Man And Nature

In an introductory lecture to freshmen of Moscow University's Geography Faculty, the man-nature relationship is analyzed in terms of the interplay of entropic and negentropic processes. Entropy is used in the sense of a leveling trend or degradation, and involves the dissemination of materials and goods. Negentropy refers to accumulation, concentration, enhancing of diversity and contrasts. In the original world of inert nature, entropy was dominant. With the appearance of life on earth, the negentropic process assumed significance as living matter accumulated the sun's energy and concentrated it in the form of fossil fuels, forests, etc. In the present man-altered environment, termed the noosphere (sphere of the mind), both entropic and negentropic trends are apparent. First, man concentrates chemical elements for processing; then, he disseminates them to users or, in the case of waste products, into the air and water. The dissemination of radioactive materials through fallout and waste disposal is the most hazardous form of the entropic process. The pollution danger may be reduced by adding to the present sequence of “concentration—dissemination” an additional element, namely “reconcentration,” meaning the recovery of useful products from wastes.     

Essays And Reflections

The Polish National Idea     

PABONGKA And Perspective

<正>The car wound its way up towards the Pabongka Temple.Pale blue flowers burst forth from the bushes on either side of the road.It was late spring in Lhasa,but summer could be felt creeping into the air.Up ahead the white walls of the temple complex were dazzling in the morning sunlight.It was one of those days in Lhasa when the sun shone so brightly it looked white,and I could hardly open my eyes     

Anecdote And History

Although the term “anecdote” entered the modern European languages fairly recently and remains to this day ill‐defined, the short, freestanding accounts of particular events, true or invented, that are usually referred to as anecdotes have been around from time immemorial. They have also always stood in a close relation to the longer, more elaborate narratives of history, sometimes in a supportive role, as examples and illustrations, sometimes in a challenging role, as the repressed of history —“la petite histoire.” Historians' relation to them, in turn, varied from appreciative to dismissive in accordance with their own objectives in writing history. It appears that highly structured anecdotes of the kind that are remembered and find their way into anecdote collections depend on and tend to confirm established views of history, the world, and human nature. In contrast, loosely structured anecdotes akin to the modern fait divers have usually worked to undermine established views and stimulate new ones, either by presenting material known to few and excluded from officially authorized histories, or by reporting “odd” occurrences for which the established views of history, the world, and human nature do not easily account.     

Assessing Oneota Diet And Health: A Community And Lifeway Perspective

Abstract

This preliminary study uses a gross measure of potential nutritional adequacy as a starting point from which to examine the interplay of the dietary impact of corn agriculture and the complexity of community health. We use subsistence data from three Oneota sites (ca. A.D. 1300 to 1650) in the La Crosse locality of southwestern Wisconsin, Tremaine (47 -Lc-95), OT (47 -Lc-262) and Filler (47 -Lc-149), to model nutritional adequacy of diet at each site. Following the assessment of available nutrients, skeletal pathologies often interpreted within a dietary framework in Oneota studies (dental caries, enamel hypoplasias, porotic hyperostosis, and cribra orbitalia) are considered. The Tremaine site with its longhouses and associated human burials provides an important context for understanding health, diet and disease in an Oneota community. We suggest that the etiology of the skeletal pathologies is best understood within a framework that incorporates lifeway choices linked to settlement and subsistence impacts on the community, such as increasing population density within longhouses, rather than explanations that focus on issues of nutrient availability due to food shortages or narrowing of food choices.     

Wine Songs And Culture

ＷｉｎｅＳｏｎｇｓＡｎｄＣｕｌｔｕｒｅ￥ＫＡＮＧＣＯＴｉｂｅｔａｎｓｒｅｓｏｒｔｔｏｄｒｉｎｋｔｏｋｅｅｐｗａｒｍｉｎｔｈｅｂｉｔｔｅｒｃｏｌｄＴｉｂｅｔａｎｗｉｎｔｅｒｓ．Ｑｉｎｇｋｅ（ｈｉｇｈｌａｎｄｂａｒｌｅｙ）ｗｉｎｅ,ｂｒｅｗｅｄｗｉｔｈｈ...     

顾颉刚与考古学

顾颉刚先生从中国考古学兴起时就非常熟知考古学的发展状况,并且擅长运用考古学的最新成果论证古史辨派的观点,甚至继王国维之后提出了"三重论证"的理论,在此基础上他倡导古史辨派与考古学"在学术界中应当分工",并以古史辨派的辨伪学研究作为考古学的必备基础,表明古史辨派与考古学的关系尚有其复杂的一面。这种情况一方面导致了古史辨派学者古史研究中的若干缺憾,另一方面由顾颉刚先生所提出的疑难问题亦足以引起考古学界的关注,至今仍不失其一定的积极意义。     

Zonality And Geographical Zones

A theory of zones is formulated. Zones are regions that form a linearly ordered set in space. Concentric zones can be distinguished around any agent on the basis of the degree of interaction between the agent and its environment. Horizontal and altitudinal natural zones in terrestrial and oceanic areas as well as socioeconomic zones around cities and market centers are geographical zones. The displacement of zones over time is analogous to wave motion. Moving zones are historical periods imprinted upon the landscape. The intersection of two zonal systems forms a mosaic of regions. Artificial zoning is designed to insure an orderly arrangement of parts of a residential neighborhood around a civic and shopping center or around a transportation node.     

Tibetan Houses And Environment

During two years of work inTibet, I once went upstreamalong the Yarlung ZangboRiver, in the process cross-ing the mouths of the Milha,Gyiacha and Karnu La mountains. At thefoot of the holy peak of Kangrenboqe andby the holy lake of Mapang Yumco, Iinspected 26 counties in the area knownhistorically as U-Tsang and Zhangzhung.My trip covered a total distance of 7,100km. I went deep into the mysterious king-doms of Bome, Lhagyili and Guge where1 visited farmers and herders.Wherever I went,…