Russia's Contribution to Science. 219 



censorship and espionage notwithstanding, the professor and 

 student aHke have to possess a distinct repvitation as belonging 

 either to the progressive or to the reactionary poHtical group, 

 and no hberal minded assistant may continue indefinitely to assist 

 a reactionary professor. He has ultimately either to ally himself 

 definitely with the reactionary elements or to resign. As a general 

 rule we may say that the best work was done by progressive 

 professors, although some very reactionary men have contributed 

 creditable work in their particular field of learning. But real 

 expression of political views was not possible except for a short 

 period in the sixties and again after the revolution of 1905, and 

 even then it had to be sufficiently guarded. 



The first scientific institution created in Russia was the Im- 

 perial Academy of Sciences and its foundation was due to the 

 genius of Peter the Great who conceived the idea and had con- 

 ferences regarding its execution with Heinrich Fick as early 

 as 1718. Dr. Blumenrost prepared a project which was approved 

 by Peter in 1724 and according to which the Academy should 

 be not only a research, but also an educational institution. Peter 

 died in 1725 and it was his widow Catherine the First who 

 ordered the opening of the Academy on November 12, 1725, and 

 fixed its yearly budget at 24012.00 Roubles. Foreigners, mostly 

 Germans, were invited as professors. About the year 1727 there 

 were seventeen of these including such men as Hermann, and 

 Goldbach in mathematics, Nicholas Bernulli in mechanics, Buer- 

 ger in chemistry, Biefinger in physics, Duvernoie in anatomy and 

 zoology, Leonhard Euler in mathematics, etc. The eight stu- 

 dents who had to study with these professors were all Germans, 

 all imported for the purpose from Germany. By the year 1742 

 there were as many as twelve students. In 1747 the Academy 

 was divided into two sections — the x4 cade my proper, and the 

 University. The internal organization of the Academy was 

 changed in 1803 and again in 1836 and in 1841, when it was sub- 

 divided into three sections. The Memoirs of the Academy are 

 so well-known and contain so many important articles in all 

 branches of science that we do not need to consider them here 

 further. 



The Academic University died a natural death through lack 

 of students and .the first Russian university must be considered 

 to be the University of Moscow which was opened in 1754, and 



