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GP: Fachverband Geschichte der Physik

GP 10: Sowjetunion

GP 10.1: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 09:15–10:00, HSZ 204

The Cold War and Soviet Physics — •Alexei Kojevnikov — University of British Columbia

The Cold War had both obvious and not so obvious consequences for Soviet science. The former included dramatically increased public prestige of science and a jump in government funding for research, much stronger linkages between scientific and military establishments, a tightening of security restrictions and of the political surveillance of scientists. Among the latter one notices a de-facto convergence of major research goals and strategies pursued by scientists on opposing sides of the Iron Curtain (despite their ideological and political differences), and some unexpected international ramifications of the 1957 launch of Sputnik. The presentation will analyze these major trends and exchanges across the Cold War frontier, including mutual borrowing and influences between the Soviet and American R&D programs. It will also intend to demonstrate how some of the very successes of military-oriented research programs started undermining the Cold-War defined scientific priorities and forms of life, leading to noticeable shifts by the early 1960s.