Priroda

(Nature), a monthly illustrated natural-science journal published for the general public. Priroda prints material on achievements in the natural sciences, on the philosophy and history of natural science, and on the organization of science. It also publishes original articles by researchers and prominent Soviet and foreign scientists, survey articles, hypotheses, discussions, profiles of scientists, reminiscences, and information about current scientific events.

Priroda was founded in Moscow in 1912 by the Man and the Universe society. In the 1920’s it was the publication of the Commission for the Study of the Natural Productivity of Forces of the Academy of Sciences, and in 1930 it became a journal of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The place of publication has changed, but since 1952 the journal has been published in Moscow. Since its inception, Priroda has propagated progressive views and the struggle for scientific progress.

Priroda has been edited by the outstanding scientists V. A. Vagner (1912), L. V. Pizarzhevskii (1912–13), L. A. Tarasevich (1913–27), N. K. Kol’tsov (1914–27), A. E. Fersman (1917–30), A. A. Borisiak (1931–35), S. I. Vavilov (1936–51), O. Iu. Shmidt (1952–56), and D. I. Shcherbakov (1957–66). Since 1967, the editor in chief has been N. G. Basov. Circulation, 60,000 (1974).