Sketches for a Scientific Autobiography

Abstract

The article is both scientific autobiography of a professional historian of physics who has worked at the S. I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the RAS (IHST RAS) for more than half a century, and a reflection of the history of research in the field of the history of physics at the IHST RAS during this time. The author identifies a sequence of turning points associated with his most important works and changes in research topics. His research on the history of the principles of symmetry, the theory of relativity, unified field theories, the social history of Russian physics, and also on the history of the Soviet atomic project are considered. The connection between the history of science and the philosophy of science, which the author taught postgraduate students of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, is also discussed. Particular attention is paid to the author's teachers and his meetings with prominent scientists (science historians, physicists, philosophers), including foreign ones. The article also tells about the scientific and organizational work of the author (leading the sector of physics and mechanics history, related Moscow-wide seminars and seminars on history of the Soviet atomic project), in particular, and about mistakes and missed opportunities in this area. In conclusion, some features and problems of the development of the history of physics and historical and scientific research in general are formulated in the form of “history lessons”.