Essays of a Soviet scientist

by V. I. Golʹdanskiĭ

The essays, articles, and interviews that make up Essays of a Soviet Scientist offer a revealing portrait of Vitalii Gol'danskii and his generation. Here are Gol'danskii's reminiscences of his extraordinary scientific mentors and colleagues, his reflections on science's obligations to humanity, his writings on the arts and the media, his courageous and passionate arguments against nuclear weapons, and his warnings about the resurgence of anti-Semitism in today's Russia. Through the compassionate, authoritative perspective of Vitalii Gol'danskii, we find in the life of a man and a nation many lessons for us all. The role of science and the scientist in society ... the oppressive influence of authoritarianism on a nation's intelligentsia ... scientific integrity versus political expedience ... the endurance of a people riding the great emotional pendulum of history ... Essays of a Soviet Scientist has much to say about these and other crucial matters.