Scientists Protect Baikal (1960s–1990s): Based on the Sources from the RAS Siberian Branch’s Open Archive

The article analyzes a collection of documents from the RAS Siberian Branch Open Archive that reflect the scientists’ efforts to preserve Lake Baikal’s ecological climate. These
documents are introduced into the information space for scientific use in order to provide
insight on the Siberian scientific community’s arguments and ways used in their attempts
to establish control over the anthropogenic and technogenic impact on this unique natural
object, and to identify the results of these efforts. The chronological framework of this collection is the second half ofthe 20th century. According to the argumentation theory (S.E.
Toulmin, D.N. Walton, L. Wittgenstein), the scientists’ arguments were of rational and
emotional nature. Rational argumentation is field-dependent (the field designates discourses where arguments and factual claims are grounded), based on the reality structure and on the facts established with mathematical precision, such as percentage of
harmful substances in the Baikal water. Emotional reasoning appeals to feelings (a communist’s honor and conscience, the judgment of the descendants, a moral crime). The letters addressed to the authorities (Presidium of the USSR Communist Party’s Central
Committee, General Secretaries of the Communist Party L.I. Brezhnev and M.S. Gorbachev) contain both types of argumentation. Formal documents such as resolutions and
analytical reports mostly rely on pragmatic reasoning. This thematic collection of documents concerning Lake Baikal includes parts of personal archives of Corresponding
Member A.A. Lyapunov (1911–1973), Academicians A.A. Trofimuk (1911–1999),
B.S. Sokolov (1914–2013) and V.A. Koptyug (1931–1997, his documents were provided
by N.N. Vorozhtsov Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry, RAS SB).