4 ms·

Atomic Light

21 points by ozdave 10y ago

rubidium 10y ago
The photos look like anything you'd find wondering the ground and basement floors of science buildings at most major research universities today.
pavlov 10y ago
There is something else that does not appear in these photos, that could not appear, and that deserves to be mentioned. Many of the main ideas of perestroika emerged for the first time from laboratories like these ones. Soviet science, Soviet laboratories were genuine islands of freethinking. Accustomed to thinking for themselves, the scientists had begun to draw conclusions about the failed communist experiment. This reminds me of a Soviet sci-fi book I recently read, A billion years before the end of the world, translated to English as Definitely Maybe [1]. I've read a fair amount of Soviet / East Bloc scifi, and it usually tends to avoid directly commenting on contemporary issues by placing the events in a distant enough future that the inevitable victory of communism on Earth can be assumed to have occurred. (In other words, even dark Soviet scifi quietly presumes a short-term timeline that would be acceptable to Soviet orthodoxy.) In contrast, Definitely Maybe takes place in Leningrad in the early 1970s and the main characters are successful Soviet scientists. It's a quite interesting glimpse into the assumptions of that society, and the latitude of free thought that scientists still retained. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitely_Maybe_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitely_Maybe_(novel)
- selimthegrim 10y ago
  It's funny that the same authors wrote https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Begins_on_Saturday https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Begins_on_Saturday. e: I went to college with Yuri Manin's grandson. I'll have to ask him what he thinks of that book (Definitely Maybe)
- gumby 10y ago
  This is a complete tangent question but I hope it's OK to ask: I've always wanted to read some Soviet analog of James Bond: the heroic derring-do of a spy who keeps the world safe from capitalism, and that is written without TOO much bombastic propaganda (the implicit stuff that leaks through would be in the interesting stuff). I assume it exists -- do you read that stuff too? And if so would you recommend any authors? I can't read Russian, but if it's been translated into English, French or German it's fine. I've enjoyed some Soviet SF because it has different assumptions from the stuff I usually see. Sorry if this question is too weird or too off topic.

21 points by ozdave 10y ago

The photos look like anything you'd find wondering the ground and basement floors of science buildings at most major research universities today.

pavlov 10y ago

There is something else that does not appear in these photos, that could not appear, and that deserves to be mentioned. Many of the main ideas of perestroika emerged for the first time from laboratories like these ones. Soviet science, Soviet laboratories were genuine islands of freethinking. Accustomed to thinking for themselves, the scientists had begun to draw conclusions about the failed communist experiment. This reminds me of a Soviet sci-fi book I recently read, A billion years before the end of the world, translated to English as Definitely Maybe [1]. I've read a fair amount of Soviet / East Bloc scifi, and it usually tends to avoid directly commenting on contemporary issues by placing the events in a distant enough future that the inevitable victory of communism on Earth can be assumed to have occurred. (In other words, even dark Soviet scifi quietly presumes a short-term timeline that would be acceptable to Soviet orthodoxy.) In contrast, Definitely Maybe takes place in Leningrad in the early 1970s and the main characters are successful Soviet scientists. It's a quite interesting glimpse into the assumptions of that society, and the latitude of free thought that scientists still retained. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitely_Maybe_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitely_Maybe_(novel)

selimthegrim 10y ago
It's funny that the same authors wrote https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Begins_on_Saturday https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Begins_on_Saturday. e: I went to college with Yuri Manin's grandson. I'll have to ask him what he thinks of that book (Definitely Maybe)
gumby 10y ago
This is a complete tangent question but I hope it's OK to ask: I've always wanted to read some Soviet analog of James Bond: the heroic derring-do of a spy who keeps the world safe from capitalism, and that is written without TOO much bombastic propaganda (the implicit stuff that leaks through would be in the interesting stuff). I assume it exists -- do you read that stuff too? And if so would you recommend any authors? I can't read Russian, but if it's been translated into English, French or German it's fine. I've enjoyed some Soviet SF because it has different assumptions from the stuff I usually see. Sorry if this question is too weird or too off topic.