The greatness of any empire is made up of a number of structural factors, among which a special place occupies the quality of science and education. This factor with all its evidence is seen in the scientific elite and in its relations with the authorities. Each empire has its experience of the relations of the scientific elite and the power, their culture and their scientific innovations. Russian scientific elite of last decades of the Russian autocracy shows us the rise of scientific thought and cultural performances. No wonder this time is called “The Silver Age” in Russian culture. Its take off was interrupted by the Russian Revolution, having stopped the development of scientific thought in Russia for decades. The given work is devoted to the consideration of these issues
