Science, Religion and Communism in Cold War Europe [electronic resource] / edited by Paul Betts, Stephen A. Smith.

Introduction; Stephen A. Smith -- PART I: RELIGION AND SOCIAL SCIENCE IN EASTERN EUROPE -- 1. Piety by Numbers; James Bjork -- 2. The Shepherds' Calling, the Engineers' Project, and the Scientists' Problem; Patrick Hyder Patterson -- 3. Romanian Spirituality in Ceaușescu's 'Golden Epoch'; Zsuzsánna Magdó -- PART II: SCIENCE, RELIGION AND THE PARANORMAL -- 4. Inculcating Materialist Minds; James T. Andrews -- 5. Tsiolkovskii and the Invention of Russian Cosmism; Asif Siddiqi -- 6. Witchdoctors Drive Sports Cars, Science Takes the Bus; Monica Black -- PART III: THE SOCIALIST LIFE-CYCLE: BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION -- 7. Writing Rituals; Heléna Tóth -- 8. In Search of Rationality and Objectivity; Felix Robin Schulz -- PART IV: SOCIALISM AND THE PROBLEM OF RELIGIOUS HERITAGE -- 9. Religion and Nauka; Catriona Kelly -- 10. The Antireligious Museum; Igor J. Polianski -- 11. Religion, Science and Cold War Anti-Communism; Paul Betts -- .

Religion and science were fundamental aspects of Eastern European communist political culture from the very beginning, and remained in uneasy tension across the region over the decades. While both topics have long attracted a great deal of scholarly attention, they almost invariably have been studied discretely as separate stories. Religion, Science and Communism in Cold War Europe is the first scholarly effort to explore the delicate interface of religion, science and communism in Cold War Europe. It brings together an international team of researchers who address this relationship from a number of national viewpoints and thematic perspectives, ranging from mysticism to social science, space exploration to the socialist lifecycle, and architectural heritage to pop culture. .