Historical traditions reach far back

Western European science and technology began to be introduced in present-day Latvia during the Age of Reformation in the 16^th century. Systematic research began here at the end of the 18^th century, when Peter Biron, the last Duke of Courland, founded the Academia Petrina in Jelgava in 1775. The professors included eminent scientists, and the first astronomic observatory was established. Also closely linked with the Jelgava academic Gymnasium was the precursor of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, the Courland Society for Literature and Art (founded 1815). At a meeting of the society in 1818, chemist and physicist Theodor Grotthus (1785�1822) formulated the theory of electrochemistry and the basic laws of photochemistry. Also in Courland, the first popular science encyclopaedia for Latvian peasants was compiled, "The Book of Great Knowledge" (1774) by Gothard Friedrich Stender.

At the turn of the 19^th century, scientific discoveries also began in Riga, which was already well known for its book publishing traditions (including first editions of works by Immanuel Kant and Johann Gottfried Herder) and the oldest library in all of north-eastern Europe, the Bibliotheca Rigensis (founded 1524, now the Latvian Academy Library). Also working in Riga was the first natural scientist of Latvian extraction, the doctor and pharmacist David Heironymus Grindel (1776�1836), who for a time also served as Rector of Tartu University. It should be explained that Tartu University, re-established in 1802, was a joint centre of higher education and science for all three Baltic provinces of the time (present-day Latvia and Estonia), where the first Latvian intellectuals, including scientists, obtained their education. However, it was the Baltic Germans who played the leading role in the early development of science.

Riga Polytechnic and Latvian intellectuals

Modernisation trends in Eastern Europe and the Russian Empire provided the stimulus for establishing the Riga Polytechnic in 1862. This higher education institution, based on the example of the Z�rich ETH and with German as the language of tuition, was the first polytechnical university in the Russian Empire. The eminent scientific staff included the founder of physical chemistry Wilhelm Ostwald (who received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1909 for the work he began in Riga) and Paul Walden, the son of a Latvian farmer, who made outstanding discoveries in the field of organic chemistry and electrochemistry. The Riga Polytechnic, later the Riga Polytechnical Institute, had a high international standing and trained many outstanding professors who went to work in various countries. Friedrich Zander, an inventor in the field of rocket science and one of the pioneers of astronautics, also began his work here.

At the same time, following the Latvian National Awakening, the Latvian humanities developed, including compilation of the rich folklore heritage, mainly by Kri�jānis Barons, whose collected and classified corpus of Latvian folksong was published as Latvju Dainas ("Latvian Folksong") between 1894 and 1915, with the support of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Scientific study of the Latvian language was conducted by Jānis Endzelīns, Kārlis Mīlenbahs and others. Russian and Western European universities provided training for Latvian scientists, who would return to their country after World War I.

Science in independent Latvia (1919�1940) and under the soviet regime of occupation

The attainment of independence made it possible, in 1919, to establish the University of Latvia � the first broad-ranging university in the new state. The university also included the former Riga Polytechnical Institute. Along with engineering, agriculture and chemistry, the University of Latvia also conducted research in the humanities, natural sciences, medicine and social sciences. Latvian scientific terminology was developed and lectures were in Latvian. In 1939 a second higher education institution was established in Jelgava � the Academy of Agriculture, and the first attempts were made to establish a Latvian Academy of Sciences.

World War II, occupation and Latvia's annexation to the USSR, along with the deportations, was a crushing blow for Latvia's flourishing scientific activity. 60% of pre-war scientists emigrated to the West, where many continued their research work. The Latvian diaspora also produced outstanding researchers, such as Juris Upatnieks in the USA, who played a role in the development of holography, and Edgars Dunsdorfs in Australia and Edgars Andersons in the USA who wrote major works on Latvian history. After restoration of independence, these scientists established contacts with Latvia and were elected members of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.

After World War II, science in Latvia developed within the USSR as a more or less anonymous constituent of "Soviet science". Research at universities and colleges declined, but an Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR was founded in 1946. The Academy of Sciences, with its 15 major institutes, conducted important research in physics (magnetohydrodynamics and solid state physics), astronomy, mechanics of composite materials, information science, chemistry (medical chemistry, chemistry of heterocyclic compounds, wood chemistry, low temperature plasma chemistry and electrochemistry), hydrobiology, virology and molecular biology. 25% of all the original medicines developed in the USSR were invented in Latvia (including the cancer drug Ftorafur, the versatile drug Mildronate etc.). The insulating material Ripor developed in Riga was used in Soviet space technology (reusable spacecraft and craft for missions to Mars). From 1965, the Latvian Academy of Sciences published four science journals, which were and still are translated into English and reprinted in the USA. Based on Latvian research, several branches of production developed locally � the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology etc. At that time, 30 000 people were employed in science. (These included 12 000 researchers, more than half at doctoral level.) During the time of the Communist regime, science can be regarded as a highly paid "internal emigration" for the younger generation. Many fields, including several branches of the humanities, served to reinforce Latvian national identity. On the other hand, the social sciences were neglected and university research had declined. Although international acclaim was won in several fields of the exact and natural sciences, and although young and capable scientists emerged, this development was one-sided and geared to the needs of a great power, not those of a small country. Besides this, isolation from the West was felt acutely.

Science after the restoration of independence

When Latvia regained its independence in 1991, the directions and scope of science changed, as did research priorities. With the establishment of the Latvian Science Council, the evaluation of research was based on internal competition � the standard of research and the productivity of researchers, and in 1992 the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters performed an international assessment of Latvian Science, giving a positive evaluation of the level attained and formulating proposals for restructuring research.

The Latvian Academy of Sciences has been transformed into a corporation of individual members on the Western European model, electing many new members from among scientists at home and abroad. The former research institutes have generally been incorporated into the University of Latvia, where they continue their work under new conditions. Like the other two Baltic States, Latvia has chosen the Nordic model of science organisation.

� Text: Dr. Raimonds Cerūzis; Dr. Jānis Stradiņ�, The Latvian Academy of Sciences, 2001

� The Latvian Institute

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