History of Medicine

History

An Open Access Journal

The main trends of science and popular science literature evolvement in 1918–1935

DOI: 10.17720/2409-5834.v4.4.2017.03c

Nikita Yu. Pivovarov
FSAEI HE I.M. Sechenov First MSMU MOH Russia (Sechenov University)
8 Trubetskaya St., building 2, Moscow 119991, Russia

The author of the article analyzes the main trends of the development of Soviet medicine, which had an impact on science and popular science literature, and highlights the key points determining the evolution of healthcare in 1918–1935. The main source used is bibliographical indices “Knizhnaya letopis” [Book chronicle] and “Kniga v SSSR” [Books in USSR], which contain data on almost all the medical books, published in the RSFSR/USSR. In the course of the study, 10 276 monographs and collections of articles were analyzed. The author believes that Soviet medical literature was influenced by state interests. An evaluation of science and popular science literature items has shown that small-scale brochures (less than 100 pages), accessible to the readers in terms of language, comprised the majority of them. However, during 1918–1935 their readership was changing. During Russian Civil War and in the 1920s, medical literature was being read mainly by workers and peasants, and that is why medical books of that time primarily concentrated on dangerous illnesses and mundane medical topics. In the 1930s, in response to the reforms in basic and higher education, various study guides became widespread. During the whole period under review, sanitary and hygienic subject matter was dominant in medical literature due to the policy of the Soviet state, which was aimed at health education.In the same time, there has been a certain transformation of a number of medical lines and specialties. In some areas, the line of research changed (psychology, physiology), in others, publication of new releases was discontinued (gerontology, eugenics, sexual pathology). In general, the study of science and popular science medical books allows to form a complete idea of how the foundation for the Soviet medicine was laid and what were the lines of development of its certain areas.

Keywords: scientific and medical literature, bibliography, medical specialty, Soviet health care, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR)

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