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Answer to Why are Soviet mathematics/physics textbooks so insanely hardcore in comparison to US textbooks? by Rajratna Adsul https://www.quora.com/Why-are-Soviet-mathematics-physics-textbooks-so-insanely-hardcore-in-comparison-to-US-textbooks/answer/Rajratna-Adsul?ch=15&oid=309766101&share=935455d8&srid=nuei&target_type=answer
@crackurbones My copy of I M Gelfan's 1947 Lectures on Linear Algebra was far more concise than the text for the course. For Soviet Mathematicians there was a very heavy emphasis on theories. This was how I was taught Mathematics.
Also Soviet and Russian Doctoral dissertations have to be presented in the presence of the entire Mathematics Department. They would be challenged by anyone and have to tirelessly defend their dissertation until it was proven to be solid.
From my former Soviet Mathematics Professor, "The Mathematics program had many students, those who couldn't make the grade became Physicists or Chemists. The students who were pushed out of the Mathematics Program were not failures but went on to become leaders in their respective fields."