The Spirit of Russian Science is a collection of a bunch of stories that the author, Michael Levinsthtein, found interesting and entertaining about the Ioffe Institute, on of the biggest research institutes in Russia. The book is a translation from the original Russian and I couldn't help but get the feeling that a great deal was lost in translation. Most of the anecdotes fall into "you had to be there to appreciate it" kind of humor and since I was not, I think I missed a great deal. There are small pieces of the book that hint at interesting places, people, and times, but not much more than that. While a very fast read, I wouldn't recommend it.
-Lyle Ford
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Lyle Ford
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Department of Physics and Astronomy
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Last Updated: May 28, 2004