Scientific Elite and Power – the Book Review of “Power Without Brains. Separation of Science from The State” by Zh.I. Alferov

Abstract

In the book under review, much attention is paid to the problem of science and its role in the life of the state. Being an active public figure the academician Zh.I. Alferov was well aware of the state of modern Russian science and always actively defended its interests. Throughout the book, he repeatedly compares the position of science in modern Russia with what it was in the Soviet times. He does not idealize those times in general, but believes that then science developed at a high pace and was in demand by the economy.
The main problem of Russian science today is the lack of demand for scientific results by the economy and society. Another problem is insufficient funding, but this is on the second place. Taking into account the lessons of the past the great scientist and prominent public figure Zh.A. Alferov proposed definite well-grounded measures to bring modern Russian science out of the crisis it is in.