undefined | Better HN

0 pointsmikorym6y ago0 comments

Yes. I'm saying restrictive to describe the effect on academic papers. The effect on (oppression of) the academics themselves was much worse.

0 comments

gdy6y ago

No, that's BS.

There are well known cases of genetics and cybernetics being banned for ideological reasons during Stalin's time. Scientific books and articles of convicted 'enemies of the state' were dangerous to possess in that time too. Some scientists used ideological 'arguments' in scientific debates which were dangerous to argue against.

But all that, AFAIK, ended after Stalin's death in 1953.

Moreover, I've never heard anything about mathematics in this regard.

mikorymOP6y ago

Not sure what you are saying. Mathematicians were not even allowed to travel abroad [1] and any "concessions" were essentially as it pleased the USSR state. Only from 1990 was movement free in the true sense of the word.

[1] An example was when Margulis won the Fields medal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigory_Margulis. There are many other examples too.

gdy6y ago

What does that have to do with sharing knowledge in the USSR and the countries in the Soviet block?

It was never in Soviet ideology to hide knowledge behind paywalls. See, for example, this [0] post about Mir publishing house and warm comments of Indians who grew up with their books. Sci-hub's ideology is just continuation of this approach.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21352277

1 more reply

mikorymOP6y ago

[2] Also the 1970 Fields medal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Novikov_(mathematician)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse