Stalin and the scientists : a history of triumph and tragedy, 1905-1953 / Simon Ings.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ings, Simon, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953--Influence.

Science and state--Soviet Union.

Scientists--Soviet Union--Biography.

Soviet Union.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xix, 508 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2017.

Summary:

"Stalin and the Scientists tells the story of the hugely 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" --Inside jacket.

Contents:

Prologue : fuses (1856-1905)

Part one. Control (1905-1929). Scholars

Revolutionaries

Entrepreneurs

Workers

Exploring the mind

Understanding evolution

Shaping humanity

Part two. Power (1929-1941). 'Storming the fortress of science'

Eccentrics

The primacy of practice

Kooperatorka

The great patron

'Fascist links'

Office politics

'We shall go to the pyre'

Part three. Dominion (1941-1953). 'Lucky stiffs'

'Can I go to the reactor?'

'How did anyone dare insult Comrade Lysenko?'

Higher nervous activity

'The death agony was horrible'

Succession

Epilogue : spoil.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780802189868

0802189865