`Mathematical Machines' of the Cold War

Abstract

Soviet science in the post-WWII period was torn between two contradictory directives: to `overtake and surpass' Western science, especially in defence-related fields; and to `criticize and destroy' Western scholarship for its alleged ideological flaws. In response to this dilemma, Soviet scientists developed two opposite discursive strategies. While some scholars `ideologized' science, translating scientific theories into a value-laden political language, others tried to `de-ideologize' it by drawing a sharp line between ideology and the supposedly value-neutral, `objective' content of science. This paper examines how early Soviet computing was shaped by the interplay of military and ideological forces, and affected by the attempts to `de-ideologize' computers. The paper also suggests some important similarities in the impact of the Cold War on science and technology in the Soviet Union and the United States.

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