p The transformation of science into a direct productive force does not mean that it is becoming a new and independent element of the productive forces alongside the means of production and peopk who are employed in production. Science performs the role of a productive force only through technology and people.

p How does the role played by science as a productive force manifest itself?

p Firstly, scientific achievements are embodied in advanced equipment and technology. Today whole industries (nuclear energy, polymer chemistry, microbiology, electronics, etc.) are products of science and cannot exist without it. Production is increasingly turning into the technological application of science, a materialised force of knowledge, a gigantic laboratory where the latest scientific achievements are brought to completion, verified and applied.

p Secondly, scientific achievements become embodied in the producer, in his knowledge, skill and professional experience. Modern comprehensive mechanisation, let alone automation, fill labour with an intellectual content and demand that a worker has high cultural, technical and professional standards. By equipping him with modern knowledge, science enhances his skill, raises labour productivity and turns him into an active rationaliser and inventor.

p Thirdly, research work is making ever deeper inroads into the sphere of material production and is turning into productive work. Research is conducted on an increasing scale at numerous research and design institutes, laboratories and departments at factories, and at collective and state farms. In a word, science is turning into one of the basic elements of modern production.

p When we say that science is turning into a direct production force, this applies in the first place to mechanics, physics, chemistry, biology and other natural and technical 396 sciences. At the same time social sciences, particularly economic sciences, are coming to play an increasing role in production. With the aid of mathematical methods and electronic computers, these sciences help to improve production management and pave the way for the most effective utilisation of material, labour and financial resources which is particularly important in view of the vast scale of contemporary production. And that is not to mention the great role played by social sciences in moulding the inner make-up of the workers and their outlook.

p Science’s organic links with production should not be assessed only from the point of view of its direct use and scientists should not be required promptly to apply their discoveries in production. The purpose of science is not only to find solutions to urgent problems, but to build up a “reserve” for the future, solve vital theoretical problems which pave the way for social progress and discover new roads in science and technology.

p Science as an important sphere of social life is developing at a rapid pace. The number of researchers and research institutions is increasing: the number of researchers rose from 11,600 in 1913 to 1,306, 800 in 1978. Expenditures on science grow faster than the national income and industrial production.

p Science in the USSR has made great progress thanks to concern displayed by the people, the Party and the Soviet Government. The achievements in the exploration of outer space offer striking proof of this.

p But Soviet science has by no means exhausted its possibilities. That is why the Party and Government work tirelessly to improve the system of planning, direction and stimulation of scientific research and to augment the economic and social effectivity of science. Special attention is focussed on strengthening and extending the bonds between science and production, .establishing research and production associations and complex scientific institutions whose task is to conduct the full volume of research, design and production work, including the batch output of new products and the establishment of research institutes at large industrial and other enterprises. The strengthening of the .planning principle is a prime prerequisite for heightening the effectivity of scientific research and the speediest practical 397 application of its results.

p The revolution in the development of the productive forces, which was started off by science, states the Report of the CPSU Central Committee to’ the 24th Congress of the CPSU, will become increasingly significant and profound. A task of historic importance, “organically to fuse the achievements of the scientific and technical revolution with the advantages of the socialist economic system, to unfold more broadly our own, intrinsically socialist, forms of fusing science with production...”  [397•* , has been posed before and is being tackled by the Soviet people.

Inspired by the common ideas, the unflagging solicitude of the Party and the state and the support and attention of the people, Soviet scientists and specialists are determined to accomplish the tasks that face them.