Present Problems in Soviet Cartography and the Tasks of the Geographical Society

After having long existed as a technical discipline serving the needs of geographers, cartography in the Soviet Union has become increasingly a research discipline involving many common interests with geography. Collaboration between cartographers and geographers is becoming increasingly essential as more attention is being given to thematic cartography involving not only particular disciplines (geomorphology, economic geography, population geography) but what may be called an integrated “geographical” cartography. Much effort continues to be devoted in the Soviet Union to the compilation of regional atlases and to a wide range of thematic maps. Increasing attention is being given to the production of evaluative maps, assessing the potential use of the physical environment and natural resources. School maps represent a major part of Soviet map production. Tourist and hiking maps need to be seriously improved.     

Theoretical Discussions and Some Research Tasks and Applied Problems in Economic Geography

Two economic geographers, commenting on Anuchin's latest book on the theory of geography, urge a halt to the fruitless debate over a “unified geography” and call for a more practical orientation of geographic research. Dwelling on a wide range of issues, from geography education to the content of geography journals, the authors hold that the man-nature relationship is no longer adequate as a conceptual framework for geography and that economic geography, in particular, must take into account political and social processes that fall within the province of political science and economics. A gap is found to have developed between political science, on the one hand, and economic geography, on the other, and the authors hold that such a gap might be filled by a discipline concerned with the spatial organization of economic processes. A legitimate role is seen here for a regional economics, or choreconomics. In the authors' view, geography would gain not only from a more pronounced economics-oriented economic geography, but also from a more practically oriented physical geography.     

The Present State and Future Tasks of Physical Geography

Progress in physical geography as a separate research and teaching discipline is reviewed, and unfinished tasks for the next few years are outlined. The discipline continues to focus on the study and mapping of landscapes or geosystems as integrated areal units of the earth's physical-geographic environment. Emphasis is being placed on the use of quantitative techniques and systems theory as well as field observations, particularly at permanent field stations. New areas of application of landscape research are found to be opening up in physical planning, design engineering, evaluation and prediction.     

The Present State and Tasks of Higher Geography Education

The author discusses the teaching of geography in universities and teachers colleges of the Soviet Union, noting that the majority of graduates are being assigned to geography teaching in middle schools. He gives data on the distribution of students by day, evening, and correspondence divisions; problems in teaching methods; the organization of field practice; and the limited number of degree holders in geography.     

Economic Geography at the 1960 International Geographical Congress

The author compares the scope of economic-geography papers at the Rio de Janeiro and Stockholm congresses, discusses William William-Olsson's book on Stockholm, and analyzes a number of congress papers with an economic-geographic content.     

On Some Problems of Theory and Practice in Economic Geography

The author, an opponent of Anuchin's views, charges that the discussion around the theory of a unified geography has been diverting the attention of the Geography Faculty of Moscow University away from practical tasks contributing to the growth of the national economy. Vol'skiy restates the Marxist theory of economic geography and calls on economic geographers for more constructive contributions to Communist economic development.     

Modern Geography and its Tasks in Siberia and the Soviet Far East

The director of the Institute of Geography of Siberia and the Far East, founded in 1959 in Irkutsk, discusses his philosophy of modern geography, outlines the table of organization of his institute, and lists the principal research problems in the geography of Siberia and the Far East, with particular reference to the study of the tayga, or boreal forest.     

Political Geography and its Problems

Political geography has no separate standing in the Soviet Union as a research or teaching discipline. An advocate of political geography calls for acceptance of this subject as a full-fledged member of the geographical sciences by outlining some of the problems with which such a discipline might deal in the Soviet Union. It would be concerned with the historical evolution and current changes in the political map of the world and the factors that give rise to both quantitative changes (in territory and boundaries) and qualitative changes (in political systems). Wars, diplomatic actions, dynastic alliances and territorial purchases are listed as some of the factors that result in boundary changes of national states. Revolutions and national liberation movements account for changes in political systems. Heavy emphasis is given to the study of internal political developments that may ultimately result in changes on the political map of the world. Political events throughout the world are analyzed in the light of Marxist-Leninist ideology, and political and social processes in the capitalist and socialist (communist) parts of the world are sharply differentiated.     

Problems in the Theory of Geography in the Section on Geographic Theory and Model Building at the 22d International Geographical Congress

The chairman of Leningrad University's Geography Faculty presents a critical review of the section on geographic theory and model building at the International Geographical Congress in Montreal, in which he participated. He finds the section to have been poorly integrated, with no common focus between the papers on theory and on models. [Some of the author's comments on individual papers appear based on misreading or misinterpretation of the English texts, and the most salient differences have been noted in brackets.—Editor, S. G.]     

The Place of Regional Economic Geography in the System of Geographical Sciences

The author holds that regional geography cannot be regarded as an independent geographic discipline because it lacks its own system of laws, such as the natural laws that operate in physical geography and the social laws that operate in economic geography. He agrees with the view that both physical and economic geography fall into theoretical and regional departments, and that regional studies test the localized application of the general laws formulated by the theoretical departments of the two great divisions of geography.     

Problems of Geographical Education in the USSR

Geography education in the Soviet Union is found to lag behind advances in geography as a research discipline. Courses in both elementary and secondary schools and at the college and university level are overloaded with factual material at the expense of theoretical problems and general concepts. An essential requisite for improving the content of geography education is better training of geography teachers. Soviet geography teachers are now being trained mainly in the combined geography-biology faculties of teachers colleges. Combined training in more than one teaching discipline is essential because a teacher trained in geography alone would not have a full teaching load of 18 hours a week in most schools. However, the geography-biology combination does not appear to be optimal because the emphasis in biology is no longer on botany and zoology, as in the past, but on human physiology and genetics, with less relevance to geography. It is recommended that geography as a teaching discipline be combined with other subjects of instruction having greater relevance to geography teaching, possibly chemistry, physical education or foreign languages. Less emphasis on fact-loaded regional courses and more stress on systematic courses is recommended, together with training in mathematical techniques.     

Geographical Aspects and Problems of the Industrialization of Siberia

A review of past industrialization of Siberia and future plans, discussed in terms of three basic zones: (1) the developed belt along the Trans-Siberian Railroad; (2) the southern margins of the tayga immediately to the north of the railroad, and (3) valuable mineral sites selectively developed in the rest of Siberia. Individual industrial nodes are listed and developmental problems outlined.     

On the Unity of Geography

A Leningrad University physical geographer criticizes attempts to affirm the unity of geography through the creation of new disciplines like “general geography,” which would focus on study of the man-nature relationship. He contends that such a general geography, which would seek to identify general geographic laws, is advocated primarily by economic geographers who would emphasize the role of man at the expense of physical geography. Isachenko takes issue with the view that what makes any research “geographical” is its relationship to man. He contends that the criterion of whether any investigation is “geographical” is its relationship to the geosystem, defined as any natural complex, ranging from the global to the local scale. In his opinion, the unity of geography should be furthered not through the establishment of new supradisciplines, such as general geography, but through closer ties, both in methodology and in organizational terms, between the two main groups of geographical disciplines—physical geography and economic geography.     

On Scientific Hypotheses and Authentic Knowledge in Modern Discoveries of General Regularities in Physical Geography

The methodological aspects of the relationship between scientific hypothesis and authentic theory are examined with particular reference to the discoveries of regularities in the field of physical geography. A hypothesis is defined as a proposition whose basic content may be refuted as a result of further research; the basic content of authentic theory is beyond dispute, but may be further altered and refined. Instead of a traditional opposition of hypothesis to theory, the author recommends a broader approach treating both the formulation of a scientific hypothesis and the creation of a theory as discoveries of a theoretical character. According to this view, discoveries may be in the realm of hypothetical knowledge or in the area of authentic knowledge, depending on the weight of evidence. The Wegener hypothesis of continental drift is viewed as an example of a discovery in the realm of hypothetical knowledge; global regularities of heat-moisture relationships deriving from solar radiation are regarded as falling in the area of authentic knowledge. In general, hypothetic knowledge tends to involve the earth's interior forces, which are still relatively unknown, and authentic knowledge the better-known forces stemming from the sun. Some discoveries, such as the problem of geographical zonality and the discovery of bipolarity in the morphometry of the earth's macrorelief, contain elements of both authentic and hypothetical knowledge.