Some Approaches to the Social and Institutional History of Chemistry in Imperial Russia and the Early Soviet Union

This presentation will examine several topics related to the social and institutional history of chemistry in Imperial Russia and the early Soviet Union. First, I will consider one possible contributing factor to the professionalization of chemistry in Russia, which began around the middle of the 19th century. I will examine whether this process of professionalization involved a major shift in the social origins or other social characteristics of Russian chemists. Next, I will discuss some possible ways to determine how connected academic chemists in Russia were with the chemical industry in the country. Finally, I will consider some approaches for using available information from chemistry periodicals and other reference books to provide us with information about the spread of trained chemists in Russia and the early Soviet Union.