Eratosthenes’ Contribution to Ptolemy’s Map of the World

This article attempts to shed some light on the origins of Ptolemy’s map of the world, which remains a mystery. The premise is that Ptolemy and other ancient geographers largely drew on the same or a similar pool of sources and common beliefs. Similarities between them can, therefore, give us a key to understanding the prehistory of Ptolemy’s map. Comparison of distances on his map with those given by other sources leads to the conclusion that a large area of the map, approximately from the Bosporus to the Indus, reproduced Eratosthenes’ geographical system, with linear distances converted to angular degrees according to Eratosthenes’ own scale. It is argued that this area represents a remnant of an earlier version of Ptolemy’s map. Analysis of latitude and longitude reveals notable differences between Ptolemy’s map and Eratosthenes’ ideas concerning the latitude of Babylon and the Alexandrian prime meridian, and the impact this seems to have had on the shape of neighbouring regions is noted.     

Church-in-a-box: making space sacred in a non-traditional setting

ABSTRACT

How are non-traditional sacred spaces experienced and sacralized? Non-traditional sacred sites offer a unique and useful perspective for exploring notions of sacralization, the process of making space sacred. This paper explores sacralization through an investigation of Unity of Fredericksburg, a non-traditional spiritual community that meets in an executive office building, using in-depth interviews with church leaders and members. These interview findings help shed light on how the process of sacralization occurs and suggest that it is the collective, emotional engagement with space that makes it sacred. Non-traditional houses of worship, though not imbued with conventional notions of “sacredness”, serve as functionally sacred for believers and the transiency of their sacred qualities provides a useful foundation for geographers of religion to explore how the sacred is made and experienced.     

The hydropolitical Cold War: The Indus Waters Treaty and state formation in Pakistan

This paper develops the framework of the “developmentalist passive revolution” to analyze the politics of water development during the Cold War. This framework is developed by drawing on Marxist geopolitics and critical water geography, and is offered as a way to facilitate comparative analysis of engineering and nationalism in the context of Cold War hydropolitics. The concrete historical engagements of the paper relate to the signing of The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) of 1960 between Pakistan and India and the associated Indus Basin Plan to transform the Pakistani waterscape. What historical and geopolitical-economic conditions enabled the signing of the IWT? What legacies did the IWT have for state formation in Pakistan? Drawing on the negotiation records of the IWT, archival materials relating to Pakistani river development during the 1960s, and fieldwork conducted in Pakistan in 2012, this paper argues that Cold War hydropolitics are best analyzed through the cultural and economic interactions of asymmetrically empowered developmentalist state elites at multiple scales.     

魏源的边疆史地研究述略

魏源在边疆史地研究方面有许多独到建树,他对边疆地理沿革的考辨继承了乾嘉学者的考据风格,是史学家的缜密品质和经世致用精神的良好结合。魏源在边疆民族问题上有鲜明的“多民族凝聚倾向”,其研究着眼于巩固边疆的群众基础,他就如何处理边疆民族关系的经验总结对现实仍有一定的指导意义。魏源的边疆史地研究把边疆的防卫与开发建设结合起来,将边疆的防卫、开发建设同解决国家的现实问题结合起来,完全超出了传统的战略地理的讨论范围,是难能可贵的。     

论王先谦的《五洲地理志略》

《五洲地理志略》是王先谦晚年在学术研究方向转变之后所撰的一本比较成熟的史地学著作。作者以传播、普及中外历史地理知识为宗旨,向人们介绍西方史地学知识,并且将忧国意识与传统的史学方法融入撰写内容之中。作者对中外相关书籍认真比较后,广搜博采,严密考订,尤其关注于新近出现的人文地理大事件。作者重视探讨救亡途径,故而该书的撰述还体现出经世思想与忧患意识的时代特征。     

大海参崴自由经济区规划与图们江地区规划的衔接

本文简单介绍了大海参崴自由经济区规划和图们江地区规划的设想,分析了前者与远东开放的密切联系和两个规划衔接的必要性及可能性,详细阐述两个规划衔接的具体领域,并预测了两个规划实施的必然趋势。     

地缘政治关系简析

本文从地缘政治学分析国际政治大国与全球地理环境之间的关系实质,即地理位置、综合国力和战略利益在地域政治体系中的相互联系、制约和影响,及变化规律.     

城市刑事犯罪地理初探——以甘肃省为例

本文简要回顾了国内外城市犯罪地理研究近况。以甘肃省为例分析了城市刑事犯罪现象的分布特征与区间差异,用灰色系统关联度方法讨论刑事犯罪率与城市社会经济诸因素间关系、以解释犯罪现象的地理分布规律及区间差异原因。     

福建省海岛旅游的特点与开发利用设想

福建省具有十分丰富的海岛旅游资源,其开发利用近年来越来越为人们所重视。本文在实地调查的基础上,阐述了福建海岛旅游资源的基本类型和主要内容,从规模、功能、分布、组合等方面对其主要特点进行了分析和评价,指出了其开发利用中存在的主要问题,提出了以开发海滨沙滩为核心,以度假旅游为主要方向的福建海岛旅游资原开发利用的总体设想和对策措施。     

东北亚区域合作与图们江地区开发科学研究过程及其文献成果分析

本文从科学文献、学术会议、科学考察方面入手概括了东北亚区域合作与图们江地区开发的研究过程,从中分析了科学研究与实践和社会利益的相互关系及发展,指出今后研究重点和文献工作重点应放在国际关系动向及重大项目论证上。