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>Taking one side means having to make empty statements and then being (for the most) left in peace. This is very similar to Soviet science. Mathematicians and

>Taking one side means having to make empty statements and then being (for the most) left in peace. This is very similar to Soviet science. Mathematicians and physicists were obligated, unofficially of course, to put Marx or Lenin quote somewhere at the start of their article, and if they did, they were left in peace. >Taking the other side means having career-ending events happening to you. Yes, exactly the same.

Anthony-G 8y ago
I was surprised to learn that this was true for the “hard” sciences. In the early 30s, after Hubble published his research showing that the universe is expanding, the Big Bang Theory started to become accepted by the mainstream scientific community. However, the Soviet authorities declared (a secular fatwa) that it was against Marxist orthodoxy – apparently, on the basis that its concept of “creation” was crypto-Christian. As a result of this stifling and repressive atmosphere, George Gamow, fled the regime. He later developed the theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis (explaining how the Big Bang was responsible for the abundance of Hydrogen and Helium in the universe).
- hpcjoe 8y ago
  It was Alpher, Bethe, and Gamow's name on the paper ... I heard a story that they invited one of the authors just to get the A, B, G first letters of authors last names.
  - JorgeGT 8y ago
    It was Gamow who included Bethe's the name when sending the manuscript. Alpher, who was his PhD student, was not pleased at all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpher%E2%80%93Bethe%E2%80%93Gamow_paper?oldformat=true#Bethe's_name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpher%E2%80%93Bethe%E2%80%93G...
shmulkey18 8y ago
"Stalin and the Scientists" by Simon Ing tells a very different story. Many Soviet scientists were severely punished when they found themselves on the wrong side of Communist dogma. Making empty statements was not possible if, for example, you disagreed with Lysenkoism. If you refused to swallow unscientific nonsense you ran a very real risk of some combination of losing your job, being shipped off to a labor camp and losing your life. Fortunately, the Grievance Studies folks have not yet figured out how to construct a gulag.
- nopriorarrests 8y ago
  I was speaking about late soviet union, from Khrushev to Gorbachev, so 1953-1984.

Anthony-G 8y ago

I was surprised to learn that this was true for the “hard” sciences. In the early 30s, after Hubble published his research showing that the universe is expanding, the Big Bang Theory started to become accepted by the mainstream scientific community. However, the Soviet authorities declared (a secular fatwa) that it was against Marxist orthodoxy – apparently, on the basis that its concept of “creation” was crypto-Christian. As a result of this stifling and repressive atmosphere, George Gamow, fled the regime. He later developed the theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis (explaining how the Big Bang was responsible for the abundance of Hydrogen and Helium in the universe).

hpcjoe 8y ago
It was Alpher, Bethe, and Gamow's name on the paper ... I heard a story that they invited one of the authors just to get the A, B, G first letters of authors last names.
- JorgeGT 8y ago
  It was Gamow who included Bethe's the name when sending the manuscript. Alpher, who was his PhD student, was not pleased at all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpher%E2%80%93Bethe%E2%80%93Gamow_paper?oldformat=true#Bethe's_name https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpher%E2%80%93Bethe%E2%80%93G...

shmulkey18 8y ago

"Stalin and the Scientists" by Simon Ing tells a very different story. Many Soviet scientists were severely punished when they found themselves on the wrong side of Communist dogma. Making empty statements was not possible if, for example, you disagreed with Lysenkoism. If you refused to swallow unscientific nonsense you ran a very real risk of some combination of losing your job, being shipped off to a labor camp and losing your life. Fortunately, the Grievance Studies folks have not yet figured out how to construct a gulag.

nopriorarrests 8y ago
I was speaking about late soviet union, from Khrushev to Gorbachev, so 1953-1984.