Science, Technology, and Ecopolitics in the USSR by Miron Rezun

Abstract

804 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE between people inside and outside IRCAM, between the proponents of composed “art music” such as Boulez himself, who would not have liked to be seen dead with ajazz musician or—heaven forbid— a rocker, and champions of improvised music. There was opposition between the musical and scientific sides ofIRCAM, between software and hardware, mental and manual labor, between those who con­ ceived of their work as rationalist and mathematical and others who regarded it as an art. Still, many presentable compositions were achieved at that time, and the question arises how representative IRCAM is as an institu­ tion for advancing music research and composition. Lacking similar studies we have only a rough idea but hopefully will be better in­ formed in the foreseeable future when other researchers feel tempted to undertake similar tasks. This book offers a host of stimu­ lating insights into an institution which so far has been largely shrouded in mystery. The fact that Born’s study has a sound theoretical basis and takes a systematic approach to the subject results in some repetitions which could perhaps have been avoided, even if repetition is a common musical device. Historians, who are mainly interested in develop­ ments, will miss the development aspect in Born’s study but, given the author’s approach and the necessity of doing fieldwork, she probably had no other choice. Although the various influences on people working within IRCAM are clearly shown it would have been interesting if the reader could have learned more about the recep­ tion of the IRCAM model outside France and about how the various composers’ stays in Paris influenced their work after leaving IRCAM. But these are definitely minor points which do not impair the high quality of Georgina Born’s study. Her book is recommended reading for everyone interested in technology and culture and essential read­ ing for everybody with an interest in the complex relationship among 20th century music, technology, and institutions. Hans-Joachim Braun Dr. Braun is professor of modern social, economic and technological history at the Universitat der Bundeswehr Hamburg. He is writing a book on technology and music in the 20th century. Science, Technology, and Ecopolitics in the USSR. By Miron Rezun. Westport , Conn.: Praeger, 1996. Pp. xii+228; notes, bibliography, in­ dex. $57.95 (cloth). The significance of the Soviet epoch for our understanding of the social dimensions of science and technology is very great, but this potential contribution to our intellectual field is still only incom­ pletely realized. No other country in history ever committed as high TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 805 a share of its resources to scientific and technical enterprises as the Soviet Union, and no other country ever elevated science and techni­ cal progress to such prominent elements in its worldview. There were moments during the five-year plans of the thirties and immedi­ ately after the successful launching of Sputnik in 1957 when quite a few people in the rest of the world thought that the Soviet effort to become the most modern, scientific, and industrialized nation in the world might actually succeed. The Soviet Union built the world’s largest steel mills and hydroelectric plants and led the way into space exploration. But this grand Promethean experiment failed dramati­ cally. By the 1980s the Soviet Union had become a country rapidly falling behind in high technology, saddled with deteriorating health standards and besieged by a series of environmental disasters. How did this happen? Were the causes primarily economic, rooted in the faulty concept of centrally planned socialism, or were the causes more closely linked to science and technology themselves, perhaps illustrating major flaws in the scientific worldview and the concept of technological progress? Miron Rezun clearly sees the inherent interest in asking such ques­ tions, and he has organized his book in a promising way; individual chapters treat computers, strategic minerals and energy, space tech­ nology, and the economic and ecological consequences of Soviet industrialization. He also analyzes the roles of industrial espionage and great-power competition. He concludes that a primary flaw in the ideology of the Soviet leaders was their pursuit of a “technologi­ cal utopia,” and he...