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Memoirs Andrei D Sakharov 9780394537405 Books

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Memoirs Andrei D Sakharov 9780394537405 Books

One of the most amazing writings by a scientist. Reading this book, you'll learn about not only the history of physics, weapons, and peace activism, but also about the social settings in USSR where all this took place. In addition to this Sakharov also talks about various aspects of ethics and philosophy concerning the weapons and the fight against them. An incredible read. I think every student of history of science, peace activism and disarmament policy needs to read this.


Tags : Memoirs [Andrei D. Sakharov] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The late Soviet physicist, activist, and Nobel laureate describes his upbringing, scientific work, rejection of Soviet repression,Andrei D. Sakharov,Memoirs,Knopf,0394537408,Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe),General,Dissenters;Soviet Union;Biography.,Human rights workers;Soviet Union;Biography.,Political prisoners;Soviet Union;Biography.,Biography,Biography & Autobiography Historical,Dissenters,Human rights workers,Non-Fiction,POLITICAL SCIENCE General,Political Science,Political prisoners,PoliticsInternational Relations,PoliticsIntl Relations,RUSSIA - HISTORY - 1917 TO 1991,Sakharov, Andreĭ,ScholarlyUndergraduate,Soviet Union,United States,World history: from c 1900 -,1921-,Sakharov, Andrei,,BiographyAutobiography

Memoirs Andrei D Sakharov 9780394537405 Books Reviews

I read this book some time ago now, but the recent BBC adaptation of Grossman's Life and Fate (which I've not read yet) brought it back to mind.

I'm not a physicist but I worked in a non-scientific capacity at CERN for a couple of years, hence my interest.

The history that this book uncovers, and the dispassionate integrity of its author, makes it to my mind one of the most important books I have ever read. I knew almost nothing of Stalinism when I read it; so it shocked me to the core. It was like looking at an upside-down topsy-turvy world.

In his childhood the arts were seen as deeply threatening - playing a piano sonata could have you 'disappeared'. In adulthood, one of his sweetest moments was the simple act of toasting his wife with a glass of coca-cola.

It's interesting to read this book, and then lift one's eyes back to the Britain we live in today.... what do you see?
This book bordered on the surreal due to Sakharov's irony free style. He would describe some craziness involving KGB interference in his life or Soviet life in general and then suddenly break off to describe theoretical quantum physics for three pages. This juxtaposition between the irrational and rational makes the book unexpectedly comic at times.
One of the most important books I've ever read. Although I'm no scientist myself, I still found this book to be a tremendously good read. A lot of the book is political and tells great tales about Russian history and life in the USSR. I also believe this book to be the be the single most powerful critique of Soviet Socialism and what it means in real life. A useful inoculation against socialist propaganda. The science portion is beyond my understanding though it still is very readable. Highly recommended.
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (1921-1989) was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist, who helped design the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons, but was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. He was arrested in 1980 following his public protests against the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, and sent to "internal exile" for six years. He wrote in the Preface to this 1990 book, "I hope that my memoirs will appeal to a fairly wide audience because of the extraordinary turns my life has taken work at a munitions factory during the war, my career in theoretical physics, twenty years developing thermonuclear weapons in a secret city... research on controlled fusion, my statements on public issues, my activities in defense of human rights, the authorities' persecution of myself and my family, exile to Gorky, the years spent in isolation there, and my return to Moscow in the era of perestroika." (Pg. xx)

He states early on, "Today, deep in my heart, I do not know where I stand on religion. I don't believe in any dogma and I dislike official churches... yet I am unable to imagine the universe and human life without some guiding principle, without a source of spiritual 'warmth' that is nonmaterial and not bound by physical laws. Probably this sense of things could be called 'religious.'" (Pg. 4)

He suggests, "I now believe that the design developed by the Zeldovich group for a hydrogen bomb was directly inspired by information acquired through espionage. However, I have no proof of this." (Pg. 94) He recalls that after a nuclear test in 1955, "I worried more and more about the biological effects of nuclear tests... The long-term biological consequences of nuclear testing... can be predicted... What cannot be determined is the identity of individual victims, lost as they are in the human sea. We can never establish with certainty that a PARTICULAR cancer victim or congenitally deformed child is a casualty of nuclear testing." (Pg. 197) He adds, "Halting the tests will directly save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and it also promises even greater indirect benefits, reducing international tension and the risk of nuclear war, the fundamental danger of our time." (Pg. 202-203) He asserts, "I had come to regard testing in the atmosphere as a crime against humanity, no different from secretly pouring disease-producing microbes into a city's water supply." (Pg. 225)

Of his difficult relations with Solzhenitsyn, he comments, "It's a shame that Solzhenitsyn, driven by his sense of mission, understood so little (perhaps deliberately) about me, my thoughts on emigration, human rights and other matters..." (Pg. 404) He adds, "I wish to emphasize once more my profound respect for him, for his gifts as a writer, and for his historic achievement in uncovering the crimes of the Soviet state, and for all his years of selfless labor. I admire his passionate refusal to reconcile himself to evil... And I agree with a great deal of what he writes and says. But... I often find troubling the peremptory nature of his judgments, the absence of nuance, and his lack of tolerance for the opinions of others." (Pg. 407)

He observes, "Our life [during exile] in Gorky may not have seemed especially difficult to some people, and certainly it wasn't as terrible as life in a camp or prison. But what I was subjected to was absolutely illegitimate---and very dangerous, for keeping me in unlawful isolation made it easier for the authorities to take arbitrary actions---under cover of law---against all prisoners of conscience." (Pg. 551)

This is a fascinating account by a profound humanitarian and scientist.
The history and personalities are fascinating.
The science is informative.
The horrors that the author describes were more than I could continue reading.
Well written, well organized, definitely learn more than you never wanted to know or imagine could happen in modern society.
Excellent!!!
One of the most amazing writings by a scientist. Reading this book, you'll learn about not only the history of physics, weapons, and peace activism, but also about the social settings in USSR where all this took place. In addition to this Sakharov also talks about various aspects of ethics and philosophy concerning the weapons and the fight against them. An incredible read. I think every student of history of science, peace activism and disarmament policy needs to read this.