The younger sister of genetics
To the 90th anniversary of the Russian Eugenic SocietyMuseums of Russia
Do you want people to be beautiful, smart, healthy, kind, full of creative plans? And what measures do you consider acceptable to achieve this goal?
The exhibition "The Younger Sister of Genetics" (State Darwin Museum, Moscow, 57 Vavilova str., November 15 – December 20, 2010) is dedicated to eugenics – the science of improving the human race.
Eugenics was born at the end of the XIX century, but its rapid development took place at the beginning of the XX century. At the exhibition, you will be able to get acquainted with the founder of eugenics, the English scientist F. Galton, and make sure that he was a man of truly encyclopedic interests, and he made a significant contribution to each of the fields of science that interested the researcher.
Many advanced scientists of the beginning of the XX century took the idea of eugenics with interest. Eugenic laboratories and societies were organized in England and France, Sweden and Norway, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Germany, the USA and many other countries.
Logo of the II International Congress of Eugenics (1921)
Russia did not stand aside either. Russian Russian Eugenics Society is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the exhibition, so special attention is paid to the works of Russian eugenics scientists. The materials presented at the exhibition will allow you to learn about the works of the Russian founding fathers of eugenics, as well as to get acquainted with the works of those who worked on particular issues of early human genetics. Of particular interest are the documents provided by the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. You will be able to see the letters written by N.K. Koltsov and Y.A. Filipchenko, see what the Charter of the Russian Eugenic Society looked like, imagine what you would write when filling out the eugenic questionnaire.
Russian scientists were in no hurry with the practice of improving humanity, focusing on the study of human genetics. The materials of the exhibition will allow you to trace the inheritance of talent, find out how madness and genius are connected, learn about the ethnic features of the course of various diseases.
The goals that eugenics set for itself were beautiful. But does the end always justify the means? By visiting our exhibition, you will see what practical measures have been implemented in foreign countries under the auspices of eugenics. The eugenic movement practically outlived itself in the late 30s - early 40s – the world was horrified by the practice of mass genocide of fascist Germany, carried out under the eugenic slogans of racial hygiene.
Eugenics disappeared, but human genetics continued to evolve. The development of genetics and medicine by the beginning of the XXI century made it possible to change human genes and determine pathologies in human embryos at early stages of development. The exhibition "The younger Sister of Genetics" will introduce you to the methods of neoevgenics, will allow even the uninitiated to understand the general principles of modern methods aimed at improving heredity.
One of the goals of the exhibition is to raise the question of the relationship between science and morality, to show that, when making a decision on scientific issues related to the fate of our offspring, it is sometimes not so easy to answer "yes" or "no".
The opening of the exhibition will take place on November 19 at 16:00.
The opening of the exhibition is preceded by the seminar "Dawn of Human Genetics", which will begin on the same day, November 19, at 13:30. Employees of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.Yu. Afiani and N.M. The Osipovs will tell about the priceless documents stored in their funds, without the involvement of which we would not be able to fully cover the history of eugenics. Associate Professor of the Russian State University, Ph.D. E.V. Pchelov and an employee of the Museum and the Institute of Anthropology of Moscow State University T.V. Tomashevich will supplement the exhibition materials with a story about the Russian eugenic movement. An employee of the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, PhD, Professor D.V. Ushakov will reveal modern views on one of the most important eugenic problems – the heritability of human intelligence.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru10.11.2010