Simon Ings - Stalin and the Scientists

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.