68 SOCIAL SCIENTIST F.B. Kedrov's book ignores the fact of Kapitza's involuntary stay in Soviet Union. His book begins with the ambiguous sentence, "In 1934 a rumour started among journalists that P.L. Kapitza was in Moscow, that he would not return to Rutherford in England but would stay in the USSR." Justifiably, Kedrov could argue (though he does not) that by mid-May 1935, i.e., within less than a year after his arrival in the Soviet Union, Kapitza disapproved and discounted the fact of his retention. He wrote to Rutherford from Moscow : I was informed that the case of my retention got into the papers. Whatever is the point and the object of this discussion, I only would love to keep myself completely out of it. But as a point of fairness I would only like that everyone concerned should know that first of all, I am and always was in sympathy with the work of the Soviet Government on the reconstruction of Russia, on,the principle of socialism and I am prepared to do scientific work here. Secondly the Soviet Government does its best to build me a laboratory. There are indeed points about which we disagree, especially as regards the treatment of the question of pure science, as they are far greater interested in the valuing of the solutions of applied problems, and also we disagree about the most efficient way of dealing with scientists, but no doubt there is the best intention to develop science in the Saviet Union. Personally I am very miserable indeed that all this happened. I miss you, my laboratory and specially my work and it is not to be expected that I will soon be able to resume it, and all this makes me very unhappy. The stupidity of the created position is that it is based on complete misunderstanding as everyone concerned really acts with the best intentions. Further, by October 1935, the Russian Government had purchased the large generator and associated magnetic equipment of the Mond Laboratory for a price of £ 30,000, which was considered a large sum even by those who knew that large amounts of money went to support science in those days. By the spring of 1936, the Institute for Physical Problems was nearly complete and Kapitza was provided with all the facilities, personal and institutional. By 1939 he was elected to the full membership of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and subsequently received three Orders of Lenin, the Moscow Defence Medal and Hero of Socialist Labour Award. His own work and that of his Institute earned worldwide recognition. Kapitza's pioneering work in the superfluidity and super conductivity of liquid helium at temperatures near absolute zero, was recognised by the Nobel Prize in 1978. Kedrov, therefore, glosses over the issue of involuntary stay. There is a post facto justification for commandeering Kapitza t^n4.