andrei Georgievich also spoke about his grandmother, the wife of Boris Sergeevich. Elena Nikolaevna came from the noble family of the Polenovs - Ural metallurgists and geologists. They lived together for more than forty years, becoming an example of an ideal married couple for their grandson. She protected him from everyday issues, unnecessary and meaningless matters, he responded to her with attention and care.

Just before the war, Elena Nikolaevna and her husband went on an expedition to Western China and took their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Marina with them. By making this decision, Boris Sergeevich may have saved the lives of his family members - otherwise they would have been in danger of ending up in besieged Leningrad. Although life on the expedition was also hard. Geologists asked to go to the front, but they were turned down because of the importance of their work - only funding had practically stopped. We had to get food ourselves, shoot partridges - the grandfather told his grandson about this with his characteristic humor. Working in China was quite dangerous, and when returning to their homeland, people who had been abroad for a long time had to behave carefully. Geologists never said anything unnecessary and thus, apparently, saved themselves.

Andrei Georgievich’s own memories begin in the 1970s, when Boris Sergeevich was already a famous scientist and lived in the Novosibirsk academic town. At that time, his students and colleagues, many of whom have now become world-famous scientists themselves, would easily come to his home and discuss scientific and family problems. Their children were friends, and it seemed completely natural to each of them to have such a positive attitude and direct interest in their work.

Since childhood, the grandson noticed exceptional and very “organic” neatness in his grandfather’s nature. “Whoever has order on his desk has order in his head” - Boris Sergeevich often recalled this saying. He valued his time and could not afford to waste it looking for things that were placed wherever he needed them. One of his students told of a time when during a conversation he needed scissors to cut photographs. After that, someone returned them to the table, but not to where they took them from. Boris Sergeevich, without interrupting the conversation, moved the instrument to its usual place with a natural automatic movement.

Andrei Georgievich said that his grandfather, even when faced with far from the best human qualities, never escalated the conflict. Despite the high ranks and regalia, he did not strive for a career as such, although he valued his awards. Being a realist-scientist by training, he did not deny the existence of higher forces unknown to science. In the last years of his life, he thought a lot, including, perhaps, about this. When his legs completely refused to serve him, Boris Sergeevich used an ironing board, which he moved to the bed, as a desk. There are a lot of interesting things written on this board.

“Well, I did everything,” he said six months before his death.

The thread connecting the world-famous academician with the Vyshnevolotsk region passes through the village of Berezki - a magical place of childhood. Boris Sokolov spoke about him in the book “Notes from the Shores of Imologa”. He remembered the first time he drove here, 30 kilometers from Vyshny Volochok, with his mother on the firewood, and their father met them. Home education, and then school, poetry in the evenings and Nature revealing its secrets to an enthusiastic researcher - this was his childhood. He came to Berezki until 1940. These visits resumed in the spring of 1985. On the initiative of Elena Nikolaevna, who perfectly understood how dear her husband was to his small homeland, a post-war house was purchased, which became the “summer residence” of the academician for many years.

Local historian Galina Siegert spoke about these visits, about how Boris Sergeevich helped local residents save the cleanest Lake Klin from a Tver company that intended to organize a trout breeding farm on it, about Sokolov’s teas and pies, which, as was customary, were brought by guests. She also told about Boris Sergeevich’s last visit in 2004, when he received the title of honorary citizen of the Vyshnevolotsk region. At the same time, on the site of the temple blown up in the 30s, in which the future great scientist confessed as a boy to Father Nicholas, a cross was erected and a prayer service was held. Now a new temple has already been built, and with its consecration the official right to be called a village will return to Berezki.

Among the participants and guests of the conference there were many people who personally knew Boris Sokolov. Local historian Dmitry Podushkov, philanthropist Boris Kuznetsov, publisher Sergei Medvedev recalled the best qualities of this person: psychological accessibility, goodwill, independent citizenship.

In accordance with the regulations, not everyone had enough time to speak, but the chairman of the Vyshnevolotsk Local History Society named after M. I. Serdyukov, Evgeniy Stupkin, assured that in the book that is planned to be published as a result of the conference, all texts of reports and letters will be given in full. Suggestions and wishes were made to perpetuate the memory of Boris Sokolov, and “Sokolov’s” local history readings dedicated to him were decided by popular vote to be held annually.

Then the conference participants went to Berezki. At the local cemetery there is a family grave where Boris Sokolov’s parents Daria Andreevna and Sergei Borisovich, his two brothers, two sisters and the husband of one of them are buried. Last fall, according to Boris Sergeevich’s will, part of his ashes was placed in this land. So he returned to his homeland for the last time, to the shore of Lake Klin, to the birch trees, in which at the bottom of the trunks, instead of the city's black burning and soot, the natural pink color clearly appears - he returned forever.

Lyudmila VLASOVA

Soon after work began in China, Hitler's Germany attacked the Soviet Union. The geologists immediately sent a telegram that they were ready to curtail their work, return to the USSR and go to the front. An unexpected answer was received to this: no, your presence in China is important for the Soviet government. We can no longer supply you as we did in peacetime, but the work must be done! Grandfather said that at times all supplies came down to transfers of small amounts of money, which was enough for cartridges for hunting rifles and for Chinese moonshine from the market in the nearest village. There were sparsely populated mountains around, in which there were many partridges. Every day they managed to shoot a couple of birds, in the evening they made a fire, cooked partridges, drank a little moonshine and went to bed. In the morning, while it was still dark, we woke up from the cold and went on to work. To top off all the difficulties, political tension grew in China, and provocations began against Soviet specialists. In a nearby geological party, several geologists were killed by unknown people. But, despite everything, the entire work program was successfully completed.
The geological party returned to the Soviet Union in 1943 and continued work on the exploration of minerals needed for the front.
Probably, according to the customs of that time, they were all under suspicion, as people who had spent a long time abroad, and for the slightest careless word they could end up in a camp - but grandfather never talked about it.
For their work during the war, my grandfather and grandmother were awarded medals “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War.” Subsequently, Boris Sergeevich received many awards, including the highest award - the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. But this wartime medal perhaps marks the most difficult and heroic page of his biography.
Of course, I only know these times from my grandfather’s stories. My personal memories begin in the mid-seventies in the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok. Among the vague childhood memories, the image of my grandfather is remembered most vividly. Despite all his busyness, he always found time for his grandson: for conversations, for walks with interesting observations of the surrounding nature, and to praise me for my successes or kindly but firmly reprimand me for some offenses. Only much later did I realize how much communication with my grandfather had given me both in those childhood years and in the following. For the entire family, Boris Sergeevich was an unquestioned moral authority and remained so until the end of his life.
In Novosibirsk, Boris Sergeevich was already an internationally recognized scientist, and a team of students and followers formed around him. I remember one fact that then, in my childhood opinion, seemed self-evident, and only over the years I realized how unique this phenomenon was. Grandfather's students and colleagues were constantly in our house. They easily came in the evenings or on weekends and continued to discuss some of their geological problems that they did not have time to discuss at the institute. On holidays, my grandfather’s students came to visit us with their families, and I was friends with their sons. In a word, the group of geologists, in which my grandfather was the leader, was not just work colleagues, but a team of like-minded people and true friends. Many years have passed since then; some of Boris Sergeevich’s students, unfortunately, are no longer alive, others are venerable and far from young scientists. But the spirit of collective creativity, mutual assistance and business optimism that was present in Boris Sergeevich’s team lives in them to this day.
Both at work and at home, my grandfather was always careful and prudent. He valued his own and other people’s time very much and believed that he had no right to waste it in vain. Each thing had its own clearly defined place and was always at hand. Boris Sergeevich did not spend a single extra minute looking for any necessary thing or eliminating the mess. One of his students told a typical story. Being once again in our house on work matters, he took scissors from his table, cut with them sheets of rough materials for some paleontological article and then put these scissors on the other edge of the table. After that, he and his grandfather sat down to discuss the article. During the conversation, the grandfather took these same scissors and moved them to the place where they always lay with him. The most remarkable thing is that he did this without thinking at all about his actions and without being distracted from the conversation for a second, completely reflexively restoring the usual order.

With great-granddaughter Nastya. 2002

One of the phrases that he liked to repeat: “He who has order on his table has order in his head.”
Boris Sergeevich was always very friendly to people. Of course, in the high administrative positions that he had to occupy, he constantly had to sort out various conflicts, deal with manifestations of human greed, stupidity, careerism and other not the best qualities. But even in the most unpleasant situations, he managed to find ways to solve problems “peacefully.” In each of the participants in the conflict, he could find some bright sides and turn the situation so that the person showed exactly these best qualities. As a result, in most cases the situation was resolved for the better without any administrative repression.
Despite all his regalia, Boris Sergeevich never aspired to a career as such. Being one of the most distinguished geologists in the Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, my grandfather refused the post of deputy director of the institute and the prospect of later becoming its director. He believed that his job was to do science, and did not want to waste the time allotted to him on administrative fuss. At the same time, he was by no means indifferent to public recognition. My grandfather perceived all the awards and honors that he was awarded with a sense of legitimate pride and talked about them with pleasure. But titles and regalia did not matter to him in themselves, but only as recognition of his merits and as an additional opportunity to influence the development of his favorite geological science.
My grandfather’s attitude towards religion is interesting. His early childhood was spent next to the church in Berezki, and church services were his most vivid childhood impressions, which he later told us about. Despite this, Boris Sergeevich, like most representatives of his generation, was not a deeply religious person. He treated the general passion for Orthodoxy with good-natured irony. First of all, he believed in the human mind and in the ability of science to explain all the phenomena of the surrounding world. However, he was also ready to admit the presence of certain higher powers in this world. Sometimes he spoke about himself like this: “I am a pantheist.”
In recent years, Boris Sergeevich’s legs have given out. He could no longer get up, he could only sit on his bed. They moved a large ironing board to his bed, and, sitting at this board, he read and wrote. Despite this situation, he never became discouraged, did not complain about his fate, and was constantly busy. He read a lot, corresponded with his students and colleagues, and received guests - geologists and historians of science. He was constantly worried whether he would have time to tell and write everything he planned. And only last spring he suddenly said one day: “I’ve done everything. I can leave in peace." Six months after this, Boris Sergeevich died. We will remember him with gratitude.

Academician, geologist, paleontologist.

Boris Sergeevich Sokolov is a world-famous scientist, an outstanding geologist, a recognized leader of Russian paleontology and stratigraphy, a bright representative of the brilliant galaxy of founders of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

B. S. Sokolov was born on April 9, 1914 in the town of Vyshny Volochyok, Tver province. In 1932, after graduating from high school, he entered the geological-soil-geographical faculty of Leningrad University and after graduating in 1937, he was enrolled as an assistant in the department of paleontology of this faculty.

From his very first steps in geology, B. S. Sokolov showed his brilliant scientific and organizational abilities. That is why, after researching the Carboniferous and Quaternary deposits of the Russian Platform and studying the regional geology of Central Asia, which began as a student, in the spring of 1941 he was appointed one of the leaders of a complex expedition to Western China and until 1943 he studied the geology and prospects for ore and oil reserves Xinjiang, and in 1943 he became a member of the leadership team of the Central Asian expedition of VNIGRI. As part of this expedition, under the leadership of B. S. Sokolov, a geological survey and assessment of the oil content of the region was carried out. The scientist developed the same topic later, in particular, working in 1953-1955. as part of a group of experts to determine the oil and gas prospects of China.

Returning to Leningrad at the end of 1945, B. S. Sokolov resumed teaching at Leningrad State University, expanding the scope of his research interests. For 15 years (1945-1960), working at Leningrad University and the Oil Institute, B. S. Sokolov conducted research in different regions of the Soviet Union.

In 1958, B. S. Sokolov was elected corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. For 12 years (since 1975) he headed the Department of Geology, Geochemistry, Geophysics and Mining Sciences at the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

B. S. Sokolov created fundamental works on fossil corals, which were included in the golden fund of world paleontological literature and became a desktop methodological guide for several generations of coral specialists around the world. He is one of the main creators of the unique 15-volume reference and methodological publication “Fundamentals of Paleontology,” awarded the Lenin Prize in 1967.

Boris Sergeevich is the founder of a new direction in the study of the most ancient stages of the history of the organic world of the Earth - Precambrian paleontology. He discovered a new ancient complex of sediments, which he substantiated as a new large stratigraphic system of the end of Precambrian time, which he called Vendian - after the ancient Slavs who lived south of the Baltic Sea. This discovery ranks among the largest in geological science of the 20th century, is recognized throughout the world and is included in all textbooks and schemes of geochronological units.

B. S. Sokolov is the author of more than 600 scientific works, including 23 monographs devoted to various aspects of geology, paleontology, stratigraphy and the general evolution of the biosphere. He is also known as the author of brilliant essays on the history of geological science, as well as scientific and journalistic articles on a wide variety of problems of paleogeography, tectonics, lithology, geological history of the biosphere, organization of scientific research, development of the country's mineral resource base, etc.

A very fruitful period in the scientist’s life is associated with the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences, where he was invited in 1958 from Leningrad by Academician A. A. Trofimuk, one of the organizers of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Geology and Geophysics. Here he headed the Department of Paleontology and Stratigraphy, which is now recognized as one of the leading scientific centers in this field. The election of B. S. Sokolov in 1968 as a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences was a natural recognition of his exceptional scientific and scientific-organizational merits.

After moving to Novosibirsk, he taught a number of key courses for many years at the Faculty of Geology and Geophysics of NSU, establishing the Department of Paleontology and Historical Geology here. He carried out enormous educational activities, which were expressed in numerous speeches in scientific and non-professional audiences, in many publications and interviews in the media.

Boris Sergeevich Sokolov has hundreds of students in almost all republics of the former USSR, as well as in China, Vietnam and other countries. Many of them have already become venerable scientists, famous doctors of science, professors, members of academies of sciences, and leaders of major scientific fields.

The scientific and organizational merits of Academician B. S. Sokolov are well known. Since the organization of the Interdepartmental Stratigraphic Committee (MSC) in 1955, B. S. Sokolov was elected a member of its bureau, chairman of the ISC commission for the Ordovician and Silurian, and a member of the bureau of a number of other commissions. In 1971 he became deputy chairman of the ISC, in 1976 - chairman, and in 1991 - honorary chairman. In 1962, Boris Sergeevich was elected vice-president, and in 1974 - president of the All-Union (now All-Russian) Paleontological Society, in 1964 he became a member of the International Paleontological Union, in 1964-1966 - vice-president of the Asian branch of this Union, in 1972-1980. - Vice-President and President (1980-1984) of the International Paleontological Association.

B. S. Sokolov was at the origins of the International Geological Correlation Program. In 1975-1990 he served as Academician-Secretary of the Department of Geology, Geophysics, Geochemistry and Mining Sciences of the Academy of Sciences. His annual reports at the general meetings of the Department were invariably accompanied by an interested analysis of today's problems in the geosciences and consideration of the prospects for their growth. These reports, published annually, are clear evidence of the development of geological sciences within the Academy over a decade and a half.

Currently, Academician B. S. Sokolov continues to be active as a member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences as an adviser, and performs a great job as editor-in-chief of the journal “Stratigraphy. Geological Correlation", member of the editorial board of other scientific journals, the editorial board of the Great Russian Encyclopedia, member of numerous scientific councils, commissions, foundations, etc.

For outstanding achievements in science, scientific and organizational activities, and personnel training, B. S. Sokolov was awarded many highest state and academic awards - the Lenin Prize (1967), the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1984), a prize and the highest academic award in in the field of Earth Sciences - the gold medal named after A.P. Karpinsky, and in 1992 - the Karpinsky-Schweitzer Prize of the Hamburg Foundation and the Karl von Baer Medal for geological research. He was awarded three Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and the Order of the Badge of Honor. In 1998, B. S. Sokolov was the first geologist to receive the highest award of the Russian Academy of Sciences - the Great Gold Medal named after M. V. Lomonosov, awarded for outstanding achievements in the study of the early biosphere of the Earth, the identification of the Vendian system and classical works on fossil corals.

The brilliant scientific achievements of B. S. Sokolov earned him high international authority. He was elected to the leadership of a number of international geological organizations, and is a member or honorary member of geological societies in the USA and a number of Western European countries.

The scale of scientific achievements, a brilliant journalistic gift, the style of scientific research and an extensive school of followers - all this puts B. S. Sokolov among the most interesting representatives of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Rybina G.P. 90 years since the birth of Academician Boris Sergeevich Sokolov […] // Calendar of significant and memorable dates in the Novosibirsk region, 2004.

LITERATURE

ACADEMICIAN Boris Sergeevich Sokolov is 85! // Science in Siberia. - 1999. - No. 14. - P. 8: portrait.

BORIS Sergeevich Sokolov: (On the occasion of his 85th birthday) // Geology and Geophysics. - 1999. - T. 40, No. 4. - P. 649 - 652.

ACADEMICIAN Boris Sergeevich Sokolov / A. A. Alekseev, S. A. Arkhipov, Ch. B. Borukaev and others // Geology and Geophysics. - 1984. - No. 4. - P. 143 - 3rd p. region: portrait

WITH Okolov Boris Sergeevich is a Soviet Russian scientist in the field of geology and paleontology, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

Born on March 28 (April 9), 1914 in the city of Vyshny Volochyok, Tver province (now Tver region) in the family of Sergei Borisovich and Daria Andreevna Sokolov. Russian. Graduated from high school.

He began his career in 1932 at the Elektrotok trust of Lenenergo management. In 1933 he entered the geological-soil-geographical faculty of Leningrad State University (LSU) and after graduating in 1937 he was enrolled as an assistant in the department of paleontology of this faculty.

From his very first steps in geology, Sokolov showed his brilliant scientific and scientific-organizational abilities. After researching the Carboniferous and Quaternary deposits of the Russian Platform and studying the regional geology of Central Asia, which began during his student years, in the spring of 1941 he was appointed one of the leaders of a complex expedition to Western China and the head of the geological party of the People's Commissariats of the Nonferrous Industry and the Oil Industry in its composition. Until 1943, he studied the geology and prospects for ore and oil reserves of Xinjiang, and in 1943 he became a member of the leadership team of the Central Asian expedition of VNIGRI. As part of this expedition, under the leadership of Sokolov, a geological survey and assessment of the oil content of the region was carried out. Sokolov developed the same topic later, in particular, working in 1953-1955 as part of a group of experts to determine the oil and gas prospects of China.

Returning to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) at the end of 1945, he resumed teaching at Leningrad State University. Also, since 1943, he worked successively as a senior geologist, senior researcher and head of the laboratory of the All-Union Petroleum Research Institute in Leningrad. In the post-war years, he sharply expanded the scope of his scientific interests, turning to broad paleogeographical generalizations on the Russian Platform, the study of materials from the reference drilling that began here, and a detailed study of Paleozoic corals and, above all, chaetheids. His PhD thesis (1947) was devoted to the chaetetids.

Later, Sokolov accumulated colossal material on tabulatomorphs of the territory of the USSR, and the result of a detailed study of this material was the five-volume monograph “Tabulatomorphs of the Paleozoic of the European Part of the USSR” (1951-1955), which has become a classic. In this work, brilliantly defended as a doctoral dissertation (1955), he first proposed a unified system of tabulatomorphic corals (including chaetheids, which in those years were considered representatives of hydroids), restored their evolution and presented their biostratigraphic role in a completely new light. The significance of this monograph, which is still a reference book for coralists around the world, can hardly be overestimated.

In 1958, Sokolov moved to the city of Novosibirsk in connection with the creation of the Siberian Branch (SB) of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Here, in 1958-1976, he headed the department of paleontology and stratigraphy at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. This department soon became one of the world's leading centers for paleontological and stratigraphic research in the huge age range from the Riphean to the Quaternian. He also carried out extensive teaching work at Novosibirsk State University, where since 1961 he was a professor in the department of general geology, and from 1965 to 1975 he headed the department of historical geology and paleontology, which he created.

In 1976, B.S. Sokolov moved to Moscow, where he began working as the head of a laboratory at the Paleontological Institute (until 1992). Since 1990 - Advisor to the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

During the Leningrad and Novosibirsk period of scientific activity of B.S. Sokolov became the founder of a new direction in the study of the history of the organic world of the Earth - Precambrian paleontology. He was the first in the world to give a comprehensive analysis of Paleozoic corals, a fundamentally new interpretation of the initial stage of development of the Russian Platform, and scientifically substantiate the zonal principle of determining the boundaries of stratigraphic systems. At the suggestion of Academician B.S. Sokolov made significant clarifications and changes to the General Stratigraphic Scale of the Earth, adopted by scientists all over the world, and he also introduced a new period into this scale - the Vendian. Published 15 unique paleontological maps of the Russian Platform. Significantly developed the ideas of Academician V.I. Vernadsky in the field of biosphere evolution.

U Kaz of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 9, 1984 Sokolov Boris Sergeevich awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor with the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal.

It is difficult to overestimate the role of Sokolov in the creation of the journal “Stratigraphy. Geological Correlation”, of which he is the editor-in-chief. This journal is the only periodical in the world specifically devoted to the fundamental and applied aspects of stratigraphy and the correlation of geological events and processes in time and space. For many years he was also deputy editor-in-chief of the journal “Fundamentals of Paleontology” and a member of the editorial board of the journal “Geology and Geophysics”.

On March 28, 1958 he was elected a corresponding member, and on November 26, 1968 - a full member (academician) of the USSR Academy of Sciences (since 1991 - RAS). In 1975-1990 - Academician-Secretary of the Department of Geology, Geophysics, Geochemistry and Mining Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences. His annual reports at the general meetings of the Department invariably resulted in an interested analysis of today's problems in the geosciences and consideration of the prospects for their growth. These annually published reports are striking documents of the development of geological sciences within the Academy over a decade and a half. Member of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences (1955). Professor (1964).

Sokolov was at the origins of the International Geological Correlation Program. Since the organization of the Interdepartmental Stratigraphic Committee (MSC) in 1955, Sokolov was elected a member of its bureau, chairman of the ISC commission on the Ordovician and Silurian, and a member of the bureau of a number of other commissions. In 1971, he became deputy chairman of the MSK, in 1976 - chairman, and in 1991 - honorary chairman.

In 1962 he was elected vice-president, and in 1974 - president of the All-Union (now All-Russian) Paleontological Society; in 1964 he became a member of the International Paleontological Union, in 1964-1966 he was vice-president of the Asian branch of this Union, vice-president (1972-1980) and president (1980-1984) of the International Paleontological Association.

Awarded 3 Orders of Lenin (1961, 1967, 1984), 2 Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (1974, 1975), Order of the Badge of Honor (1954), and medals.

Lenin Prize (1967). Winner of numerous scientific awards: the A.P. Karpinsky Prize and Gold Medal of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1979), the Great Gold Medal named after M.V. Lomonosov of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1997), the Karl von Baer Medal of the Estonian Academy of Sciences (1992).

Received wide international recognition: full member of the Geological Society of France (1963), honorary corresponding member of the Stockholm Geological Society (Sweden, 1969), member of a number of other foreign and international organizations.