Description V. S. Beskin and V. L. Ginzburg provide some biographical details and insight into the life and work and publications of S. I. Syrovatskii. His key scientific interests included magnetohydrodynamics, radioastronomy, cosmic ray astrophysics and solar physics. Other chapters contributed to the review include: Supernova la; The formation and evolution of the current sheet for driven magnetic reconnection field lines on plasma; Dynamic current sheets in the Earth’s magnetotail; Syrovatskii and development of current sheet research