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The Soviet Union has disappeared as a state, but its dramatic history will still affect modern culture, politics and even infrastructure for a long time. It is difficult to underestimate the contribution of Soviet scientists to progress, especially when the details of secret projects to create double -purpose technologies became known. In some areas-for example, in the nuclear industry and cosmonautics-the USSR remained “ahead of the entire planet” for many years, which now serves as a legal occasion for the pride of the older generation of our compatriots.

However, as it turns out more and more often, we know quite mediocre the history of the country whose successor is Russia. Behind the endless disputes of the conventional “communists”, “guardians” and “Westerners”, who perceive the political lessons of the USSR completely differently, a much more interesting and still actual subject of discussion was lost-the specifics of research and innovative activities in the state, where civil rights and access to information were limited to one degree or another. No hottest modern supporter of the USSR will undertake, I hope to seriously say that Soviet scientists and designers had the same capabilities for international contacts, knowledge exchange, advanced training and publications, like their Western colleagues. Worse, science periodically came into conflict with ideological doctrines (for example, on such fundamental issues as the origin of life, the mechanisms of biological evolution and the theory of a large explosion), which in the conditions of the dictatorship could lead (and led) to the problems of the “obstinate” specialist. At the same time, it is impossible to deny the fact that if the communist leaders saw the usefulness of any project regarding industry growth, strengthening defense, successful propaganda, etc., then they did not spare state funds and personnel for its implementation. At the same time, it did not matter much - the project will be developed as something fundamentally new (for example, an atomic icebreaker) or experts copy foreign technology (for example, a long -range bomber). Propaganda, aimed at the internal audience, would still say that "Soviet elephants are the most elephants in the world." As a result, today the assessments of domestic achievements are largely dependent on what specific innovation we are considering. Say, physics and metrostroy were the advanced directions of the highest level, but in genetics, cybernetics, the production of cars and household appliances, the country clearly lagged behind.

In his new book “Invented in the USSR”, which fell into the Long list of the Enlightener Prize, the famous writer, journalist and poet Tim Skorenko not only takes into account the specifics of scientific and technological progress “in a Soviet way”, but also shows that the general situation for the domestic innovator was even more complicated than with dictatorships of the capitalist model, because in the conditions of a generalized state property is almost impossible to use the fruits of its thoughts: although copyright in invention has been preserved, it could only give moral satisfaction (sometimes a monetary bonus or honorary title); Moreover, the probability of introducing advanced development outside the existing plan was close to zero. Skorenko gives a significant example: Lieutenant Vladislav Ivanov came up with magnetic resonance tomography in 1960, but the American prize for it was received by American Paul Loterburbur and Briton Peter Mansfield, because Ivanov’s application was rejected, and without the support of the state, he did not have the opportunity to implement his invention. It turns out that it was more profitable for a typical Soviet specialist to “swim with the flow”, that is, to introduce a radio proposal for minor production improvements or, following the next political campaign under the slogan “catch up and overtake” the West, offer projects with reference to foreign samples.

Nevertheless, inventive thought nevertheless developed, generating amazing new items, and some of them still have analogues. Skorenko shares the inventions thematically: science, astronautics, industry, transport, life. At the same time, he proceeds from the consideration that the science of the twentieth century is often complicated for understanding profans, therefore there is a need to briefly introduce the subject of discussion into the essence of the subject, so that, on the one hand, to give at least a general idea of ​​the problems that the specialists had to be solved, and on the other hand, to show the relative “purity” of priority. For example, everyone knows that there were only two supersonic passenger liners-British-French “Concord” and the Soviet “Tu-144”, but few can confidently say which of these aircraft was the first to go into the air, which were the differences between them and why our car quickly stopped flying, and the European lasted until 2003. It turns out that the Tu-144 was, in principle, it was created in order to get ahead of competitors who had a significant handicap in time. Soviet designers managed to break forward, but sacrificed reliability and economy. During operation, both “victims” made themselves felt: three cars were lost, and due to the high “gluttony” of the engines of the new liner, the client base was not found for him.

Having mastered the book by Skorenko, the reader will get acquainted with a whole bunch of scientific and technical achievements, which had previously had a vague idea of: from the turbocer Matvey Kaplyushnikov and the telescope Dmitry Maksutov to the Tokamak Oleg Lavrentiev and the orbital station Vladimir Vytroy. I must say that not all outstanding Soviet innovators have received universal recognition during life. Moreover, some of them became victims of repression: say, Georgy Karpechenko, who made a breakthrough discovery in the field of genetics by the removal of the first non-sterile hybrid plant, was executed in July 1941 at the Kommunar training ground. Therefore, the book of Tim Skorenko fulfills another important function - it restores historical justice, returning from oblivion the names and affairs of those who, contrary to the system, was still undertaken to know and change the world.

It is difficult to even imagine what successes would be achieved by domestic scientists and designers, there would be a situation with invention in the USSR otherwise. Indeed, today the "birthmarks" of socialism affect the development of the country, in one way or another, contributing to the outflow of talented specialists to the West. Unfortunately, history has no subjunctive mood.

Anton Pervushin,
Fantast writer, scientific journalist