This book traces the historical trajectory of one of the most momentous confrontations in the intellectual life of the Soviet Union the conflict between Einstein s theory of relativity and official Soviet ideology embodied in dialectical materialism. Soviet attitudes toward Einstein s scientific and philosophical thought passed through several stages. During the pre-Stalin era, Marxist philosophers clashed over the problem of defining dialectical materialism in relation to the ongoing revolution in science. This controversy produced a full spectrum of Marxist attitudes toward the theory of relativity, ranging from complete acceptance to total rejection. Disunity also prevented Marxist writers from interfering with the work of those Soviet physicists who produced a rich literature extolling the theory of relativity.