A Modified Capacity Spectrum Method with Direct Calculation of Seismic Intensity of Points on Capacity Curve

A direct methodology for solving the seismic intensity of each point on the capacity curve is proposed. By utilizing the procedure, a continuous curve between the structural response and the seismic intensity, the structural response function, can be easily generated. Unlike previous procedures that search for the performance point of a determined seismic intensity, the proposed methodology easily draws the full curve without iterations. The procedure is applicable to both a smooth design spectrum and an actual response spectrum. Examples indicate the methodology is accurate and fast, and convenient to be combined with existing procedures, such as Modal Pushover Analysis.     

The today and tomorrow of Geography

The author proposes a fundamental shift of the center of gravity of Soviet geography from Its present emphasis on physical geography toward greater stress on economic geography. He feels that most major geographic problems should be solved by inter-disciplinary teams of geographers from various specialized fields in which economic geographers would act as conductors of the geography orchestra.     

Nikolay Vasil'yevich Morozov

Moscow University geographers commemorate a fellow faculty member who died in 1949 after having been barred from teaching and from publication of his methodological articles in the last 15 years of his life. The appraisal of N. V. Morozov is followed by a previously unpublished article on relationships between society and nature, designed to support the “unified geography” position in the current ideological dispute.     

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 Neutralization of the Effect of Physical Differences in Mining through the use of a System of Prices

Proposals basing mineral prices on the worst mining concitions combined with the levying of differential rents for mineral lands are opposed as inconsistent with socialist economics. Instead it is proposed that the physical factor in mining be neutralized by a system of flexible multi-stage prices in which the cost of differences in physical operating conditions among producers would be absorbed by the industry, and all producers would be placed under equal economic conditions.     

The Cultural Landscape

This early article by an economic geographer takes issue with the view that man's influence on the natural environment is accidental, that it Is inadequate to give rise to new landscapes, and that altered landscapes can revert to their original state. Saushkin contends that human activity, on the contrary, introduces far-reaching consequences in the natural environment, that this results in the creation of new cultural landscapes, and that, as a general rule, man-altered landscapes do not revert to their original state when human activity ceases. A separate discipline for the study of cultural landscapes is proposed.     

Problems of Long-Term Geographic Prediction

A program of geographic prediction up to the year 2000 is proposed for inclusion in the teaching and research plan of the Geography Faculty of Moscow University. Three aspects are distinguished: (1) specific forecasting of changes on the face of the earth and in the use of resources, (2) the elaboration of methods of geographic prediction, and (3) prediction of future trends in the science of geography. The three key factors in specific geographic prediction are the hydroclimatic, the anthropogenic, and the resource factor. The principal method of prediction should be the study of chain reactions, of cause-and-effect relationships, allowing for flexible multivariate forecasts. In the science of geography, periods of differentiation and integration are found to have alternated at periods of 25 to 30 years. The most promising tendencies in geographic research are the hydroclimatic approach, the new synthetic disciplines, economic geography, and integrated mapping of geographic phenomena.     

The Results of the 21st International Geographical Congress

A review of the New Delhi meetings notes the significance of the congress for the development of the science of geography in India as well as the growing participation of geographers from developing countries. Abstracts of papers are analyzed statistically by subject and by country of origin. The geography of agriculture and urban geography are found to be more heavily represented than at most congresses (except the 18th in Rio de Janeiro), reflecting the significance of these two research areas for developing countries. Papers from socialist countries are found to be underrepresented in biogeography (especially medical geography) and the geography of agriculture, industry, and transportation. The hope is expressed that the Montreal congress in 1972 will break away from the traditional thematic breakdown and organize sections around interdisciplinary problem areas.     

The Subject of Geography and the Science of the Man-Nature Relationship

A philosopher views the geographical environment as a natural-social concept, in which individual elements function simultaneously in a system of natural and social relationships. The geographical environment should be the province of a discipline called general geography, which would exist in addition to specialized physical and social geography. However, since general geography is limited spatially to the earth's landscape sphere, it cannot deal with the broader aspects of the man-nature relationship now that man's influence extends increasingly beyond the earth into outer space. A new discipline called “noology” is proposed to deal with the interplay between human society and all of nature.