Apr 12, 2018
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 you'll find a contact form where you can bombard us with
questions, comments, concerns, topic suggestions, guest
suggestions, praise, anonymous threats - anything you like!
If you've enjoyed the show, you can help us a number of ways. We
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