Science in Russia and the Soviet Union A Short History [Paperback]

Although by the 1980s the Soviet scientific establishment became the largest in the world, little is known about it in the West. Loren Graham presents the first concise, modern history of science in Russia, the Soviet Union, and the commonwealth of Independent States. Thoroughly up to date, the volume covers the Czarist period, the impact of the Russian Revolution, the relationship between science and Soviet society, the strengths of various scientific disciplines, and the effect of the fall of Communism.Preface; Illustrations; Introduction; Part I. The Tsarist Period: 1. Russian science before 1800; 2. Science in nineteenth-century Russia; 3. Russian intellectuals and Darwinism; Part II. Russian Science and a Marxist Revolution: 4. The Russian Revolution and the scientific community; 5. The role of dialectical materialism: the authentic phase; 6. Stalinist ideology and the Lysenko affair; Part III. Science and Soviet Society: 7. Soviet attitudes towards the social and historical society; 8. Knowledge and power in Russian and Soviet science; 9. The organizational features and Soviet science; Conclusion; Appendices; Notes; Bibliographical essay; Index. ...a splendid work, a breathtaking synthesis that is at once erudite and accessible, illuminating and a pleasure to read. Daniel J. Kevles Loren Graham's informative history...leaves one wondering how science could function at all....The remaining, very open, question is: How well will a newly freed Russian science survive the removal of the Soviet hand that nourished and battered it? New York Times Book Review The premier historian of the subject here explores for the general reader how Russian politics, economics and society have shaped the nature and direction of Russian science....In spare and accessible form, Graham offers both a broad, insightful social and political history of Russia and science as well as much food for thought about the general consequences of the national context within which science ls(