ACADEMICIAN N. I. VAVILOV AND THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY OF THE USSR

Academician N. I. Vavilov (1887-1943) served as president of the Geographical Society of the USSR from 1931 to 1940. A distinguished plant breeder, geneticist, explorer for wild ancestors of cultivated plants, and geographer, he traveled widely and reported regularly to the Society on his explorations and discoveries. Together with Yu. N. Shokal'skiy, then the honorary president, he brought many new initiatives to the activities of the Society. They arranged for the transfer of the Society from the People's Comissariat of Education of the RSFSR to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The First All-Union Congress of Geographers of the USSR was held in 1933, participation in international congresses was arranged, international co-operation was sponsored, membership was increased sharply, sections and commissions were established or revived, a series of public lectures was organized, a lecture hall was opened, and the scientific archives were enriched. Vavilov was especially interested in the work of the Section on History of Geographical Knowledge and participated actively in special issues of Izvestiya of the Society and in commemorative meetings at the Society devoted to individual geographers who had made particularly significant contributions to geographical knowledge (translated by Chauncy D. Harris, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637-1583).     

N.I. VAVILOV,GEOGRAPHER AND EXPLORER

Academician N.I. Vavilov had an international reputation as a scientist, agronomist, botanist, geneticist, plant breeder, explorer for wild progenitors of cultivated plants, selector of new crop varieties, organizer of expeditions, administrator of a large research institute, and a statesman. Beginning in 1916 in collection of crop varieties in Iran and the Pamirs, he personally explored large segments of the earth. In 1926 he published his famous study on centers of origin of cultivated plants. While head of the Institute of Applied Botany and New Crops, he organized many expeditions to search for new varieties of crops and their wild ancestors and established an international collection of seeds. While President of the Geographical Society (1931-1940) he arranged to have the society transferred from the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR to the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, thus transforming it from the Russian to the All-Union Geographical Society. He presented many lectures to the Society and greatly expanded its program of public lectures. But while on a scientific expedition to the western Ukraine, he was arrested on August 6, 1940. “An unforgiveable crime was committed. There has hardly been a more tragic fate since Galilee: the man who sought to give bread to the people died of starvation… He was a hero who gave his life for his scientific beliefs” (translated by H. L. Haslett, Birmingham, United Kingdom).     

THE GEOGRAPHICAL THINKING OF N.I. VAVILOV

Much has been published recently about Academician N.I. Vavilov, a seminal scientist with broad horizons. This article is limited to his geographical contributions and interests. His early study of agriculture in Afghanistan revealed his keen powers of field observation and his deep geographic orientation. This work won him the Przheval'skiy Gold Medal of the Geographical Society. He organized a network of experimental stations across the broad and diverse expanses of the Soviet Union to test the geographical limits of crops. He carried out numerous studies of mountain agriculture in many parts of the globe, noting that the isolation and the patchwork of critical environmental conditions in mountains favored the divergence of species, forms, and types of the wild ancestors of cultivated plants. This led to his trail-blazing identification and field investigation of hearths (centers) of origin of cultivated plants, of their diffusion, of areas of ancient agriculture, and to formulation of principles of geographical variability. This work has been continued in recent years by others. Vavilov had close connections with geography, with several geographers, and with the Geographical Society of the USSR (translated by Andrew R. Bond).     

THE MAP IN THE SCIENTIFIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES OF N.I. VAVILOV

Special attention is devoted to Vavilov's use of detailed maps for (a) recording initial results of field work in the study of local agriculture and ranges of domesticated plants in travels across several continents; and (b) presenting information about a large number of processes and phenomena in a concise way, affording the basis for their critical analysis and comparison. He was involved in programs to map Soviet and world agriculture (translated by Jay K. Mitchell, PlanEcon, Inc., Washington, DC 20005).     

与总统较高下

作为肯尼亚被殖民及解放的见证者,穆海咖高尔夫俱乐部保留着那个特殊时期的建筑风格和“吉板”的绅士礼仪,只对会员开放。现任肯尼亚总统Mwai Kibaki也是穆海咖的常客之一,还经常暗访,若你足够幸运,就有机会与总统一较球技。     

GROWING TOGETHER

<正>The sky stretched out clear and bright above our heads as we approached the remote village nestled among the willows and fields high in the mountains.There was the laughter of children and the smell of butter tea as we arrived at the school we had arranged to visit,which was easy to spot with"Braille Without Borders"written conspicuously on a wall in three languages.     

我与冰雪有个约会

<正>摄影感言不知是广阔的天空给了我拍摄的灵感,还是多彩的大地给了我摄影的灵动。从涉足摄影的那天起,摄影就像一壶绵香醇厚的老酒,香得让我痴,浓得让我醉。到东北大地拍摄千里冰封、万里雪飘的冰雪世界,是我涉足摄影以来一直渴望的。去年年初,曾和影友一起到吉林省的雾凇岛拍摄雾凇,由于运气欠佳扫兴而归。但是,这种渴望并未因此而泯灭。今     

我与盘羊有个约会

<正>秋已逝去,冬已来临。随着季节的交替,又到了我们与盘羊相约的时刻。我用尽自己所有的休息时间,去山间崖边看望你们,我心中的精灵——盘羊。相关链接盘羊,偶蹄目,牛科,羊亚科,国家二级保护动物。盘羊别名大头弯羊,大角羊,是一种体形庞大的羊类;盘羊躯体粗壮,体长1.2米~2米,体重65千克~185千克,头大颈粗,尾短小。四肢粗短,蹄的前面特别陡直,适于攀爬于岩石间;通     

匈牙利，带着忧郁浪漫

初冬的早晨,我习惯性地走在北京地铁熟悉的通道里。身边人擦肩接踵的是这 个时刻固有的熙来攘往的人群,匆忙的,目标明确却少有表情。 对面站台硕大明亮的灯箱广告时时被驶过的列车挡住又让开,那幅匈牙利布达 佩斯的广告已经挂出来很久了:链子桥、多瑙河以及两岸缓缓游动的车河,平 板而过于标致性,却每每都使我再度想起这个曾经匆匆走过的国家,《布达佩 斯之恋》中的那首《忧郁的星期天》,那些故事、场景和细节也会紧跟着回到 感觉里,影片中无论是开始时的清晨还是结束时的夜晚,那长镜头也是如此标 致性地透过链子桥慢慢地一路摇过宽阔的多瑙河,传递着这个国家忧郁而浪漫 的气质。