“If Science Lives, It Will Have History” (Interview with Yu.M. Baturin, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciencesand Chief Research Fellow of S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
In an interview with the “Sociology of Science and Technology” Journal, RAS Corresponding Member Yu.M. Baturin, Director of S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IHST RAS) in 2010-2015, tells how he came to IHST RAS, how he saw it, and how he imagines its future development. Theoretical approaches and current issues of the history of science and technology are discussed. The dilemma between specialization and universalization of historians of science and technology is touched upon. The possibilities of introducing the discipline of the history of science and technology as a compulsory subject in universities and the future “points of growth” of this field in the country are assessed. A part of the talk is devoted to the personality of Baturin himself, his teachers and his formation as a historian of cosmonautics.