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Supported by the notorious case of Lysenko’s genetics Soviet science was
entirely under the heel of the Marxist state, goes the orthodoxy. The story told
by Jeffrey Roberg in Soviet Science under Control is more subtle, containing
malice, bigotry, squalor—and nobility. Scientists such as Piotr Kapitsa
and Andrei Sakharov wielded influence in the other direction, especially on
nuclear policy and human rights, often at personal cost. This recent history
already seems ages away. Published by Macmillan/St Martins at the
jaw-dislocating price of £42.50/$65, ISBN
0333683706/0312177364.