Mathematician Irina Brailovsky's story typifies those of hundreds of Jewish scientists, engineers and physicians who applied to emigrate from the USSR in the 1970s and 1980s. In retaliation, they were dismissed (or demoted) from professional employment and were shut out from mainstream Soviet science. She, her husband Victor, a computer science expert, and family were first refused exit in ... Continue Reading>>

The internationally distinguished high energy physicist Yuri Orlov held top research and honorary posts in the Soviet scientific world until authorities took note of his growing leadership role in the human rights movement.In retaliation for founding the Moscow chapter of Amnesty International in 1973, Orlov was dismissed from his post at Moscow's Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism. Undaunted, in ... Continue Reading>>