The Formation of the Tomsk Scientific School of Cybernetics (1950–1960s)

The article reconstructs the process of formation of the Tomsk scientific school of cybernetics in order to identify the main prerequisites and factors for the development of a separate area of local university science, which seems very relevant in the context of the development of modern research universities. The body of sources used for this purpose is represented mainly by the materials from periodicals and memoirs of contemporaries. The work emphasizes that the re-actualization of cybernetics occurs in connection with the understanding by the country's leadership of the need, based on a scientific approach, to use computer technology in economic management. Particular attention is paid to the prerequisites for the formation of cybernetics in Tomsk, which are directly related to the well-known radiophysicist V.N. Kessenich. The direct development of cybernetics is associated with the arrival of Moscow University graduate P.P. Biryulin in Tomsk, who managed with the support of V.N. Kessenich to unite talented graduates of Tomsk University to study issues of information theory and computer technology. They (A.D. Zakrevsky, V.P. Tarasenko, F.P. Tarasenko, G.A. Medvedev, etc.) will subsequently become the heads of individual scientific directions formed on the basis of Tomsk cybernetics. It is concluded that the atmosphere of a university city, filled with a certain amount of intellectual freedom, had a great influence on the formation of Tomsk cybernetics. The special role of representatives of the capital's scientific schools in the emergence of cybernetics in Tomsk is emphasized. A special feature of the organization of Tomsk science within the framework of university research institutes is revealed, which ensured a synergistic effect of interaction between science and education within the framework of cybernetics. A conclusion is drawn about a natural connection between the institutionalization in Tomsk of radiophysics as a basic innovation of the fourth technological order and cybernetics as the fifth. It is noted that, in contrast to the radiophysical school, the Tomsk cybernetic school was characterized by such features as deliberation and polycentrism. It is recorded that by the beginning of the 1970s Tomsk has become one of the most important cyber centers in the country; this became the main prerequisite for the launch of the Tomsk region automated control system project. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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