In Novosibirsk died academician Eduard Kruglyakov, who headed the Commission against pseudoscience and falsification of scientific research of RAS

On the death of Eduard Pavlovich said Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He died on the 79 th year of life after a prolonged illness.

Academician Kruglyakov headed the Department of plasma physics in the University was engaged in controlled nuclear fusion. But the General public, he became famous when he headed the Commission against pseudoscience and falsification of scientific research of RAS. And stood on guard of the interests of common sense. Which aroused the anger of charlatans.

Eduard Pavlovich visited "Komsomolskaya Pravda". Here is his latest interview that he had to give in the last year.

"Russia runs wild. It's quite obvious"

- Edward p., recently during the celebration of the Day of science the Russian public opinion research center conducted a poll among Russians, asking questions from school textbooks. The results were shocking: almost one third of the Russians - and this is almost 50 million - believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth. What happens to the intelligence of great power?

- Russia runs wild. It is quite obvious. To describe what is happening now with education, I appropriate epithets is not. Even the experience of Novosibirsk state University (one of the best universities in the country) shows that those applicants who to us came a few years ago, were head and shoulders above those who came to us today. It's not because people are stupider than steel, but because very bad now taught in school.

- Who is to blame?

"Well we're not the same (the scientists of the RAS. - Ed.)! We are making every effort to change something. For example, those talented people we recruit from all over Siberia in the mathematical school before entering in the Novosibirsk University, trying to financially support.

- All the young geniuses one University will not help... And your Commission to combat pseudoscience, which has been in existence since 1998, helps to fight against obscurantism and fall of level of education?

- Primarily, of course, we are at war with specific pseudo-scientists who, by the way, sucked off a large part of the budget itself.

- Pseudo-scientists have now become more or less? In the 1990-ies they remember flourished: they were launched not only on radio and television, but in the Kremlin. Now they subsided?

- They had repainted and are engaged in activities that do not require flashing on the screen TVs. They have a more peaceful, quiet work. For example, now a huge number of pseudo-scientists engaged in the problems of elemedicine

THE SCAMMER SHOULD BE IN PRISON

- Now you can buy a variety of devices that treat all diseases...

- Yes, all sorts of devices. This is bullshit! Here the word is not decent. At first sight you can see that this is a dummy that may not generate the promised scammers fields, saving from all ills, and not even with batteries.

"But there is some major innovations that can really help. Just our people cannot understand, distinguish the dummy from really running things, which, fortunately, is produced and sold.

- Of course, sometimes such things happen. But I think that the advertising of medical devices invalid... In 2003, the General meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of medical Sciences. I spoke and showed dozens of devices, which brazenly advertised even high-ranking officials of the Ministry of health, including the Deputy Chief sanitary doctor of the country. They, in particular, promoted devices, generating the gravitational field! But it's ridiculous to hear that a small device can generate tangible gravitational field. At the end of my speech, I suggested to turn to the State Duma with the request to develop the law "About the responsibility for false medical advertising". I, however, one word missed: about criminal responsibility.

- A serious omission!

Soon I was invited to the international Congress in Padua (Italy), where gathered the fighters against pseudoscience from different countries. They call themselves the skeptics. In my speech I talked about how we decided to go to the Duma.

After my speech I was approached by Mexican scientists, who also complained to the excesses of charlatans and crooks in Mexico and added that he would very much like to have the same law. It was in 2003. In 2006, Mexicans have already pushed through their Parliament in the law on criminal liability for negligent medical advertising. And they have this law significantly improved the situation. And the secret is that they can put the crook in jail for the term up to 8 years. And we have released the General act on advertising, according to which the advertising is meaningless medical devices, shameless deceit elderly sick people you can wag a finger, prevent, or take a fine of 1.5 thousand rubles. And all!

TALES ABOUT THE PHILOSOPHICAL STONE

- Maybe people are dark because the popularization of science is located on zero level? After all, if our man to give two news about this breakthrough in science and about some kind of philosopher's stone, he can not tell, where truth and lies.

- Unfortunately, popularization of scientific knowledge we collapsed with the collapse of the USSR. The media now prefer to deal with charlatans.

I managed to publish three books under the General title "Scientists from the road." Already from the title it is clear what they are. Writing a Scam to clean water. Readers like, but to buy them difficult. Managed to organize the production of the Bulletin "In defense of science". He also popular. But there is a problem. If in Soviet times, popular science books were issued in huge circulations, today it is only a few thousand copies.

- And are not cheap...

- And that's a problem. In 2000, our Institute was visited centuries Putin. Behind the famous "round table" have a candid conversation. He talked about the fact that Russia is in a difficult situation, but we should revive the greatness of Russia. I told him and said: "Vladimir Vladimirovich, if we do not organize the issue of popular science literature, we will not have the chance to become a great country. Because in a few years we will become a country of savages". He agreed. Since then, something happened. We in the Siberian branch of the RAS were able to organize a series of popular science books. Issued 14 books. But two years ago failed. Arrived financial inspection and accused us of... misuse of budget funds. And since then has not released any books.

TABLET INSTEAD OF GASOLINE

- Now in SKOLKOVO under the guise of innovations can charlatans to penetrate?

- And how! Of course.

And you are such already met?

- I will tell you such a story. At us in the country in 2008 was the first forum on nanotechnologies. When the forum was the exhibition. And imagine that in the first row with a demonstration of nonexpansive sat scammers. For example, at the exhibition were presented the invention - a kind of pill which, if to stick to the tank, will provide fuel savings of 20%. And if the authors will give money for development, they promised to bring savings of up to 50%, and in the future will not need fuel. But as the head of this know-how is living in Yakutsk and he is a member of the presidential Council of Sakha-Yakutia, and in Yakutsk there are members of our Committee, I asked them to deal with this disgrace.

- And how did they understand?

- Conducted an experiment. The Director of one of the institutions instructed his driver to fill the tank completely and record how many miles he will pass. And then the driver again filled the gas tank and traveled without pills. And what was it? Gasoline was spent in both cases the same. Here is an example impudent, shameless deceit stick to nanotechnology. Incidentally, the Moscow branch of the same quack office also produces even some devices without batteries that can ordinary tap water to turn in the key.

DESTROY ROSPATENT

- Edward p., you are in one of the interviews said that the need to close Rospatent. That such harmful organization? Any charlatan can come to pay a certain amount and patent of an invention which the state then has the responsibility to protect?

- Several years ago I was sent to the Minister of education and science of the RF Andrei Fursenko, in charge of which there was Rospatent, the letter, which was made description of one "great" patent: "Patent № 2983239. Symptomatic treatment of diseases with the help of aspen sticks at the time of the new moon to restore the integrity of the energy shell of a human body". How can you register such nonsense? But such absurd patents hundreds! Not so long ago was such a case. I was approached from the security Council of the Russian Federation with a request to prepare some proposals for the meeting on the problems of pseudoscience. My first proposal was the following: to restore the state expertise of projects that the government is going to Finance. The second is to destroy Rospatent. I object: what without him? I reply: of course, without Rospatent impossible, but new Rospatent need to build without those people out there who are working today, and on a completely new basis.

- May be, it all depends not from people but from the legislative base, which works Rospatent? Momay, in the law it is written: "Rospatent has the right to issue the paper with the print once in cash will be paid 1.5 thousand rubles"?

"No, that's not it. Not here this nonsense to be patented. It's a shame state.

SOME SCIENTISTS HAVE ALREADY RETURNED

- There is another country that are on the same level of education that we are?

- Guinea, Ethiopia, and many others...

- The horror! SKOLKOVO may raise Russia to a proper level?

- SKOLKOVO requires enormous funds. I work in the Siberian branch of the RAS and can say that at least in Siberia there are some rather active research institutes located in Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk. Should there to invest. It will be much more cheaply, than SKOLKOVO.

"Maybe there is a need to delay young scientists closer to the capital?

- I understand that in Moscow and the Moscow region, the problem of youth in science is much more acute than in the us. In the Siberian branch, this problem also exists, but it is not as intense as in Moscow. We are today in a number of leading institutes every third researcher under the age of 33 years.

- And they are not going to leave?

- In the 90s left. Today, imagine someone comes back from abroad. To the question why, the answer is: well, we have earned, and here more interesting science to do.

The problem of the whole country in only one: to ensure academic youth housing.

THE PRICE OF THE THESIS

"Maybe in the fall values of science blame the scientists themselves? Recently, there have appeared not only the so-called lawyers, economists, who graduated from unclear which universities. But many appeared people, clothed with power or money, and they did very quickly defend a candidate's degree and then a doctorate thesis.

- I am the Chairman of the specialized Council on protection of dissertations. And no cases of return of the Higher attestation Commission (VAK) poor quality of the thesis we have not been and will not be. We very carefully approach this. On the other hand, in addition to these VAK, there are about 200 academies, and many of them have their VAK. They are illegal, the state does not recognize. And yet in these VAK-the impostors defended dissertations. For the money. How are they protected? Maybe even and not protected. Just formalities are some. And even the dissertation may not be. And he is a doctor of Sciences. Examples of such I know. Such candidates and doctors of science is much more than these.

- Why do it?

- For the same scams that deal with development and sale of dummies for medical purposes, it is very important to read the academician, doctor of Sciences, Professor. It really helps to promote the products.

YELTSIN DURILI

- In addition to the devices zemedelsko of destination, on what other dummy is spending public funds?

- I shall tell a secret, that in the Ministry of defense until recently money on research and development were spent just God knows what.

- For example?

- On torsion fields do not exist! Thank God, today the Ministry of defense does not Finance these works.

- Is it true that Boris Yeltsin gave a lot of money on development, which was made of stone to produce energy? Or is it a joke?

- What is the joke?! It happened in the Institute of nuclear physics. The Director was absent. I took Boris Nikolaevich, showed him some installations of our Institute. Then we came back at the "round table", and during the conversation he asked: "Well, about the fusion I understand. But you made of stone can produce energy?" I was stunned: "From a stone?" "From a granite, basalt". Then I read him a little lecture about light elements, about a heavy, about nuclear energy, fusion... Said that the middle of the periodic table of miracles does not contain, so nothing here can not be. "You would think so, but I was told that you can". I said, "then you were told charlatans". There was a dreadful silence. All accompanying persons with a sinking heart sat and waited for what was coming. Here is one of our wits said, "But the stone is as inexhaustible as the atom". So he was paraphrasing known at the time the phrase of Lenin "Electron is as inexhaustible as the atom". At the time this phrase knew everything, and therefore he heard the laughter. And then we went on to discuss other things. Was the end of it. And then, when conducted Boris Nikolaevich, me late Valyentin Afanas'yevich Koptyug, Chairman of the Siberian branch, said, "But Boris Nikolaevich it has allocated 120 million rubles." (At the rate of those years it was $ 20 million.) It's been almost 20 years. Anyone heard today that scientists have identified energy from a stone? No. So, they were crooks, crooks. And millions disappeared.

...The real science today need money. Where we can take it? The state is obliged to do this. If it does not want to have a country of savages.