The connection between geography and other natural sciences. On the connection of modern geography with other sciences

21.09.2019

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There is no science absolutely isolated from other knowledge. They are all closely intertwined with each other. And the task of any teacher or lecturer is to maximize these interdisciplinary relationships. In this article we will consider in detail the connections of geography with other sciences.

Interscientific connections - what is it?

Interscientific (or interdisciplinary) connections are the relationships between individual disciplines. During educational process they must be established by the teacher (teacher) and the student. Identification of such connections ensures a deeper assimilation of knowledge and contributes to its more effective application in practice. Therefore, the teacher needs to emphasize Special attention on this problem when studying any science.

Identification of interdisciplinary connections is an important factor in building a meaningful and high-quality education system. After all, their awareness by the student allows him to more deeply understand the object and tasks of a particular science.

Sciences that study nature

The system of sciences that study nature includes physics, biology, astronomy, ecology, geography and chemistry. They are also called natural scientific disciplines. Perhaps the main place among them belongs to physics (after all, even the term itself is translated as “nature”).

The relationship between geography and other sciences that study nature is obvious, because they all have a common object of study. But why then do different disciplines study it?

The thing is that knowledge about nature is very multifaceted, it includes many different sides and aspects. And science alone is simply unable to comprehend and describe it. That is why several disciplines have historically been formed that study various processes, objects and phenomena occurring in the world around us.

Geography and other sciences

It is interesting that until the 17th century, Earth science was unified and holistic. But over time, as new knowledge accumulated, the object of its study became more and more complex and differentiated. Soon biology, and then geology, split off from geography. Later, several more geosciences became independent. At this time, based on the study of various components of the geographical shell, connections between geography and other sciences are formed and strengthened.

Today, the structure of geographical science includes at least fifty different disciplines. Each of them differs in its research methods. In general, geography is divided into two large sections:

Physical geography.
Socio-economic geography.

The first studies natural processes and objects, the second studies phenomena that occur in society and the economy. Often, the connection between two narrow disciplines from different sections of the doctrine may not be traced at all.

On the other hand, the connections between geography and other sciences are very close. So, the closest and “native” to her are:

physics;
biology;
ecology;
mathematics (in particular geometry);
story;
economy;
chemistry;
cartography;
medicine;
sociology;
demography and others.

Moreover, at the intersection of geography and other sciences, completely new disciplines can often be formed. This is how, for example, geophysics, geochemistry or medical geography arose.

Physics and geography: connections between sciences

Physics is, in essence, pure. This term is found in the works of the ancient Greek thinker Aristotle, who lived in the IV-III centuries. BC. That is why the connection between geography and physics is very close.

The essence of atmospheric pressure, the origin of wind, or the peculiarities of the formation of glacial landforms - it is very difficult to reveal all these topics without resorting to the knowledge gained in physics lessons. Some schools even practice classes in which physics and geography are organically intertwined.

The connection between these two sciences within the framework of school education helps students gain a deeper understanding of the educational material and concretize their knowledge. In addition, it can become a tool for schoolchildren in “related” science. For example, a student who was previously not very good with physics may suddenly fall in love with it in one of his geography lessons. This is another important aspect and benefit of interdisciplinary connections.

Biology and Geography

The connection between geography and biology is perhaps most obvious. Both sciences study nature. But biology focuses its attention on living organisms (plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms), and geography - on its abiotic components (rocks, rivers, lakes, climate, etc.). But since the connection between living and nonliving components in nature is very close, this means that the data of science are a priori connected.

At the intersection of biology and geography, a completely new discipline was formed - biogeography. The main object of its study is biogeocenoses, in which biotic and abiotic components of the natural environment interact.

These two sciences are also united by the question. In search of the correct answer to it, geographers and biologists are consolidating all their efforts.

Ecology and geography

These two sciences are so closely interconnected that sometimes the subject of their research is even identified. Any solution environmental problem it is simply impossible without referring to aspects of geographical science.

The connection between ecology and physical geography is especially strong. It resulted in the formation of a completely new science - geoecology. This term was first introduced by Karl Troll in the 1930s. This is a complex applied discipline that studies the structure, properties and processes that take place in the human environment, as well as other living organisms.

One of the key tasks of geoecology is the search and development of methods rational environmental management, as well as assessing the prospects for sustainable development of specific regions or territories.

Chemistry and Geography

Another discipline from the natural sciences class that has fairly close connections with geography is chemistry. In particular, it interacts with soil geography and soil science.

Based on these connections, new scientific fields have emerged and are developing. These are, first of all, geochemistry, hydrochemistry, atmospheric chemistry and landscape geochemistry. Studying some topics in geography is simply impossible without appropriate knowledge of chemistry. First of all, we are talking about the following questions:

spreading chemical elements in the earth's crust;
chemical structure of the soil;
soil acidity;
chemical composition of waters;
salinity of ocean water;
aerosols in the atmosphere and their origin;
migration of substances in the lithosphere and hydrosphere.

Students will learn this material more effectively in integrated lessons, based in laboratories or chemistry classrooms.

Mathematics and Geography

The relationship between mathematics and geography can be called very close. Thus, it is impossible to teach a person to use a geographic map or area plan without basic mathematical knowledge and skills.

The connection between mathematics and geography is manifested in the existence of so-called geographical problems. These are the tasks:

to determine distances on the map;
to determine the scale;
to calculate the height of a mountain from temperature or pressure gradients;
for calculations based on demographic indicators and the like.

In addition, geography very often uses mathematical methods: statistical, correlation, modeling (including computer) and others. If we talk about economic geography, then mathematics can be safely called its “stepsister”.

Cartography and geography

The connection between these two scientific disciplines should not raise the slightest doubt in anyone. After all, a map is the language of geography. Without cartography, this science is simply unthinkable.

There is even special method research - cartographic. It consists of obtaining the information a scientist needs from various maps. Thus, geographic map from an ordinary product of geography turns into a source of important information. This research method is used in many studies: biology, history, economics, demography, and so on.

History and geography

"History is geography in time, and geography is history in space." This unusually precise thought was expressed by Jean-Jacques Reclus.

History is exclusively concerned with social geography (social and economic). Thus, when studying the population and economy of a particular country, one cannot ignore its history. Thus, a young geographer should a priori general outline understand the historical processes that took place in a certain territory.

Recently, ideas about the complete integration of these two disciplines have been emerging among scientists. And in some universities, related specialties in “History and Geography” have long been created.

Economics and Geography

Geography and economics are also very close. In fact, the result of the interaction between these two sciences was the emergence of an entirely new discipline called economic geography.

If for economic theory the key question is “what to produce and for whom,” then economic geography is primarily interested in something else: how and where are certain goods produced? And also this science tries to find out why the production of a particular product is established in this particular (specific) point of the country or region.

Economic geography originated in the middle of the 18th century. Her father can be considered the greatest scientist M.V. Lomonosov, who introduced this term into use in 1751. At first, economic geography was purely descriptive. Then the problems of distribution of production forces and urbanization entered her sphere of interests.

Today, economic geography includes several branch disciplines. This:

geography of industry;
Agriculture;
transport;
infrastructure;
tourism;
geography of the service sector.

Finally...

All sciences are related to each other to a greater or lesser extent. The connections between geography and other sciences are also quite close. Especially when it comes to disciplines such as chemistry, biology, economics or ecology.

One of the tasks modern teacher- identify and show the student interdisciplinary connections using specific examples. This is an extremely important condition for building a quality education system. After all, the effectiveness of its application to solve practical problems directly depends on the complexity of knowledge.

Despite the fact that the era of the great geographical discoveries remained far behind, and long-distance sailing and climbing to peaks turned into a sport, geographical science is still actively developing. However, today its development is closely connected with other sciences, such as geophysics, computer science, astronomy and political science.

The connection of modern geography with other sciences

In the 21st century, geography is losing its conceptual unity, giving way to new and increasingly diverse directions that pay great attention to the interaction between man and environment, regionalism and working with large data sets.

Thus, we can safely talk about the obvious connection between geography and sociology, computer science, cultural studies and political science. The process of increasing differentiation is natural and is observed throughout the formation and development of Earth science. However modern trend includes not only the differentiation of geography, but also its integration with other sciences.

Modern technical means, such as satellites, seismological and meteorological stations, provide scientists with huge amounts of data that need to be processed. And here the modern branch of computer science, specializing in the so-called big data, comes to the aid of geographers.

and urban studies

At the intersection of sociology, economics and economic geography, a new direction is emerging, called urban studies. This knowledge system aims to build the most comfortable urban space for living.

For this purpose, many years of experience accumulated by researchers in Europe and America are used. And such urban construction is impossible without an adequate understanding of local geographical conditions, which once again indicates the great importance of communication modern geography with other sciences. For example, some researchers believe that it is inappropriate to create bicycle paths in cities located beyond the Arctic Circle.

Also, urban studies would be impossible without accurate data on the level of economic and social development of the city, region and country as a whole. The connection between modern geography and other sciences is becoming increasingly important due to increased competition in the international market.

But in addition to local residents, a high-quality urban environment is also important for tourists, since tourism is becoming increasingly important in the global economy, which serves, among other things, recreational geography, which studies the geographical, climatic and cultural characteristics of the region that needs in attracting tourists.

Geography and ecology

The most obvious connection between modern geography and other sciences for grade 5 can be illustrated by the example of ecology and geography. These two sciences constantly coexist at modern scientific conferences.

Given the intense climate change and the increasing attention paid by the world community to the problem of global warming, it should not be surprising that geography is increasingly coming into contact with ecology, climatology and social sciences. After all, the connection of modern geography in a dynamically changing world has a humanitarian dimension.

Geography as a system of natural and social sciences that study natural and industrial complexes and their components.

Geography

(from geography... and...graphy), a system of natural and social sciences that study natural and industrial territorial complexes and their components. The unification of natural and social geographical disciplines within a single system of sciences is determined by the close relationship between the objects they study and the community scientific problem, consisting of a comprehensive study of nature, population and economy in order to make the most efficient use of natural resources, rational placement production and creation of the most favorable environment for people's lives.

The system of geographical sciences and their connection with related sciences. The system of geographical sciences was formed during the development and differentiation of initially undivided geography, which was an encyclopedic body of knowledge about nature, population and economy different territories. The process of differentiation led, on the one hand, to specialization in the study of individual components of the natural environment (relief, climate, soil, etc.) or economy (industry, agriculture, etc.), as well as the population, on the other hand, to the need for synthetic research territorial combinations of these components, i.e. natural and industrial complexes.

The system of geography distinguishes: a) natural, or physical-geographical, sciences, which include physical geography in the proper sense of the word (including general geosciences, landscape science and paleogeography), geomorphology, climatology, land hydrology, oceanology, glaciology, geocryology, soil geography and biogeography, b) social geographical sciences - general and regional economic geography, geography of economic sectors (industry, agriculture, transport, etc.), population geography, political geography; c) cartography, which is a technical science, but at the same time included in the system of geographical sciences due to historical reasons and the commonality of the main goals and objectives with other geographical sciences. In addition, geography includes: regional studies, the task of which is to combine information about nature, population and economy in individual countries and regions, and disciplines of a mainly applied nature - medical geography and military geography. Many geographical disciplines simultaneously, to one degree or another, belong to systems of other sciences (biological, geological, economic, etc.), since there are no sharp boundaries between these sciences.

With common goals, each science included in geography has its own object of study, which is studied various methods which are necessary for a deep and comprehensive knowledge of it; each has its own general theoretical, regional parts and applied sections. Sometimes applied branches and sections of geographical sciences are combined under the name applied geography, which, however, does not form an independent science.

Each geographical discipline in its theoretical conclusions is based on materials from territorial studies conducted by expeditionary and stationary methods and accompanied by mapping. As specific method in systematizing geographical material and identifying patterns, along with typological analysis, regionalization plays an important role. The development of work on physical-geographical and economic zoning is one of the important tasks of modern geography. Mathematical methods are widely used in climatology, oceanology, hydrology and are gradually being introduced into other geographical sciences. For physical geography special meaning has the use of data and methods from related branches of natural science - geology, geophysics, geochemistry, biology, etc. Economic geography is closely related to both physical geography and social sciences - political economy, demography, industrial economics, agriculture, transport, sociology, etc. .

Geographical research includes various sources energies and types of natural resources. The more acute the need for natural resources, the greater the national economic importance of geographical research. Geography designs scientific basis for comprehensive and rational use natural conditions and resources, development of productive forces and systematic placement of production, as well as for the protection, restoration and transformation of nature.

The main stages in the development of geographical thought.

The first geographical information is contained in the oldest written sources left by the peoples of the slave-holding East. Low level of development of productive forces and weak connections between individual cultures of the 4th-1st millennium BC. e. determined the limitations of geographical horizons; the interpretation of nature was mainly religious and mythological (myths about the creation of the world, the global flood, etc.).

The initial, still purely speculative attempts at a natural scientific explanation of geographical phenomena (changes of land and sea, earthquakes, floods of the Nile, etc.) belonged to the philosophers of the Ionian school of the 6th century. BC e. (Thales, Anaximander). At the same time, in Ancient Greece, the development of navigation and trade created a need for descriptions of land and seashores. Hecataeus of Miletus compiled a description of all the countries known at that time. Thus, already in science of the 6th century. BC e. Two independent geographical directions emerged: general earth studies, or physical geography, which existed within the framework of undivided Ionian science and was directly related to natural philosophical concepts, and regional studies, which had a descriptive and empirical character. In the era of “classical Greece” (5-4 centuries BC), the largest representative of the first direction was Aristotle (his “Meteorology” contains ideas about the interpenetration of the earth’s shells and the circulation of water and air), and the second - Herodotus. By this time, ideas had already arisen about the sphericity of the Earth and about five thermal zones. The Hellenistic period (3rd-2nd centuries BC) dates back to the development of mathematical geography (determination of dimensions) by scientists of the Alexandrian school (Dicaearchus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus). globe and positions of points on its surface, cartographic projections). Eratosthenes tried to combine all directions in one work called “Geography” (he was the first to quite accurately determine the circumference of the globe).

Ancient geography was completed in the 1st-2nd centuries. n. e. in the works of Strabo and Ptolemy. The first represented the regional studies direction. In Strabo's "Geography" with its descriptive nature and the predominance of nomenclatural-topographical, ethnographic, political-historical material, the features of a future chorological concept based solely on the development of phenomena in space are visible. Ptolemy's "Guide to Geography" is a list of points indicating their geographic coordinates, which is preceded by a statement of methods for constructing cartographic projections, i.e., material for drawing up a map of the Earth, which is what he saw as the task of geography.

The physical-geographical direction after Aristotle and Eratosthenes did not receive noticeable development in ancient science. Its last prominent representative is Posidonius (1st century BC).

The geographical ideas of the early European Middle Ages were formed from biblical dogmas and some conclusions of ancient science, cleared of everything “pagan” (including the doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth). According to the “Christian Topography” of Cosmas Indicoplov (6th century), the Earth has the appearance of a flat rectangle washed by the ocean, the sun hides behind the mountain at night, and everything big rivers originate in paradise and flow under the ocean. In the countries of the feudal East, science at that time was at a relatively higher level. high level. The Chinese, Arabs, Persians and the peoples of Central Asia produced many works on regional studies (though mostly of nomenclatural and historical-political content); Mathematical geography and mapping received significant development. From the middle of the 13th century. The spatial horizons of Europeans began to expand, but this had little effect on their geographical views.

In the 15th century Italian humanists translated the works of some ancient geographers, under whose influence (especially Ptolemy) the ideas of the era preceding the Great Geographical Discoveries were formed. Geographical thought gradually freed itself from church dogmas. The idea of the spherical shape of the Earth was revived, and with it Ptolemy’s concept of the proximity of the western shores of Europe and the eastern edge of Asia, which corresponded to the desire to reach India and China by sea (the socio-economic prerequisites for the implementation of this desire were fully matured by the end of the 15th century). After the Great Geographical Discoveries, geography moved to the position of one of the most important branches of knowledge. It provided the needs of young capitalism for detailed information about different countries ah, trade routes, markets, natural resources and performed mainly reference functions. Ptolemy's "Geography" (with additions) and various "cosmographies" were published many times in European countries. The scientific level of these publications is low: new information was often interspersed with old information, and much attention was paid to all sorts of oddities and fables. Maps were especially popular, and from the end of the 16th century. - atlases. Detailed descriptions of individual countries began to appear, with a primary focus on economics and politics (among them, exemplary for its time, “Description of the Netherlands” by L. Guicciardini, 1567). In the process of geographical discoveries, the unity of the World Ocean was established, the idea of the uninhabitability of the hot zone was refuted, belts of constant winds and sea currents were discovered, but the nature of the continents remained little studied. In the 16th-17th centuries. Mechanics and astronomy are making great progress. However, physics could not yet create sufficient prerequisites for explaining geographical phenomena. The general earth science direction in geography began to acquire an applied character: it was subordinated mainly to the interests of navigation (Earth as a planet, geographical coordinates, sea currents, tides, winds).

The largest geographical work summing up the scientific results of the period of the Great Geographical Discoveries was “Geographia generalis¼” by B. Varenius (1650), which examined the main features of the solid earth’s surface, hydrosphere and atmosphere. Geography, according to Varenius, is the science of the “amphibious globe,” which, in his opinion, should be studied as a whole and in parts.

2nd half of the 17th century. and 1st half of the 18th century. stand out mainly for their successes in mapping the Earth. Interest in studying the natural conditions of different countries also increased noticeably and the desire to explain the nature of the Earth and its processes intensified (G. Leibniz in Germany, J. Buffon in France, M. V. Lomonosov in Russia). Nature became the object of monographic regional research (for example, “Description of the Land of Kamchatka” by S. P. Krasheninnikov, 1756). However, almost no original general geological generalizations appeared, and in popular “cosmographies” and textbooks on geography, nature was given an insignificant place.

A major contribution to the emerging economic geography was made by M. V. Lomonosov and his predecessors I. K. Kirilov and V. N. Tatishchev.

The next notable milestone in the history of geography dates back to the 60s. 18th century, when the organization of large natural science expeditions began (for example, Academic expeditions in Russia). Some naturalists (Russian scientist P. S. Pallas, German scientist Forster, and later A. Humboldt) set as their goal the study of relationships between phenomena. At the same time, the gap between the geographical studies of traveler-naturalists, based on a strictly scientific analysis of facts, and geographical guides and textbooks, which provided a set of not always reliable information about states (political system, cities, religion, etc.), is widening. True, the first attempts to build geographical description according to natural territorial division (orographic or hydrographic, and in Russia - according to three latitudinal bands - northern, middle and southern). In the field of physical geography, the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries. did not give major generalizations. Lectures on physical geography by the German philosopher I. Kant, published in 1801-02, introduce little new into the knowledge of geographical patterns, but represent the ideological basis for the view of geography as a chorological (spatial) science.

In the 1st half of the 19th century. outstanding achievements of natural science made it possible to abandon natural philosophical guesses, explain the basic processes of nature and reduce them to natural causes. A. Humboldt ("Cosmos", 1845-62) made a new attempt to synthesize data on the nature of the Earth accumulated by science. He set physical geography the task of exploring the general laws and internal connections of earthly phenomena (primarily between living and inanimate nature). But its synthesis could not yet be complete; it was limited mainly by phyto-climatic relationships. At the same time, the German geographer K. Rntter developed a completely different view of geography. He was not interested in objectively existing nature, but only in its influence on man, which he interpreted in the spirit of vulgar geography. His main work, dedicated to earth science (“Die Erdkunde im Verhältnis zur Natur und zur Geschichte des Menschen¼”, Bd 1-19, 1822-59), represents a kind of inventory of the material filling of “earthly spaces”. Geography, according to Humboldt and Ritter, is essentially two different sciences: the first is a natural discipline, the second is humanitarian regional studies. The works of these scientists once again emphasized the dual nature of geography, which emerged in ancient times. Along with the desire to use regional studies as auxiliary material to explain historical processes, applied economic geography also receives its initial expression in the form of the so-called. office statistics. This is a collection of systematized (in the state scientific order) information about the population, economy, administrative and political structure of the territory, finances, trade, military potential, etc.

In Russia in the 1st half of the 19th century. There was a clear demarcation between economic geography (“statistics”) and physical geography, which was developed by physicists (E. H. Lenz and others) and was even considered as part of physics. The rapid differentiation of natural science that began (geology emerged in the 18th century, and later climatology, phytogeography, and oceanography began to take shape) seemed to deprive geography of its own subject of study. In reality, this process was a necessary condition for the subsequent transition to geographical synthesis at a new level.

After Humboldt, the first elements of synthesis are found among outstanding Russian traveler-naturalists of the 40-60s. 19th century, in particular with A.F. Middendorf, E.A. Eversman, I.G. Borshchov, N.A. Severtsov (the latter had the experience of identifying “types of locality” - the prototype of a geographical complex in its modern understanding). As for “statistics,” already in pre-reform Russia it was increasingly moving away from traditional state science and acquiring a geographical character due to the broad interest of advanced social thought in differences in the economies of different territories and economic zoning.

During the transition from the era of free competition to the era of monopoly capitalism (from the 70s of the 19th century), the need of the capitalist economy for various types natural resources, which stimulated the development of specialized geographical research (hydrological, soil, etc.) and contributed to the isolation of sectoral geographical disciplines. On the other hand, a gap remained between general geography (geography), which had a natural scientific orientation [for example, the work of E. Reclus (France) “Earth,” 1868–1869], and private or regional geography, where at the forefront the plan was put forward by people (for example, “World Geography” by the same E. Reclus, 1876-94). Some geographers (P. P. Semenov, D. N. Anuchin, G. Wagner) recognized that geography no longer represents a single science. Nevertheless, the prevailing opinion was that geometry is a natural science (O. Peschel, A. Kirchhoff, F. Richthofen in Germany; P. P. Semenov and others in Russia; R. Hinman in the USA). In 1887, G. Gerland tried to substantiate the idea of G. as an independent natural science about the Earth, but reduced it to geophysics. However, already in the 1880s. foreign geography is moving away from the natural science concept. The German geographer F. Ratzel laid the foundation for the anthropogeographical movement, the ideological foundations of which are social Darwinism and geographical determinism; the further development of this teaching led many geographers into the area of reactionary sociological ideas and pseudoscientific geopolitics. Representatives of another, chorological school, going back to Kant, tried to substantiate the independence of geography based on a special, spatial approach. The chorological view of geography was most fully developed at the beginning of the 20th century. German geographer A. Getner. According to him, geography covers both natural and social phenomena, but considers them not by their own properties, but only as “the objective filling of earthly spaces”; it should not study the development of objects and phenomena over time, engage in generalizations and establish laws; it is only interested in the individual characteristics of individual places, i.e., ultimately, it comes down to regional studies.

The desire to limit the scope of geography to the study of regional combinations of objects and phenomena within individual countries and localities is very typical of the early 20th century. The French geographical school, founded by P. Vidal de la Blache, considered its task to describe the “harmonious unity” of the natural environment and human lifestyle within individual localities. The works of this school are distinguished by their mastery of regional characteristics, but at the same time they are characterized by descriptiveness and empiricism, a landscape approach to nature and the lack of in-depth analysis of socio-economic conditions. Already in the 10s. 20th century The French school acquired a one-sided humanitarian direction (“human geography”).

In Russia at the end of the 19th century. V.V. Dokuchaev, relying on the doctrine of soil he developed and the progressive ideas of Russian biogeography, laid the foundation for complex physical-geographical research, the tasks of which he closely connected with the solution of national economic problems. A. I. Voeikov made a great contribution to the knowledge of geographical relationships. He also carried out outstanding research in the field of human impact on nature (in the 60s of the 19th century, the American scientist J. P. Marsh attracted the attention of this problem).

In 1898, V.V. Dokuchaev expressed the idea of the need to contrast “geography spreading in all directions” with a new science about the relationships and interactions between all elements of living and dead nature. The introduction to this science was his doctrine of natural zones. V.V. Dokuchaev created a school of geographers-naturalists and practitioners who, both theoretically and applied research were guided by the idea of a geographical complex. The concretization of this idea at the beginning of the 20th century. led to the formulation of the concept of landscape as a natural territorial unity, constituting the main object of geographical research (G. N. Vysotsky, G. F. Morozov, L. S. Berg, A. A. Borzov, R. I. Abolin). L. S. Berg showed in 1913 that each natural (landscape) zone is composed of landscapes of a certain type. A. N. Krasnov, P. I. Brounov, A. A. Kruber worked in the field of general geoscience, but they, like their foreign colleagues, failed to raise this branch of geography to the level of an independent scientific theory; At that time, it retained the function of an educational subject.

The English geographer E. J. Herbertson owns the first scheme of natural zoning of the entire land (1905), built mainly taking into account latitudinal and longitudinal climate changes, as well as orography and vegetation cover. In Germany, Z. Passarguet put forward the idea of a natural landscape in 1913 and developed it in subsequent years; he proposed a classification of landscapes and a scheme for their morphological division, but underestimated the role of internal relationships between landscape components and the need for a genetic approach to the study of natural phenomena.

The state of foreign geographical thought in the period between the two world wars was characterized by the dominance of the chorological concept (after A. Getner, the American scientist R. Hartshorne made a particularly persistent defender of it in 1939) and an increasing departure from nature towards “cultural-geographical” phenomena. The “cultural landscape” school (German scientist O. Schlüter, American scientist K. Sauer, etc.) focused its attention on the study of the external results of human activity on Earth (settlements, dwellings, roads, etc.). At the same time, some geographers examined in detail the anthropogenicity of many features of the geographic environment, but when studying the results of human economic activity, they did not take into account the objective laws of social development, therefore, individual economic and geographical excursions were not scientific enough. At the same time, interest in applied geographical research has increased in foreign geography. Thus, in some areas of the United States, field surveys of land were undertaken for agricultural purposes and for regional planning purposes; homogeneous territorial units (unit areas) were identified on the basis of aerial photographs by mapping individual natural elements(slope steepness, soil, etc.) and economic types of land and their mechanical imposition.

Development of geography of the Soviet period.

IN Soviet Russia Since 1918, the attention of geographers has been directed to the study of natural productive forces. In the 20-30s, the USSR Academy of Sciences organized large complex expeditions that were important for the study of productive forces Soviet Union. For the study of plant resources of the USSR and foreign countries, the expeditions of N. I. Vavilov played an important role.

Along with the theoretical development of issues of climatology, hydrology, geomorphology, glaciology, soil science, geobotany, permafrost science, and paleogeography, interest in complex physical-geographical and economic-geographical problems, including zoning, quickly grew. This, in turn, is related to studies of the patterns of territorial physical-geographic differentiation (L. I. Prasolov, S. S. Neustruev, B. A. Keller, etc.). By the 20-30s. This includes the first field landscape surveys and the beginning of the development of landscape maps (B.B. Polynov, I.V. Larin, R.I. Abolin). The doctrine of the biosphere developed by V. I. Vernadsky (1926) was of great theoretical importance for physical geology.

In the 30s The theoretical development of Soviet physical geography proceeded in two directions - general geoscience and landscape science. The first was represented by A. A. Grigoriev, who introduced the concepts of the geographical envelope and the physical-geographical process, and also insisted on the use of precise quantitative methods in physical geography. The works of L. S. Berg created the basis for the doctrine of landscape, which was further developed by M. A. Pervukhin, L. G. Ramensky, S. V. Kalesnik.

An important component of research in physical geography were also the works of Yu. M. Shokalsky, N. N. Zubov and others on the study of oceans and seas. The ideological struggle in this science at the beginning was between the so-called. the branch-statistical direction, in which the traditions of the bourgeois school were still preserved, and the Marxist (regional) direction. The heated methodological discussion that took place in the USSR at the turn of the 20s and 30s ended in the victory of the Marxist direction, but at the same time showed that contrasting the sectoral direction with the regional one is unlawful, since both the sectoral and regional sections can be both bourgeois and Marxist. The fight against bourgeois views, as well as against leftist tendencies aimed at separating economic government from physical government, was led by N. N. Baransky.

Practical experience and theoretical discussions of subsequent decades confirmed the fact of the objectively established division of geography into two groups of sciences - natural and social - and showed the groundlessness of attempts to revive the so-called. unified geography. The presence of individual geographical disciplines’ own tasks does not exclude, however, the existence of complex intersectoral geographical problems, such as, for example, the problem of the heat and water balance of the earth’s surface and its transformation, the scientific justification of large regional economic projects related to the integrated development of natural resources, etc. Important theoretical results obtained in branch geographical disciplines contribute to the development of a synthetic approach to the study of both natural and industrial territorial complexes, as well as to the knowledge of the relationships between both.

Advances in the study of radiation and heat balance (M. I. Budyko), circulation of air masses (B. P. Alisov, E. S. Rubinshtein, S. P. Khromov, etc.), moisture circulation in the atmosphere (O. A. Drozdov ) and others are important not only for climatology, but also for the general theory of physical geography, in particular for the development of the doctrine of geographic zonation. Studies of the planetary moisture cycle (G.P. Kalinin, M.I. Lvovich), heat exchange in the atmosphere - land - oceans system (V.V. Shuleikin), long-term variability of the thermal regime, humidification, glaciation (B.L. Dzerdzeevsky, M V. Tronov, A. V. Shnitnikov, etc.) go beyond the scope of individual geographical sciences (hydrology, climatology, oceanology, glaciology) and make a significant contribution to the knowledge of the structure and dynamics of the geographical envelope of the globe. The solution to this most important physical-geographical problem is also to a large extent connected with synthetic studies of land relief (I. P. Gerasimov, K. K. Markov, Yu. A. Meshcheryakov, I. S. Shchukin, B. A. Fedorovich), the study ocean floor and coastal zone of seas and oceans (V.P. Zenkovich, O.K. Leontiev, G.B. Udintsev, etc.). In studies on the genesis, classification of soils and their mapping (I.P. Gerasimov, V.A. Kovda, N.N. Rozov, etc.), according to their water regime(A. A. Rode) and geochemistry (M. A. Glazovekaya), the geographical direction in soil science and the close connection of the latter with other geographical disciplines are clearly manifested. The problem of biological productivity of land and the World Ocean also relates to geography; its solution involves an analysis of comprehensive relationships between biocenoses and their geographic environment and is largely based on advances in understanding the geographical patterns of vegetation cover (E.M. Lavrenko, V.B. Sochava, V.N. Sukachev, etc.) and animal population land (A.G. Voronov, A.N. Formozov, etc.), as well as the organic world of the oceans (V.G. Bogorov, L.A. Zenkevich, etc.). The complex nature of the problems facing modern geography inevitably leads to the formation of new, “borderline” (including applied) disciplines that stand at the intersection between geography and related sciences, such as biogeocenology (V.N. Sukachev), geochemistry landscape (B.B. Polynov, A.I. Perelman, M.A. Glazovskaya), medical geography. (E.N. Pavlovsky, A.A. Shoshin, etc.), and necessitates the use of the latest mathematical and other methods to solve various geographical problems.

The synthetic approach to the study of natural phenomena on Earth finds its most complete expression in physical geography itself as the science of natural geographical complexes (geosystems). One of the branches of this science - general physical geography (general geoscience) - deals with the study general patterns the structure and development of the geographic shell as a whole, including its inherent circulation of matter and associated energy, zonal and azonal structure, progressive and rhythmic changes, etc. (A. A. Grigoriev, S. V. Kalesnik, K. K. Markov, etc.). Another branch - landscape science - deals with the study of the territory of differentiation of the geographical envelope and the patterns of structure, development and placement of geographical complexes different order(zones, landscapes, facies, etc.); The main work is carried out in the field of morphology, dynamics, taxonomy of landscapes and physiographic (landscape) zoning (D. L. Armand, N. A. Gvozdetsky, K. I. Gerenchuk, A. G. Isachenko, S. V. Kalesnik, F. N. Milkov, N. I. Mikhailov, V. S. Preobrazhensky, N. A. Solntsev, V. B. Sochava, etc.), as well as in the field of applied landscape science (agricultural, engineering, medical, etc.) . Regional physical-geographical monographs on the USSR and foreign countries are of important educational and practical importance. Among them is the 15-volume series “Natural conditions and natural resources of the USSR” by the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences, works by B. F. Dobrynin, E. M. Murzaev, E. N. Lukashova, M. P. Petrov, A. M. Ryabchikov , T.V. Vlasova and others on the physical geography of foreign countries.

Socio-geographical sciences are based on the laws of socio-economic sciences, with which they closely interact. Thus, the geography of industry as a whole and individual industrial sectors are closely related to the economics of industry and the economics of other industries. The use of economic-geographical analysis in practical work By territorial planning. Along with the development of the general theory of economic geography, and in particular the issues of the formation of integral economic regions (N. N. Baransky, P. M. Alampiev, V. F. Vasyutin, L. Ya. Ziman, N. N. Kolosovsky, A. M. Kolotpevsky, O. A. Konstantinov, V. V. Pokshishevsky, Yu. G. Saushkin, B. N. Semevsky, Ya. G. Feigin, etc.), Soviet geographers conducted scientific research in regional and sectoral terms.

Regional economic-geographical work was expressed, in particular, in the creation of an extensive series of regional monographs-characteristics published by the Institute of Geography of the USSR Academy of Sciences (I.V. Komar, G.S. Nevelshtein, M.I. Pomus, S.N. Ryazantsev, etc. .). Among the sectoral studies, monographs on agriculture (M. B. Wolf, A. E. Probst, P. N. Stepanov, A. T. Khrushchev, etc.) and agriculture (A. N. Rakitnikov, etc.) stand out. , transport (M. I. Galitsky, I. V. Nikolsky, etc.). Problems of population and urban planning were developed by R. M. Kabo, S. A. Kovalev, N. I. Lyalikov, V. V. Pokshishevsky, V. G. Davidovich, and others.

The increasing scale of consumption of natural resources and the extreme urgency of the problem of increasing the economic efficiency of their use have given impetus to research in the field of economic assessment of natural conditions and natural resources (I. V. Komar, D. A. Mintsi and others). This direction in science is being formed into a special branch, lying at the intersection of economic geography with physical and geographical disciplines.

One of the new trends in the development of Soviet economic geography is expressed in the desire to apply mathematical methods (including modeling) to the study of industrial territorial complexes, settlement, interdistrict connections, etc.

An important place in Soviet economic geography is occupied by studies of foreign countries (I. A. Vitver, A. S. Dobrov, G. D. Kulagin, S. B. Lavrov, I. M. Maergoiz, K. M. Popov, etc.) ; As a special direction, we can highlight the study of the resources of developing countries (V.V. Volsky, Yu.D. Dmitrevsky, M.S. Rozin).

Geography in its development has always been closely related to cartography. In the border areas between geographical sciences and cartography, corresponding branches of thematic mapping were formed - geomorphological, soil, landscape, economic, etc. The general trend modern development systems of geographical sciences - the creation of a complex of individual branches of geography - was also reflected in cartography. In practice, this is expressed in the creation in the 60s. 20th century a number of large complex atlases (Physico-geographical atlas of the world, 1964; Atlas of the Antarctic, 1966; numerous atlases of union and autonomous republics, territories and regions), as well as series of maps. In theoretical and methodological research on cartography, general issues complex mapping (K. A. Salishchev), principles and methods of mapping nature (I. P. Zarutskaya, A. G. Isachenko, V. B. Sochava), population and economy (N. N. Baransky, A. I. Preobrazhensky and etc.).

Modern geography is increasingly turning into a science of an experimental-transformative, or constructive, nature. She plays an important role in the development of the largest general scientific problem of the relationship between nature and society. The scientific and technological revolution, which caused a sharp increase in human impact on natural and production processes, urgently requires taking this impact under strict scientific control, which means, first of all, the ability to foresee the behavior of geosystems, and ultimately the ability to manage them at all levels, starting from the local (for example, territory big cities and their suburbs) and regional (for example, Western Siberia), ending with the planetary, i.e., the geographic envelope as a whole. These goals determine the need for further development of the theory of natural and industrial territorial complexes and their interaction using the latest achievements and methods of mathematics, physics and other sciences, both natural and social, structural-system approach and modeling, along with cartographic and other traditional methods geography.

The state of foreign geography.

The formation of the world socialist system after the 2nd World War 1939-45 opened up broad prospects for geographers of socialist countries, where geography took the path of solving complex problems directly related to the tasks of socialist construction (physical-geographical and economic zoning, production assessment of natural resources, creation of comprehensive national atlases, etc.). In foreign socialist countries, valuable studies have appeared, written from the perspective of Marxism, on current economic and geographical problems.

In developing countries, in particular in India, Brazil, Mexico, national geographical schools began to form, and the activities of geographers are often associated with solving problems of economic development.

In developed capitalist countries, the rapid growth of cities, imbalances in the economic development of certain areas, the threat of depletion of a number of natural resources, and pollution of the natural environment by industrial waste force government agencies and monopolies to intervene in the spontaneous processes of economic development and land use. In the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Japan and some other countries, government agencies and private firms attract geographers to participate in the scientific substantiation of urban planning projects, regional plans, to study markets, etc. Geographical research is increasingly acquiring an applied nature, but this trend often finds itself in conflict with the theoretical backwardness of geography. In many countries, especially in the United States, the chorological concept continues to dominate. Its ideologists (R. Hartshorne, P. James, D. Wiglesey and others) deny that geography has its own subject of research, consider the division into physical geography and economic geography unacceptable and harmful, do not allow the possibility of theoretical generalizations and forecasts, based on the recognition of uniqueness each individual territory. The unity of geography is supposedly based on the regional method, but the objective reality of the region is rejected, the “region” is interpreted as a kind of conditional, subjective concept, as an “intellectual concept”, the only criteria of which are convenience and expediency. These views are also shared by many geographers in Great Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and other countries. "Regional synthesis", which in theory should unite nature and man, is in fact, at best, limited to some socio-economic elements. Many believe that the concept of a natural area is already outdated and is of no value for geography (E. Ackerman in the USA, E. Juillard, J. Chabot in France, etc.), and even try to theoretically justify the obsolescence and uselessness of physical geography in general. Thus, the imaginary unity of geography is achieved by abandoning its physical-geographical part.

Representatives of the so-called theoretical geography (E. Ullmann, W. Bunge, etc.) came to the conclusion that the distribution of different phenomena (for example, glaciers and agricultural methods) can be represented in the form of similar mathematical models, and this is seen as the basis of the “unity” of geography. Trying to solve problems of production location with the help of mathematical models, they are distracted from the method of production and the nature of production relations, thereby turning their theories into an abstract scheme, divorced from real socio-economic conditions.

Some West German, Austrian, and Swiss geographers consider the subject of geography " the earth's shell", or "geosphere" (G. Bobek, E. Winkler, G. Karol, etc.), or landscape (E. Winkler. E. Obet, K. Troll), and in both cases unities are assumed, covering nature , and man with his culture. Nevertheless, the landscape is often practically studied exclusively as a natural scientific object (K. Troll, I. Schmithusen, K. Paffen) In Western European landscape science, two main directions of research have emerged: a) landscape ecology - the study of internal relationships primarily. at the level of elementary geosystems corresponding to facies and tracts, and b) landscape zoning.

In a number of capitalist countries, comprehensive studies of the natural environment are carried out for purely applied purposes. Thus, in Australia, since 1946, research has been carried out on undeveloped lands, similar in nature to landscape photography. Some works by soil scientists and geobotanists (for example, in the USA) on the classification of lands up to to a certain extent are also approaching landscape studies. Foresters in Canada and many other countries are guided by the principles of the study of ecosystems and biogeocenoses, which largely coincide with the basic principles of landscape science. Thus, the most important categories of modern geography (geosystem, landscape) in the West are studied primarily by applied disciplines that in practice deal with real objects that are subject to geographical research.

Russian Civilization

Modern geography is associated with many sciences, for example with mathematics, because you have to do a lot of calculations, determine coordinates, travel time, and the like. Geography is also closely related to geology, because geologists and geographers essentially complement each other regarding minerals. History and geography are also closely intertwined, especially when it comes to archaeological excavations, for example. Geography is related to chemistry in terms of the study of climate, the chemical composition of various substances, soil, rocks, river waters and oceans.

Until now, geography is perceived by many as a science that maps the earth and minerals. Here sits in the quiet of his office, a geographer who has never left his city and thoughtfully runs his calloused finger over the globe, looking for “white spots,” and with the other hand straightens his broken bicycle glasses. No, geography is now a science that is increasingly becoming a symbiosis of a complex of sciences that study the Earth, its subsoil, population, distribution of productive forces, resources, optimal distribution of economies on the surface of the Earth, climatic conditions and their dependence on the location of mountains, oceans, glaciers, and so on. I will say more, now geography has set its sights on outer space - geographers are already studying the Moon and nearby planets. And geography’s connection with other sciences is two-way.
Geography and physics with technology. Geographers need modern, sophisticated instruments to study the earth's strata. She receives them from technical physicists. Presenting them with the results of their work gives physicists the opportunity to study new phenomena and improve these instruments.
Geography and geology. These are geographers, together with other sciences, who give geologists tips on where to look for which minerals. In response, receiving the results of their activities, geologists refine their technologies and tools. Geophysicists study not only climate and the causes of climate change, but are already making long-term forecasts and trying to find ways to change the climate. And they do this in collaboration with physicists, chemists, geologists and representatives of many other sciences. Together with biologists and paleobiologists, they study changes in the living world in dynamics, in movement, migration routes and the reasons that influence changes in the number of representatives of living nature. Together with energy specialists, they are studying the possibilities of introducing alternative energy sources based on natural phenomena like tides, winds, thermal waters. Together with economists, historians and sociologists, economics, resources and how to best use them. By drawing analogies with earthly geography, geographers help astronomers draw maps of the surface of nearby planets. There are so many connections that geography has become one of the comprehensive sciences.
Well, does the modern geographer look like the handsome, senile Paganel?
No, he is at the forefront of modern science and his instrument is not a globe, but the most modern instruments and technologies

Geography is an ancient and at the same time eternally young science. It combines the romance of distant travels and scientific approach to the problems of interaction between nature and man. There are few disciplines that equally study the topography of the earth, the atmosphere, nature, soil chemistry and the organization of human life. It systematizes knowledge about natural phenomena and processes of socio-cultural development of society.

General development trends

Modern geographical science developed gradually, for many centuries. Its development went along with the development of civilization and is inextricably linked with it. The ancient traveler described the world as he saw it: the night sky, mountains, forests, seas, people, their customs and ways of farming. This information gave impetus to the development of other sciences.

Medicine, physics, astronomy, economics, history were enriched with new knowledge. Knowledge gradually accumulated, and there were fewer and fewer blank spots. And when the Age of Great Discoveries passed, the following sciences related to geography appeared:

Geomorphology. The doctrine of the formation of the earth's surface.
Glaciology. The science that studies formation and development various forms ice (glaciers, permafrost, etc.).
Climatology. The science of the nature of air masses and their interaction with other components that form the weather.
Soil science. The science of soil as a manifestation of the interaction of all elements of the earth's shell.

IN general view applied topics pose natural science questions to those studying natural processes. Geography itself has long studied issues related directly to natural processes and human impact on nature. But over time, the study of the other side of the coin has also developed - the influence of nature on humans and on the development of social relations.

Gradually developed theory of natural-social complexes. By considering in aggregate the processes of interaction between nature and social groups of the population, economic geography has developed. Thus, the connection between modern geography and other disciplines is directly reflected in the development of economic science. Within the framework of socio-economic geography there are:

Economic.
Demographic.
Political and military.

Medicine was supplemented by such an important subject as medical geography. She studies the hotspots of epidemics and epizootics, the ways of spreading diseases, and the regions where various forms of diseases predominate. Many dangerous pandemics in the past were mitigated thanks to knowledge about other countries of the world.

Historical and paleogeography - science about the past of the Earth in its geological natural-social aspect of the development of culture and social relations. The connection between geography and history is clearly visible in regional studies. This scientific direction, studying the state as unified system With characteristic features development, political orientation, economic and geographical potential, features of historical and cultural development.

The era of scientific and technological revolution

The scientific and technological revolution gave new impetus to the development of many branches of knowledge. The more descriptive direction of geoscience is gradually moving towards quantitative methods. Mathematics was the structural beginning of geography new time. All processes in nature were able to be translated into the language of formulas and numbers thanks to the development computer technology. Nowadays, it is unthinkable to imagine meteorology or seismology without computer technology. The era of new technologies has taken cartography to a whole new level. Hydrology, glaciology and climatology have received serious development. These examples provide a clear answer to the question “how is geography related to other sciences.”

Space exploration

Going into space opened up a new direction - space geoscience. Images from space have become a valuable source of information. Geotraining occupies a prominent place in the astronaut training system. It turned out that from space the seabed is visible through hundreds of meters of water column. Satellites record the origin of typhoons and dust storms, volcanic eruptions, the movement of sea currents and much more.

Interscientific connections and narrow specialization

How closely is modern geography related to other sciences? Reports about this can be seen in any scientific journal, and from many branches of knowledge:

This is an incomplete list of topics where knowledge from ancient Earth science is applied. Modern geography- this is a complex, branched system of knowledge, a real fusion of natural, humanitarian and exact sciences. Its teaching is included in the list of compulsory disciplines not only in secondary schools and specialized institutes, but also in other institutions of higher education. By interacting in related aspects, scientists bring knowledge about the earth’s surface to the fundamental level. That is why their role will only increase over time.