IN THE

VANGUARD

OF

SOVIET

SCIENCE

T h i s y e a r the A c a d e m y of Sciences of the USSR is 250 y e a r s old. It was on F e b r u a r y 8, 1724 that C z a r P e t e r I signed the d e c r e e e s t a b l i s h i n g the R u s s i a n I m p e r i a l A c a d e m y of Sciences in St. P e t e r s b u r g . The founding of the Academy of Sciences r e s p o n d e d to the urgent e c o n o m i c , p o l i t i c a l , and c u l t u r a l n e e d s of R u s s i a at that t i m e . A l r e a d y in the Eighteenth Century g e o g r a p h i c , scientific, and ethnographic studies of the country had b e c o m e the m o s t i m p o r t a n t d i r e c t i o n in the A c a d e m y ' s activities. During the Eighteenth Century the A c a d e m y of Sciences o r g a n i z e d a s e r i e s of extensive scientific e x p e d i t i o n s , including the G r e a t Siberian E x pedition (1745-1766) which was led by t h e famous e x p l o r e r of K a m c h a t k a , S. P. Krasheninnikov. The e x peditions w e r e an i n e s t i m a b l e contribution to the study of the geography and r e s o u r c e s of our i m m e n s e land. " T h e s e R u s s i a n e x p e d i t i o n s , " w r o t e the outstanding F r e n c h n a t u r a l i s t G e o r g e s Cuvier, " w e r e of g r e a t e r benefit to the n a t u r a l s c i e n c e s than the English and F r e n c h e x p e d i t i o n s . " Owing to the outstanding n a t u r a l i s t s and s c i e n t i s t s who worked at the Academy in the Eighteenth Cent u r y , the Academy of Sciences in St. P e t e r s b u r g quickly b e c a m e one of the g r e a t e s t scientific c e n t e r s in Europe. The p r e e m i n e n t a c h i e v e m e n t s of the m e m b e r s of the Academy and p r i m a r i l y those of M. V. Lomonosov b e c a m e p a r t of the t r e a s u r e house of world science and the s p i r i t u a l culture of mankind. The activities at the Academy of Sciences of the b r i l l i a n t R u s s i a n s c h o l a r and encyclopedist, M. V. Lomonosov, has left a profound i m p a c t on s c i e n c e , education, s o c i a l and political thought, b e l l e s l e t t r e s , and the fine a r t s . M. V. Lomonosov stated the p r o b l e m s of t h e r m a l physics with exceptional c l a r i t y , t h o r o u g h n e s s , and r i g o r . Strictly applying his a t o m i s t i c views of the s t r u c t u r e of m a t t e r , he c a m e upon the d i s c o v e r y of one of the m o s t i m p o r t a n t laws of n a t u r e , the law of the c o n s e r v a t i o n of m a t t e r and energy. The i m p e t u s to this b r i l l i a n t d i s c o v e r y was M. V. L o m o n o s o v ' s w o r k " T r e a t i s e on the Cause of Heat and Cold, " which he r e a d at two s e s s i o n s of the c o n f e r e n c e of the St. P e t e r s b u r g Academy of Sciences in 1745. C r i t i c i z i n g in this w o r k the proponents of the theory of " c a l o r i f i c m a t e r i a l " which p r e d o m i n a t e d at that t i m e , M. V. L o m o n o sov for the f i r s t t i m e stated his r e m a r k a b l e m a t e r i a l i s t i c views on the nature of heat. While acknowledging the a c h i e v e m e n t s of Sadi Carnot and C l a p e y r o n , R o b e r t M a y e r and Joule, T h o m son and C lausius, and other foreign s c i e n t i s t s in the f u r t h e r development of the b r i l l i a n t ideas of Lomonosov, it is with w e l l - g r o u n d e d pride that we utter the name of this g r e a t son of the R u s s i a n people, M i k h a i l V a s i l 'L evich Lomonosov, the author of ideas and t h e o r i e s which make up the main body of c o n t e m p o r a r y physics of heat. A c o n t e m p o r a r y of M. V. L o m o n o s o v , I. I. Polzunov was an outstanding R u s s i a n heat technician and one of the i n v e n t o r s of the heat engine and c o n s t r u c t o r of the f i r s t s t e a m engine in R u s s i a . The r e m a r k a b l e d i s c o v e r i e s which w e r e made by R u s s i a n s c i e n t i s t s and inventors c o n f i r m e d the p r e dictions of the g r e a t Lomonosov that "the R u s s i a n soil can b r i n g to b i r t h our own Platos and c l e v e r minds with the r e a s o n i n g power of Newton." N e v e r t h e l e s s , the abundance of talent did not t r a n s f o r m the science of P r e r e v o l u t i o n a r y R u s s i a to its p r e s e n t powerful state, as it might have b e e n able to b e c o m e , It was only a f t e r the G r e a t October Socialist Revolution had b e c o m e such an h i s t o r i c a l dividing line that a second life for the A c a d e m y of Sciences and all Soviet science began. V. I. Lenin r e g a r d e d the a c t i v i t i e s of the A c a d e m y of Sciences of the USSR with exceptional attention. Lenin's t h e s i s that c o m m u n i s m could not be built T r a n s l a t e d f r o m I n z h e n e r n o - F i z i c h e s k i i Zhurnal, Vol. 26, No. 5, pp. 773-774, May, 1974. 9 19 75 Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West 17th Street, New York, N. Y. 10011. No part o f this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by an), means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, Without written permission o f the publisher. A copy o f this article is available from the publisher for $15.00.

531

without n e w scientific d i s c o v e r i e s was adopted by Soviet s c i e n t i s t s . Lenin's instructions about s t r e n g t h e n ing the i n t e r r e l a t i o n s between science and the national economy d e t e r m i n e d the o v e r a l l direction of the a c tivities of Soviet s c i e n t i s t s and t h e i r h e a d q u a r t e r s , the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The principal t a s k of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR is to find solutions to the m a i n w i d e - s c a l e p r o b l e m s which will contribute to r e a l i z i n g the c o n c r e t e t a s k s of c o m m u n i s t construction. Science, which grows out of the needs of p r a c t i c a l w o r k and j u s t i f i e s its existence by useful r e s u l t s for the benefit of this p r a c t i c e , has at the s a m e t i m e its own "logic" of development. The foundation for the r e s e a r c h activities of the Academy in all a r e a s of m o d e r n natural s c i e n c e , technology, and the social s c i e n c e s and humanities is the philosophy o f d i a l e c t i c a l a n d h i s t o r i c a l m a t e r i a l i s m . In e s s e n c e this philosophy is a s y s t e m which constantly develops and b e c o m e s c o n c r e t i z e d a c c o r d i n g to the extent of development of our knowledge, control of nature, and h i s t o r i c a l development. By c a r r y i n g out Lenin's national policies in a c c o r d a n c e with the growth of t e a m s of scientific s p e c i a l i s t s , t h e r e began to a r i s e and develop new scientific c e n t e r s in the Soviet r e p u b l i c s , the republic a c a d e m i e s of s c i e n c e s . The initiator of this extension of "the geography" of our science was the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. On J a n u a r y 1, 1929, the B e l o r u s s i a n Academy of Sciences was founded, which has now b e come an i m p o r t a n t scientific c e n t e r in our country. The i m p o r t a n c e of science has grown to such an extent in r e c e n t y e a r s that t h e r e is no doubt that the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, together with o t h e r scientific o r g a n i z a t i o n s of the Soviet Union, with higher educational institutions, and the b r a n c h institutes, will c o m p l e t e l y manage to solve the scientific p r o b l e m s specified in the r e s o l u t i o n s of the T w e n t y - F o u r t h C o n g r e s s of the C o m m u n i s t P a r t y of the Soviet Union.

532