Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-17

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the missile-power involved and
60 up and orbit around the earth
might also be brought down on a
selected spot.
But the American people must
now come to recognize that there
is an even more important mean
ing in the launching of the Soviet
satellites-the challenge Soviet
science has presented to the sci
ence Of the free world.
It might even be said that the
military race, in the traditional
sense, is just about over. Three
major powers-the United States.
the Soviet Union and the United
Kingdom-now have weapons of
destruction so complete in their
effect that only mans ultimate
values are worth the price of total
war.
Therefore the contest between
the United States and the Soviet
Union has entered new arena
that Of science and technology.
If we are to win that contest, we
must first know just what we are
competing against. To under
estimate our opponents would be
disastrous. Therefore will out
line here some of the BACKGROUND
! consider important.
Key to Leadership
First, we must realize that the
Soviet government and the Com
munist Party are convinced that
leadership in science means lead
ership of the world.
Science, then, in the Soviet sys-
tenn is an important element of
society. AS one scans the Soviet
scientific scene one sees ambitious
plans, tremendous organization
and an expanding plant.
The Russians are focusing on
problems of primary Importance
rather than scattering over the
whole field of science. They have
been trying to make the first sat-
elite. the largest atomic accel-
orator, the best calculating ma
chine, the largest telescope in the
world. They have succeeded in
the first two projects, and their
success has whetted their appetite
for more. They are hungry for
scientific prestige.
We sometimes make the mistake
Of thinking of Russian science as
a new phenomenon. The fact is,
the tradition of Soviet science
goes back to Peter the Great who
at the turn of the 18th century
introduced Western ideas into
Muscovy and founded the Russian
Empire. The 10Th century pro-
duced not only the great Russian
writer's such as Dostoevsky and
Tolstoi and musicians such as
Tschaikovsky and Rimsky- Kor-
sakov. but also great scientists.
Imperial Russia gave us Men
deleev of the periodic table of
chemical elements and Pavlov of
the conditioned reflex.
In addition, the Imperial Russia
produced a highly cultured class,
the intelligentsia-a class that has
furnished and is furnishing COM
petent experts in every field of
science and learning. Forty years
of the dictatorship of the pro-
letariat have not destroyed the
intelligentsia. And the Communist
Party has conceded grudgingly
that the intelligentsIa is one of
the pillars of Soviet society. Thus,
Soviet science has a proud tradi-
ton behind it.
Well Organized
Another important factor is the
high state of organization of
science in Russia. The chain OF
command is clean cut. At the
apex of the organization is the
USSR Academy of Sciences =
self perpetuating body OF $50
academicianS and $50 correspond
ing members elected from the top
scholars of the Soviet Union.
In contrast to the situation IN
other countries and particularly
in the United States. the academy
has a very large budget and the
academicians receive 5000 rubles
a month for life in addition to
whatever salary they draw from
teaching and research posts. (For
our purposes, one dollar is equiv
alent to seven rubles. A laborer
in the Soviet Union receives about
TOOL 900 rubles a month"; In the
United States the National Acad-
envy of Science does not receive
a grant from the Government and
the members of the academy have
to pay dues.
The academicians in Russia do