Editing Soviet Union (section)

=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|Science and technology in the Soviet Union}}
{{See also|Cybernetics in the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Sputnik-stamp-ussr.jpg|thumb|upright|Soviet stamp showing the orbit of [[Sputnik 1]]]]
The Soviet Union placed great emphasis on [[Science and technology in the Soviet Union|science and technology]].<!--delete this sentence if you can park the citations elsewhere---><ref>{{cite web |title=Science and Technology |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0413%29 |access-date=23 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0413%29 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=15 June 1992 |title=The Soviet Union and the United States – Revelations from the Russian Archives {{!}} Exhibitions – Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/sovi.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915012329/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/sovi.html |archive-date=15 September 2017 |access-date=12 November 2017 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> Lenin believed the USSR would never overtake the developed world if it remained as technologically backward as it was upon its founding. Soviet authorities proved their commitment to Lenin's belief by developing massive networks and research and development organizations. In the early 1960s, 40% of chemistry PhDs in the Soviet Union were attained by women, compared with only 5% in the United States.<ref>[[Rose Eveleth]] (12 December 2013). [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/soviet-russia-had-a-better-record-of-training-women-in-stem-than-america-does-today-180948141/?no-ist Soviet Russia Had a Better Record of Training Women in STEM Than America Does Today] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006112126/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/soviet-russia-had-a-better-record-of-training-women-in-stem-than-america-does-today-180948141/?no-ist |date=6 October 2014 }}. ''[[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian.com]].'' Retrieved 26 June 2014.</ref> By 1989, Soviet scientists were among the world's best-trained specialists in several areas, such as energy physics, selected areas of medicine, mathematics, welding, space technology, and military technologies. However, due to rigid state planning and [[Nomenklatura|bureaucracy]], the Soviets remained far behind the [[First World]] in chemistry, biology, and computer science. Under Stalin, the Soviet government persecuted [[geneticists]] in favour of [[Lysenkoism]], a [[pseudoscience]] rejected by the scientific community in the Soviet Union and abroad but supported by Stalin's inner circles.<!--after Stalin?---> Implemented in the USSR and China, it resulted in reduced crop yields and is widely believed to have contributed to the [[Great Chinese Famine]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Offord |first1=Catherine |title=Stamping Out Science, 1948 |journal=[[The Scientist (magazine)|The Scientist]] |url=https://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/stamping-out-science-1948-68665 |access-date=20 September 2021 |archive-date=28 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528184521/https://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/stamping-out-science-1948-68665 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1980s, the Soviet Union had more [[scientists]] and [[engineers]] relative to the world's population than any other major country, owing to strong levels of state support.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=Chi Ling |title=Fallen Behind: Science, Technology and Soviet Statism |journal=Intersect: The Stanford Journal of Science, Technology, and Society |date=11 June 2015 |volume=8 |issue=3 |url=https://ojs.stanford.edu/ojs/index.php/intersect/article/view/691#:~:text=This%20essay%20argues%20that%20the,demands%20of%2021st%20century%20informationalization. |language=en}}</ref> Some of its most remarkable technological achievements, such as launching the [[Sputnik 1|world's first space satellite]], were achieved through military research.<ref name="Library of Congress Country Studies">{{cite web |title=Economy |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0009%29 |access-date=23 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0009%29 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Under the [[Reagan administration]], [[Project Socrates]] determined that the Soviet Union addressed the acquisition of science and technology in a manner radically different to the United States. The US prioritized indigenous [[research and development]] in both the public and private sectors. In contrast, the USSR placed greater emphasis on acquiring foreign technology, which it did through both [[Industrial espionage|covert]] and overt means. However, centralized state planning kept Soviet technological development greatly inflexible. This was exploited by the US to undermine the strength of the Soviet Union and thus foster its reform.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Global Tech Strategies Brought to U.S |journal=Washington Technology |date=3 May 1990 |first=Margo |last=MacFarland}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=R. A. |last=Deckert |title=The science of uncovering industrial information |date=10 October 1990 |work=Business Journal of the Treasure Coast}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Firms Must Trade Short-Term Gains for Long-Term Technology Planning |date=7 March 1991 |work=Inside the Pentagon}}</ref>