Simon Ings on Stalin and the Scientists: Triumph and Tragedy

One of the best and most enjoyable parts of hosting this show is
when my favourite authors are kind enough to speak to me. I'd
like to thank Simon for an excellent, enlightening, entertaining
discussion: if you enjoy listening to it half as much as I
enjoyed the conversation, you're in for a real treat.

Today, as part of our series on science in the USSR, I'm
delighted to say that we have an interview with Simon Ings, the
author of a wonderful book on the subject - Stalin and the
Scientists. Simon began his career writing science fiction
stories, novels and films writing books on perception (The Eye: A
Natural History), 20th-century radical politics (The Weight of
Numbers), the shipping system (Dead Water) and augmented reality
(Wolves). He co-founded and edited Arc magazine, a digital
publication about the future, before joining New Scientist
magazine as its arts editor, and writing Stalin and the
Scientists. He very kindly agreed to be interviewed for our
little show; as usual, I detained my guest for a very long time,
and so I've split the interview into two parts.

The second part of our interview followed scientists through the
Soviet Union's tumultuous time under Stalin - through the Gulags
and the Great Terror, through the horrors of the Second World War
and the Sharaskhi. We discuss the legacy of the Soviet Union and
move towards what we can learn about science in our society
today. 


If you want to find out more about Simon's work, you can buy
Stalin and the Scientists online and at all good bookstores - and
I highly recommend you do - and he's online at www.simonings.com
and also tweets @simonings.

As for us: follow the show @physicspod , or visit the website for
more information at www.physicspodcast.com : there
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