Scientific communication across the Iron Curtain (Q736705)

This is a well-documented and well-written short book about a very extensive and multi-layered topic. It includes scientific communication not only in mathematics but in the sciences as well. The author makes deliberate restrictions, taking the Soviet Union as representing the East, conceding a bias towards mathematics, not saying much about scientific results themselves, focusing on language and ``bureaucracy'' and less on political and cultural traditions. The book is subdivided into the three main topics ``Personal communications'', ``Physical access to publications'' and ``Linguistic access to publications''. Other topics less discussed are the influence of military secrecy rules, the pirating policy with respect to publications on the part of the USSR, and the incredibly cheap books and the role of state subsidies there. The author is critical of the increasing isolation caused by the Russian side, but does not spare the West for criticism either (McCarthy, condescending attitude to languages and foreign cultures, etc.). One remarkable result is that foreign language publications on mathematics in Russian journals did not decline much during the 1930s but decisively so after the Iron Curtain. Clearly shown are the bureaucratic hindrances for international communication imposed by the USSR. Further investigation could focus on why the USSR nevertheless developed strongly in mathematics but less so in engineering. But this concerns largely the notion of a ``critical mass'' within a national communication system. It is thus already outside the topic of international relations, which is competently discussed in the book.