2014 • № 1
Reproducing technical objects: Critical analysis of sources
This article analyzes copies and models of technical objects as a particular category of sources for the history of science and technology. Depending on the purpose of reproduction and its functions, two groups of such objects can be distinguished, each requiring its own historiographical approach. The problem of authenticity of information about the original object and its representation in the copy is discussed with the help of several concrete examples.
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Material objects of science and technology and their cultural value from a legal perspective
Russia’s rich patrimony includes material objects representing the country’s legacy in science and technology. The article discusses the concept of “cultural patrimony” in general, its application to scientific and technological objects in particular, and related legal issues from the point of view of international and national law.
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Marginalia: The history of N. A. Bernstein’s Contemporary Investigations into the Physiology of Nervous Processes
In 1936 the physiologist N. A. Bernstein completed a book manuscript critical of the then dominant views and approach of I. P. Pavlov. Pavlov died that same year, and in 1937, when Bernstein’s book was already in the printing house, the existing typeset was destroyed. Only one copy of the proof sheets has survived, which includes marginalia by Bernstein, the book’s editor, and possibly some other readers. The author uses this marked copy and the historical context in an attempt to reconstruct the motivations behind Bernstein’s (or someone else’s) decision to withdraw the book from publication.
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Central Asia in the history of Russo-German scientific contacts: P. K. Kozlov and Wilhelm Filchner
A book by the Russian explorer of Central Asia P. K. Kozlov's Mongolia, Amdo, and the dead city Khara-Khoto was translated and published in Germany in 1925, when Soviet and German geographers were reestablishing their ties in the changed political situation after WWI and revolutions in both countries. The history of its publication is shown to be related to the personal plans of the book's German editor, Wilhelm Filchner, to organize an expedition to Central Asia.
Investigations of silver mines in the era of Ivan III
In 1491 the Muscovy state sent its first exploration party attempting to find copper and silver ores in the land of Komi, on river Tsilma. After many centuries, it is hard to separate facts from myths in the history of the Tsilma works. Despite the persistent legend regarding the existence of a copper producing factory, no reliable sources have been found to confirm that copper ores were mined and smelted in the area.
Without a special archeological investigation, it is impossible to date precisely the surviving traces of old mining activities. Some parts of the relief seen as remnants of old mines could also be of natural origin. But there is a documentary record in the chronicles confirming that the party of 1491 did find some ores or presumably precious metals, which marks the attempt as a pioneering event in the history of Russian mining and metallurgy.
Maxim Konrad Elias (1889-1982): The American life of Russian geologist Maksim Konradovich Eliashevich
A graduate of the Petrograd Mining Institute, M. K. Eliashevich, worked as the chief geologist at the Verkh-Isetsky Works in Yekaterinburg and taught at the Ural Mining Institute there. During the Civil War, he moved to the Far East and conducted geological explorations in the Vladivostok area before moving to the USA in 1922. This article presents some new biographical information about Eliashevich, his geological work in the Far East and his contributions to American geology and paleontology.
Russian medicine and public health as represented by exhibitions from the late nineteenth – early twentieth centuries
General and specialized scientific and industrial exhibitions, in Russia and abroad, included sections on medicine and public health. The article uses published catalogues and sources to reconstruct the development of medical expositions during the second half of the 19 th century and the early 20 th century, their organization, methods of presenting materials, and popularization of medical knowledge and scientific discoveries. The initiative to organize such exhibitions often came from medical professors. Overall, the medical exhibition movement played an important role in the development of preventive medical care and in laying the foundation for many collections of medical devices and materials in historical and medical museums.
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Traditions and innovations in contemporary academic science
By using published sources and 35 in-depth interviews with leading researchers from scientific research institutes at the Russian Academy of Sciences, this investigation reveals that traditions dominate research agendas in the academic sciences. Recent innovations that have proven themselves in world science have not advanced past the stage of discussion or testing in Russia in most scientific fields, except information technologies. Interviewees evaluated the innovation climate in Russian academic science as very low.
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Recommended bibliographic description
, 2014 • № 1, Voprosy Istorii Estestvoznaniia i Tekhniki [Studies in History of Science and Technology], , p.
- Reproducing technical objects: Critical analysis of sources
- Material objects of science and technology and their cultural value from a legal perspective
- Marginalia: The history of N. A. Bernstein’s Contemporary Investigations into the Physiology of Nervous Processes
- Central Asia in the history of Russo-German scientific contacts: P. K. Kozlov and Wilhelm Filchner
- Investigations of silver mines in the era of Ivan III
- Maxim Konrad Elias (1889-1982): The American life of Russian geologist Maksim Konradovich Eliashevich
- Russian medicine and public health as represented by exhibitions from the late nineteenth – early twentieth centuries
- Traditions and innovations in contemporary academic science
- The «cosmic» voice of Yuri Gagarin: «Zvezda» and «Malysh», the first tape recorders for space exploration
2014 (Anno XXXV)
© Studies in the History of Science and Technology: Quarterly scientific journal of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2015)
ISSN 0205-9606. Индекс 70143
ISSN 0205-9606. Индекс 70143