MIA: Subject: Natural Science

 

Marxism & Natural Science

“...the principle of relativism, the relativity of our knowledge, a principle which, in a period of breakdown of the old theories, is taking a firm hold upon the physicists, and which, if the latter are ignorant of dialectics, is bound to lead to idealism.”
[Lenin, Materialism and Empirio-criticism.]


Marx

Mathematical Manuscripts, 1881

Letters on Natural Science, Marx & Engels

Engels

Part Played by Labour in Transition from Ape to Man, 1876
Anti-Dühring, 1877:
      Time and Space
      Cosmogony, Physics, Chemistry
      The Organic World
      The Organic World. Conclusion
Dialectics of Nature, 1883

See also:
Friedrich Engels and Mathematics, Jean van Heijenoort, 1948
Engels and natural science, Paul McGarr, 1994

Lenin

Materialism and Empirio-criticism, 1908
On the Significance of Militant Materialism, 1922

J.B.S. Haldane

Human Biology and Politics, 1934
A Dialectical Account of Evolution, 1937
Preface to Engels’ Dialectics of Nature, 1939
From The Marxist Philosophy and the Sciences, 1939
Other works by Haldane

J.D. Bernal

The World, the Flesh and the Devil, 1929
Dialectical Materialism and Modern Science, 1937
Other works by Bernal

Others:

The Crisis in Psychology, Lev Vygotsky, 1927
Captive Science, John Marshall, 1935
Marxism and the New Physics, Paul Mattick, 1960
Methodology of Present-day Science, Shoichi Sakata, 1968
Is ManNB an “Aggressive Ape”?, Evelyn Reed, 1970
The Ethic of Knowledge and the Socialist Ideal, Jacques Monod, 1970
Hegel, Marx and the Calculus, Cyril Smith, 1983

 


Darwin and Darwinism

Letter to Lavrov, Friedrich Engels, 1875
Anti-Dühring (ch. 7), Friedrich Engels, 1877
Speech at the Grave of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, 1883
Darwin Made Easy, Edward Aveling, 1887
Charles Darwin and Karl Marx: A Comparison, Edward Aveling, 1897
Darwinism on the French Stage, Paul Lafargue, 1890
The Darwinian Theory and Socialism, August Bebel, 1899
Socialism and Modern Science (Darwin, Spencer, Marx), Enrico Ferri, 1900
Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, Peter Kropotkin, 1902
The Ethics of Darwinism, Karl Kautsky, 1906
Marxism and Darwinism, Anton Pannekoek, 1912
Darwinism and Marxism in The Tasks of Communist Education, Leon Trotsky, 1922

See the complete selection of texts.


Marxism and Soviet Science

Marxism and Natural Sciences, Y.M. Uranovsky, 1935
Soviet Science: Thirty Years, S.I. Vavilov (1891–1951), 1948
The Subject Matter of Marxist Philosophy, O. Yakhot, first talk from What is Dialectical Materialism? (1965)
What Is Matter and in What Forms Does It Exist?, O. Yakhot, third talk from What is Dialectical Materialism? (1965)
Matter and Consciousness, O. Yakhot, fourth talk from What is Dialectical Materialism? (1965)

From Science at the Crossroads, 1931
Theory and Practice from the Standpoint of Dialectical Materialism, Nikolai Bukharin
Physics and Technology, Abram Fedorovich Joffe
Relations of Science, Technology, and Economics Under Capitalism, and in the Soviet Union, M. Rubinstein
The “Physical” and “Biological” in the Process of Organic Evolution, B. Zavadovsky
Dynamic and Statistical Regularity in Physics and Biology, E. Colman
The Problem of the Origin of the World's Agriculture in the Light of the Latest Investigations, N.I. Vavilov (1887–1943)
The Work of Faraday and Modern Developments in the Application of Electrical Energy, W.Th. Mitkewich
The Present Crisis in the Mathematical Sciences and General Outlines for Their Reconstruction, E. Colman
Short Communication on the Unpublished Writings of Karl Marx Dealing with Mathematics, the Natural Sciences and Technology and the History of These Subjects, E. Colman

Lysenkoism

Trofim Denisovich Lysenko Archive

On the Grain Front, Stalin, 1928
Answers to the Questions, I.V. Michurin, 1934 [For the journal: For the Marxist-Leninist Natural Science!]
Genetics in the Soviet Union: Three Speeches From the 1939 Conference on Genetics and Selection:
      Vavilov, Lysenko and Polyakov
Towards the Advancement of Soviet Genetics, M. Mitin, American Quarterly on the Soviet Union, April 1940.
Lysenko and Genetics, J.B.S. Haldane, 1940
Discussion on Soviet Genetics, F. Le Gros Clark, Modern Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 1, Winter 1947-48
Discussion [on Soviet Genetics], Harold N. Thomas, Modern Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 1, Winter 1947-48
The struggle for a dialectical-materialist direction in biology, Zinovy Beletsky, 1948
Biology in the Soviet Union, A. G. Morton, Anglo-Soviet Journal, Winter 1948
The Purge of the Russian Biologists, David James, Workers International News, Vol. 7, No. 6, November-December 1948
The Lysenko Muddle, George Bernard Shaw, 1949
Revolution in Genetics: The Lysenko Controversy, Bernard Friedman, Masses and Mainstream, March 1949
Preface to Michurin’s Selected Works, P.N. Yakovlev, 1949
[Two Views on] The Situation in Biological Science, J. L. Fyfe and B. W. Brian, Modern Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 4, Autumn 1949
The Fundamental Principles of Michurin Genetics, Professor I. E. Glushchenko, Anglo-Soviet Journal, Winter 1949
Lysenko Is Right, James Fyfe, 1950
Review of Michurin’s Selected Works , John Lewis, Modern Quarterly, Vol. 5, No. 2, Spring 1950
Michurin and Huxley (Book Reviews), A. G. Morton, Anglo-Soviet Journal, Summer 1950
The Achievements of Marxism-Leninism in the Field of Genetics , Hyman Lumer, Political Affairs, July 1950
Science in the USSR Today, J. D. Bernal, Anglo-Soviet Journal, Autumn 1950
Review of Soviet Genetics and World Science, Lysenko and the Meaning of Heredity, by Julian Huxley, D. M. Ross, Modern Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 4, Autumn 1950
The Lysenko Case, R.H. Monroe and Joseph Hansen, January 1951
The Lysenko Case, Part 2, R.H. Monroe and Joseph Hansen, March 1951
Review of Lysenko Is Right , D. M. Ross Anglo-Soviet Journal, Spring 1951
Soviet Genetics, Alan G. Morton, 1951
Review of Soviet Genetics, Clemens Dutt, Labour Monthly, March 1952
Review of Soviet Genetics, J. S. D. Bacon, Modern Quarterly, Vol. 7, No. 3, Summer 1952
Communication on Soviet Genetics, R. F. Price, Modern Quarterly, Vol. 8, No. 1, Winter 1952-53
Soviet Science and Agriculture, 1948-1953, A. G. Morton, Anglo-Soviet Journal, Summer 1953
Review of Lysenko's Agrobiology, J. S. Kennedy, Anglo-Soviet Journal, Summer 1954
Michurinian Science and Agriculture, Academician Ivan Glushchenko, Soviet Life, July 1961
Stalinism Perverts Science: The Case of Lysenko, Martin Zarrop, Bulletin, Vol. 7, No. 15, December 14, 1970
Stalinism Perverts Science: The Case of Lysenko, Part 2, Martin Zarrop, Bulletin, Vol. 7, No. 18, January 11, 1971
Getting Started on Lysenkoism, Robert Young, 1978
Scientific Genetics, Science, Class and Politics, No.11, Fall 1980
Review of Lecort's Proletarian Science. The Case of Lysenko, Tim Clemens, Theoretical Review, No. 19, November-December 1980
Politics and Class in Science (A response to Tim Clemens), Richard Levins, Theoretical Review, No. 27, March-April 1982
Lysenko and Lysenkoism, Helena Sheehan, 1985
Crime Without Punishment, Philosophy and Genetics, Soviet Life, January 1990
An Outline of the Short History of Lysenkoism in Poland, Piotr Kohler, 2009
The Role of Izaak Prezent in the Rise and Fall of Lysenkoism, Giulia Rispoli, 2014
Lysenkoism Against Genetics: The Meeting of the Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences of August 1948, Its Background, Causes, and Aftermath, Svetlana A. Borinskaya, Andrei I. Ermolaev, and Eduard I. Kolchinsky, 2019
Lysenkoism, Michael D. Gordin, 2022
Engels, Reductionism and Epigenetics: The Lysenko Debate Kari Kumar, 2022

 


Other MIA texts related to science

The Time Machine, H.G. Wells, 1895
Relativity: The Special and General Theory, Albert Einstein, 1916
Epistemology & Modern Physics
  (Schlick, Bridgman, Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg, Carnap, Quine)
Icarus, or The Future of Science, Bertrand Russell, 1924
Turning Night into Day: The Story of Lighting, M. Ilin, 1936

 



Last updated on: 2 October 2023