Science, Schools, and Doctors in Russia

What appeared first — Glagolitic or Cyrillic? What secrets did birch bark manuscripts reveal, and why did their discovery become a sensation? Is it true that at the feast of Ivan the Terrible, guests were entertained by an iron robot?

The book will tell you how our ancestors learned to read and write, created schools, passed on knowledge, and cared for their health. You will find out what tzera and haratya are, why birch bark became the most accessible material for notes, and how scientists learned that not only princes but also ordinary people could write.

A separate part of the book is dedicated to doctors and treatment. Who are bloodletters, keelers, and razalniks, what operations did they perform, did hospitals exist, and could women pursue medicine? The authors also discuss scientific treatises that have survived to this day and what healing was like in everyday life.