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A Reconsideration of Eighteenth-Century Russia's Contributions to European Science

A Reconsideration of Eighteenth-Century Russia's Contributions to European Science I Any contemplated discussion of Russia's contributions to the European scientific community during the eighteenth century would have seemed fatuous until recently, largely because of the enduring image of Russian culture promoted by contemporary travelers, who either denied the exis- tence of any scientific activity there, or claimed that it exerted no significant impact on Russian society. Recent Soviet scholarship has begun to modify both aspects of the image;l but it is still generally believed that the scientific enterprise remained an essentially foreign activity barely able to sustain it- self in the limited environs of St. Petersburg, much less Moscow.2 It is the thesis of this paper that by the end of the eighteenth century Russia had developed a cadre of competent amateur as well as professional scientists whose research activity was fully appreciated by the entire European scien- tific community. But to focus exclusively on their research contributions would be misleading and anachronistic; for, as will be demonstrated in the first section of the present paper, eighteenth-century Russian scientists participated in a variety of educational, administrative and popularizing activities which they considered at least as important as research. While these activities were essential to the domestication of http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Canadian-American Slavic Studies Brill

A Reconsideration of Eighteenth-Century Russia's Contributions to European Science

Canadian-American Slavic Studies , Volume 14 (3): 17 – Jan 1, 1980

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0090-8290
eISSN
2210-2396
DOI
10.1163/221023980X00454b
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

I Any contemplated discussion of Russia's contributions to the European scientific community during the eighteenth century would have seemed fatuous until recently, largely because of the enduring image of Russian culture promoted by contemporary travelers, who either denied the exis- tence of any scientific activity there, or claimed that it exerted no significant impact on Russian society. Recent Soviet scholarship has begun to modify both aspects of the image;l but it is still generally believed that the scientific enterprise remained an essentially foreign activity barely able to sustain it- self in the limited environs of St. Petersburg, much less Moscow.2 It is the thesis of this paper that by the end of the eighteenth century Russia had developed a cadre of competent amateur as well as professional scientists whose research activity was fully appreciated by the entire European scien- tific community. But to focus exclusively on their research contributions would be misleading and anachronistic; for, as will be demonstrated in the first section of the present paper, eighteenth-century Russian scientists participated in a variety of educational, administrative and popularizing activities which they considered at least as important as research. While these activities were essential to the domestication of

Journal

Canadian-American Slavic StudiesBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1980

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