Authors:
- Provides a concise introduction to the tangled issues of Cold War scientific communication between Russia and Western countries
- Unites political/ideological/bureaucratic issues with linguistic questions
- Opens up questions that may spark further lines of investigation in this area
- Features comprehensive references that will be useful for anyone who wants to study this area further
- Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras
Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology (BRIEFSHIST)
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Table of contents (5 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This monograph provides a concise introduction to the tangled issues of communication between Russian and Western scientists during the Cold War. It details the extent to which mid-twentieth-century researchers and practitioners were able to communicate with their counterparts on the opposite side of the Iron Curtain.
Drawing upon evidence from a range of disciplines, a decade-by-decade account is first given of the varying levels of contact that existed via private correspondence and conference attendance. Next, the book examines the exchange of publications and the availability of one side's work in the libraries of the other. It then goes on to compare general language abilities on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, with comments on efforts in the West to learn Russian and the systematic translation of Russian work.
In the end, author Christopher Hollings argues that physical accessibility was generally good in both directions, but that Western scientists were afflicted by greater linguistic difficulties than their Soviet counterparts whose major problems were bureaucratic in nature.
This volume will be of interest to historians of Cold War science, particularly those who study communications and language issues. In addition, it will be an ideal starting pointing for anyone looking to know more about this fascinating area.
Keywords
- Cold War science
- Foreign-language barrier
- International scientific conferences
- Internationalism in science
- Russian-language barrier
- Science and McCarthyism
- Scientific abstracts
- Scientific communication
- Scientific translation
- Soviet censorship
- Soviet science
- Soviet science journals
- Stalinist science
- Zhores A. Medvedev
Reviews
Authors and Affiliations
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University of Oxford, Mathematical Institute, Oxford, United Kingdom
Christopher D. Hollings
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Scientific Communication Across the Iron Curtain
Authors: Christopher D. Hollings
Series Title: SpringerBriefs in History of Science and Technology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25346-6
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Author(s) 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-25344-2Published: 18 December 2015
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-25346-6Published: 12 December 2015
Series ISSN: 2211-4564
Series E-ISSN: 2211-4572
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XII, 109
Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations
Topics: History of Science, History of Mathematical Sciences