Ancient geographers and their achievements. Geography in ancient states. Geographic ideas of ancient scientists

The centers of ancient civilization include: in the east Babylonia (in the south - the interfluve of the Tigris and Euphrates, in the north - Assyria), Egypt and Ancient China; in the west - Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece.

Science, as a form of human activity, originated in ancient Greece in the 6th-5th centuries BC.

Ancient Greek scientists considered nature as a whole. The main method of science of that time was logical analysis, which allowed the ancient ancient scientists to make many remarkable conclusions that anticipated the scientific discoveries of modern times.

The sphericity of the earth recognized Thales in the 7th century BC, Pythagoras and his school in the 6th-5th century BC, and in 384-322 BC, Aristotle scientifically substantiated the idea of sphericity. And that was the greatest achievement of that time.

From the idea of sphericity follows a closely related idea of geographic zoning. Syrian Posidonius(II - I centuries BC) identified nine geographical zones or zones (we now distinguish thirteen zones). Strabo(died in the 20s of our era) a remarkable geographer, believed that there were five geographical zones or zones on the spherical Earth. Scientists of antiquity considered the middle zone uninhabited because of the heat and did not advise sailing from the northern hemisphere to the southern.

Of the specific geographical sciences, she achieved success earlier than others cartography. The most perfect ancient world map was drawn up Ptolemy(II century BC). It was reprinted several times in the Middle Ages. Pretty accurate circumference of the earth was calculated Eratosthenes(276 - 194 BC). He also owns the term geography».

Geographical information is of great interest ancient Chinese. They knew how to draw maps, knew the properties of a magnetic needle, went to the Pacific Ocean (1000 years before our era), sailed along the marginal seas, discovered the Japanese islands. Long before our era, the Chinese had the right ideas for those times about the geographical features of Asia, they made unique descriptions and maps.

founder analytical direction in physical geography rightly consider Aristotle. His great work "Meteorology". Here he singles out the atmosphere as a whole, including both air and water shells in it. He is recognized as the founder of hydrology, meteorology, and oceanology. Eratosthenes called the father of geography. Mainly because he made a fairly accurate map of the Earth, put parallels and meridians on it. He also singled out the so-called "climates" - latitudinal bands with different day lengths. An attempt was made to divide the Earth into physical and geographical bands - sphagrids.

In addition, it was Eratosthenes who emphasized unity of the oceans. The work of Eratosthenes "Geographical Notes" has not come down to us. However, the views of Eratosthenes were expounded by Strabo, and therefore we have the opportunity to present the work of Eratosthenes in all its harmony.

The merit of ancient scientists was that they sought to explain scientific facts. And this led to the development historical-genetic method. Ancient scientists were interested in many things, and most importantly, in interconnection. For example, the origin of the Nile Delta, the genesis of earthquakes, the formation of the Mediterranean, Black, Caspian Seas, and many other issues. In this regard, particular emphasis was placed on Strabo. Following Aristotle and Eratosthenes, Strabo believed that the surface of the Earth is constantly changing. “It is amazing,” Strabo wrote, “that some parts of the Earth, now inhabited, were previously covered by seas, and our seas were inhabited Earths. Similarly, some springs, rivers and lakes dried up, others opened up - mountains were replaced by valleys, and vice versa. And it was written in the 1st century BC! Strabo wrote 17 volumes of "geography" and 43 books of "history".

One of the first regional experts it could be considered Herodotus(484 - 428 BC). The scientist traveled a lot (Asia Minor, Babylon, Egypt, Sicily, the Black Sea coast); collected and systematized geographical information (India, Sahara, Atlas), and then described nature, population, customs, religion - 9 volumes of "History".

The peculiarity of this stage in the development of geography: integrity ancient time. This is a bright period in the development of science in general and geography in particular. If the beginning of this period can be considered a continuation of the era of ancient cultures, then its completion is associated with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which marked the end ancient era, ancient science. She was forgotten in the Middle Ages. And they remembered the science of geography only in the Renaissance.

3. Geography of the Middle Ages

The slave system was replaced by a more progressive feudal system in the Middle Ages. However, at the beginning of the Middle Ages productive forces were underdeveloped. Significant influence for science provided by religion. The materialistic views of ancient scientists were forgotten, the idea of the sphericity of the Earth was rejected.

Kosma Indikoplov(VI century), author of the "Christian Monograph of the Universe", claims that the Earth has the form tabernacle, that is, the Earth is a quadrilateral, which is surrounded by oceans. On the maps of this time, Jerusalem was in the center, and paradise was to the east of it.

However, religion also had a positive impact on the development of science: in the monasteries there were chronicles, descriptions, books were collected and printed.

The main feature of the feudal period is the isolation, disunity of people.

In the period from the 5th to the 15th centuries, the main achievements of geography are reduced to territorial openings. The Normans, Arabs, and Europeans achieved the greatest success in discovering and describing new lands.

"Northern people" Normans, the inhabitants of Scandinavia, lived near the coast and were skilled sailors. They raided England, France, Holland, reached Constantinople and North America. The northern France they captured was called " Normandy', which still exists today.

In 867 the Norman Naddot opened Iceland(ice land - ice country), founded the village of Reykjavik.

In 985 Norman Eirik the Red opened Greenland(Green land - green country). A colony arose on its southern shore.

Further voyages of the Normans to the west led to the discovery North America(Boyarni and Leif the Happy) between 987 and 1000. It is not known exactly which places they visited: Labrador, or Newfoundland, or south of New York. Historians of geography cannot say for sure. But for sure, the Normans sailed to North America long before Columbus.

At first glance, the ease with which the Vikings (a man from the bay) reached very remote places and hard-to-reach territories, overcame large expanses of North America is striking. We do not belittle the courage and resourcefulness of the Normans, their art of building strong ships. Vessels that sailed well on the waves. But at the same time, it is very, very doubtful that the Normans could achieve such grandiose successes on their own, if natural conditions did not contribute to them. X - XII centuries - this is the time climatic optimum, that is, the climate then was milder than now, and therefore there are fewer seas. Otherwise, the Vikings would not have been able to swim around the 65th parallel. Recall that they called Greenland a "green country" - there were pastures here. Only later did these areas become covered with ice. In the Icelandic sagas, ice is not mentioned as an obstacle to navigation.

Until about 1200, whale and seal hunters sailed to the shores of Svalbard and Novaya Zemlya.

During the Middle Ages, a significant role in geographical science was played by Arab scientists. In 711, moving westward, the Arabs penetrated the Iberian Peninsula, in the south - into the Indian Ocean (up to Madagascar - IX century), in the east - into China. They circled Asia from the south.

Arabic scientist Biruni(973 - 1042 years) among the Central Asian scientists was the first to suggest the possibility rotation of the earth around the sun, measured the circumference of the earth.

The great European traveler was Marco Polo(1254 - 1324). The Venetian Polo family - father, son, uncle - spent many years wandering. Their journey to China, Mongolia, by sea around South Asia, to Western Asia lasted 45 years. Marco Polo opened the East to Europeans."The Book of Marco Polo" tells about the animal world, vegetation, minerals and other objects (for example, about monkeys, elephants, medicinal herbs, etc.). The story itself is fascinating, especially when it comes to spices, ivory, etc. "The Book of Marco Polo" was translated into many languages, and for a long time remained a valuable guide for all travelers to Central Asia, India, China. Christopher Columbus also studied it.

4. The Age of Discovery

In the XV - XVI centuries, in the depths of the feudal medieval society, the sprouts of a new social order ripened - capitalism. Industry, trade began to develop intensively, and commodity-money relations arose. The role of cities has increased. Science and culture developed rapidly. This time is called the era Renaissance – Renaissance.

In art, culture, science, the progressive traditions of ancient times began to be revived, but at a new level.

The era of the Great Geographical Discoveries and the beginning of the development of natural science are also connected with the renaissance period.

At this time were open to Europeans North, Central and South America, the way to India around Africa, the first round-the-world trip was made, the beginning of systematic geographical discoveries in Siberia was laid.

Let us dwell very briefly on the results of only a few trips. Those who wish can familiarize themselves with the course of the expeditions in detail using the recommended literature.

The discovery of America is associated with the name Christopher Columbus(1451 - 1506) - the great Italian traveler. Recall that the Normans, the first to visit America, left no written evidence. Having discovered America, they did not, as it were, file a patent for this discovery. It fell into oblivion, forgotten.

aim Columbus's voyage was fabulously rich in India and other eastern countries. Columbus made four voyages.

Geographic and cartographic calculations were made with an error, and on October 12, 1492 (the day America was discovered), Columbus ended up in the Bahamas, and then on the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti). The error was not discovered, Columbus believed that he visited the eastern tip of Asia, that is, India. Until the end of his days, Columbus was mistaken, thinking that he visited the Asian territories. The perseverance and courage of the traveler, who overcame great difficulties, are worthy of admiration.

The discovery of America is the most important event in the Age of Discovery.

It forced to reconsider the views that existed until now on the distribution of land and sea on Earth.

History has been unfair to Columbus. The mainland he discovered was named after another traveler. Amerigo Vespucci also visited America, but later than Columbus, and only as a member of the expedition led by Ojeda. However, Amerigo, unlike Columbus, eventually realized that he was not in Asia, but within another continent. He called this continent the New World. The glory of Vespucci was brought by his letters to his homeland, where he picturesquely, with fiction, outlined his journey, as well as the maps he compiled. The German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller suggested that the newly discovered mainland be named after Amerigo. At first, it was only South America, and in 1538, on the famous map of Mercator, the entire territory of America, both South and North, appears under this name.

The dream of Europeans to find a way to India was realized by a Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama(1469 - 1524). He began his journey in 1497 in Lisbon, circled Africa, reached the Malabar coast near Calicut.

Seekers of new profit rushed along the paths of Columbus to America. One of them, Balboa, in search of gold crossed Isthmus of Panama and saw with my own eyes the mysterious "South Sea". So the European first visited the Pacific Ocean - in 1513 year.

And already in 1519 the Portuguese Ferdinand Magellan went on his first trip around the world. His ultimate goal was pragmatic - to reach the Moluccas, rich in spices, by the western route. Magellan had to work hard before he found a passage (Strait of Magellan) between the southern tip of South America and Tierra del Fuego. In 1519, he left the Spanish port (Sanlucarde - Barrameda), to the south of the Atlantic Ocean, and only in 1520 discovered the strait and went to Pacific Ocean. The name of the ocean, as you know, was given by Magellan, because during his voyage there was not a single storm. After passing the Pacific and Indian Oceans and rounding Africa, the expedition returned to Spain in 1522 with heavy losses. Magellan was killed. Only one of the five ships remained.

On his journey, Magellan established: 1) the unity of the World Ocean; 2) discovered the water space between America and Asia; 3) confirmed the idea of the sphericity of the Earth; 4) gave a more complete picture of the configuration of South America.

5. The era of the Great Russian discoveries

In the XVI - XVII centuries. Russian geographical discoveries flourished. Russians have collected geographic information before. First Russian chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years" by Nestor contains geographic data about Russia.

In the XII century, the Russians, in search of new markets, reached the White Sea. Sailings of Russians to the west to Scandinavia, to the north - to Svalbard, and the 12th century - a period of intensive movement of Russians to the east are noted. For several decades, Russian service people discovered Central, Eastern Siberia, and the Far East, including Kamchatka, and left their names on the map of the state.

The rapid movement deep into Siberia and the Pacific Ocean is a feat of Russian explorers. The paths were laid mainly along the rivers and dragged between the rivers (through the watersheds). It took a little more than half a century to cross the space from the Ob to the Bering Strait (1639). Moskvin reaches the Pacific Ocean (out to the ocean) at Okhotsk. Even earlier, in 1632, the Yakut prison was founded, and in 1643-1646 Poyarkov runs from Lena to Yana and Indigirka. Khabarov - the pioneer of Amur (1647 - 1650). Dezhnev in 1648 he skirts the Chukotka Peninsula from the sea, opens a cape bearing the name of Dezhnev (Big Stone Nose) and proves, that Asia is separated from North America by a strait.

Peter I paid great attention to the development of science. In the 20s of the XVIII century, on his initiative, an expedition was organized D.G. Messerschmidt to Siberia. Doctor of Medicine, a native of Danzig, Messerschmidt was sent to find medicinal herbs, flowers, roots, seeds. But Messerschmidt turned out to be competent enough to collect information on mineralogy, botany, and zoology in addition. During the journey (1720 - 1727) he visited the following areas: south of Western Siberia – Baraba steppe, as well as Priobsky North, Southern Siberia - Kuznetsk Alatau, Minusinsk basin, Transbaikalia, Central Siberia, Central Mongolia, etc.

As a result of expeditions, Messerschmidt discovered in Siberia permafrost, deposits of graphite, described salt lakes, found the skeleton of a mammoth (in the valley of the Tom River), collected numerous collections of botany, zoology, and mineralogy. The result of his expeditions was the ten-volume "Review of Siberia or three tables of simple kingdoms of nature." The largest Russian geologist V.A. Obruchev believed that Messerschmidt laid the foundation for systematic exploration of Siberia.

In the first half of the XVIII century. continued geographical descriptions but with increasing weight geographical generalizations.

started Lomonosov period. The flourishing of geographical science in Russia lasted 2.5 centuries - from the beginning of the 18th century - from V.N. Tatishchev (1686 - 1750) and M.V. Lomonosov, Russian scientific geography begins in Russia. Both of them began their activities during the reforms of Peter I. At this time, the very word geography came into use in Russia.

The eldest of the two contemporaries was V.N. Tatishchev. From the associates of Peter I, he received the task write a textbook on the geography of Russia, because in translated textbooks about our country, incorrect information was given. But Tatishchev decided to first outline the history of Russia, and only then, relying on it, - geography. In 1720, he was sent to the Urals as a manager of land-based mining plants, studied mining abroad, and spent most of his life writing Russian History. This five-volume work was published in 1768-1848. In the field of geography, Tatishchev compiled geographical descriptions of Siberia and all of Russia, worried a lot about the organization of the geographical education of young people, and compiled a Russian geographical, historical and political dictionary. They developed classification of geographical sciences, which is distinguished by historicism, attention to natural resources and economy. Tatishchev expressed and proved the idea of the need to draw a border between Europe and Asia along the Urals, the Ural River, etc. He wrote a lot about the natural difference between the western and eastern slopes of the Urals.

New horizons before geography opened M.V. Lomonosov. The rare genius of Lomonosov allowed him to cover many areas of science and art, including geography. In addition to physical and historical geography, he singled out economic geography, proposing the term itself. Lomonosov made a great contribution to the development of meteorology. He discovered the zonation of mountains.

In the 18th century, attempts were made to divide the country's territory into stripes or regions. These experiences physical-geographical zoning were still elementary, and more often the entire territory was divided into three lanes. So, in 1766 F. Blooming on the European part he calculated: 1) the northern part (a long and severe winter, there is neither bread nor tree fruits, but berries, game animals and fish are in abundance); 2) the middle part (winter is also cruel, but there are enough woody earth fruits, medicinal herbs, livestock, wild animals, honey, good fish, birds, forests); 3) the southern part (it is warmer and even more fertile, although not as densely populated as the middle part).

At the end of the 18th century, with Catherine II (1729 - 1796) a grandiose event was held - general survey of Russia in order to characterize all the Lands owned by landowners and other owners. Many tables were compiled, which indicated the surname, name, patronymic of the owner, the size of the land belonging to him, the quality of soils, mowing, forests. Maps were drawn up, showing the boundaries of possessions, land. This event stimulated the development of the economics of geography in Russia.

In general, it can be said that in Russia, since the middle of the XVIII century, there has been a serious interest in the essence of geographical science. Lomonosov and Tatishchev laid the theoretical foundations of geography in Russia and created the prerequisites for its further development.

6. Geography in Western Europe in the 18th – 19th centuries

XVIII - XIX centuries were marked by major territorial discoveries, as well as the active work of such prominent scientists as I. Kant, A. Humboldt, K. Ritter, A. Gettner, E. Reclus and others.

A great contribution to the discovery process was made by the English navigator J. Cook(1728 - 1779). Made three circumnavigations. The purpose of the first expedition(1768 - 1771) was the discovery of new lands in the South Pacific, including the hypothetical Southern continent. As a result, Cook established that New Zealand was not a protrusion of the South Continent, but a double island; discovered the east coast of Australia. Purpose of the second trip was (1772 - 1775) the search for the southern mainland. J. Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle three times, saw ice several times, but did not find the mainland. But he discovered the South Sandwich Islands and the islands of New Caledonia, South Georgia, Norfolk. From the voyage, he returned convinced that, if the southern mainland exists, then it is close to the pole, that is, in places inaccessible to man. Cook's famous statement that there is no southern mainland stopped sailing south for a long time. third journey began in 1776 and ended tragically for Cook: he died - was killed in 1779 on one of the islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. The goal was exploration of the North Pacific Ocean and the search for the Northwest Passage, along the coast of North America. Cook's ships circled Africa, approached New Zealand, and from there turned north to the Hawaiian Islands. These islands were discovered by Cook. Further - to the Bering Strait. Thus, Cook did a lot to expand the understanding of the Europeans about the Pacific Ocean. But the main goal - to open the southern mainland and find the Northwest Passage - he failed to achieve. A mountain on the southern island of New Zealand, a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, a bay in Alaska, a strait in the islands of New Zealand are named after J. Cook.

During the period under review Africa has been intensively studied. Soon it was divided and turned into a colony of strong European states - England, France, Portugal, Spain. A famous English traveler made a great contribution to the study of this continent - David Livingston . He spent more than thirty years wandering around Africa (since 1840).

An important German philosopher and geographer was I. Kant. As a philosopher, he believed that the world objectively exists, but he unknowable. Man cognizes not objective reality, but only his sensations. Kant owns the theory of the formation of planets - connects with the condensation of dispersed matter. But Kant's idea that the Universe is threatened by heat death due to the cooling of the Sun is wrong. The earth is "warmed up" by radioactive processes discovered after Kant. For more than 40 years, Kant taught a course in physical geography at the University of Königsberg. Being a homebody, he did not enrich his course with original facts. However, Kant believed that there are two ways of studying nature: geographical, which studies phenomena in space, and historical, which studies the sequence of phenomena in time. These paths, according to Kant, never intersect.

It is difficult to overestimate the value A. Humboldt(1769 - 1859) in development world geography. His main area of study was Central and South America. During a five-year journey, Humboldt visited Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador, sailed along the Orinoco River, studied the equatorial part of the Andes, made excellent collections and herbariums. The result of the expedition was the thirty-volume Journey to the Equinox Regions of the New World. He and Bonplan in 1799-1804 collected a colossal herbarium - 6,000 species, of which 3,500 species are completely new, unknown to science. In 1829, at the invitation of the Russian government, A. Humboldt traveled through the Urals, Altai, the coast of the Caspian Sea, the southwestern part of Siberia, and others. Humboldt is rightly considered one of founders of scientific regional studies, the creator of the comparative method in geography. The most important thing for Humboldt is to find laws of nature, study order. He explored patterns of change in vegetation both in latitude and height. He was the first to map the isotherms of the northern hemisphere, and was the first to propose the use of hypsometric curves to characterize the relief.

A mountain range in Central Asia and a mountain range in North America, a mountain on the island of New Caledonia, a cold current off the coast of Peru, several plant species, and the mineral Humboldtite are named after Humboldt.

The main geographical merit of Humboldt: he revived the ideas of ancient Greek scientists about geographic zoning .

Simultaneously with Humboldt, another major scientist lived - Carl Ritter (1779 - 1859). Unlike Humboldt, he traveled little, visiting only France, Italy, and Switzerland. He was more of a typical armchair scientist. He was considered one of founders of comparative geography. By the way, it was he who introduced the term "geography". Using the comparative method, he managed to explain individual relationships in nature, spatial relationships between different geographical objects.

famous french scientist Elise Reclus (1830 - 1905) is one of founders of modern regional studies. He owns the works: “Earth and people. General geography" - nineteen volumes; "Man and the Earth" - six volumes. In them, Reclus described in detail all the countries of the world, giving many interesting details. E. Reclus owns the wonderful words: "Geography in relation to man is nothing but history in space, just as history is geography in time." The works of Reclus were republished, translated into many languages, whole generations of geographers in different countries studied from it.

7. Geography in Russia in the 19th – early 20th century

During this period, geography in Russia developed very rapidly:

1. Numerous studies were carried out in round-the-world expeditions, travels to Antarctica, Central Asia, Siberia, etc.;

2. Original scientific geographical schools were formed;

3. A bright page in the history of geographical research was written by the Russian Geographical Society - RGS;

4. The foundations of geographical education were laid.

1. In the 19th century, the territory of Russia expanded significantly. The Russians established themselves in Kamchatka, a Russian colony arose in Alaska and the northwestern coast of America. There was an urgent need to connect St. Petersburg with these remote areas. From here, the idea arose - to organize round-the-world voyages.

The first Russian circumnavigation was a journey I.F. Kruzenshtern (1770 - 1846) and Yu.F. Lisyansky (1773 - 1837). Target travel - to establish contact with Russian settlements in Northwest America, visit Kamchatka, deliver the Russian embassy to Japan, conduct scientific research.

The ships Nadezhda (Kruzenshtern commanded) and Neva (Lisyansky commanded) left Kronstadt in August 1803, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, rounded Cape Horn and headed north across the Pacific Ocean. Later they separated. Lisyansky established contact with the Russian colony in America, explored the coast of Alaska and across the Indian Ocean, rounding Africa, returned to Kronstadt in June 1806. During the voyage, an island was discovered in the Hawaiian Islands (now Lisyansky Island), sea currents were studied (together with Kruzenshtern, he established their direction and origin), and the coordinates of the visited points were determined. Krusenstern went to the shores of Kamchatka, reached Petropavlovsk, then stood in Japan for seven months - in Nagasaki - and again moved to Kamchatka (it was necessary to deliver the ambassador to Petropavlovsk). Along the way, Kruzenshtern explored part of the Kuril Islands and the coast of Sakhalin. Later, returning home, the expedition carried out hydrographic, astronomical and other observations. Numerous materials on vegetation, fauna, and ethnography were collected. Krusenstern returned to Kronstadt only at the end of the summer of 1806.

After this trip, the Russians made 28 circumnavigations. As a result, many islands were discovered, reefs and currents were described, and a lot of material about the islands was collected. Russian navigators enjoyed well-deserved prestige among the sailors of other countries.

The expedition was unique in conception and execution. F.F. Bellingshausen(1778 - 1852) and M.P. Lazareva(1788 - 1851). Target– conduct research in the South Subpolar Region.

The expedition set off in 1819 on two ships: Vostok (Bellingshausen) and Mirny (Lazarev) under the general leadership of Bellingshausen. We emphasize that their task was only to conduct research. There was no talk of any major discovery. January 28, 1820 the ships approached the unknown mainland. This day is recorded in the chronicle of geographical discoveries as opening day of Antarctica. In addition, 29 more islands were discovered, and Russian names appeared in the southern hemisphere, on the map of the polar region: Peter I Island, Shishkov Island, Alexander I Land, etc. Ships crossed the Antarctic Circle six times and bypassed the new continent. The sailors determined the coordinates of the anchorages and carried out magnetometric observations. In honor of Bellingshausen, a sea off the coast of Antarctica, a glacier in Antarctica, a cape on Sakhalin, an island in the Tuamotu archipelago are named; in honor of Lazarev - an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, a cape in the Amur Bay, an island in the Aral Sea. The journey was described by Bellingshausen in the book: "Double surveys in the southern Arctic Ocean."

Outstanding natural scientists took part in Russian round-the-world and long-distance voyages: O.E. Kotzebue, F.P. Litke, O.S. Makarov, M.N. Miklukho-Maclay, I.M. Semenov. The horizons of Russian natural science have expanded enormously. Russian museums have been enriched with precious collections, and many reports have been made at the Russian Geographical Society and elsewhere.

2. Scientific geographical schools. The scientific school means group of scientists, united common methodology research and common views on the essence of the studied phenomena, scientists who own similar methods of work. We noted that even in Ancient Greece there were schools. But those schools worked according to the scheme: teacher - student. The scientific schools of our time are not at all the same as in Ancient Greece. These are numerous or powerful teams working according to one plan, consisting of like-minded people. A scientific school cannot exist without a leader who acts as a generator of ideas, a brain and organizing center of the team. But a scientific school is not necessarily an organized team at the place of work (institute, department, department). Scientists can work in different institutions, but ideologically unite around one person (for example, the school of soil climatology - Shulgin A.M.).

The leader of a scientific school should not only be a major scientists, but also personality who generously shares her thoughts, who knows how to improve the work of other people. Not all outstanding scientists had or have their own scientific schools. We know the productive scientific schools of L.D. Landau, E. Rutherford, P.L. Kapitza (physics). S.P. was an excellent leader. Korolev, who knew how to rally into a single team scientists, engineers, and cosmonauts, passionate about one common idea - space flights.

Favorable conditions are created for the formation of a school in a higher educational institution. A school may also arise around a scientific journal. A permanent expedition studying a large-scale geographical problem can also become the basis for organizing a scientific school.

In geography, scientific schools began to emerge in the 19th century. The first scientific geographical school - school Military Academy of the General Staff established in 1832. Here, military geography is studied, that is, the geographical features of individual territories, from the point of view of the possibility of their use for strategic and tactical purposes. In 1856, a geodetic department was formed. We were engaged in surveying the terrain, studied meteorology with climatology, mineralogy. Among the teachers, P.A. Yazykov and D.A. Milyutin. Second scientific school -Russian Geographical Society. The Russian Geographical Society was approved in St. Petersburg in 1945 through the efforts of F.P. Litke, N.I. Arsenyeva, K.M. Baer, V.I. Dahl, I.F. Krusenstern. The presidents of the civil defense were nominally members of the imperial family, but the whole burden of work was carried on their shoulders by its vice presidents: first, F.P. Litke, then P.P. Semenov - Tien-Shansky.

He especially did a lot for the development of civil defense, for the development of geography, the study of Russia and foreign countries P.P. Semenov (1927 - 1914) - later Semenov - Tien Shan. He headed the Russian Geographical Society from 1873-1914. He was a naturalist, economist, field researcher. Geographical studies were carried out in the Tien Shan. He was the first to survey Lake Issyk-Kul, surveyed the Trans-Ili Ala-Tau, the Central Tien-Shan. The first of the Europeans climbed the slopes of the highest peak - Khan Tengri. His expedition explored 23 mountain passes, collected rich collections of rocks, insects, mollusks, and a beautiful herbarium. As a result, it was found features of the orography and geological structure of the Tien Shan, rejected as untenable, Humboldt's opinion about volcanic origin of the Tien Shan . Semenov also studied the features altitudinal zonality. He was the first to carry out a scientific description of this mountainous country, and for his success in studying it he was named Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky.

Semenov-Tyan-Shansky wrote the history of the Russian Geographical Society for 50 years (1845 - 1895) and noted that of the four periods in the development of the Russian Geographical Society, the most brilliant fourth, from 1871-1885, was the period of the expeditions of N.M. Przhevalsky. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky headed the Central Statistical Committee, which prepared the first census of the population of Russia, concentrated economic materials, and carried out zoning. The result of the activities of Semenov-Tian-Shansky in this area was a five-volume dictionary: "Geographical and Statistical Dictionary of the Russian Empire" (1863 - 1885).

Semenov-Tyan-Shansky wrote many sections and was the editor of the major publications Picturesque Russia and Russia. A complete geographical description of our Fatherland. These multi-volume works summarize colossal materials on geography. All sections are written according to the same plan, figuratively and accessible to the general reader.

Semenov-Tyan-Shansky interpreted the science of geography or geography very broadly, which included cartography, orography, geology, geognosy (geomorphology), hydrology, hydrography, meteorology, and climatology. But since the "crown" of the planet is man, it is necessary to include anthropology, historical archeology, ethnography, demography, political and historical geography, statistics (modern economic geography) in science.

Thanks to such a broad view of Semenov-Tyan-Shansky on science, the expedition programs of the Russian Geographical Society were of great scope. This outstanding person and prominent scientist was able to rally around GO young, brave, educated people, future researchers and famous travelers. Among them is a brilliant constellation of names forever inscribed in the annals of the history of science: N.M. Przhevalsky, and a whole group of his followers, N.A. Severtsov, P.A. Kropotkin, N.N. Miklukho-Maclay, I.M. Mushketov, etc.

N.M. Przhevalsky(1839 - 1888) literally made up an era in the exploration of Central Asia, having made four trips. The results are impressive: I traveled more than 30,000 km through the unexplored spaces of Central Asia, completed a route survey, correctly marked on the map the upper reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, discovered mountain ranges, and Lake Lop Nor. Przhevalsky collected the richest collections of botany, zoology, conducted meteorological observations, discovered an unknown species - Przewalsky's wild horse, as well as a species of wild camel. Much attention was paid to the peculiarities of life, way of life, social relations of the population.

Followers of Przewalski IN AND. Roborovsky, M.V. Pevtsov, P.K. Kozlov, G.N. Potanin, G.E. Grumm-Grzhimaipo- expanded and deepened Przhevalsky's research in Central Asia.

Thus, the Russian Geographical Society has done a lot to study the hard-to-reach areas of Central Asia, opening it up for Europeans.

Other areas were also explored, in particular, the vast expanses of Siberia and the Far East.

Among the major geographers of Russia stands out P.A. Kropotkin(1842 - 1921), scientist, traveler, revolutionary anarchist theorist. The scope of his scientific interests was very wide. In 1862 - 1867, he made several expeditions to Eastern Siberia, Manchuria, drew up an orographic scheme of Eastern Siberia and Manchuria, discovered several extinct volcanoes, studied the Patom and Vitim plateaus. The main merit of Kropotkin is development of glacial theory which is widely used at present. Based on his observations in Finland, Sweden, on the Patom Highlands, he came to the conclusion that landforms and surface deposits are of glacial origin and, therefore, continental glaciation was widespread in the Quaternary.

A glorious page has been inscribed in historical geography and geology V.A. Obruchev(1863 - 1956). For many years he studied Siberia, Central and Central Asia, went through long routes in the Trans-Caspian region. In the person of Obruchev, a major traveler, a discoverer and an outstanding theorist were united.

1) studying the Kara-Kum, he came to the correct conclusion about their water origin, established that the dry channel of the Uzboy is the channel of the ancient Amu-Darya;

2) in Central Asia, he discovered six new ranges;

3) substantiated the theory of the aeolian origin of loess;

4) studying the gold-bearing regions of the Lena River basin, gave forecast prospecting for placers of gold;

5) exploring Baikal, came to the conclusion that the formation of its basin is relatively recent.

The results of the work are presented in the fundamental three-volume book: "Geology of Siberia" (1935 - 1938). Since 1947, Obruchev was the honorary president of the USSR Civil Defense. The general reader knows him well as the author of the science fiction novels "Plutonia", "Sannikov Land", the science-adventure story "In the Wilds of Central Asia".

Named after Kropotkin: a ridge in the Patom Highlands, a ridge and a volcano in the Eastern Sayan Mountains, a mountain in Antarctica, a city in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, an embankment, a square and a street in Moscow, a street in St. Petersburg.

In honor of Obruchev, the obruchevite mineral, a ridge in Tuva, an oasis in Antarctica, a glacier in the Mongolian Altai, and others are named.

The place of honor in the scientific school of the Russian Geographical Society belongs to N. N. Miklukho-Maclay(1848 - 1888). His main research interests are anthropology and ethnography. Miklukho-Maclay gained worldwide fame as primitive explorer, in particular the natives of the Papua tribe. In 1871, he landed on the northeastern coast of the island of New Guinea and lived among the Papuans for 15 months, studied their way of life, language, and customs. In 1874 he settled on the southwestern coast of New Guinea, and in 1880 he explored the southeastern coast of the island. With his humanity, close contact with the natives, Miklouho-Maclay achieved mutual understanding and respect for the Papuans. And although many years have passed, stories about the brave and benevolent Maclay are passed from generation to generation in New Guinea, children are called by the name of Maclay.

Miklukho-Maclay brought valuable materials from the expedition, sketches, diary entries, and ethnographic collections. Everything is stored in the GO archive and the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St. Petersburg. The main merit of Miklouho-Maclay is he proved the position of species unity and kinship of human races, studying the Melanesian anthropological type of man, repeatedly spoke out in defense of the local population from the colonialists.

The formation of scientific schools, as already mentioned, was greatly influenced by higher educational institutions. Universities played a particularly important role, in which the first departments of geography, geographical faculties, and institutes arose.

3. Third Scientific School – D.M. Anuchin at Moscow University. Anuchin (1843 - 1923) owns the creation of the first Department of Geography(1884) at Moscow University. The main object of geography, according to Anuchin, is land surface. Anuchin participated in a journey to the Caucasus, to the sources of the largest rivers in Russia, for the first time studied Lake Seliger in detail, and the group of Upper Volga lakes, determined their depths, compiled maps, and described the shores. Anuchin is rightly considered founder of limnology in Russia. Anuchin owns many works on the history of geography, anthropology, and ethnography. The scientific school of Moscow University is rightly called the Anuchinsky scientific school in geography. Many of his students became outstanding scientists in various fields of geographical science. Many have already created their own schools. This is L.S. Berg, A.A. Borzov, A.S. Barkov, A.A. Kruter, B.F. Dobrynin, I.S. Schukin, A.N. Javakhishvili, etc.

4. The fourth scientific school is at St. Petersburg University. The second department of geography in Russia was formed here. Its head is V.V. Dokuchaev(1846 - 1903). He was at the same time a naturalist, an excellent organizer of expeditions and a brilliant teacher. Main merit Dokuchaev is to create soil science as an independent science. The main provisions of soil science are covered by Dokuchaev in the fundamental work "Russian Chernozem" (1883). He developed a classification of soils, gave them names accepted throughout the world. He created a theory about soils, about the factors of soil formation.

The second major merit of V.V. Dokuchaev is developing the doctrine of the zones of nature. Even before Dokuchaev, individual facts of the zonal distribution of climate and vegetation were known, but the law of zoning was not formed as a universal law. Dokuchaev, as a result of expeditions, and desk experiments and generalization of materials, received original materials on the zonal distribution of soils and generalized data on the distribution of other components of nature. As a result of all this, he was able to state the essence of zoning: “... due to the known position of our planet relative to the Sun, thanks to the rotation of the Earth, its sphericity, climate, vegetation and animals are distributed over the earth's surface in the direction from north to south, in a strictly defined order - polar , temperate, subtropical, equatorial belts ... ". His work "On the doctrine of the zones of nature" became a reference book.

The third major merit of Dokuchaev is creation of a scientific school, uniting future prominent scientists of our planet. His students: A.N. Krasnov (1862 - 1914) - explored the south of the Russian Plain, the Caucasus, the Tien Shan, Altai, did a lot to acclimatize the tea culture in Russia. In 1912, according to the landscape-geographic principle, he organized the Batumi Botanical Garden, which has a large collection of exotic plants. G.I. Tanfiliev (1857 - 1928) studied the landscapes of the tundra, forest-steppe, Baraba, Crimea, the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. He owns the first scientific physical and geographical regionalization of European Russia, in which he used the zonal principle. Author of the four-volume work "Geography".

Luminary of science V.I. Vernadsky (1863 - 1945) developed fundamentals of biochemistry and the doctrine of the biosphere. A general scientist G.N. Vysotsky (1865 - 1940), who approached the solution of practical problems on the basis of a complex geographical method. K.D. Glinka (1867 - 1927) and N.M. Siberians (1860 - 1900) continued Dokuchaev's work on the soil. Glinka in 1908 - 1916 led soil-botanical expeditions in Siberia, the Far East, and Central Asia. In 1911 he organized the Main Dokuchaev Soil Committee, and later was the first director of the Soil Institute. Dokuchaev. Sibirtsev developed the doctrine of soil zonality. Together with Tanfiliev, he participated in the compilation of the soil map of European Russia (1900), which was awarded the Big Gold Medal at the Paris Exhibition. Author of the textbook "Soil Science" (1892), where he pays serious attention to the origin of soils.

Glinka's students L.I. Prasolov , S.S. Neustruev , A.I. Bessonov , - in the future, too, major scientists. Thus, we can talk about several generations of Dokuchaev's followers.

A special and very honorable place in the history of geography is occupied by a professor of St. A.I. Voeikov (1842 - 1916). He did not belong to any scientific school, he did not create his own school. At the same time, his work is extremely relevant. He is founder of climatology. He wrote the excellent book Climates of the Globe, Especially Russia (1884), where he showed the relationship of climate with other natural components. He revealed the physical essence of the processes of climate formation, for the first time in geography he used the method of balances (for example, the balance of moisture in the air, the balance of water in glaciers). He is actually the founder agricultural meteorology, agroclimatology. Voeikov's ideas about the impact of man on nature are very modern. Let us cite as an example the titles of some of his works: "Land Improvements and their Relationship with Climate and Other Natural Conditions", "Man and Water: Water Uses and Their Geographical Distribution", "Man and Sands", "Cotton Growing and Climate", and Dr. Voinov was a man of great talent and colossal capacity for work. Suffice it to say that he wrote 1,700 books and articles. Paying tribute to the primacy of the climate, Voeikov skillfully used complex geographic methods, and is rightfully considered one of the outstanding geographers of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Summing up the results of the development of geography in the 19th and early 20th centuries, we can say that during this period it was quite got stronger, in it separate industries emerged., formed scientific schools. The founders of physical geography are considered to be D.N. Anuchin, V.V. Dokuchaev and A.I. Voeikov. The situation is more complicated with regard to economic geography. Semyonov Tyan-Shansky's merits in the development of geography, including economic geography, which in the past was called statistics, have already been noted here.

PRACTICAL WORK #1

TOPIC: The main stages in the development of geography and geographical science

Target: to study the stages of development of geography and geographical science; form the development of geographical representations.

Issues for discussion:

1. Definition of geography, its object and subject, tasks and functions.
2. The concept of the geographic shell and geographic environment of the Earth.

3. Geography of ancient times.
4. Age of Discovery
5. Geography of the Middle Ages
6. Geography of modern times

Practice #1:

1. Fill in the table.

Development of geography

MAIN STAGES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF GEOGRAPHY

AND GEOGRAPHICAL SCIENCE

1. Geographical knowledge of primitive peoples

We find the beginnings of geographical knowledge among primitive peoples (rock paintings, the transmission of information from mouth to mouth, etc.).

Necessity forced to acquire geographical knowledge of primitive people. First of all, it was knowledge about the location of individual territories. This knowledge was used for economic purposes. For example, hunters needed to know and find places rich in game, fishermen needed places rich in fish, and so on.

When people took up productive activities - cattle breeding, agriculture - the importance of geographical knowledge increased. Man began to appreciate the area more fully, especially when he began to engage in agriculture. At first, agriculture was slash-and-burn - the forest was burned, fields appeared in its place. The soil was losing fertility (over time). As a result, the person moved to a new place. Thus, significant areas of forest in the tropical zone and in the temperate zone were burned.

The places of the old undercuts were remembered, and information about them was passed on to descendants. All farmers knew well the places where they could make a new field. Representatives of primitive peoples were marked by fine

observation, well oriented in space. The famous Russian traveler and writer V.K. Arseniev characterizes his companion, gold Dersu Uzala, in this way: “What was incomprehensible to me seemed to him simple and clear. Sometimes he noticed traces where, with all the desire to see something, I did not see anything. And he saw that the herds of the deer queen and a one-year-old calf had passed. They plucked the foliage of the meadowsweet, then quickly ran away, obviously, they were afraid of something. For this amazing man, there were no secrets.

Miklukho Maclay N.N. repeatedly noted the great observation ability of primitive peoples.

One has to be amazed how the inhabitants of Oceania crossed the open areas of the ocean only by the stars. Famous scientist Thor Heyerdahl

repeated some of the routes of the ancient navigators. Thus, the great traveler and writer proved that navigation is possible even in the most unfavorable circumstances.

Geographic ideas of the ancient world

Science, as a form of human activity, originated in ancient Greece in the 6th-5th centuries BC. Ancient Greek scientists considered nature as a whole.

The main method of science of that time was logical analysis, which allowed the ancient ancient scientists to make many remarkable conclusions that anticipated the scientific discoveries of modern times.

The sphericity of the earth Thales was recognized in the 7th century BC, Pythagoras and his school in the 6th - 5th century BC, and in 384 - 322 BC Aristotle scientifically substantiated the idea of sphericity. And that was the greatest achievement of that time.

From the idea of sphericity follows a closely related idea of geographic zoning. The Syrian Posidonsh (II-I centuries BC) identified nine geographical zones or zones (we now distinguish thirteen zones). Strabo (died in the 20s of our era), a remarkable geographer, believed that there were five geographical zones or zones on the spherical Earth. Scientists of antiquity considered the middle zone uninhabited because of the heat and did not advise sailing from the northern hemisphere to the southern.

Of the specific geographical sciences, she achieved success earlier than others cartography. The most perfect ancient world map was compiled by Ptolemy (II century BC). It was repeatedly reprinted in the Middle Ages. Pretty accurate circumference of the earth was calculated by Eratosthenes (276 - 194 BC). He owns the term "geography".

Geographical information is of great interest ancient

Chinese. They knew how to draw maps, knew the properties of a magnetic needle, went to the Pacific Ocean (1000 years before our era), sailed along the marginal seas, discovered the Japanese islands. Long before our era, the Chinese had the right ideas for those times about the geographical features of Asia, they made unique descriptions and maps.

founder analytical direction in physical geography, Aristotle is rightly considered. His great work "Meteorology". Here he singles out the atmosphere as a whole, including both air and water shells in it. He is recognized as the founder of hydrology, meteorology, and oceanology. Eratosthea is called the father of geography. Mainly because he made a fairly accurate map of the Earth, put parallels and meridians on it. They were also allocated

called "climates" - latitudinal bands with different day lengths. An attempt was made to divide the Earth into physical-geographical bands - sphagrids.

The merit of ancient scientists was that they sought to explain scientific facts. And this led to the development historical genetic method. Ancient scientists were interested in many things, and most importantly, in interconnection. For example, the origin of the Nile Delta, the genesis of earthquakes, the formation of the Mediterranean, Black, Caspian Seas, and many others

questions. Strabo stood out in this regard. Following Aristotle and Eratosthenes, Strabo believed that the surface of the Earth is constantly changing. “It is amazing,” Strabo wrote, “that some parts of the Earth, now inhabited, were previously covered by seas, and our seas were inhabited Earths. Similarly, some sources, rivers and lakes have dried up, others have opened up - mountains have been replaced by valleys, and vice versa. And it was written in the 1st century BC! Strabo wrote 17 volumes of "geography" and 43 books of "history".

One: one of the first regional experts can be considered Herodotus (484 - 428 BC). The scientist traveled a lot (Asia Minor, Babylon, Egypt, Sicily, the Black Sea coast); collected and systematized geographical information (India, Sahara, Atlas), and then described nature, population, customs, religion - 9 volumes of "History".

The peculiarity of this stage in the development of geography: integrity ancient time. This is a bright period in the development of science in general and geography in particular. If the beginning of this period can be considered a continuation of the era of ancient cultures, then its completion is associated with the fall of the Western Roman Empire, which marked the end ancient era, ancient science. She was forgotten in the Middle Ages. And they remembered the science of geography only in the Renaissance.

Geography of the Middle Ages

Cosmas Indikoples (6th century), author of The Christian Monograph of the Universe, claims that the Earth has the form of a tabernacle, that is, the Earth is a quadrangle that is surrounded by oceans. On the maps of this time, Jerusalem was in the center, and paradise was to the east of it.

However, religion also had a positive impact on the development of science: in the monasteries there were chronicles, descriptions, books were collected and printed.

The main feature of the feudal period is the isolation, disunity of people.

"Northern people" normans, inhabitants of Scandinavia, lived near the coast and were skilled navigators. They raided England, France, Holland, reached Constantinople and North America. Northern France captured by them was called "Normandy", which still exists.

In 867 the Norman Naddot opened Iceland(ice land - ice country), founded the village of Reykjavik.

In 985 Norman Eirik the Red opened Greenland(Ggeen land -

green, country). A colony arose on its southern shore.

At first glance, the ease with which the Viking (the man from the bay) reached very remote places and hard-to-reach territories, overcame large expanses of North America is striking. We do not belittle the courage and resourcefulness of the Normans, their art of building strong ships. Vessels that sailed well on the waves. But at the same time, it is very, very doubtful that the Normans could achieve such grandiose successes on their own, if natural conditions did not contribute to them. X - XII centuries - this is the time climate optimum, that is, the climate then was milder than now, and therefore there are fewer seas. Otherwise, the Vikings would not have been able to swim around the 65th parallel. Recall that they called Greenland a "green country" - there were pastures here. Only later did these areas become covered with ice. In the Icelandic sagas, ice is not mentioned as an obstacle to navigation.

Until about 1200, whale and seal hunters sailed to the shores of Svalbard and Novaya Zemlya.

During the Middle Ages, a significant role in geographical science was played by Arab scientists. In 711, moving westward, the Arabs penetrated the Iberian Peninsula, in the south - into the Indian Ocean (up to Madagascar - IX century), in the east - into China. They circled Asia from the south.

The Arab scholar Biruni (973-1042) was the first among the Central Asian scholars to express the idea of the possibility rotation of the earth around the sun, measured the circumference of the earth.

The great European traveler was Marco Polo (1254 - 1324). The Venetian Polo family - father, son, uncle - spent many years wandering. Their journey to China, Mongolia, by sea around South Asia, to Western Asia lasted 45 years. Marco Polo discovered

Europeans East."The Book of Marco Polo" tells about the animal world, vegetation, minerals and other objects (for example, about monkeys, elephants, medicinal herbs, etc.). The story itself is fascinating, especially when it comes to spices, ivory, etc. "The Book of Marco Polo" was translated into many languages, and for a long time remained a valuable guide for all travelers to Central Asia, India, China. Christopher Columbus also studied it.

4. The Age of Discovery

In the 15th-16th centuries, in the depths of the feudal medieval society, the sprouts of a new social system, capitalism, were ripening. started intensively

to develop industry, trade, there were commodity-money relations. The role of cities has increased. Science and culture developed rapidly. This time was called the Renaissance - the Renaissance.

In art, culture, science, the progressive traditions of ancient times began to be revived, but at a new level.

With the period of renaissance is connected with the era of the Great geographical discoveries, and the beginning of the development of natural science.

It was a time of energetic and passionate people. Friedrich Engels called the Renaissance period the greatest progressive upheaval: “At that time, there was almost no major person who would not travel far, would not speak four or five languages, would not shine in several areas of creativity. The epoch of the Great Geographical Discoveries is called so loudly because it was marked by grandiose achievements. At this time were open to Europeans North, Central and South America, the way to India around Africa, the first round-the-world trip was made, the beginning of systematic geographical discoveries in Siberia was laid.

Let us dwell very briefly on the results of only a few trips. Those who wish can familiarize themselves with the course of the expeditions in detail using the recommended literature.

The discovery of America is associated with the name of Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) - the great Italian traveler. Recall that the Normans, the first to visit America, leave no written evidence. Having discovered America, no matter how they filed a patent for this discovery. It fell into oblivion, forgotten.

aim Columbus's voyage was fabulously rich in India and other eastern countries. Columbus made four voyages. Geographic and cartographic calculations were made with an error, and on October 12, 1492 (the day America was discovered), Columbus ended up in the Bahamas, and then on the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (Haiti). The error was not discovered, Columbus believed that he visited the eastern tip of Asia, that is, India. Until the end of his days, Columbus was mistaken,

thinking he had visited Asian territories. The perseverance and courage of the traveler, who overcame great difficulties, are worthy of admiration.

Discovery of America- the most important event in the era of the great geographical discoveries.

It forced to reconsider the views that existed until now on the distribution of land and sea on Earth.

they brought his letters to his homeland, where he picturesquely, with fiction, outlined his journey, as well as the maps he had drawn up. The German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller suggested that the newly discovered mainland be named after Amerigo. At first, it was only South America, and in 1538, on the famous map of Mercator, the entire territory of America, both South and North, appears under this name.

The dream of Europeans to find a way to India was realized by the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama (1469 - 1524). He began his journey in 1497 in Lisbon, circled Africa, reached the Malabar coast near Calicut.

Seekers of new profit rushed along the paths of Columbus to America. One of them, balboa, crossed in search of gold Isthmus of Panama and saw with my own eyes the mysterious "South Sea". So a European first visited the Pacific coast in 1513.

Barrameda), to the south of the Atlantic Ocean, and only in 1520 did he discover the strait and go out into Pacific Ocean. The name of the ocean, as you know, was given by Magellan, because during his voyage there was not a single storm. After passing the Pacific and Indian Oceans and rounding Africa, the expedition returned to Spain in 1522 with heavy losses. Magellan was killed. Only one of the five ships remained.

On his journey, Magellan established: 1) the unity of the World Ocean;; 2) discovered the water space between America and Asia;; 3) confirmed the idea of the Earth's sphericity;; 4) gave a more complete picture of the configuration of South America.

5. The era of the Great Russian discoveries

Geographers of the ancient world. Prepared by:
students 6 "b"
Seryogina Tatiana
and Tereshkina Anna.

Pythagoras.

Pythagoras first suggested the sphericity of the Earth - if this

Pythagoras first suggested the sphericity of the Earth - if this
can be attributed to geography. Naturally, he could not prove his idea, also
how could not explain "why people do not fall from the back."
It is believed that Pythagoras borrowed this idea from the Egyptian priests. Counts,
Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, supplied Pythagoras with a letter of recommendation to
Pharaoh Amasis, thanks to which Pythagoras was admitted to training and initiated into
sacraments forbidden to other foreigners.
Pythagoras himself, perhaps still relied on the evidence of Skilak of Karyandsky,
who in 515 B.C. e. made a description of his voyages in the Mediterranean.

Eratosthenes.

Eratosthenes of Cyrene (276-194 BC) lived in the 3rd century. BC e. and was
contemporary of Archimedes and Aristarchus of Samos. Eratosthenes was a scientist-encyclopedist, the next keeper of the Library of Alexandria,
mathematician, astronomer, philologist, friend and correspondent of Archimedes.
Eratosthenes of Cyrene became famous as a geographer and surveyor. Indeed, Geography
Eratosthenes is known to us only through the "Geography" of Strabo - another
outstanding scientific period of Alexandrian science. Eratosthenes quite accurately
measured the circumference of the globe.
The conjecture about the sphericity of the Earth was already widespread then.
Aristotle, in his work "On Heaven", stated not only that the Earth
round shape, but also the fact that it is a small ball. Justification that the earth is
ball, Aristotle finds in the arcuateness falling during lunar eclipses
shadows from the Earth on the Moon, the rationale for the fact that the Earth is a small ball is that
with a relatively small movement from north to south and back, the picture
the starry sky changes: "Some stars visible in Egypt and in the region of Cyprus,
are not visible in the northern countries, and the stars, which in the northern countries are constantly
are visible, they enter in the indicated countries.

Ptolemy.

An important work of Ptolemy in the middle of the 2nd century AD -
A guide to geography in eight books is
a collection of knowledge about the geography of everything known to ancient peoples
peace. In his treatise, Ptolemy laid the foundations of mathematical
geography and cartography. Published the coordinates of eight
thousand points from Scandinavia to Egypt and
from the Atlantic to Indochina; this is a list of cities and rivers indicating
their geographic longitude and latitude. Based on extensive and
carefully collected information Claudius Ptolemy also
completed 27 maps of the earth's surface, which until now
time has not been found and may have been lost forever.
Ptolemaic maps became known only from later
descriptions. Despite the inaccuracies of this information and maps,
compiled mainly from the stories of travelers,
they showed for the first time the vastness of the inhabited regions of the Earth and
their relationship with each other.

Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus

Educational Institution "Vitebsk State University

named after P.M. Masherov"

Faculty of Biology

Department of Geography

1-31 02 01-02 03 Geography (scientific and pedagogical activity)

Course work

Geographic ideas of scientists of the ancient world

Koteleva Liliya Sergeevna,

1st year student of group 13

Supervisor:

Kurdin Sergey Ivanovich

Senior Lecturer

Department of Geography

Vitebsk, 2014

Coursework with. 25, fig. 9, sources 19.

History, geography, scientists, Ancient world, discoveries.

The object of research is the ideas of scientists of the ancient world.

The subject of the study is the scientists of antiquity and their contribution to geography.

The purpose of the work is to study the history of the emergence of geography and the ideas of scientists of the ancient world.

Research methods: descriptive.

Elements of novelty: the need to study the history of the origin of geography as a science has been identified.

Theoretical and practical significance: the results of the study can be used to expand knowledge in the development of the history of geography as a science.

Introduction

1.1 Geography as a philosophy

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Primitive man was already distinguished by keen observation and even the ability to make drawings of the area on skins, birch bark, wood - the prototypes of geographical maps. The primitive map as a way of transmitting geographic information arose long before the emergence of writing. Already at the earliest stages of his economic activity, primitive man entered into complex interactions with the natural environment. Archaeological studies have shown that already at the end of the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) man destroyed the bulk of large mammals within the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, thereby causing a kind of "first ecological crisis" in the history of our planet, and was forced to move from gathering and hunting to agriculture.

The beginnings of scientific geographical knowledge arose during the period of the slave-owning system, which replaced the primitive communal one and was characterized by a higher level of productive forces. The first division of society into classes arises and the first slave-owning states take shape: China, India, Phenicia, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt. During this period, people began to use metal tools, apply irrigation in agriculture; Cattle breeding developed on a large scale, handicrafts appeared, and the exchange of goods between different peoples expanded significantly. All this required a good knowledge of the area.

During this period, writing appeared, which made it possible to record and systematize the accumulated knowledge. The oldest monuments of Chinese writing

India is also the oldest center of culture. The written monuments of the ancient Hindus, the so-called "Vedas", dating back to the 2nd millennium BC, in addition to religious hymns, contain information about the peoples who lived on the territory of India, and about the nature of these regions.

The ancient Hindus had a good calendar. In treatises on astronomy dating back to the VI century. AD, it is already indicated that the Earth rotates on its axis and that the Moon borrows its light from the Sun.

The culture of the Sumerians was inherited by the ancient Babylonians, who founded their own state, which existed until the 7th century BC. BC, in the middle reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The Phoenicians, who lived on the Mediterranean coast, were the most daring navigators of the ancient world. Their main occupation was maritime trade, which was conducted within the entire Mediterranean world and captured the western (Atlantic) coast of Europe.

The Egyptians quite accurately determined the length of the year and introduced a solar calendar.

1. Geographical ideas of scientists of antiquity

1.1 Geography as a philosophy

Geography, like all other sciences of the ancient world, developed initially within philosophy. Philosophers considered the world as a natural unity, and all the activities of people as one of the manifestations of things. Man united with nature, included in it. At the same time, the idea of humanizing nature, giving it human features was expressed in mythological form. Geographical ideas were associated with a unified geography, which studies undivided space with the help of a descriptive method. The regional direction in the development of geography was descriptive. The greatest success was achieved by the ancient Greeks, who were able to use the method of abstraction to operate not only with empirical data, but also with their ideal images (models), which allowed the emergence of scientific knowledge in ancient Greece. At the same time, in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, Central and South America, this did not happen with a high culture.

Geography arose in ancient times in connection with the practical activities of people - hunting, fishing, nomadic cattle breeding, primitive agriculture. The range of factual knowledge of primitive man was determined by the nature of his activity and the immediate natural environment. The ability to navigate in space is closely related to observation.

The first large slave-owning states appeared in the 4th millennium BC. among the agricultural peoples of Asia Minor, Egypt, Mesopotamia, North India and China. Their formation was facilitated by the position along large rivers (irrigation sources and waterways) and reliable natural boundaries - mountains and deserts. The first written documents that have survived to this day were created. Traveling played an important role in the literary epic. So, in the ancient Sumerian epic poem about Gilgamesh (3rd millennium BC), it tells about the wanderings of a hero who reached the ocean through deserts and mountains.

The main travels were made for the purpose of trade and the conquest of new lands.

The ancient Greeks had an extremely solid and clear worldview. There was the Cosmos, the Sky, the gods lived there. People lived on earth. But there was no gap between them. The gods were like people. They could both get drunk and commit adultery, but they were always ready to interfere in the fate of people. The idea of the Earth among the early Greeks was religious and mythological. The Earth in the form of a convex shield was surrounded by the Ocean, from which all the rivers flowed. Beyond the Ocean was the realm of shadows. It was warmer in the eastern countries than in the western ones. They were closer to the sun.

During the archaic stage in the development of Ancient Greece, the center of scientific thought was Miletus (an Ionic colony in Asia Minor), where the first school of natural philosophy arose. The followers of this school tried to explain the structure of the Universe by natural causes, based on a holistic picture of the world, a single material principle: air for Anaximenes, water for Thales, "apeiron" or abstract matter for Anaximander, fire for Heraclitus.

However, the interpretation of natural phenomena by the Ionian natural philosophers was speculative. Earthquakes, for example, they explained as a consequence of the cracking of the earth from drought or after heavy rains.

1.2 History of the origin of geography as a science

Among the geographical ideas of the ancient world, inherited by modern geography, the views of scientists of antiquity are of particular importance. Ancient (Greco-Roman) geography reached its peak in ancient Greece and Rome in the period from the 12th century to the 12th century. BC. to 146 AD This was due to the fact that the position of Greece on the routes from Western Asia to the southern and western Mediterranean countries placed it in very favorable conditions for trade relations, and, consequently, for the accumulation of geographical knowledge.

The earliest written documents of the Greeks are the epic poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" attributed to Homer, the record of which dates back to the 8th-7th centuries. BC, but the events described in them took place around the 16th-12th centuries. BC. From these poems one can get an idea of the geographical knowledge of the era.

The Greeks represented the Earth as an island shaped like a convex shield. They knew well the countries adjacent to the Aegean Sea, but they had unclear ideas about more remote areas. However, they knew the major rivers of the Mediterranean-Black Sea basin: Rion (Phasis), Danube (Istres), Po (Padua), etc.; and they also had some information about Africa and about the nomadic peoples who lived north of Greece.

In ancient Greece, attempts were made to draw up geographical maps of the territory known at that time. The Greeks also tried to explain various natural phenomena in terms of natural science theories.

The Greek thinker Parmenides (5th century BC) (Fig. 1) put forward the idea of the sphericity of the Earth. However, he came to this conclusion not from experimental data, but from his philosophy of perfect forms.

Aristotle (Fig. 2) wrote many works of geographical content. One of the works is "Meteorology" - the pinnacle of the geographical science of antiquity.

In it, in particular, the issue of the water cycle with the participation of evaporation from the surface of water bodies, cooling with the formation of clouds and precipitation is considered. Fallen precipitation forms streams and rivers, large of which are formed in burrows. Rivers carry their waters to the seas in a volume equal to the amount of evaporated water. This is the reason why sea levels are stable. There is constant opposition between the sea and the land, which is why in some places the sea destroys the coast, in others a new land is formed. On this occasion, Aristotle writes the following: "And since the sea always recedes in one place and advances in another, it is clear that on the whole Earth the sea and land do not remain by themselves, but over time one turns into the Other."

Aristotle concluded that there was a constant flow of water from the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov towards the Mediterranean. Aristotle talked about "dry" evaporation, about thermal zones and winds, as a result of uneven heating of the earth's surface. He gave a description of the 12-beam wind rose. Aristotle wrote about earthquakes, thunder, lightning, hurricanes and other natural phenomena, as well as about the reason for their formation. Wrote the book "Politics", which spoke about the influence of various natural factors on human behavior. This was later called "geographical determinism". Aristotle said that the state of nature has a significant impact on the level of development of the state.

The state of nature, according to Aristotle, also affects the level of development of statehood: “The peoples living in countries with a cold climate and in the north of Europe are full of a courageous character, but their intellectual life and artistic interests are less developed. Therefore, they retain their freedom longer, but they are not capable of state life and cannot rule over their neighbors.On the contrary, the peoples inhabiting Asia are very intellectual and artistic, but they lack courage, and therefore they live in a subordinate and servile state.

The Hellenic people, geographically occupying, as it were, a middle place between the inhabitants of northern Europe and Asia, combines the natural properties of both; she has both a courageous character and a developed intellect; therefore, it retains its freedom, enjoys the best state organization and would be able to rule over all, if only it were united by one state system.

The works of the Greek scientist Herodotus (484-425 BC) had a great influence on the development of geography (Fig. 3).

The works were created on the basis of his personal research and travels. Herodotus visited and described Egypt, Libya, Phenicia, Palestine, Arabia, Babylonia, Persia, the nearest part of India, Media, the shores of the Caspian and Black Seas, Scythia (the southern part of the European territory of the USSR) and Greece. His extensive work, created in the 5th century BC, did not immediately receive the title "History in Nine Books". It was named so only two or three centuries after the death of the scientist. His book was divided in the Library of Alexandria into nine parts - according to the number of muses (as the parts of the book were called).

This work tells about the Greco-Persian wars, and about distant lands, about many peoples, and about various customs, and about the art of people from different countries. "History" of Herodotus is a generalizing geographical and historical work and one of the most important monuments of travel and discovery of the Earth. The books speak of his travels by land and sea. There are two characteristic fragments in the fourth book. The first of them describes the Borisfen River - this is how Herodotus called the Dnieper. Herodotus says that the region of the Scythian farmers extends along the Borisfen [Dnieper] for ten days of sailing. His ideas about the lands located upstream of Borisfen are vague. Herodotus also sailed along Pontus Ekvinsky (Black Sea), visited Olbia, an ancient Greek city on the banks of the Dnieper-Bug estuary; visited the vicinity of Olbia, saw the northern Black Sea region. According to the description of the Dnieper, we can conclude that he collected information about the middle Dnieper; only the region of the upper reaches of the Dnieper remained unknown to him. Herodotus reports an expedition around Africa.

The name Africa itself appeared much later, in the descriptions of Herodotus Africa is called "Libya": "Libya turns out to be surrounded by water, with the exception of the part where it borders on Asia; the first proved this, as far as we know, the Egyptian king Necho" - these lines begin a short message about an amazing voyage. Further, it is said how Necho instructed the Phoenician navigators to pass around Libya by sea: "... He sent the Phoenicians on ships into the sea [to the Red Sea] with orders to sail back through the Pillars of Hercules [Strait of Gibraltar] until they entered the northern sea and arrived to Egypt, the Phoenicians sailed from the Erythrean Sea and entered the South Sea.

At the onset of autumn, they landed on the shore, and, in whatever place of Libya they landed, they sowed the land and waited for the harvest; on harvesting bread sailed on. So two years passed in the voyage; and only in the third year did they round the Pillars of Hercules and return to Egypt. They also told me, which I do not believe, and someone else, perhaps, will believe that during the voyage around Libya, the Phoenicians had the sun on their right side. So Libya became known for the first time.

The above lines are the only news about navigation, which, apparently, had no analogue in antiquity and the Middle Ages. In the works of geographers of different eras - from the ancients, most of whom doubted the reality of navigation or even categorically denied its possibility, to modern ones, whose opinions differ - there are many very different statements.

The basic geographical sciences were also born in ancient Greece. Already by the VI century. BC. the needs of navigation and trade necessitated descriptions of land and sea coasts. At the turn of the VI century. BC. Hecataeus from Miletus compiled a description of the Oikoumene - all the countries known at that time to the ancient Greeks. "Earth description" of Hecateus was the beginning of the formation of the country-study direction in geography. In the era of "classical Greece" Herodotus was the most prominent representative of regional studies. His travels did not lead to the discovery of new lands, but contributed to the accumulation of more complete and reliable facts and the development of descriptive-regional accumulation in science. The science of classical Greece found its completion in the writings of Aristotle, who founded in 335. BC. philosophical school - the Lyceum in Athens. Almost everything that was known about geographical phenomena at that time was set forth in Aristotle's Meteorology. This work represents the beginnings of general geography, which were singled out by Aristotle from undivided geographical science.

By the era of Hellenism (330-146 BC) is the emergence of a new geographical direction, which later received the name of mathematical geography. One of the first representatives of this trend was Eratosthenes (276-1194 BC) (Fig. 4).

For the first time, he quite accurately determined the dimensions of the circumference of the globe by measuring the arc of the meridian (the measurement error was no more than 10%). Eratosthenes owns a great work, which is called "Geographical Notes", for the first time using the term "Geography". The book gives a description of the Oikumene, as well as discusses the issues of mathematical and physical geography (general geography). Thus, Eratosthenes combined three directions into one, called "geography". That is why he is considered the "father" of geographical science.

Half a century after Eratosthenes, the terms "geographical latitude" and "geographical longitude" were introduced by the ancient Greek astronomer Hipparchus, who invented the astrolabe and continued Eratosthenes' research on what all this meant for the history of the discovery of the Earth, is said with great expressiveness in "History of Geography" K Ritter, although his figurative assessment of the merits of these two scientists of the ancient world is somewhat hyperbolic.

K. Ritter writes that "few inventions had a more beneficial effect on the fate of sciences and the good of peoples than those associated with the names of Eratosthenes and Hipparchus ... Since that time, the navigator could find his way back and forth in the seas that had not yet been visited, and to portray it for posterity. The caravan could reach the goal of its wandering along hitherto unknown routes, through the desert or the whole part of the world, to unknown countries. From that time on, only posterity could use the geographical discoveries of their ancestors. The so often forgotten or obscured position of lands and localities could now easily be found by means of the given figure and latitude and longitude".

Not everything is undeniable in this statement. It exaggerates the former difficulties in determining the location of lands and the ease of these determinations after Eratosthenes. However, even one and a half thousand years after the great geographers and astronomers of antiquity, travelers still did not have accurate methods for determining geographic longitude. It is precisely with this that the often repeated searches for "enchanted islands" are associated, which then appeared, then again eluded the discoverers and, accordingly, disappeared from the map.

However, K. Ritter had every reason to single out the inventions of Eratosthenes and Hipparchus as significant in the history of human knowledge of the Earth. The modern network of geographical coordinates originates from the simple network on the map drawn by Eratosthenes. And in the writings of travelers, in the descriptions of new lands in the ship's journals of sailors, figures that change many times along the way, figures that cartographers look forward to, degrees and minutes of geographic latitude and longitude, gradually take their place.

"Geography" of Eratosthenes has not survived to our time. Its content has come down to us through separate excerpts, from the presentation of the opinions of the scientist and brief reviews of his work, which can be found among ancient scientists, especially Strabo (Fig. 5).

The "Geography" summarizes the history of knowledge about the Earth, it talks about the size of inhabited land, about individual countries that were known to the Greeks at the turn of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.

Following Aristotle and other scientists - supporters of the idea of the spherical shape of the Earth, Eratosthenes proceeds in his reasoning, as well as in his famous measurement of the size of the Earth, from the fact that the Earth is spherical. Related to this is the statement of Eratosthenes, the meaning and importance of which became clear one and a half thousand years later: "If the vastness of the Atlantic Sea did not prevent us, then it would be possible to cross from Iberia [Iberian Peninsula] to India along the same parallel circle" .

"Geography", or "Geography in seventeen books" - under such a laconic title, Strabo's work was published countless times during the two thousand years that have passed since it was written. Little is known about Strabo. He was a historian and geographer, visited different countries of the Mediterranean, wrote briefly about his travels in Geography, just a few phrases, in order to explain which lands he saw himself and which he knows from other people's descriptions.

Strabo's work contains the most detailed set of geographical knowledge of the ancient Greeks and Romans about the world. Eight books of "Geographies" are devoted to the countries of Europe, six books - to the countries of Asia and one book - to the African countries. The "Geography of Strabo" - the prototype of later books on regional studies - does not, of course, refer to travel literature, but, like the work of Herodotus, it also includes some messages about remarkable travels of antiquity that are precious to science.

We learn from Strabo, for example, about the voyages of Eudoxus. Strabo himself did not believe the information about this voyage. He borrowed them from Posidonius, a historian and philosopher of the 1st century BC, whose geographical judgments are known mainly from Strabo. Outlining the story of Posidonius, Strabo reproaches him for fiction: "... this whole story is not particularly far from the inventions of Pytheas, Euhemerus and Antiphanes. Those people can still be excused, as we forgive magicians for their inventions, because this is their specialty. But who can forgive this Posidonius, a man very experienced in proofs and a philosopher. This was unsuccessful with Posidonius.

The above lines are unfair to both Pytheas and Posidodonius. But the merit of Strabo is that he considered it necessary to place in his book a story that seemed implausible to him. Here is what is now known thanks to this about one of the oldest voyages to India, made in the 2nd century BC. BC. by a certain Eudoxus of Cyzicus (an island in the Sea of Marmara).

Strabo writes: "Eudoxus, as the story says, arrived in Egypt in the reign of Euergetes II; he was introduced to the king and his ministers and talked with them, especially regarding travels up the Nile ... Meanwhile, the story continues, some Indian at that time was accidentally brought to the king by the coast guard from the very depression of the Arabian Gulf.The Indian who brought him said that they found him half dead alone on a ship that ran aground;who he is and where they come from, they do not know, because they do not understand his language.The king handed over the Indian to the people, who were supposed to teach him the Greek language. Having learned Greek, the Indian told that, sailing from India, he by an accident lost his course and, having lost his companions, who died of starvation, he finally reached Egypt safely. Since this story was received with doubt by the king, he promised to be a guide to persons appointed by the king to sail to India. Among these persons was Eudoxus. Thus, Eudoxus sailed to India with gifts and returned with a load of b lagoons and precious stones ... ".

The travels and adventures of Eudoxus did not end there. The goods brought by him were taken from him by King Everget, and after the death of Everget, he had a chance to set sail again to India, this time at the behest of Cleopatra. On the way back, the ship was blown away by the winds to the south of Ethiopia.

The third voyage was unsuccessful. Regardless of this, the message that Eudoxus went to the open sea using constant winds is very important. It can be assumed that already in his first voyage to India, he learned from the "guide" - an Indian about the monsoons of the Indian Ocean and how a ship should sail on the open sea with the help of these winds.

Journeys from Greece and Egypt to India had been made before, long before Eudoxus. But such journeys - more by land than by sea - lasted a long time, about two years, and were exceptional and difficult. And the monsoon helped the ship not to stay close to the coast, cross the ocean and go all the way in a month or two.

More and more merchant ships of the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians set off along the sea route trodden by the expedition of Eudoxus. In the 1st century A.D. even a detailed guide for sailors was written in Egypt - "Periplus of the Erythrean Sea", that is, "Sailing in the Indian Ocean". In it we find a brief mention of the Greek navigator Hippalus, who "discovered" navigation to India "right across the sea." Now it is difficult to establish definitively whether there is a connection between this mention and the story given in Strabo's book about the travels of Eudoxus. Some modern researchers believe that Gippal was a member of the first voyage to India, which was made by Eudoxus. But the main content of Strabo's "Geography" is detailed systematic descriptions of countries known to scientists of the ancient world.

A number of works that relate to geography were written by the materialist philosopher Democritus (Fig. 6).

He traveled extensively and compiled a map on the basis of which later maps were built. Democritus posed a number of geographical problems that many scientists later dealt with: measuring the land area known at that time; measuring the entire area of the Earth, studying the influence of climate on the organic world of the planet.

Rome became the heir to the cultural conquests of Greece and Alexandria. The largest ancient scientist of Roman origin is called Gaius Pliny Secundus the Elder (23-79) (Fig. 7), the author of "Natural History" in 37 books - encyclopedias of natural science knowledge of his time, compiled on the basis of the works of two thousand authors, Greek and Roman.

Pliny paid special attention to quantitative indicators when describing. Here is a fragment from the "Natural History" concerning the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov: "Some say that the Meotian Lake itself, which receives the Tanais River, which flows from the Riphean Mountains and is the extreme border between Europe and Asia, extends in a circle for 1406 miles, others - for 1125 miles It is known that the direct path from its mouth to the mouth of the Tanais is 275 miles.

Pliny notes the length and width of the Kerch Strait, the names of settlements on its banks. Peoples living in a particular area, their customs and occupation are listed everywhere. Also. Pliny knew about the "Nile Marshes", a region south of the desert strip, inhabited by elephants, rhinos and pygmies.

One of the greatest connoisseurs of the philosophical heritage of the Ionians and Epicureans was the famous scientist and poet Titus Lucretius Carus (99-55 BC) (Fig. 8). His poem "The Nature of Things" is an attempt to consider and explain all natural phenomena from the Universe to living organisms, to understand the secrets of birth, human thought and soul.

One of the greatest connoisseurs of the philosophical heritage of the Ionians and Epicureans was the famous scientist and poet Titus Lucretius Car (99-55 BC). His poem "The Nature of Things" is an attempt to consider and explain all natural phenomena from the Universe to living organisms, to understand the secrets of birth, human thought and soul.

As A.B. Dietmar, "the poem consists of six books. The first and second give the doctrine of the eternity and infinity of the Universe, the doctrine of atoms and their properties, the doctrine of the eternity of movement. The third and fourth speak of the unity of the soul and body and of sensory sensations as a source of knowledge The fifth and sixth books describe the world as a whole, individual phenomena and the causes that give rise to them, give an idea of \u200b\u200banimals and humans, religion and social activity ".

In nature, everything changes, arises, disintegrates, is re-created. All things in their decomposition return to the state of primary matter in order to again take part in natural transformations. "If I see that the members and parts of the great world perish, then are born again, therefore, also our earth and the firmament of heaven had a beginning, and they are about to perish."

For Lucretius, evolution and the acquisition of new properties are a self-evident property of matter. All this happens without the participation of the gods and prior expediency. Lucretius deals with the origin of the Earth, various meteorological phenomena, the water cycle, the causes of thunder and lightning, earthquakes and many other phenomena.

Thus, Roman scientists created generalizing geographical works in which they tried to show all the diversity of the world known to them. The largest works of this type include the book of Pomponius Mela (I century) "On the position of the Earth", or "On chorography".

As V.T. Bogucharovsky, "Pomponius systematized information from the works of Herodotus, Eratosthenes, Hipparchus and other predecessor scientists. The description of the territories was not accompanied by significant original theoretical calculations. Pomponius divided the land into five climatic zones: hot, two cold and two belt inhabited by "antichthons" (counter-living) ".

The campaigns and wars of the Romans provided very large material for geography, but the processing of this material was carried out mainly by Greek scientists. The largest of them are Strabo and Ptolemy.

The mathematician and geographer Claudius Ptolemy (Fig. 9), a Greek by birth, lived in Egypt in the first half of the 2nd century BC. AD

His largest work was the creation of the "system of the world", which dominated science for more than a thousand years. The geographical views of Ptolemy are expressed in the book "Geographical Guide". He builds his geography on purely mathematical principles, first of all indicating the geographical definition of the latitude and longitude of each place.

Ptolemy had more significant geographical material than Strabo. In his works, as M. Golubchik writes, "one can find information about the Caspian Sea, the Volga River (Ra) and the Kama River (Eastern Ra). When describing Africa, he dwells in detail on the sources of the Nile, and his description is largely similar with the latest research.

The works of Ptolemy summed up all the geographical knowledge of the ancient world, which are quite large. Geographers of the most developed countries of Western Europe until the 15th century. almost nothing was added to the geographical knowledge that the Greeks and Romans had before the 3rd century. From the above examples of the most important geographical works of antiquity, two paths in the development of geography are outlined with sufficient clarity. The first way is a description of individual countries (Herodotus, Strabo). The second way is a description of the whole Earth as a single whole (Eratosthenes, Ptolemy). These two main paths in geography have survived to the present day.

Thus, during the era of the slave system, significant geographical knowledge was accumulated. The main achievements of this period were the establishment of the spherical shape of the Earth and the first measurements of its dimensions, the writing of the first major geographical works and the compilation of geographical maps, and, finally, the first attempts to give a scientific explanation for the physical phenomena occurring on Earth.

As a result of a theoretical analysis of the literature, it was revealed that the first large slave-owning states appeared in the 4th millennium BC. among the agricultural peoples of Asia Minor, Egypt, Mesopotamia, North India and China. Their formation was facilitated by the position along large rivers (irrigation sources and waterways) and reliable natural boundaries - mountains and deserts. The first written documents were created, which give ancient ideas about the geographical knowledge of the peoples of the ancient East, describe a known part of the Earth, contain brief descriptions of the territory of the state, etc.

In the ancient world, two paths of development of geography are outlined. The first way is a description of individual countries (Herodotus, Strabo). The second way is a description of the whole Earth as a single whole (Eratosthenes, Ptolemy).

Conclusion

geography antiquity philosopher map

For the primitive communal system and the slave-owning states, the tasks of geography were reduced to expanding the spatial outlook, the accumulation of empirical material. A person's worldview was formed in the space of their residence.

The study of geography was based on the concept of "place", i.e. a piece of land that forms the properties of topophilia and topophobia in a person, i.e. ideas about good and bad places, good and bad hunting, friendly and bad people. Geography arose in ancient times in connection with the practical activities of people - hunting, fishing, nomadic cattle breeding, primitive agriculture. The range of factual knowledge of primitive man was determined by the nature of his activity and the immediate natural environment. The ability to navigate in space is closely related to observation.

Acute powers of observation and a good knowledge of individual facts were combined with underdevelopment of thinking. Hence the inability to explain many natural processes and phenomena (droughts, earthquakes, floods, etc.), which found its expression in animism (the concept of spirits and the soul) and magic (sorcery, sorcery, sorcery). The primitive man's idea of the origin of things was inevitably fantastic and passed down orally from generation to generation. It took the form of myths, i.e. folk tales about gods and legendary heroes, about the origin of the world. Already in 3 thousand BC. e. in ancient Egypt, expeditions were equipped to the center of Africa, along the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The resettlement of peoples, wars and trade expanded people's knowledge of the surrounding spaces, developed the skills of orienting in the Sun, Moon and stars.

The dependence of agriculture and cattle breeding on river floods and other periodic natural phenomena determined the appearance of the calendar. In the 3-2 millennium BC. e. representatives of the Harappan civilization (on the territory of modern Pakistan) discovered the monsoons. The elements of geography contain the sacred ancient Indian books: in the "Vedas" a whole chapter is devoted to cosmology, in the "Mahabharata" you can find a list of oceans, mountains, rivers. Already IX-VIII centuries BC. e. in ancient China, when choosing a place to build a fortress, they made maps of suitable sites. In the III century BC. e. there are works entirely devoted to geography, a compass and a device for measuring distance, the "Regional Atlas" of China. Geography, like all other sciences of the ancient world, developed initially within philosophy. Philosophers considered the world as a natural unity, and all the activities of people as one of the manifestations of things. Man united with nature, included in it.

At the same time, the idea of humanizing nature, giving it human features was expressed in mythological form. Geographical ideas were associated with a unified geography, which studies undivided space with the help of a descriptive method. The regional direction in the development of geography was descriptive. The explanation had a religious-mythological, and then a natural-philosophical basis, speculatively interpreting nature. It was based on the geocentric understanding of the universe. At the same time, some speculative ideas were expressed (about the sphericity of the Earth and its spheres, the dependence of man on nature), which "illuminated" the path of development of geography for many centuries.

A unique method of empirical generalizations and transmission of geoinformation has also emerged - cartographic. Ancient Mediterranean geography The pre-Socratic philosophical tradition has already generated many prerequisites for the emergence of geography. Anaximander suggested that the Earth was shaped like a cylinder and made the revolutionary suggestion that humans must also live on the other side of the "cylinder". He also published separate geographical works.

In the IV century. BC e. -- 5th century n. e. ancient scientists-encyclopedists tried to create a theory about the origin and structure of the surrounding world, to depict the countries known to them in the form of drawings. The results of these studies were a speculative idea of the Earth as a ball (Aristotle), the creation of maps and plans, the determination of geographical coordinates, the introduction of parallels and meridians, cartographic projections. Crates of Mallus, a Stoic philosopher, studied the structure of the globe and created a model of the globe, suggested how the weather conditions of the northern and southern hemispheres should correlate.

"Geography" in 8 volumes of Claudius Ptolemy contained information about more than 8000 geographical names and coordinates of almost 400 points. Eratosthenes of Cyrene first measured the arc of the meridian and estimated the size of the Earth, he owns the term "geography" (earth description).

Strabo was the founder of regional studies, geomorphology and paleogeography. In the works of Aristotle, the foundations of hydrology, meteorology, oceanology are outlined, and the division of geographical sciences is outlined.

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19. Electronic resource http://ponimai.su/cmspage

Ancient geographers and their achievements. Geography in ancient states. Geographic ideas of ancient scientists

Pythagoras.

Eratosthenes.

Ptolemy.

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