The Perversion of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science [Hardcover]

Vadim Birstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2001

During the Soviet years, Russian science was touted as one of the greatest successes of the regime. Russian science was considered to be equal, if not superior, to that of the wealthy western nations. The Perversion of Knowledge, a history of Soviet science that focuses on its control by the KGB and the Communist Party, reveals the dark side of this glittering achievement. Based on the author’s firsthand experience as a Soviet scientist, and drawing on extensive Russian language sources not easily available to the Western reader, the book includes shocking new information on biomedical experimentation on humans as well as an examination of the pernicious effects of Trofim Lysenko’s pseudo-biology. Also included are many poignant case histories of those who collaborated and those who managed to resist, focusing on the moral choices and consequences. The text is accompanied by the author’s own translations of key archival materials, making this work an essential resource for all those with a serious interest in Russian history.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Russian-American geneticist and historian Birstein's first trade book is the story of "the state control of science in the Soviet Union." A comprehensive history of how Russian scientists were ruled by their government from the Bolshevik revolution through its post-perestroika present, the volume focuses especially on doctors who conducted state-authorized experiments on political prisoners while developing poisons and chemical weaponry that were eventually used in a rash of political assassinations during the 1950s and '60s by way of covert weapons such as umbrella tips and poisoned bullets. But very little of this material reads like an Ian Fleming novel; it's more like a college textbook. With over 100 pages of notes, biographical sketches and translated materials, the text is so finely detailed that it runs the risk of confusing readers with its sheer volume of information. Moreover, most of the original documents Birstein relies upon are still classified and "these documents are... frequently written in a special metaphoric language used by NKVD/KGB offices. Only since 1997 have three fundamental reference books been published in Russian that have allowed me to put the events in Soviet science into historical context." These shortcomings are unfortunate, as the subject of state secrecy and chemical weapons development is both important and timely. In uncovering the Soviet labyrinth of plot and secrecy, Birstein builds labyrinths of his own and casual readers might not be willing to wind their way through to the end.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Speaking from personal experience and aided greatly by archival materials and reference books made accessible in the 1990s, geneticist Birstein offers a comprehensive account of 80 years of governmental control and censorship of science in the Soviet Union. He describes how academic and research scientists in the nation's scientific institutions were replaced with political functionaries who often had no knowledge of the sciences they represented. He emphasizes Stalin's favorite, the fraudulent geneticist Lysenko, and also the biochemist Mairanovsky, who in his poison lab experimented on prisoners, often fatally. Birstein graphically describes some of those experiments, as well as secret-service tortures, referring briefly to experiments on supposed volunteers in the U.S., Canada, and England. Early on he says he wants readers to ask what they would have done in the same circumstances, and later he tells the stories of several scientists who took firm ethical stands and survived. Demonstrating how science, research, and education were frighteningly perverted, he provokes concern about Russia's current lack of support for science and how dangerous it may be. William Beatty
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1 edition (November 6, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813339073
• ISBN-13: 978-0813339078
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,172,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Vadim J. Birstein, a Russian-American who arrived in the United States in 1991, is a historian and molecular geneticist. Born in Moscow and educated at Moscow State University, he received his Doctor of Science in 1987. Until the end of 1998 he was a Senior Research Scientist at the Koltsov Institute of Developmental Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences. He is the author of over 150 scientific papers and three scientific books as well as the well-received history The Perversion of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science (Westview Press, 2001), which has been re-published in paperback twice by Basic Books.

While still the Soviet Union, Dr. Birstein became a human rights activist and an expert on the subject of foreign prisoners in the Gulag, the fate of the Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg and Soviet doctors' experimentation on humans. In 1990-91, he was a member of the International Commission on Raoul Wallenberg and participated in the Commission's study of prisoner cards in Vladimir Prison and materials at the secret Special Archive in Moscow.
In 1991, he was a Visiting Scholar at the W. Averell Harriman Institute for the Advanced Study of the Soviet Union. He has given seminars at Princeton, Harvard, and Washington (St. Louis) Universities and appeared in the documentary Poisons-Discover Magazine produced in 1997 by Powderhouse Productions, Inc. (Somerville, MA).

For the last ten years, Dr. Birstein has focused on researching and writing his ground-breaking history of SMERSH, which will be continued in a second volume focusing on the final years of SMERSH's chief Viktor Abakumov, when he was head of the forerunner of the infamous KGB, the MGB.

You can learn more about Dr. Birstein on his website, http://vadimbirstein.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history, somewhat poor delivery, November 5, 2011

By 

Glenn Corey "book fiend" (Canton, OH, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story Of Soviet Science (Paperback)

Even if you know a bit about Soviet history, the history of Soviet science as told by Vadim Birstein is shocking and repulsive - all those great minds lost who were never allowed to make the great discoveries they no doubt would have made. The tragedy for not just Russian culture but human societies everywhere is hard to fathom. Russian culture up to the time of the Revolution of 1917 was in the midst of one of its greatest periods of florescence. It is known as the Silver Age to most, though some specialists refer to it as Russia's true Golden Age. The Bolsheviks put an end to that, and the loss was incalculable. The particular chapter of that story regarding the machinations, manipulations, and perversions in Russia's scientific community is told in great detail by Birstein, who witnessed some of that history from the inside; his father was a scientist. The stories of cowardice made me wince, though the rare acts of courage were inspiring.

The one complaint I have about the book is the poor copy editing. The author is not a native speaker, and the English was a bit spotty. For example, on p. 179, the same name is spelled differently in the same paragraph: Shirshov and Shiroshov. Also, on p. 248 is Schmalhauzen, and on the next page is Schmalhausen. Finally, on p. 260 is a letter that was obviously translated by author: "...somebody knocked at the door and a little bit strange head of a short man appeared." Things like this are amusing until you realize you paid for them. Elsewhere the author used "convicted to 25 years in prison" instead of "sentenced" or "condemned." Examples of bad English appear literally on every page. This the publisher's fault; it should have had the book copy edited. This doesn't detract from the contents, though it is disappointing to pay for a book and discover that the publisher wasn't interested in delivering a high-quality product.

All in all, though, it's a worthwhile read for anyone interested in Russian or Soviet history or the history of science.

4.0 out of 5 stars Thorough research, badly proofread text, October 17, 2011

By 

mdcatdad "mdcatdad" (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story Of Soviet Science (Paperback)

This comprehensive recounting of the subordination of Soviet science is comparable to the Gulag Archipelago in its thoroughness. It is similarly a slow read due to the great detail and copious footnoting.

One only wishes that it had been proofread. The "Supreme Soviet" (legislature) is referred to throughout as "Highest Council", "collaborators" is given as "collaborates", "diverziya" (Russian for "sabotage") is rendered as "diversion", an enveloped is described as "concealed" instead of "sealed", etc. The printing is strangely irregular: often there are no spaces between a period and the first word of the next sentence.

5 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Soviets were as evil as the Nazi's!, June 8, 2004

By 

Robert Clark (Monroe, Washington USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Perversion of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science (Hardcover)

Vadim Birstein has captured the sad and evil essence of Soviet Science. I always was mystified why theoretical science and math were so advanced in the former Soviet Union while APPLIED science/math and engineering failed so miserably. This book explains the reasons why.
The other revelation is that experimentation on political prisoners was commonplace in the former Soviet dictatorship. I guess Nazi Josef Mengele had his communist counterparts in Russia.
But throughout this madness I was shocked to find violent anti-Semitism running rampant throughout the State Organs, which controlled all science, engineering and medicine in Russia. It turns out that Hitler and Stalin had more in common than even I had ever suspected!
Required reading for those concerned about big government influence on scientific and medical research.