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Have we been wise enough in the past? Lysenkoism and antinuclear movement

Abstract

Why is the anti-nuclear movement so strong? How come that it exists at all? It is easy to ask these questions but it is difficult to give an answer. In the Western World not many people are familiar with the development and demise of a pseudo-scientific teaching, commonly called Lysenkoism, that flourished in the Soviet Union from about 1929 up to 1966. During this period Lysenkoism did an enormous harm to the development of Biological Sciences in the Soviet Union and even to the overall national economy. In 1967, Zhores A. Medvedev wrote a historical account of that sad period. The book The Riseand Fall of T. D. Lysenko (MEDV 67) was published two years later in the United States (Columbia University Press, 1969), and in 1993 in Moscow (MEDV 93). On page 244 (MEDV 67), when discussing impact of Lysenkoism on the Soviet society, science and economy, Medvedev wrote: 'No single answer can be given to explain how an obvious pseudo science could maintain a monopoly for so long, nor how clearly harmful and absurd recommendations could be adopted into the national economy.' In the Western industrialized world , in the second half of the twentieth century, a very  More>>
Authors:
Jovanovich, J V [1] 
  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba Winnipeg, MB-R3T 2N2, (Canada)
Publication Date:
Oct 01, 2005
Product Type:
Conference
Report Number:
INIS-CS-0005
Resource Relation:
Conference: 5. International Yugoslav Nuclear Society Conference (YUNSC-2004), Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro), 27-30 Sep 2004; Other Information: 22 refs., 2 figs; Related Information: In: Proceedings of the 5th Yugoslav Nuclear Society Conference (YUNSC-2004), by Antic, D. (ed.), 544 pages.
Subject:
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY AND ECONOMY; COMPILED DATA; INTEREST GROUPS; NUCLEAR ENERGY; NUCLEAR POWER; PUBLIC OPINION
OSTI ID:
20680551
Research Organizations:
Institut za Nuklearne Nauke VINCA, Belgrade (Serbia and Montenegro)
Country of Origin:
Serbia and Montenegro
Language:
English
Other Identifying Numbers:
Other: ISBN 86-7306-076-1; TRN: CS0501059115442
Availability:
Available from INIS in electronic form; Also available on 1 CD-ROM from Institute of Nuclear Sciences VINCA, Library, PO Box 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
Submitting Site:
INIS
Size:
page(s) 23-44
Announcement Date:
Jan 09, 2006

Citation Formats

Jovanovich, J V. Have we been wise enough in the past? Lysenkoism and antinuclear movement. Serbia and Montenegro: N. p., 2005. Web.
Jovanovich, J V. Have we been wise enough in the past? Lysenkoism and antinuclear movement. Serbia and Montenegro.
Jovanovich, J V. 2005. "Have we been wise enough in the past? Lysenkoism and antinuclear movement." Serbia and Montenegro.
@misc{etde_20680551,
title = {Have we been wise enough in the past? Lysenkoism and antinuclear movement}
author = {Jovanovich, J V}
abstractNote = {Why is the anti-nuclear movement so strong? How come that it exists at all? It is easy to ask these questions but it is difficult to give an answer. In the Western World not many people are familiar with the development and demise of a pseudo-scientific teaching, commonly called Lysenkoism, that flourished in the Soviet Union from about 1929 up to 1966. During this period Lysenkoism did an enormous harm to the development of Biological Sciences in the Soviet Union and even to the overall national economy. In 1967, Zhores A. Medvedev wrote a historical account of that sad period. The book The Riseand Fall of T. D. Lysenko (MEDV 67) was published two years later in the United States (Columbia University Press, 1969), and in 1993 in Moscow (MEDV 93). On page 244 (MEDV 67), when discussing impact of Lysenkoism on the Soviet society, science and economy, Medvedev wrote: 'No single answer can be given to explain how an obvious pseudo science could maintain a monopoly for so long, nor how clearly harmful and absurd recommendations could be adopted into the national economy.' In the Western industrialized world , in the second half of the twentieth century, a very strong antinuclear movement developed that has almost terminated any further developments and applications of nuclear power for the production of electricity. The similarity between two movements exists, and, in my view, it is very appropriate to modify the Medvedev's statement as follows: 'No single answer can be given to explain how an obvious pseudo science, the antinuclear movement, could maintain a monopoly for so long, nor how clearly harmful and absurd recommendations to stop developments of nuclear power could be adopted into national economies of many nations.' The object of this paper is to review briefly the rise and demise of Lysenkoism, a much better known history of antinuclear movement and finally to discuss similarities and differences between the two. (author)}
place = {Serbia and Montenegro}
year = {2005}
month = {Oct}
}