D iscussion 275
J. A. A nisim ov
In his v ery in teresting an d pith y lecture, P rofessor T aton brings forw ard ia series of theses w hich a re of great in terest for th e historians of science a n d technology. The organization of in q uiries in to th e h isto ry of science an d technology is w ithout a n y doubt o f exceptionally great im portance for th e p rep aratio n of hig h -q u ality works in th a t domain.
The complicacy of studying th e h isto ry of science an d technology is determ ined iby th e ,border-line c h ara cter of th a t discipline, a n d consequently b y th e necessity of an alysing th e w hole com plex of scientific-1echnodogical question s. as well a s a n um b er o f others, ch iefly of historical an d economic character.
M eanwhile, th e u n in terru p ted and ever-increasing developm ent of science an d technology commits to a system atical scientific m aking over a n d revaluing of th e ir history, th e reflection of m od ern scientific tren d s being discovered in th e past. I t is besides characteristic th a t, freq u en tly , th e ideas developed in m o d em science a n d technology w ere fo rm erly expressed by th e rep resentatives of science who — as th e academ ician ' V. I. V ernadsky rem arked it — w ere in conflict w ith th e scientific w orld outlook of th e ir tim e. Their th oughts had n o t been understood in their tim e and som etim es even rem ained unm arked. This; com m its to study no t only the already know n scientific m aterials, but also to approach m ost atten tiv ely th e so called seco nd-rate works.
It is q u ite clear th a t th e increasing com plexity of th e process of scientific researches on the h isto ry of science a n d technology involves an ever-grow ing necessity of draw ing in to th a t w ork a larg est possible n u m ber of highly qualified specialists, i.e. creativ e w orkers in the field of m odern science a n d technology — and of organizing th e col lective investigations a p a rt from th e individual ones.
In his lecture su bm itted for fam iliarization to th e p articip an ts of th e Symposium, 'Professor Ronchi — w hen classifying th e research w orkers in th e dom ain of th e history of science an d technology — points at a num erous group of scientists, actively w orking in special domains a n d giving some atten tion to research o n th e h istory of science and technology. Moreover, he rig h tly points to th e fact th a t despite th e value of th e works p rep ared b y th e m in th e dom ain of the history of science and technology, th e re are considerable shortcom ings in m ost o f them . They are bound up w ith a lim ited tim e being a t th e disposal o f th a t group of scientist® fo r such investigation®, and w ith a n in ad equ ate m astery of m ethods of studying the history of science and technology.
276 L ’organisation de la docu m en tation en h istoire des sciences
W hile regarding th a t re m a rk as correct, we how ever believe it possible amid necessary to find a m ost fru itfu l form for a ttractin g th a t category of research w orkers to th e p reparation of w ork in th e way of th e h isto ry of science and technology. We consider it advisable to strive for uniting into creative collectives th e historians of science and technology, and specialists participating in th e élaboration of problem s of iconteimporary science an d technology, b y m aking use of th e latter chiefly in o rd er to ap praise th e m aterials a t d ifferen t stag es of research work.
A t present, at th e U krainian A cadem y of Sciences th e re is being carried on — un der th e direction o f th e Sector of th e history of technology and n a tu ra l science — a series of investigations w hich are in accordance w ith th e suggested principle. Those are w orks of dif feren t tren ds; they a re connected w ith th e stu d y of the history of m athem atics, th e history of technological developm ent of th e coal in d u stry an d th e history of developm ent of th e U krainian Academy of Sciences. For th e purpose of carrying o u t th e aforesaid 'investigations th e re have been created collectives, each num bering scores of scientists, both historians of science and technology, and specialists of d ifferen t kinds.
A p ro p erly organized stu d y on the histo ry of science and technology does contribute to th e scientific-technological progress: it constitutes an integral elem ent of th e scientific research work. The developm ent of science and technology, w hile being determ ined b y a series of factors, obeys a t th e sam e tim e to its in te rn a l laws. O n e of such laws is the continuity of developm ent w hich com m its to m ake a close stud y of the experience of th e past. M any ideais w hich could not be utilized under th e previous level of th e developm ent of scientific knowledge m ay be v ery valuable at th e following stages. N um erous exam ples thereof are w ell know n to every research w orker. It iis to be understood h ere — as Professor Zvorykine had stressed — th a t th e influence of socio economic conditions m u st be ta k e n in to account as well.
U nderstanding th e historical process of developm ent of one or another branch of science and technology perm its to select more correctly from among the num erous m odern tendencies of scien tific-technological developm ent th e most perspective ones for the future.
Finally, th e study of the history of science and technology m ay — to a certain degree — help to work ou t scientific-technological prognoses, w hich w as alread y re p o rte d a t this Symposium b y m y colleague Dobrov.
If th e m odern stage of developm ent of th e history of science and technology necessitates th e inculcation of new organizational forms of scientific research, nam ely the creation of collective works, attention shall be paid to the perfection of m ethods of conducting th e scientific /
D iscussion 277
research w ork, o f utilizing th e m odern achievem ents of science a n d technology. I t is necessary for exam ple to consider th e possibility of em ploying th e com puter technique for historico-technological researches. I n - a n y case, for th e analysis and appraisal of num erous a n d e v e r- -increasing p aten t m aterials, th e elaboration o f a n ad eq u a te p rogram for th e electronic com puters is a v ery fascinating problem th a t seems to have prospects of success.
A t present, p rep arato ry w orks a re being p erform ed w ith us, a t th e U krainian Academ y of Sciences, in order to conduct experiences in th is direction, an d we hope th a t o u r colleagues dealing w ith thait problem , in p articu la r Professor Do'brov w ho w as speaking here, w ill be able, a t th e folio-wing m eetings, to share w ith us th e first resu lts of such investigations.
In conclusion, we cannot help expressing o u r approval to P rofessor Taton’s in itiativ e1 tow ards th e organization of bibliographical w ork on an in tern atio n al scale and the perfection of m ethods of scientific in fo r m ation exchange. This w ill allow n ot only to m ake th e investigations in th e 'domain o f 'the history of 'science a n d technology m ore objective and to raise th e ir quality, b u t it also w ill contribute to a b e tte r m u tu al understanding betw een th e research 'workers of different countries, the im portance of w hich can 'scarcely b e exaggerated.
R. Taton
Je rem ercie les différentes personnes qui o n t apporté d ’in téressan tes contributions s u r différents aspects de m on exposé. P our conclure, je voudrais rev en ir rapidem ent s u r quelques points qui on t été ainsi abordés.
La position to u te spéciale de n o tre discipline fait q u ’eille su b it les influences parfois contradictoires des grands secteu rs de recherches voisins. Si nous pouvons p ro fiter très utilem ent d’une bonne p a rt des suggestions qui nous so n t ainsi faites, il ne fau t pas m ésestim er p o u r a u tan t l’im portance essentielle d ’une prise de conscience originale des buts et des m éthodes de nos recherches.
Au su je t de la form ation technique de nos chercheurs, je suis to u t à fait d ’accord s u r la nécessité de développer l’enseignem ent des sciences auxiliaires, en p articu lier la technique de docum entation et spécialem ent le dépouillem ent d ’archives. J ’ai été particulièrem ent intéressé p a r les précisions données sur les résu ltats obtenus à ce su jet dans certains pays et sur les possibilités fu tu res d ’emploi de m achines électroniques dans le dom aine de la bibliographie.
