Science for the People
It's easy to imagine that deep behind the Iron Curtain the Soviets are developing science and technology to a point where they'll soon outstrip and overwhelm the West. After all, they have a quarter of the world's scientists, and give science the highest priority. But just how successful are they? This programme, filmed inside the Soviet Union, is the first of a two-part Horizon investigation. It asks why the Soviet Union has only won ten Nobel prizes for science - less than half the number gained by Cambridge University alone.
Why does the USSR have the highest infant mortality figures in Europe? Why does it need to import entire chemical processing plants from Britain and computers from America? And if science isn't giving the Soviets a lead in technology - why are we so worried about them? Narrator MICHAEL DEAN
Film editor MICHAEL CASEY Editor GRAHAM MASSEY Written and produced by JON PALFREMAN , JEREMY TAYLOR