ABSTRACT
In his valedictory speech, A.D.Sakharov described Ya.B.Zeldovich a person of universal interests. According to the calendar, Zeldovich lived a normal human lifespan. However, this lifespan encompassed several scientific biographies of enormous volume and lasting importance. It turned out that these biographies were devoted to explosions of increasing power (detonations) and chemical explosions, chain reactions and nuclear reactions, and the Big Bang that formed our universe 15 billion years ago. Questions concerning combustion and detonation were a first and lasting love of Yakov Borisovich, to which he remained faithful to his last days.
