From Personel to Dekalog: Michnik,Havel, Konrad,Camus and the Search for the Individual in the Cinema of Krzysztof Kieślowski1

This article analyses the extent to which samizdat publications by Central European dissidents, in particular those of the Pole Adam Michnik, the Czech Václav Havel, and the Hungarian György Konrád, had an influence on Kie?lowski’s feature films. The article follows the development of the dissidents’ ideas in parallel to the development of Kie?lowski’s own search for the lost individual in former Soviet-bloc societies. Finally, the article also explores the impact Camus’s thought had on Kie?lowski’s work of the 1980s.     

Farming Problems in the Zones of the USSR and the Tasks of Soviet Geographers

The authors discuss changes in the geography curriculum under the Soviet school reform of 1958, which has replaced the basic seven-year school with a basic eight-year school and has extended the so-called middle school from ten to eleven grades.     

The Physical-Geographic Regionalization of the Ukrainian SSR for Agricultural Purposes

A program of research is proposed to determine the optimal regionalization of production and consumption of industrial output. The author proposes a regionalization of the most common industries by major zones (covering two or three regions), and a basic division of the USSR into two major economic zones (West and East) designed to reduce irrational long hauls between them.     

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 Cartometric Study of Landscapes

The authors describe a cartometric method of analyzing natural landscapes for developmental purposes. Cartometry is designed to provide a quantitative evaluation of the morphologic structure of the landscapes of a given study area. Taking an area in the northeastern part of Kustanay Oblast, the authors prepared sample maps showing the lake coverage of the area, the economic potential of the hydromorphic units of the landscapes, and the morphologic structure of the landscapes.     

Railroad Freight Traffic of the USSR

Nikol'skiy's book on the geography of transportation of the USSR contains the most detailed freight-flow maps published by the Soviet Union since the 1930's. These maps are reproduced here with appropriate textual excerpts.     

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.     

Study and Classification of Agricultural Lands

The author discusses three classifications of agricultural lands based on (1) natural properties that affect productivity and serviceability, (2) on need for improvement and responsiveness to it, and (3) on actual use. All three classifications are considered essential for an agricultural evaluation of lands and for determining the relative effectiveness of use methods, actual or planned.     

Principles of a Methodology for Evaluating Living Conditions of a Population under Different Geographic Surroundings

The author develops a methodology for measuring the extra cost involved in settling people under unfavorable geographical conditions. He distinguishes the engineering-cost differential of buildings, roads, utilities, etc., and the “residual effect” of unfavorable geographical conditions which continues to inconvenience the population even after partial compensation by engineering means. While the engineering-cost differential can be relatively easily measured in ruble terms, the residual effect is less easily converted into actual costs. The author looks toward compilation of a map of the cost differentials of human settlement.