They were probably doing good physics and math all along. Don't think they suddenly changed course and caught up and passed the rest of the world. Crude scientists would not have been able to pick up on the atom bomb so quickly. You know Sputnik and all that.
Afterall, Marx, Engels and Lenin put a lot of emphasis on science. Stalin and Stalinists did a lot of following those three to the tee. M,E and L did not teach establishing an intellectual ghetto, but rather exactly participating in the "totality of human knowledge." The problem with the Soviet Union was _not_ lack of scientific work and culture. However,on cybernetics the word seems to be that they missed the boat on that , contra what you say below. Charles ^^^^^^^ I've got to run now, so briefly: At some point, a modus vivendi was worked out, which allowed the propaganda apparatus to do its thing while leaving scientists and mathematicians alone to do theirs. This has roots towards the end of the Stalin era, in the late 1940s, when formal logic was once again taught as a subject. Perhaps by this time Stalin had stopped sending scientists and mathematicians to the Gulag. But obviously, he and his henchmen realized that the USSR could not compete in the dawning atomic and computer age without serious investment in physics, logic, math, cybernetics. So of course they were encouraged. In this respect, Stalin proved to be smarter than the dumbass Maoists who looked to peasant society. _______________________________________________ Marxism-Thaxis mailing list Marxism-Thaxis@lists.econ.utah.edu To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism-thaxis
