The Development of General Earth Science in the USSR During the Soviet Period

General earth science, or general physical geography, is viewed as one of three synthetic physical-geographic disciplines, the two others being landscape science, or regional physical geography, and paleo-geography. General earth science is concerned with the earth's geographic or landscape envelope as a whole and with its general patterns: the laws of zonality and integrity of the landscape envelope, the circulation of matter, rhythmicity, polar asymmetry and other regularities.     

The Polar Asymmetry of the Geographical Envelope

The author reviews the Soviet and foreign literature on polar asymmetry and suggest that an appropriate correction be made in the hierarchy of the geographic zonality concept developed since the work of V. V. Dokuchayev (1846–1903) in Russian geographic writing.     

Geographic Study of the Natural Characteristics and the Economic Utilization of the Land Areas of the USSR

This paper by a leading Soviet theoretical physical geographer traces the historical development of the Soviet doctrine of geographic zonality and the role played by heat-moisture relationships in determining the structure, the dynamics and the development of natural geographic zones. The paper includes a table of geographic zonality and explains the periodic character of geographic zonality. Am American review article that provides useful background is: Jacek I. Romanowski, A Survey of Heat and Water Balance Research in the Soviet Union, University of Washington, Discussion Paper No. 41.     

The Latest Approaches and Concepts in Geography

The article discusses the present state of knowledge of the basic components of the heat balance of the earth's surface (radiation balance, loss of heat to evaporation, turbulent heat exchange) and the distribution of these components in time and space. Soviet research is concerned with applying heat-balance data to the study of physical-geographical processes (hydrologic regime, plant and soil cover), to the study of integrated geographic problems (geographic zonality) and practical problems (weather and hydrologic forecasting, the use of solar energy for productive purposes, and the use of heat-balance data for planning reclamation projects and other nature-transforming measures.)     

The Landscape Levels of Continents and Geographical Zonality

The traditional two-dimensional concept of latitudinal natural geographical zones is challenged on the ground that it ignores the altitude factor and differences in the character of the surface environment. An alternative three-dimensional model of zonal systems is proposed, in which so-called landscape levels corresponding to particular geomorphic levels are distinguished in terms of radiation balance and elevation. The zonal systems are combined into four worldwide groupings: (1) an inner terrestrial group corresponding to a rocky surface environment; (2) an outer terrestrial group corresponding to a cryogenic rocky environment; (3) an outer ice group, corresponding to ice-covered segments of the earth's surface, and (4) an oceanic group. The paper is devoted to the first three continental groups of zonal systems. The traditional zonality is found to be well expressed in the inner terrestrial group, but the outer groups reflect mainly Markov's law of polar asymmetry (see Soviet Geography, February 1964).     

Effects of an introductory geography course on student perceptions of geography at the University of Idaho

This case study surveyed students in geography courses at the University of Idaho, investigating perceptions of geography's role in their daily lives, relevance to careers or academics, and parts of their geographic skill. Primarily, white, younger than 20, gender-balanced students in Introduction to Physical Geography and Human Geography courses comprised the study sample. A sample of 265 students formed the pre-course survey and 82 students formed the post-course survey. Pre-course, men held a more positive sense of geographic skill, while women viewed more positively geography's relevance to careers and academics. Post-course, women's agreement concerning geography's role significantly increased, outpacing men's agreement.     

The Interaction of Nature and Society

The author reviews the material of his article on the Stalinist definition of the geographical environment [Soviet Geography, December 1963, pp. 3–19] in the light of L. F. Il'yichev's pronouncement on the unity of the natural and social sciences [Soviet Geography, April 1964, pp. 32–34]. Like V. A. Anuchin, Saushkin interprets the ll'yichev statement as encouraging more work on geographic synthesis that would integrate the findings of the specialized physical and economic geographic disciplines.     

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.     

Cartography in the Universities of the United States

The Soviet Union's foremost university cartographer reviews the content of United States cartography training on the basis of Arthur H. Robinson's Elements of Cartography. He notes that relatively little attention is given to field methods of map compilation and to the problem of generalization. The division between geographical cartography and topography-geodesy is found to be a shortcoming that is reflected, in part, in what is regarded as poor geographic content of United States topographic maps.     

地理学的基本规律

地理学有三个基本规律:一,地域分异规律,包括纬度地带性、经度地带性、垂直地带性和非地带性;二,地域综合规律,包括距离衰减规律和区域系统规律;三,地域发展规律,包括地理环境周期性发展和人地关系发展阶段性.这些规律既涉及自然过程,又涉及社会过程,许多重大的历史事件,如文明古国的出现,东亚经济起飞,我国开放政策,在地域上都受地理学基本规律的影响.     

The Teaching of Ethnography in Higher Schools and of Elements of Ethnography in Middle Schools

Apparently encouraged by Il'yichev's speech, Anuchin uses the forum of a philosophy journal to urge more work on synthesis in geography. He visualizes the geography of the future as a science that would seek to uncover what he calls the “parameters” of the geographic environment and would seek to establish the precise limits within which man might alter the environment without causing undesirable after-effects.     

Concerning A Certain Controversy

Saushkin disputes S. V. Kalesnik's view [see Soviet Geography, September 1965] that changes introduced by man in the geographic environment are relatively unimportant compared with changes induced by natural processes. Saushkin also insists, contrary to Kalesnik, that people are part of the geographic environment or “humanized” nature.     

A Selected Bibliography of Mathematical Articles in Soviet Economic Geography (1960–1968)

Advocates of a new discipline of theoretical geography seek to bolster their argument for establishment of the discipline with quotations from Lenin. Theoretical geography, conceived more broadly than Bunge's mathematical geography, would seek to generalize the findings of all the particular geographical disciplines, to formulate general geographical laws, develop a common geographic method and common approaches to the formalization and modeling of geographic phenomena. Its objects of study are so-called geosystems, which are conceptualized as totalities of the autonomous spatial systems of the environment, population and the economy. Each geosystem is viewed as being associated with its geospace, defined as the “eigenspace of geographical objects, of geographically whole formations”. Geosystems are regarded as possessing a certain degree of freedom in contrast to the view that cause-and-effect relations within such systems are rigidly predetermined. The outlines of a number of general geographic laws are suggested. They include the law of growing contrast in spatial systems of all types and the law of asynchronism in the development of spatial systems. Theoretical geography is presented as having significant practical application in the analysis and prediction of the effect of man's development of spatial systems, in setting of development priorities and determining optimal types of development.     

Geographies of environmental learning: an exploration of children's use of school grounds

There has been limited recent geographic research on children's use of school grounds. This study explores the impact of school grounds on the play behaviours of children in primary schools. It examines the way in which some features of school grounds stimulate more of the type of play that is likely to produce environmental learning. The paper reports on research findings from two primary schools in Canberra, Australia. At each school, multiple research techniques were employed, including behaviour mapping of children's play, interviews with children, and analysis of children's drawings of their school grounds. Children's play in one school displayed high levels of interaction with the natural environment. The paper provides insights on the potential of school grounds as sites for environmental learning.     

Beyond win–win: rethinking China's international relationships in an era of economic uncertainty

China is the least disadvantaged major economy in the current era of global economic uncertainty. Thus it is becoming the focus of attention of its neighbours and is achieving a prominence in the world political economy unparalleled in its modern history. To a great extent, China's success is the result of ‘good neighbour diplomacy’ such as ‘win–win’ and the policies of reform and openness of the past thirty years. However, despite continuity in policy, China's ‘peaceful leap forward’ since 2008 has changed the context of its external relationships. The increasing asymmetries between China and its neighbours, as well as decreasing asymmetry with the United States, require an adjustment of win–win values beyond mutual benefit to credible reassurance. As China's neighbours become more dependent, they also become more anxious concerning their interests. Meanwhile, China's relative gain on the US requires a different kind of confidence‐building diplomacy.     

Turkey's "New" Foreign Policy toward Eurasia

Two geographers specializing in Turkey's international relations examine the reframing of foreign policy issues under the country's Justice and Development Party (JDP; also known by its Turkish acronym AKP), in power since 2002. After first locating the JDP within Turkey's current political landscape, the authors investigate how notions of civilizational geopolitics have led to a "new geographic imagination" under JDP that has influenced foreign policy thinking. The authors argue that JDP foreign policy exhibits some continuity with that of earlier governments in terms of activist policies toward Central Eurasia (comprising the Middle East, Central Asia, and Transcaucasia), but are based on a new conceptual foundation that views Turkey not as part of Western civilization but as the emerging leader of its own "civilizational basin" (consisting of the former Ottoman territories plus adjoining regions inhabited by Muslim and Turkic peoples). They then explore the implications for Turkey's future relations with the Central Eurasian region (of which Turkey is assumed to be the leader) and countries of the West (viewed now as "neighbors" but no longer "one of us").     

Noril'sk Nickel: A Global Company?

Two specialists on Russia's minerals industries examine the evidence supporting the argument that the Russian mining conglomerate Noril'sk Nickel can be viewed as a global company. Included among the criteria they assess are the geographic dispersion of the company's markets and operations, the diversified and multinational character of its ownership, whether it has matched the performance standards set by its major international competitors, and the effect of the company's ownership presence on the management style of its foreign operations. A particular focus is on how an ongoing conflict between two major Russian oligarch shareholders (Vladimir Potanin and Oleg Deripaska) has shaped Noril'sk Nickel's ownership and management structure, which is characterized by the continued (background) presence of the state, the lack of any organized policy for training a multinational management cohort, and the absence of a major block of foreign shareholders. In the end, they conclude that Noril'sk Nickel is not a genuinely global but rather a Tier-1 Russian company, albeit one with a global scale of operations.     

China's Dynamic Industrial Sector: The Automobile Industry

Two leading Beijing- and Singapore-based economic geographers examine the recent developments and spatial change in China's automobile industry (currently the world's third largest). The paper covers changes in market share among major automobile transnational corporations as well as domestic assemblers; industrial restructuring in the form of product diversification (SUVs to hybrid cars) and production concentration; the massive increase in exports of motor vehicles; and the rise of new automobile production centers. Also included in the paper is a case study of the firm Chery to illustrate the development path of Chinese domestic car assemblers. The embeddedness of transnational corporations and deregulation by the Chinese government are advanced as the two major factors that shape the car industry's geographic distribution in China. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: D20, F21, L62. 15 figures, 2 tables, 46 references.     

Geographic earnings inequality by race, 1960–2016

Geographic inequality and racial disharmony are considered major factors in America's political divergence. This paper calculates geographic earnings inequality from 1960 to 2016 separately by race. From 2000 to 2016, White geographic inequality was significantly higher, and Hispanic geographic inequality was significantly lower, than Black and Asian geographic inequality. White geographic inequality rose from 1980 to 2008. Black and Hispanic geographic inequality fell from 1960 to 1980. Rural controls explain substantial shares of White geographic inequality in all years. Region and rural controls account for large shares of Black geographic inequality, especially from 1960 to 1990. Post-1990, geographic inequality changes are largely explained by changes in overall earnings inequality, but 1960–1990 changes are not. Between-race differences in geographic inequality translate into high-income metropolitan statistical areas having had, since 1980, significantly smaller shares of Whites among their low-income residents.