Soviet Science Behind the Language Barrier
As advances in Soviet science in the 1950s were published in Russian, English-speaking scientists risked getting left behind.
I am very sorry to have fallen into this trap … the adjective in question, if the accent is on another syllable (which the text does not show) has a quite different meaning … but then again would yield the same meaning that the fractional exponent remains constant over a wide range.
So reads a letter written by B.F. Kraus to Patrick Blackett in 1954 concerning Kraus’ translation of an article on cosmic rays. We know a lot about Blackett – a renowned British physicist who won a Nobel Prize in 1948 – and nothing more about B.F. Kraus than what is written in this two-page letter of apology. Yet as a technical translator of Russian scientific papers into English, Kraus played an essential role in facilitating the exchange of knowledge between East and West during the Cold War.
To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.
Start my trial subscription now
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.
