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Full Description
Why do some creations flourish while others fade into obscurity?
In Fame or Oblivion? the author makes a provocative thesis: that Russian society has historically nurtured literary and artistic genius while stifling technological innovation. Based on the tools of cultural and historical analysis, the book examines how social patterns, economic systems, and institutional support—or lack thereof—influence the outcomes of creative achievements.
From the enduring heritage of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky to the forgotten names of the inventors of early computers and lasers, this work put into contrast Russia's world's known contributions to literature, music, and mathematics with its underrecognized pioneers in science and technology. It argues that invention does not exist per se, but requires a huge environment of support, investment, and societal readiness.
Though rooted in Russian history, the book offers a universal lens—inviting readers to reflect on the correlation between genius and recognition, and to consider how societies can better harness the full spectrum of human ingenuity.
Contents
Preface: Discussions of Creativity and Politics
Introduction
1. Alexander Pushkin: How Repression Helped a Great Poet Create
2. Nikolai Lobachevsky: Anonymity Promoted Geometry
3. Nikolai Gogol: Winning Fame by Being an Enigma
4. Pavel Shilling: How the Environment Thwarted Technical Creativity
5. Ivan Turgenev: Moderation in Creativity Is Misunderstood
6. Fyodor Dostoevsky: Prison Time Provokes Literary Creativity
7. Pavel Yablochkov: Success Abroad Doesn't Help Creativity at Home
8. Nikolai Leskov: Praising Technology for the Wrong Reason
9. Alexander Lodygin: Why a Russian Lightbulb before Edison's Didn't Succeed
10. Modest Mussorgsky: Attempts at Unique Russian Music
11. Sofia Kovalevskaia: A Woman's Tortured Path to Success
12. Dmitry Mendeleev: The Advantages of Backwardness
13. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: An Amateur Becomes a Professional
14. Borodin and Morse: Chemistry, Music, Art, and Technology
15. Lev Tolstoy: Guilt Boosts Creativity
16. Petr Tchaikovsky: Great Music in Anguis
17. Anna Akhmatova: Fame and Oblivion
18. Russian Mathematics Reaches for Glory, and Helps Literature
19. Isaac Babel: Seduction and Violence Win Fame
20. Maxim Gorky: The Frustrated Transformist
21. Nadezhda Mandelstam: Oppression Nurtures Fame
22. Rozing and Zvorykin: Forgotten Inventors of Television
23. Vladimir Mayakovsky: Revolution Promotes then Demotes Creativity
24. Sergei Eisenstein: Fame and Oblivion Again
25. Sergei Prokofiev: Pleasing Soviet Ideologues Wasn't Always Bad
26. Sergei Lebedev: Pioneering Creativity Followed by Routine Imitation
27. Dmitrii Lopatkin: Frustrated Engineers Object
28. Mikhail Sholokhov: From Creativity to Orthodoxy
29. A Hidden Side of Technological Achievements
30. Boris Pasternak: Preservation of Intelligentsia Values
31. Lev Landau: Enfant Terrible and Giant
32. Alexander Solzhenitsyn: The Conventional Rebel
33. Creativity in a Prison
34. Sinyavsky and Daniel: Benefitting from Persecution
35. Andrei Sakharov: Rationality, Morality, and Irrationality
36. How Much Has Changed? Art and Technology Try to Escape
37. Zhores Alferov: New Transistors Do Not Help
38. Grigori Perelman: The Genius as Caricature
39. Svetlana Aleksievich: The Undesired Witness
40. Computer Programming and Hacking
41. Putin as Arbiter of All Things
42. Concluding Analysis
Bibliography
Index
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