THE BISON

by Daniil Granin ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 1990

A fictionalization of the long and contentious life of Nikolai Timofeyev-Resovsky (1900-81), one of the founders of modern genetics, recounted with reverence and awe by a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet. Son of a Russian road-engineer, the Bison (as he came to be nicknamed) staked his territory early as both a geneticist and a rakish adventurer who alternated lab sessions with stints in the Red Army. Between the world wars, be accepted an invitation to direct a genetics research institute in Buch, a Berlin suburb, where he formed a lively scientific salon, furthered his reputation as a blustery, excitable and exceptionally gregarious practical joker, and began the groundbreaking research that would make his reputation. As Hitler's influence grew, the Bison reassured his comrades that politics were outside the scientists' sphere and would not affect their work. Despite the commencement of WW II, when a return to Russia became impossible, the Bison steadfastly continued his genetic research until his elder son was shot by the Gestapo for conspiring with the Underground. After the war, the Bison himself was imprisoned by the Russians. Released a year later and allowed by sheer good luck to work in semi-exile on radiation biology, the Bison stubbornly refused to join those geneticists who betrayed their findings for political gain, leaving the Soviet agricultural system to suffer in the process. Near the end of his life the Bison returned to his hometown, dogged by informants, bureaucrats and hangers-on: a stubborn personification, concludes the author, of an earlier, greater age in which Russians were not so easily cowed. A welcome window into the Soviet experience, both scientific and otherwise, illustrating the sometimes devastating effects of government policy on scientific progress and personal destiny.

Pub Date: March 21, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1990

Categories: FICTION