Stalin and the Scientists

Posted on 03 October 2017 by Simon Ings

Scientists throughout history, from Galileo to today s experts on climate change, have often had to contend with politics in their pursuit of knowledge But in the Soviet Union, where the ruling elites embraced, patronized, and even fetishized science like never before, scientists lived their lives on a knife edge The Soviet Union had the best funded scientific establishment in history Scientists were elevated as popular heroes and lavished with awards and privileges But if their ideas or their field of study lost favor with the elites, they could be exiled, imprisoned, or murdered And yet they persisted, making major contributions to 20th century science Stalin and the Scientists tells the story of the many gifted scientists who worked in Russia from the years leading up to the Revolution through the death of the Great Scientist himself, Joseph Stalin It weaves together the stories of scientists, politicians, and ideologues into an intimate and sometimes horrifying portrait of a state determined to remake the world They often wreaked great harm Stalin was himself an amateur botanist, and by falling under the sway of dangerous charlatans like Trofim Lysenko who denied the existence of genes , and by relying on antiquated ideas of biology, he not only destroyed the lives of hundreds of brilliant scientists, he caused the death of millions through famine.But from atomic physics to management theory, and from radiation biology to neuroscience and psychology, these Soviet experts also made breakthroughs that forever changed agriculture, education, and medicine A masterful book that deepens our understanding of Russian history, Stalin and the Scientists is a great achievement of research and storytelling, and a gripping look at what happens when science falls prey to politics. Free Download Stalin and the Scientists [ By ] Simon Ings [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr It is unsurprising to read that Stalin demanded science and scientists to first and foremost serve the Soviet state, their work at all times to reflect the politics of the ruling party, and that this didn t exactly work out how he imagined, especially as he took party will Stalin s will Yet what Ings presents here is a well researched and complex picture of the relationship between the leader and scientists intellectuals within Russia that had its failures, but some successes too That I wasn It is unsurprising to read that Stalin demanded science and scientists to first and foremost serve the Soviet state, their work at all times to reflect the politics of the ruling party, and that this didn t exactly work out how he imagined, especially as he took party will Stalin s will Yet what Ings presents here is a well researched and complex picture of the relationship between the leader and scientists intellectuals within Russia that had its failures, but some successes too That I wasn t expecting Ings may criticise the irrationality and devastating failure, but he doesn t do it from a position of superiority, but as another flawed human As such, we see the parallels he makes with contemporary political and scientific decision making, lambasting recent failure to take into account the food and other resources we need to meet demands, waiting for scientists to pull us out of the fire with some last minute save.As wit...Review under spoiler until nearer publication date, however I can give this a 5 and tell you that the paper book is a must for my home library view spoiler Description Scientists throughout history, from Galileo to today s experts on climate change, have often had to contend with politics in their pursuit of knowledge But in the Soviet Union, where the ruling elites embraced, patronized, and even fetishized science like never before, scientists lived their lives on a knife edge The Soviet Review under spoiler until nearer publication date, however I can give this a 5 and tell you that the paper book is a must for my home library view spoiler Description Scientists throughout history, from Galileo to today s experts on climate change, have often had to contend with politics in their pursuit of knowledge But in the Soviet Union, where the ruling elites embraced, patronized, and even fetishized science like never before, scientists lived their lives on a knife edge The Soviet Union had the best funded scientific establishment in history Scientists were elevated as popular heroes and lavishe...Stalin and the Scientists by Simon Ings4 stars 8 out of 10I have previously read a lot about Trofim Lysenko, and had many discussions about him so I was interested to read this book in order to find outabout him and his contemporaries, and the environment in which they lived and worked.Simon Ings has written a detailed and clearly expressed book, about scientists in Russia during the period from 1905 to 1953 In addition to the bibliography, each chapter has informative endnotes.There Stalin and the Scientists by Simon Ings4 stars 8 out of 10I have previously read a lot about Trofim Lysenko, and had many discussions about him so I was interested to read this book in order to find outabout him and his contemporaries, and the environment in which they lived and worked.Simon Ings has written a detailed and clearly expressed book, about scientists in Russia during the period from 1905 to 1953 In addition to the bibliography, each chapter has informative endnotes.There is a prologue covering the period 1856 to 1905, which provides an explanatory background for the rest of the book Part 1 covers 1905 to 1929 As I read this, I realised that there were several Russian scientists from this period whom I already knew something about Luria, Pavlov and Vygotsky This helped provide me with a context for...Russia s political elites embraced science, patronized it, fetishized it and even tried to impersonate it, Simon Ings writes in Stalin and the Scientists A History of Triumph and Tragedy 1905 1953 Ings takes a light tone with the dark history of a nation so big, it hassurface area than the visible moon eep I still haven t web surfed that one, but I trust it must be so All that land, yet most of it cannot sustain its population A full third of this empire is in the permanent gri Russia s political elites embraced science, patronized it, fetishized it and even tried to impersonate it, Simon Ings writes in Stalin and the Scientists A History of Triumph and Tragedy 1905 1953 Ings takes a light tone with the dark history of a nation so big, it hassurface area than the visible moon eep I still haven t web surfed that one, but I trust it must be so All that land, yet most of it cannot sustain its population A full third of this empire is in the permanent grip of ice and snow Where the soil is fertile, the climate is cold In warmer regions, the soil is poor There s a narrow belt of fertile black earth with enough rainfall to grow crops.In Russia there were no institutions for reformers to reform no councils, no unions, no guilds, few roads, schools or hospitals For the masses, modernization consisted of containment, regimentation, curfew and exemplary punishment What a country Quite simply, when...Disclosure I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley.Even a casual student of Soviet history must remark upon the strange relationship the USSR had with science It forms major themes in specialist works by historians such as Stephen Kotkin and Loren Graham, and forms an undercurrent in works by Robert Conquest and others Whereas these writers use Soviet science as a way to explore the internal contradictions which ended the experiment in Socialism, Simon Ings is farinterested Disclosure I received a review copy of this book from NetGalley.Even a casual student of Soviet history must remark upon the strange relationship the USSR had with science It forms major themes in specialist works by historians such as Stephen Kotkin and Loren Graham, and forms an undercurrent in works by Robert Conquest and others Whereas these writers use Soviet science as a way to explore the internal contradictions which ended the experiment in Socialism, Simon Ings is farinterested in the reason why Soviet science had such a relationship with the state.For this reason, Stalin and the Scientists A History of Triumph and Tragedy, 1905 1953, is probably best understood as the story of Trofim Lysenko This is not to say that the book follows Lysenko exclusively, but rather the rise and dominance of the man and his pseudoscientific theories is the climax and falling action of the narrative The work d...Covers western Russian history from the late 1800 s to early Khrushchev era, with a particular emphasis on the biologists of the era, though some physicists and psychologists are also featured The pulpy title is quite misleading Stalin himself barely features in the first third, and his particular impact on Soviet science is not the primary investigation of the book The book also looks mainly at biology and Lysenkoism, not scientists in general anyone expecting an equally thorough examinatio Covers western Russian history from the late 1800 s to early Khrushchev era, with a particular emphasis on the biologists of the era, though some physicists and psychologists are also featured The pulpy title is quite misleading Stalin himself barely features in the first third, and his particular impact on Soviet science is not the primary investigation of the book The book also looks mainly at biology and Lysenkoism, not scientists in general anyone expecting an equally thorough examination of Soviet physics, or the nascent space program, will be disappointed.The book is alsointerested in Soviet historygenerally, with political history informing the structure of the bookthan scientific and technological development This is a shame, since the book s historical understanding is quite poor, and the basic themes and grasp of events could be found in...I have a several remarks about this book 1 Authors attempts to explain caveats of Russian language author says that there is no work scientist in Russian, the closest analog is uchenniy which means educated Remark is correct for 17 th century Russian This day it means nothing else except scientist Russian does not have a word for favor, it actually does usluga.2 WW2 description, I might be wrong here but author says that that in 4 6 weeks Minsk was taken, that so I have a several remarks about this book 1 Authors attempts to explain caveats of Russian language author says that there is no work scientist in Russian, the closest analog is uchenniy which means educated Remark is correct for 17 th century Russian This day it means nothing else except scientist Russian does not have a word for favor, it actually does usluga.2 WW2 description, I might be wrong here but author says that tha...Really the story of Trofim Lysenko, a Rasputin type who dominated early Soviet science with a tangle of lies and manipulation It s a fascinating story with plenty to chew on regarding the dangers of groupthink and utopianism.There is a great dealthat I would have liked this book to have covered Essentially the science covered was the politicized science, psychology, genetics, and nuclear physics I would have liked to have seen chemistry and engineering addresses particularly with regard to the military However, this book is replete with anecdotes The problem Russia had with science was that it was supposed to operate within the context of Marxism Marx was supposed to be the connective tissue that would There is a great dealthat I would have liked this book to have covered Essentially the science covered was the politicized science, psychology, genetics, and nuclear physics I would have liked to have seen chemistry and engineering addresses particularly with regard to the military However, this book is replete with anecdotes The problem Russia had with science was that it was supposed to operate within the context of Marxism Marx was supposed to be the connective tissue that would create a unified field theory that united all the sciences under one roof It is not unlike the way Christianity works among right wing Republican circles today Ideology, as usual, led to bizarre choices The state, seeking to undermine the view that science was the product of well educated elites, sought to capture the insights tfw gifted amateur This led to every crackpot, with the right class struggle credentials, making his way to Kremlin and undermining S...What happens when half baked scientific ideas meshed with vague political ideas become an ideology and is used by ignoramus politicians to wield power The answer inevitably is a dictatorship and in many cases like the erstwhile Soviet Union, genocide, slavery and labour camps An excellent book which traverses a vast swathe of Soviet scientific history during the egomaniacal times of Tsars, Lenin, Stalin and rest of the ideology waving coterie What we see were people like Vavilov, Vernadsky, L What happens when half baked scientific ideas meshed with vague political ideas become an ideology and is used by ignoramus politicians to wield power The answer inevitably is a dictatorship and in many cases like the erstwhile Soviet Union, genocide, slavery and labour camps An excellent book which traverses a vast swathe of Soviet scientific history during the egomaniacal times of Tsars...Reading this book gave me a great appreciation for the quality of life that I take for granted It is amazing to me that Russian scientists were able to accomplish anything when they were starving, using stolen equipment, and often executed for results that didn t fit...Informative, illuminating, accessible and meticulously researched, this fascinating account of science in the Soviet Union makes for some compelling reading The relationship between science and politics has never been as problematic as it was under Stalin ...Some fascinating insights into how politics and science can work with, or against each other Sometimes I was slightly less interested in sections which werethe political manoeuvrings of individuals However where the science and political wo...2.5 starsInteresting but widely inconsistent seems to be the first sentence of every review of every non fiction book I read this year This book has moments that were truly fascinating, but you ve got to wade through pages and pages ...I was expectingfrom this book than a story of personal relations gone bad I guess it gives a good insight to what working as a scientist during the Stalin era must have been like, but i would have beenintresting reading about the actual science then personal vendettas among scientists

03 October 2017

Simon Ings