Academician M.I. Rostovtsev on the relationship between state power and science: Unknown article of 1917

Recently, a small, undeservedly forgotten article by Academician M.I. Rostovtsev was discovered in the newspaper Svobodnyi Narod (Free People) of the Cadet Party (Petrograd) under the title “New System and Science.” It was published in August 1917. Its leitmotif is that only firm state power can guarantee the preservation and development of culture and science in Russia. The weakening of the state as a result of powerful revolutionary upheavals, according to the scientist, is the main danger to the scientific life of the country. This publication is interesting even now, during the difficult period of reforming science and education in modern Russia.