Books by David Joravsky

The Lysenko affair was perhaps the most bizarre chapter in the history of modern science. For thirty years, until 1965, Soviet genetics was dominated by a fanatical agronomist who achieved dictatorial power over genetics and plant science as well as agronomy. "A standard source both for Soviet specialists and for sociologists of science."--"American Journal of Sociology ""Joravsky has produced . . . the most detailed and authoritative treatment of Lysenko and his view on genetics."--"New York Times Book Review"

The original tension within Marxist philosophy between positivism and metaphysics was repressed but not resolved in this first phase of Soviet Marxism. This book correlates the development of ideas with trends in the Cultural Revolution.