Physics moves to the provinces: the Siberian physics community and Soviet power, 1917–1940

Abstract

The rich tradition of Siberian science and higher education is little known outside Russian academic circles. Using institutional history, this article focuses on the founding and pre-war period of the Siberian Physical Technical Institute, the establishment of its research focus and its first difficult steps to become a leading centre of R & D in Siberia. Based on archival materials, the article describes how local and national physicists justified the institute's creation by demonstrating ties with industry and building on the presence of a cohort of locally trained physicists, whose numbers were augmented by Leningrad specialists. The strength of local cadres enabled the institute to navigate civil war and cultural revolution successfully. Physicists were able to take advantage of ongoing industrialization campaigns to gain support to create the institute, although local disputes and economic problems slowed its further development. The article describes the circulation of scientific, political and philosophical knowledge between Moscow, Leningrad and the provinces, and the impact of Bolshevik rule and Stalinism on the Siberian physics enterprise.

The Problem Of Social Well-Being In The Period Of Perestroika

“…At the same time, the course on democratization and de-ideologization carried out in the country was accompanied by an active debunking of the shortcomings and contradictions of the "socialist" regime and other disgraces. However, the major shortcoming of this policy was that an alternative value system which could become a guide to the transition to a market economy was not created (Josephson & Sorokin, 2017).…”