udk 910.1 V. A. Shalnev
progress and problems of modern
geography at the turn of the century
Successes and challenges of modern
geography at the turn of the century
The article considers the main stages in the history of the development of geographical ideas, reflecting integration approaches in the theory of geography, and the complexity of building a theory of general geography.
Key words: unified geography, zonal-complex concept, anthropogeography, chorological concept, theoretical geography, geoecology, general geography, geoversum.
The article describes the main stages of the history of geographical ideas, reflecting integration approaches in the theory of geography, and the complexity of constructing a theory of general geography.
Keywords: single geography, zonal-integrated concept anthropogeography, chorological concept, theoretical geography, geoecology, general geography, geoversum.
Any science as a form of social consciousness goes through a difficult path of development from the descriptive stage to the stage of theoretical and methodological understanding. The history of any science is not only its achievements and successes, but, first of all, the people who created this history. Their thoughts, feelings, experiences, doubts, searches. This is the aura of that era in which they lived and worked, which they managed to “absorb” and convey in a concentrated manner in their deeds and heritage. V. I. Vernadsky wrote that “each generation of scientific researchers seeks and finds in the history of science a reflection of the scientific currents of its time.”
Geography is an “omnivorous” science, and over several thousand years it has accumulated a huge amount of scientific and non-scientific facts that it could not comprehend and, as B. Akhmadulina wrote, “sculpt a heavy tangible object out of the moonlight”. It is impossible to recall in one work all the "sowers" and "seekers of truth" who worked in the field of "geographical fields". Our task here is more modest: firstly, to consider the main achievements in the field of integration approaches of theoretical and methodological understanding and the heritage of geography as a science;
secondly, to recall once again those great geographers on whose shoulders the modern building of geography rests, decrepit in the fluidity of time and requiring major repairs in the area of its foundation - general geography, the integral ideas of its constituent parts.
There are several main stages and integration trends in the history of geography:
Creation of a unified (undivided) geography that described the surface of the Earth, its individual regions
and countries. The accumulated vast factual material required its generalization, and such a way was found in the creation of cartography and maps with their own language and symbols. It was a great time in the history of geography. Cartographic models-images of the Earth's surface, prototypes of future GIS were created. However, such geography could answer only two questions: what is being described and where is the object of description. The explanatory part (why and how?) was absent from it. The spatial approach was realized only in the ideological understanding of the three-term global space: macrocosm (divine layers), mesocosm (terrestrial nature) and microcosm (spiritual essence of man). The dominant feature in such a space was geographical determinism;
An important event at the end of the 19th century and a great contribution to world geography was the Russian zonal-complex concept, at the origins of which was V.V. Dokuchaev. His ideas were realized in the original Russian landscape-geographical school. This was preceded by the emergence of the concept of a geographical complex, which was introduced by A. N. Krasnov for natural objects, where the key to the essence of geography was the “interaction of components”. Later N. N. Kolosovsky will formulate the concept of the production complex. The foundations of landscape science were laid by L. S. Berg, G. N. Vysotsky, G. F. Morozov and others. L. S. Berg combined the doctrine of landscape with the concept of zoning by publishing Landscape Zones of the USSR. Then the work of N. A. Solntsev and A. G. Isachenko gave a serious impetus to field landscape research and landscape mapping of morphological units. A process direction has also taken shape. B. B. Polynov laid the foundations of geochemistry, and D. L. Armand - the geophysics of landscapes. The works of S. V. Kalesnik played a decisive role in overcoming
gap between general geography and landscape science [Isachenko, 2000]. The strengthening of synthesis in physical geography was facilitated by the teachings on the geosystem of V. B. Sochava and the landscape sphere of F. N. Milkov. The objects of study of physical geography were also clearly defined. The general object is a geographic envelope. Private objects - a set of individual regional TPK (from the geographical zone, the mainland to the landscape), as well as morphological units of the landscape, studied by typological methods;
An attempt to be realized in anthropogeography, where with the help of biological determinism and possibilism
the role of the natural factor in the life of a person (mankind) was considered. This was most clearly reflected in LN Gumilyov's theory of ethnogenesis, when the landscape forms the ethnos as the substance of the biosphere. Here, the natural-ecological and natural-social feature of culture (K. Ritter's line), ethnic cultural genesis is also manifested. This explained the mechanism of arrangement of natural space by man within the framework of the concept of geographical determinism. In the future, with the development of trends in the globalization of society, the socio-regulatory part of culture, its spiritual, mental and intellectual components become the leading one. A new paradigm about the natural and social object of geography begins to take shape, called the cultural landscape (K. Sauer, O. Schluter, Yu. A. Vedenin), the mechanism for understanding which is the processes of cultural genesis of an industrial society and the position of anthropocentrism with the leading role of the laws of development of society . However, on the whole, these ideas led to a consolidation in geography only in the form of biogeography (the doctrine of the biosphere and the natural landscape based on the ideas of vitalism) and the doctrine of the sociosphere;
There was a change in methodological positions in geography associated with the rejection of geographical and biological determinisms. This led to the other extreme - indeterminism, when the free will of man became dominant. In social philosophy and, as a result, in geography, the ideas of anthropocentrism began to assert themselves. Man entered the arena of history as a force competing with the forces of nature. In the middle of the 20th century, the concept of "technological optimism" appeared, at the origins of which was the slogan of transforming
childbirth. In geography, the chorological concept (A. Gettner, R. Hartshorne) is becoming popular, associated with the description of a multitude of individual filled spaces and localities. At the end of the 20th century, it was transformed into a post-chorological concept (D.N. Zamyatin, E.L. Feibusovich, B.B. Rodoman, A.N. Lastochkin, M.M. Golubchik) with an application in the form of theoretical geography. It was based on geotopological determinism, where the knowledge of a complex object is reduced to an extremely simplified model (geotopological reductionism). The chorological anthropocentrism of R. Hartshorne also affected the views of Soviet (Russian) representatives of social geography, who, by exaggerating the role of human activity and scientific and technological progress, considered social patterns in the "nature-society" system, they are decisive, therefore all geography for them turns into a humanitarian science;
the development of domestic socio-economic geography in the second half of the twentieth century was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Anglo-American school, which reflected "revolutionary events": a quantitative revolution (quantification), a theoretical revolution (avant-garde geomodernism), the creation of radical geography, etc. This contributed to the use systems approach, mathematical methods, modeling methods in geographical research and attempts to create theoretical geography. However, an unambiguous approach to the foundations of theoretical geography has not developed. Two approaches have been identified: first, in a broad sense, when the general theory of geography is understood as the totality of all theories, teachings, and concepts of modern geography. This approach is summarized in the work of V.P. Maksakovskii (1998). Secondly, in a narrow sense, when theoretical geography is understood as a general theory of geographic spatial systems. This direction was realized by the efforts of V. Bunge, P. Hagget, V. M. Gokhman, B. L. Gurevich and others in the block of social and geographical sciences, in particular, the theory of location and the spatial aspect of human activity. Yu. G. Saushkin wrote about theoretical geography as a new science that explores spatial systems at the most abstract level (1976). According to B. B. Rodoman, this geography constructs landscape networks, their interweaving at the level of civilizations and the biosphere (1999). He associates it with metageogra-
fiey. However, the consolidation of geographical ideas did not happen, since there was no place for physical geography in it. This was noted with regret by R. Johnston, saying that there are fewer and fewer points of contact between sociogeography and physical geography (1988);
The emergence of unifying trends in geography with the identification of an ecological approach that gained popularity in the second half of the 20th century. The appearance of geoecology was preceded by a lively discussion with a large number of participants. However, unfortunately, not professional geographers played on this field. In addition, without the presence of a theory of general geography, it was impossible to create a qualitative theoretical foundation for geoecology. Therefore, social ecology has become a “flux” in foreign geography. Russian geoecologists made an attempt to adapt geoecological ideas to the general geography heritage. The regional concept of the territorial organization of society did not help either, since the geoecological paradigm had not yet been implemented in its fundamental provisions, such as the doctrine of the geographical environment;
a historical review of the achievements of individual scientists in the development of the theory and methodology of geography led to a surprising conclusion that the most interesting ideas and new conceptual provisions in geography were most often formulated by scientists who did not have a basic geographical education (I. Kant, V.V. Dokuchaev, L. S. Berg, A. A. Grigoriev, V. I. Vernadsky, V. B. Sochava, N. N. Baransky, N. N. Kolosovsky and others). Apparently, the education system that developed in the universities of the world and Russia (USSR) in the 20th century with in-depth immersion in highly specialized areas with large amounts of information to remember does not justify itself. “A mediocre student of a special class of the lyceum,” wrote A. de Saint-Exupery, “knows more about nature and its laws than Descartes and Pascal. However, is such a student capable of thinking like them? Modern curricula in the specialty "Geography" provide extensive knowledge about the branch sciences and integral disciplines of certain groups of sciences (general geography, biogeography, general socio-economic geography), but do not provide integral knowledge about the general object and subject of geography. The final course "Theory and Methodology" does not solve these problems either.
geographic science” [Golubchik et al., 2005[. The theoretical foundations of geography outlined in it did not compete with the biospheric concept, which is widespread in the world community, since they do not reveal the fundamental foundations of the geographical approach;
One cannot but be alarmed by the trends in the loss of the culture of scientific discussions in the geographical community, their openness and uncompromisingness, the growth of corporate approaches and the decrease in professional demands on the quality of scientific research. V. S. Preobrazhensky wrote about this at the end of the 20th century: “Science, after all, will not survive by avoiding professional exactingness in assessments ... in an atmosphere of complacency (excellently reflected in the reviews of opponents and parent organizations) ... You cannot escape decay ... Dullness not only a genetic, but also a social phenomenon ... And the genetic code of social memory is formed not by someone, but by us with our tolerance for poor quality of work (if only “there are more numbers ...”)” .
General geography can become the core of new integral approaches [Isachenko, 2000; Shalnev, 2000, 2013; Lastochkin, 2008; Trofimov and Sharygin, 2008; Rozanov, 2010] with its global and regional aspects. Its qualitative content should answer the complex questions of the fundamental provisions of the theory of the system of geographical sciences:
1. What is geographical reality or geographic world? What are the main stages of cognition of this reality?
2. How were the worldview positions of philosophy reflected in the theory of geographical sciences when changing social formations from the standpoint of the categories of interaction, the whole and the part, as well as the general, singular and special?
3. Is it possible to form in the scientific community an idea of an idealized limiting object (image) and its particular objects of study in geography from the positions of the evolutionary approach in complicating their structure?
4. What are the features of the subject of study of geography, taking into account evolutionary changes in the structure of the ultimate object of general geography and the characteristics of the interaction of man (mankind) and nature?
5. What is the role of activity-based approaches and processes of cultural genesis of society in the formation of a complex modern global geospace and its structures of different hierarchies?
6. What general scientific and geographical theoretical and methodological foundations are important in the creation of general geography?
7. What are the difficulties in constructing the theory of general geography, its categorical apparatus and laws.
The central position in this list of problems is occupied by the concept of the general object of geography. There have been many attempts to designate such an object of study in geography. V. I. Vernadsky proposed the noosphere for these purposes, E. Reclus, L. I. Mechnikov, N. A. Gvozdetsky, N. K. Mukitanov - the geographical environment, G. P. Vysotsky - the geosociosphere, V. M. Kotlyakov and V. S. Preobrazhensky called the geographical shell. In our opinion, such an object can be the geoverseum, or the geographical shell of human history. Such an object of general geography is the geographical reality of the planet Earth, a complex global geosystem:
Emerged and developing in the spatio-temporal parameters of the solar system and the planet Earth, but limited from them by the environment of its geospace, its system of circulation of energy, matter and information;
Having its own vertical (set of geospheres) and horizontal (set of territorial geosystems) structure;
Possessing unique properties due to the presence of living matter and the culture of human society, which change its natural essence and create a modern geographical picture of the world (Shalnev, 2000, 2013).
From the standpoint of philosophical and mythological understanding
geoversum - this is the space of the Earth, where nature has created an earthly paradise, and humanity has created purgatory and hell.
And yet, summing up the discussion about the trends of integration processes in geography, I would like to think about geography with optimism and recall the words of V. S. Preobrazhensky: “The romance of difficult and distant roads, the romance of a field fire, has not disappeared in geography. New things are added - the joy of the elegance of the formula, the romance of reflection, the theoretical search. The era of great theoretical discoveries in geography is ahead” (1988).
REFERENCES 1. Golubchik M. M., Evdokimov S. P., Maksomov G. N., Nosonov A. M.
Theory and methodology of geographical science. M.: Publishing house Vlados, 2005.
2. Isachenko A. G. General geography in the system of geographical knowledge// Izvestia of the Russian Geographical Society. T. 132. 200. Issue. 2.
3. Lastochkin A. N. The purpose of general geography in the modern world // Geography and geoecological aspects of nature and society. St. Petersburg: Publishing house of St. Petersburg State University, 2008.
4. Maksakovskiy V. P. Geographical culture. M.: Publishing house Vlados, 1998.
5. Preobrazhensky V. S. Being a geographer // Newspaper geography, 1998. No. 23.
6. Preobrazhensky VV I am a geographer. M.: Izd-vo GEOS, 2001.
7. Rodoman B. B. Theoretical areas and networks. Essays on theoretical geography. Smolensk: Oikumene Publishing House, 1999.
8. Rozanov L. L. General geography. Moscow: Drofa Publishing House, 2010.
9. Saushkin Yu. G. History and methodology of geographical science: a course of lectures. M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1976.
10. Trofimov A. M., Sharygin M. D. General geography (questions of theory and methodology). Perm, 2008.
11. Shalnev V. A. History and methodology of general geography. Stavropol: SGU Publishing House, 2000.
12. Shalnev V. A. History, theory and methodology of geography. Stavropol: Izd-vo SKFU, 2013.
12. Jonston R. J. Fragmentation around a defenden core: the territory of geography. Geogr. J. 1988, No. 2. P. 146.
cue federal university”, Doctor of Geography, Professor of the Department of Physical Geography and Landscape Science, tel.: 8-962-44705-24, e-mail: [email protected]
Shalnev Viktor Alexandrovich, North Caucasus Federal University, doctor of geographical sciences, professor in the Department of physical geography and landscape
Municipal educational budgetary institution secondary school No. 2 in the village of Starobaltachevo of the municipal district Baltachevsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan
"Actual problems of teaching geography in the context of the implementation of the Federal State Educational Standards LLC."
Prepared by: Sultanova Elza Anvarovna
School geography is a subject of an ideological nature, which forms in students a holistic, complex, systemic idea of the Earth as a planet of people. The scope of this subject includes natural and social objects and phenomena, so the goals of teaching geography are particularly broad. More generally, the goal of geographical education is to provide students with a complete system of geographical knowledge and skills, as well as the possibilities of their application in various life situations. The contribution of school geography to the formation of the student's personality is determined by the current stage of interaction between nature and society, when the activity of the individual is the most important factor in the system of relationships between man and nature. To bring it in line with the requirements of the time and the tasks of the development of the country, a significant update of the content of education is necessary. The main condition for solving this problem is the introduction state standard general education.
Currently, geography belongs to a number of subjects, which are defined in the federal component of the state standard of 2004 as mandatory for studying in basic school. The basic content of education, the requirements for the preparation of students in the subject and control over the fulfillment of these requirements are independent of the type of educational institution or territory where education is conducted, its profile. Geography is a subject that provides an opportunity to develop goal-setting, planning, reflection and self-esteem during the lesson.
Recommendations on the use of existing textbooks and teaching materials. It is necessary to pay attention to the year of publication of textbooks, since in educational process textbooks should be used no earlier than 2006 edition (in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard for Basic General and Secondary (Complete) General Education). When organizing the educational process, along with the previously used teaching materials, it is necessary to introduce a new generation of teaching materials, the features of which are:
reorientation from knowledge transfer to the formation of key competencies;
formation of competencies based on a systemic-activity approach in training;
strengthening the block of applied knowledge.
The teacher of geography in his work uses the author's program of the line of teaching materials on which he works. Each team of authors of geography training courses offers a program developed in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard of the new generation and exemplary subject programs, which are based on continuity with exemplary programs of primary general education.
Practical work is an integral part of the process of teaching geography. Performance practical work provides the formation of skills to apply theoretical knowledge in practice, equips with vital skills, such as reading, analyzing and comparing physical maps, statistical materials, etc. Practical work contributes to the education of industriousness in schoolchildren, the development of independence and is one of the important stages in preparing for the Unified State Exam in geography. The implementation of the system of practical work provided for by the program contributes to the mastery of cartographic, comparative-historical, geoecological, geosystemic approaches and methods by schoolchildren. According to the didactic purpose, all practical work is divided into training (training), independent (creative), final (evaluative). No more than 20% of the study time of the corresponding program is allocated to the implementation of practical work. The final (estimated) work is about 50% of the work. The performance of training and creative work by the teacher is evaluated selectively and only satisfactory marks are given in the school magazine.
Special attention still needs to be paid to the time allotted for studying geography in the 6th grade. Despite the decrease in the number of hours of the federal component to 35 hours, it is still supposed to allocate 70 hours for the study of the initial course of geography. Additional hours have been transferred to the regional component: in the 6th grade, 1 hour of study time per week is allocated for teaching the local history module. At the present stage of development of the school, the attitude to local history is changing. It becomes one of the ways to implement the regional component. Separately highlighting the problem of creating and comprehending the integrity of a certain territory by students, one should point out two ways of studying local history in school practice. Local material involved as additional information on the subject, due to its importance, can become the basis for the development of the regional component of geographical education. At the same time, local history material remains an additional source for the formation of basic concepts and ideas of geography.
The basic curriculum of the new generation standards includes the heading "Extracurricular work", which is allocated 10 hours in each class. And, of course, while this is not the case at the middle and senior levels of the school, nevertheless, one of the areas is preparation for the Olympiads. The organization of extracurricular activities contributes to the expansion of the skills of practical activities of students. It connects the theoretical foundations of knowledge with their practical application, and also involves a large number of forms of activity that cannot be implemented in the classroom. One of the pedagogical conditions for successful preparation for the Olympiad is a combination of classroom and extracurricular work. All Olympiad tasks are built on the basis of school geography courses. Tasks only develop, logically complicate basic knowledge and clothe them in a more entertaining form. Content Olympiad tasks defined by the "Exemplary program of basic general education in geography" in accordance with the sections:
Sources of geographic information
Earth nature and man
Continents, oceans, peoples and countries
Geography of Russia
Nature management and geoecology.
Nature and man in the modern world
world population
Geography of the world economy
Regions and countries of the world
Russia in the modern world
Geographical aspects of modern global problems of mankind.
When preparing the winners of the district-city stage of the subject Olympiad for participation in the regional Olympiad, you can use the tasks of the regional Olympiads of the last 5 years. In preparation, emphasis should be placed on the practical component of them. In particular, for the construction of a geological and geomorphological transverse profile; to work with a square-kilometer grid of a topographic map; determination of azimuths on the map and the ability to calculate the length of various routes. In addition to the listed tasks, it is possible to include in the structure of practical tours and other tasks, including creative ones related to the independent development of search and research projects(for example, business plans, territorial development programs, local history, etc.). Tasks of this type, as a rule, are offered to high school students studying economic geography.
When preparing for the theoretical part, emphasis should be placed on geographical discoveries and travels that have a significant date in 2010-2011; recognize and describe specific areas of the earth's surface by contour or image; determine special (specific) points of the earth by coordinates. Explain the geographical consequences of the movement of the Earth around the Sun and the rotation of the Earth around its axis; days of equinox and solstice, their specific manifestations in specific territories. According to the description, be able to determine a particular territory (country or region of the country). Clearly know and apply climate-forming factors and their territorial manifestations in a changed situation, be able to analyze the climatogram. Features of the water regime of rivers and lakes, causes of changes in salinity surface water World Ocean, causes of formation, directions and features of cold and warm ocean currents. Understand the peculiarities of the territorial concentration of many economic phenomena. Be able to read and analyze various cartograms and cartograms, diagrams, tables and graphs. We remind you that when preparing the participants of the Olympiad of the regional tour, you should use materials published in the journal "Geography at School" over the past 5 years, in the newspaper "Geography" (supplement to the newspaper "First of September"), the journal "Geography and Ecology at School XXI ", as well as in the new popular science magazine for schoolchildren "Geography for schoolchildren", which began to be published in 2008.
The USE has become the usual form of final certification. Considering the small number of participants in the USE in geography (less than 5% of graduates), it is difficult to determine the level and characteristics of training in geography for all graduates of general educational institutions of the region. However, based on the analysis of these results, one can get an idea about the features of assimilation of the material of school geography courses. The results obtained make it possible to identify some strengths and weaknesses in the preparation of graduates, to identify certain trends, to determine the levels of mastering knowledge and skills by individual groups of students in geography, and to offer recommendations for improving the learning process. Positive changes in the quality of the geographical education of examinees recorded in recent years, of course, were the result of the systematic work of teachers aimed at achieving by students the appropriate requirements for the level of preparation of graduates. This indicates the need to continue to pay special attention to the use of various sources of geographical knowledge (maps, statistical materials, drawings and texts) in the learning process and the formation of skills to independently use them to compare and explain the studied territories, geographical objects and phenomena. Teaching students these important activities should be systematically paid attention to in the educational process, based on the analysis USE results in geography in 2009-10. Focusing students' attention on the typical mistakes of graduates and their analysis can be an effective means of preventing the formation of distorted geographical knowledge.
The inclusion of USE tasks that test the formation of these skills, both in thematic and final test work, using them in the current control will allow, on the one hand, the teacher to get an objective picture of the state of formation of skills, and on the other hand, it will encourage students to focus not only on the text of the textbook, but also illustrative material, statistical applications. When organizing the control of mastering the basic concepts, it is important to pay more attention to the use of questions and tasks that test the understanding of general concepts that reflect the studied geographical objects and phenomena, the ability to give examples of them, the ability to apply them. The ability to clearly formulate one's thoughts using geographical terms and concepts, to record the course of one's own reasoning when solving both educational and problems arising in the surrounding reality is one of the important subject competencies. Excessive enthusiasm for test tasks with a choice of answers when testing knowledge inevitably leads to the fact that students are simply deprived of the opportunity to formulate detailed answers on their own. It is necessary to teach students this already from the geography course of the 6th grade.
For the USE, like any other exam, students need to be prepared, but this preparation should not be reduced to “training” for the thoughtless performance of various tasks. An important task of the teacher is to provide qualified assistance to students in choosing a manual for preparing for the exam. You can recommend to students the manuals included in the "List of publications approved by the Federal Institute of Pedagogical Education for use in the educational process in educational institutions", posted on the FIPI website (http://www.fipi.ru ).
The 2010-2011 academic year is under discussion and, in the long term, the adoption of the Federal State Educational Standard (FSES), which will ensure the development of the education system in a rapidly changing educational environment.
Reflecting the change in the value orientations of education -from the development of subjects to the development of personality, the goals of education are determined through the system value orientations, while the upbringing of the child's personality is prescribed as its most important component and personal result.
One of the main differences between the new standard and the previous one can be called the allocation subject, oversubject (metasubject) and personal requirements for learning outcomes. Among the results of the development of these programs, subject and meta-subject results checked at the final certification, and personal results, a generalized assessment of which is carried out in the course of various monitoring studies, should be singled out.
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Basic requirements for the preparation of students (subject skills)
Explain the meaning of the main concepts of the topic,
give examplesthe influence of various natural and socio-economic factors on the number, reproduction, resettlement and distribution of the population;
give reasoned evidencethe influence of the ethnic or religious composition of the population on the characteristics of the socio-economic life of the country;
compare different countries in terms of the level and quality of life of the population;
use datathematic maps as a source of arguments in favor of a particular judgment;
characterizebased on cartographic data;
read and analyzecontent of thematic maps.
Meta-Skills:
Search and selection of necessary sources of information
Possession of skills of analysis and synthesis of information. Classification of information according to given criteria
Identification of the main essential features, determination of criteria for analysis and comparison
Comparison of objects, facts, phenomena according to specified criteria
Identification of causal relationships between geographical objects, phenomena, events, facts
Presentation of information in different forms
Improving analytical skills to work with statistics, maps, maps, thematic maps
Working with the text of the textbook, presenting texts in different forms - conclusions, theses, summaries
Exploring Distinctive Features different types global problems based on work with various sources of information
Identification of interrelations between various global problems
The study of cartographic and statistical data to determine the geography of environmental problems
Working with periodicals (selection and analysis)
Expressing your own reasoned opinions on topical issues of the studied educational material
Be able to work with various sources of information, analyze, draw conclusions
Improve communication skills, i.e. ability to translate cartographic, statistical, graphic information into text and vice versa
Show on the map and explain the geography of phenomena and processes, identify cause-and-effect relationships based on a comparison of maps, draw analytical conclusions.
ABOUT YAEIL
GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE: ESSENCE, PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
V. A. Shalnev, A. A. Talalakina
GEOGRAPHICAL SPACE: THE ESSENCE, PROBLEMS AND WAYS OF SOLUTION
Shalnev V. A., Talalakina A. A.
Complicated and topical theoretical theses concerning the essence of physical global space, its particular spaces on the Earth surface, their structure, dynamics, evolutions, entropies, densities are considered in the article.
Key words: geo-space, a particular geo-space, geosystems, place, region, territory, geo-field, geoversum, physiosphere, social-biosphere.
The complex and debatable theoretical positions of the essence of the physical global space, its private spaces of the Earth's surface, their structure, dynamics, evolution, entropy, density are considered.
Key words: geospace, private geospace, geosystem, place, region, territory, geofield, geoversum, physiofera, sociobiosphere.
The spatial approach runs through the entire history of geography and is the main scientific approach in its methodology. However, the concept of geospace, its essence, dimension, connection over time has changed repeatedly (“empty” by I. Kant, “filled”
A. Gettner, “space-time” of Aslani-Kashvili and Yu. G. Saushkin, multidimensional
B. S. Preobrazhensky, etc.). According to M. M. Golubchik and his co-authors, “geographical space in economic geography is not a form of being, but acts as a special method of research” (4, p. 20). The terminological apparatus of this category also changed among different geographical schools. Foreign geographers usually used the terms "space", "place" and "region". Soviet and Russian geographers have traditional "territory" and "district". At the same time, “territory” is often interpreted as a synonym for the term “space”.
For philosophers, space “is a form of existence of matter, characterizing its extension, structure, coexistence and interaction of elements in all material systems... A common property found at all known structural levels is three-dimensionality. Time is a form of existence of matter, expressing the duration of its existence, the sequence of changes in the change and development of all material systems” (FES, 1983). The theory of relativity by A. Einstein revealed the inseparable connection between space and
time as a single form of existence of matter (space-time), established the unity of the space-time and cause-and-effect structure of the world.
E. B. Alaev understands geographical space as a philosophical conceptual category, as an objective, universal and cognizable form of “the existence of material geographical entities and objects within the geoverse” (1, p. 98). On another page, the concept of geospace is clarified and understood as “a set of relationships between geo-objects located on a specific territory (geotory) and developing in time” (1, p. 100).
A close definition, but without philosophical approaches, is given in the geographical encyclopedic dictionary: “Geographic space is a form of existence of geographical objects and phenomena within the geographical shell; a set of relationships between geographical objects located in a particular territory and developing over time” (1988, p. 56).
P. James and D. Martin understand geospace as such an earthly space that has no boundaries. It is spherical in shape and therefore closed.
A. G. Isachenko believes that the term geospace has not “received a generally accepted definition, but is more often understood as a space occupied by a geographical shell (epigeosphere). Each geographical object has its own (physical) space, which is characterized by size, shape, orientation, and position relative to other objects (6, pp. 85-86)
According to M. M. Golubchik and his co-authors, “geographic space and time are the main forms of existence of geosystems. Spatial relations express the order of placement of simultaneously existing geographical phenomena and the extent of geosystems. Temporal relations - the order of successive events, as well as their duration ”(4, p. 209).
V. V. Bykov and A. G. Topchiev understand geographical space as either the space of geographical objects itself, or the order of mutual arrangement of integral geographical formations (geosystems) and their elements.
D. Flinder considers geospace, firstly, as a kind of three-dimensional "container" with the presence of various objects and people in it; secondly, as an order, ordering of phenomena, objects and relations between them, that is, the concept of spatial structure.
A. M. Trofimov and M. D. Sharygin characterize geospace as a set of physical relations between geographical objects or their formal counterparts - geographical systems. Overlay, interaction and intersection at different spatial levels of geographic systems and forms a geographic space. Individual (homogeneous objects and individual spheres) and group spaces are distinguished.
The above set of definitions by different authors showed, firstly, significant differences in the understanding of the invariant features of geospace, revealing its features, fundamental differences from other spaces; secondly, the lack of an explanation of the concept of "space-time", taking into account the provisions of modern philosophy and the theory of relativity; thirdly, the lack of consistency in explaining such important categorical concepts of the theory as geospace, place, territory, region, etc.
G. D. Kostinsky (8) tried to bring some clarity to this problem by constructing a genetic matrix in the form of a cross. The philosophical and methodological content of these spatial concepts, in his opinion, is as follows:
The space corresponds to the general (genus), the place - to the individual (kind) (vertical axis);
The territory corresponds to the whole, the district - parts (horizontal axis).
In our opinion, the problem of geospace should be considered in the context of the philosophical categories of external and internal, whole and particular, general, singular and special, forms of matter movement (FDM), as well as entropy, evolutionism, geofields, geospheres, geocomponents, geosystems, etc.
The physical (from Greek - natural) global geospace of the Earth was formed and still exists under the influence of external factors at the intersection of the information and energy fields of the "empire of the Sun" and the endogenous planet Earth (Fig. 1.) It is also part of the geological space of the Earth and includes itself a part of the substrate of its abiotic components (rocks, air, water) and abiotic forms of motion of matter (FDM). The processes of lithogenesis and hydrogenesis define the boundaries of this geospace with transitional (ecotone) layers - ozone and granite-basalt. External factors form in this space the primary fields of exogenous (radiation) and endogenous (potential kinetic energy of denudation and accumulation) genesis. The internal factors are the processes of heat and moisture circulation, which are inherent only in geographical space and which V. S. Lyamin proposes.
Outer space field of the solar system
Earth's internal space field
Rice. 1. Place of physical geospace, taking into account external and internal factors:
1 - ozone layer, 2 - granite-basalt layer, 3 - physical geospace.
lags to call the physical-geographical forms of the motion of matter. It was these processes that created the conditions for the life of the Earth and developed geospatial adaptation mechanisms in the biota.
The physical geospace has its own characteristics. It is spherical and therefore closed. In the field of its gravity, a pronounced anisotropy is observed, i.e., the unequalness of not only the vertical directions of movement, but also the unequalness of the western and eastern directions in the northern and southern hemispheres (the Coriolis force). Such a space is mirror symmetrical with respect to the poles. Within its limits, all known FDM are manifested: mechanical, physical, chemical and geological, as well as physical-geographical, biological and social, which are known only in this space.
FDM within the geospace of the Earth contributed, firstly, to the processes of structuring the material substrate and the formation of material objects of this geospace - components, geospheres and geosystems. Secondly, they determined the temporal properties of space, as V. I. Vernadsky wrote, its “fluidity”.
Changes in material and ideal objects of geospace are associated with FDM. These changes can take the form of development, that is, irreversible, directed, regular changes. This direction in geography was called the historical approach, in other sciences - evolutionary. The second type of changes is associated with the reversibility of these changes and characterizes the processes of functioning (cyclic reproduction of a constant system of functions). In geography, the study of such changes is called the chronological approach, which is necessary in the study of any sequence of events in time that do not lead to a radical restructuring of the geospace structure or its individual objects (geospheres, geosystems). In physical geography, the ideas of V. V. Sochava introduced the concept of dynamics, which is not associated with a change in the structure
tours of geospace and its objects, but participates in the preparation of possible changes. From the standpoint of synergetics, this is the formation of a bifurcation point in the history of the development of an object.
Thus, spatio-temporal features of the development of geospace and its objects have developed into a triune system of concepts: functioning - dynamics - evolution.
The physical space of the Earth is provided by two components - aboveground and underground, the focus of which is the surface of the Earth. All spheral objects of geospace (abiotic, biotic and social) interact within it and, as a result, many “places” are formed, where the substratum of matter is structured into its particular objects - geosystems. They are simple (glacial, river, morphostructures, settlement systems, etc.), complex ( natural landscapes) and integral (cultural landscape, territorial recreational system).
According to E.B. Alaev, the area within which the impact of a certain object (geosystem) is manifested is called a geographical field (geofield). In this regard, the presence of the territory is considered a prerequisite. At the same time, for many geographical objects, the area of the territory can remain constant only for a certain period of time. For example, an atmospheric cyclone, being a thermomechanical geosystem, constantly moves in the space of the troposphere. Along with it, the geofield of heat and moisture circulation also moves, and consequently the area of the territory changes. The territorial recreational system also has a complex space, when the need for rest arises within the same territory where a person lives, and he realizes them within the TRS, where his field (recreational process) and his territory.
Thus, private geospace is a set of its attributes: objects (geosystems) + geofield + territory (range). Thus, E. B. Alaev considered
melts the territory as an essential property of geospace, but not as a synonym for it. The territory is part of the solid surface of the Earth with its inherent natural and anthropogenic properties and resources, extent (area), two-dimensionality.
The private geospace is structured both in component (decomposable into geofields of individual component objects) and territorial (decomposable into separate geofields-areas) aspects. It is also systemic, since there are stable ties between its constituent elements (both component and territorial), and these ties give it the quality of unity and integrity, or from the point of view of the geographical approach - complexity.
An important methodological property of geospace is the concept of the relative stability of this material world. Can it be so complex education to exist steadily in conditions of entropy instability, because, according to N. Wiener, islands of stability (anti-entropy) are doomed "to defeat in the worldwide battle between progress and the increase in entropy." This Mephistopheles judgment - "everything that arises deserves death" - is successfully opposed by the energy sphere of geospace, formulated at the time by I.V. Krut, and based on four "pillars":
Cosmic energy of the sun, its transformation and transfer within the geospace of the Earth;
- "potential" endogenous energy fixed in geotectures and morphostructures of the Earth's surface and giving "work" to the processes of denudation and accumulation, transfer of matter;
Biogenic energy, when the vital activity of the biostrome turns into a progressive process of gradual accumulation of free energy, in which entropy does not increase. Living matter with a uniform flow of solar energy does not dissipate free energy, but accumulates it in its biomass, in organic residues;
Anthropogenic energy involved in the social processes of society and, according to V. I. Vernadsky, a new great force. According to F. Engels, "human labor is able to keep solar energy on the surface of the Earth and make solar energy act for a longer time than it was before him."
Entropy in geospace is directly dependent on the number of components and territorial elements and inversely dependent on the degree of ordering of elements (1). Apparently, geofields should be added to this, the intersection and interpenetration of which forms simplices, that is, simple objects that are indecomposable into smaller independent parts. For example, a facies in a landscape, a district as the ultimate taxon of a regionalization, or an administrative unit.
An important property of private geospaces is the concept of density, i.e., the mass of a unit volume of matter. It is determined by the number of elements and components of the geospace, which is associated with the principle of fractal objects, i.e. the principle of similarity of the substrate (set of components, elements) to the global geospace or its individual spheral structures. There are examples of the use of the concepts of "density" in geography. For example, the definition of population density. However, here there is only one of the components of geospace - the territory. At the same time, in the structure of private geospace there are also geosystems and geofields, the role of which has not actually been studied.
An important role in understanding the essence of geospace is played by the evolutionary approach, which explains the main stages in the formation of the modern structure and its diversification. From the position of the concept of global evolutionism, the model of such a space is considered as the result of the universal evolution of the natural process, which linked cosmogenesis, geogenesis and biogenesis into a single whole. The qualitative leap of this evolution is the emergence of man and the formation of social structures. Evolutionary
The new approach is usually understood as a non-cyclical development, a movement in the direction of "ascent from the lower to the higher". The 19th century gave two great theories of evolution for the inert (Newtonian-Cartesian model) and the living ( evolutionary model Darwin) of the world. In the first world, development proceeds unidirectionally, towards the growth of entropy (chaos), i.e., towards the attenuation of development, the alignment of diversity. In the biotic world, the opposite is true: development leads to an increase in the diversity of forms, i.e., to an increase in order and a decrease in entropy (continuous creation). The mechanism of evolutionary development is the alternation of phases, which A. I. Severtsev calls the phases of aromorphosis (crisis) and idioadaptation (stable cyclicity). In philosophy, this is called the transition of quantity into quality. Modern geographical reality is the result of the alternation of aromorphoses and idioadaptive periods of its natural component with specific features of the stages of society formation.
Geospace is a specific geographical phenomenon and “one of the key, but still underestimated, poorly developed categories and principles of geography” (7, p. 200). In its structure, geospace is a multi-object and multi-dimensional, constantly changing historical unity, which is characterized by dimensionality, structure, properties, coexistence and interaction in time of all interconnected objects and their elements as carriers of certain FDM or their combinations. From the standpoint of the system-synergetic approach, the structure of the limiting geographic space is represented by a system of spaces of different qualities (system-objects) that arose at different stages of the evolutionary development of the Earth and have different dimensions - the global spheral and discretely local and regional surfaces of the Earth (Fig. 2).
Rice. 2. Mono- and diochronic approaches in the paradigm of evolutionary development
geospaces
The left row of the figure is represented by primary physical (natural) spaces, the structure of which became more complicated from abiotic components to biotic and bioinert ones. The initial, frame space for geographical reality can be considered the physiosphere, which arose at the contact of three abiotic spheres of the Earth's geological space. The processes of heat transfer, hydrogenesis and lithogenesis determined the state of bifurcation in this space and, as a result, the choice of an attractor for the development of a complex spheral integral structure.
The geographical laws of the physiosphere (zonality, azonality, provinciality, etc.) were created on the surface of the Earth
variety of geofields of heat and moisture exchange, to which certain groups of biota could adapt. Two types of geosystems are formed: "object-object" relations, where abiotic and biotic components interact in the landscape structure, and "object-subject" relations, where the subject-"host" (biota element) is influenced by the components of the natural environment of landscape bioecosystems. It is associated with the processes of biogenesis and new cycles of substrate, energy and information - biochemical and biogeochemical, which are controlled by biota and define the boundaries of a new integral structure in the space of the physiosphere - the biosphere, with its unique natural conditions and new
properties, i.e. biospheric environment for biota. V. I. Vernadsky wrote that “the limits of the biosphere are determined primarily by the field of existence of life” (3, p. 102). The stage of formation of the sphere of natural landscapes in the biosphere was the final one in the formation of the global physical space - the geographical envelope.
The largest aromorphosis in the development of life was the formation of creatures capable of social interactions, i.e. subject-subject relationship. According to V. N. Beklemesheva, “humanity is part of the living cover of the Earth and gradually becomes its main organizing principle” (2, p. 28). Unfortunately, in the scientific community, the tendency to consider the development of society independently of wildlife, which was perceived as something static, just as an object of human creative efforts aimed at transforming it and subordinating it to the interests of society, prevailed (9). From these positions, the processes of sociogenesis (labor selection) and technogenesis (scientific and technical selection) contributed to the formation of geospatial structures, where the laws of society were leading.
Types of geospaces: 1 - natural, 2 - social, 3 - social-natural (integral). Anthropic component: 4 - man (humanity), 5 - culture and cultural-civilizational structures.
The Diachronic Approach of Modern Geography:
Natural spheral and partial geospaces: FS - physiosphere, BS - biosphere, SPL - the sphere of natural landscapes, PL - natural landscapes.
Social spheral and private geospaces: SL - ethno-social and cultural landscapes, SPCL - natural and cultural landscapes, STS - socio-technosphere, GS-EP - global socio-economic.
Monochronic General Geography Approach:
Spheral social and natural: LAS - landscape anthropoecosystems, SLP - landscape nature management and
demo ecosystems; SBS - sociobiosphere (system "society - the nature of the biosphere), AS - anthroposphere.
Processes of self-organization and self-development: 6 - physical-geographical (heat-moisture exchange); 7 - biotic; 8 - landscape correlation (ratio of abiotic and biotic FDM); 9 - landscape ethnogenesis (subject-subject relations); 10 - regional socio-technogenesis (subject-object relations); 11 - correlation socio-technogenesis (ratio of abiotic, biotic and social FDM).
Processes of cultural genesis of integral formations: 12 - geospatial-activity and adaptive landscape models; 13 - geospatial-activity and adaptation regional models; 14 - interactions between nature and society of the socio-bisphere model.
Geoversum (global integral geospace): A - nature, B - society. Laws of geoversum: 15 - laws of geoversum (general geography), 16 - natural, 17 - socio-economic.
The achievements of philosophy, systemology and synergetics made it possible to study the evolutionary processes of human history using a monochronic approach, as they allowed the epistemological pair "subject-object" to be understood as a unity that exists in one space, i.e., according to A. I. Lastochkin, not treat them as antagonists. The relationship between subject and object is not a relationship different worlds, but only two poles as part of a certain unity” (10, p. 19).
From the moment of the appearance of man, the history of "inhuman" nature ends and the history of man begins in the geospace of the Earth, the history of "humanized" nature. From this point of view, the process of "formation" of society in nature is also the process of "completion" of natural existence in society. Hence the boundary between the history of nature and the history of society, being dialectical, not only separates one from the other, but also unites one with the other. The concept of the unity of the history of nature
and society allows us to consider the problem of the unity of structuring modern geospace in a new way.
Primary natural and social objects arose on the surface of the Earth - anthropoecosystems, where a person was still characterized by bioethical behavior in the enclosing natural geosystems (landscapes). The latter in the system of "subject-object" relations form the main functional properties: resource-containing and resource-producing (the source of nature management), environment-forming human life and activity (the concept of the natural environment), the source of the process of cognition and aesthetic perception. The emergent property of these relations in anthropoecosystems was the formation of culture, i.e. the “living substance” within which a person reveals and develops himself through nature, and nature reveals and develops itself through a person (5).
Human settlement and the development of various regional spaces on the Earth's surface have made changes in the primary sphere of natural geosystems (landscapes). A complex sphere of landscape nature management and democosystems (SLE) emerged, consisting of a set of natural, anthropogenic (human-modified) and cultural landscapes. The processes of cultural genesis also led to evolutionary changes in the biosphere, which, according to N.K. Mukitano-
va, was a “thing in itself”, and with the advent of man it became a “thing for others”. These changes manifested themselves in the form of a socio-biospheric effect, which became the beginning of a new stage in its development - the socio-biospheric one. A complex integral spatial structure arose - the sociobiosphere, which includes subsystems of the new biosphere and society. The interaction of these subsystems causes chain reactions and the emergence of global environmental problems (11). A person masters the space of the physiosphere, which allows it to be called the anproposphere, that is, the sphere where a person lives and temporarily penetrates using technical objects.
Thus, the real geographical reality is complex and systemic. It has a complex material substratum. It is very difficult to study such a multitude of phenomena and processes, but it is possible if there is an ideal model-image that allows one to consider the object (problem) of research as a holistic entity. Such a model in geography can be the geoverseum as a unique systematically organized space of the Earth that has arisen within the geographic envelope of human history. Based on this concept, it is possible to develop a theoretical basis for general geography with its categorical concepts, integral private objects and the laws of their development (11).
LITERATURE
1. Alaev E. B. Socio-economic geography: a conceptual and terminological dictionary. - M.: Ed. Thought, 1983.
2. V. N. Beklemeshev, “On the general principles of organizing life,” Byull. MOIP. Dep. Biology. T. 69. - 1964 - Issue. 2.
3. Vernadsky V. I. Biosphere. - L .: Nauchn. chem.-tech. ed., 1926.
4. M. M. Golubchik, S. P. Evdokimov, G. N. Maksimov, and A. M. Nososnov, Theory and Methodology of Geographical Science. - M.: Vlados, 2005.
5. Davydov G. A. The unity of man and nature as a philosophical problem / Interaction of society and nature. - M.: Nauka, 1986.
6. Isachenko A. G. General geography in the system of geographical knowledge // Izv. Russian Geographical Society. T. 132. -2000. - Issue. 2.
7. Kaledin N. V. The problem of theorizing social geography: a change of paradigms //
Geographic and geoecological. aspects of the development of nature and society. - St. Petersburg, 2008. Kostinsky GD Geographical matrix of spatiality // Izv. RAN. Ser. Geography. - 1997. - No. 5.
Mirzoyan, E.N., The theory of evolution and the concept of geomerids (on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of V.N. Beklemeshev), Byull. Moscow. about-va test. nature. Dep. biology. - 1991. - T. 95. - Issue. 5.
Discussion of the "New Philosophical Encyclopedia" // Vopr. philosophy. - 2003. - № 1. Shalnev VA History and methodology of general geography. - Stavropol: SGU Publishing House, 2000.
Shalnev Viktor Alexandrovich, GOU VPO
"Stavropol State University”, Professor, Head of the Department of Physical Geography. Sphere scientific interests associated with the doctrine of the landscape, theory and methodology of geography.
Talalakina Anna Alexandrovna, GOU VPO
"Stavropol State University", postgraduate student of the Department of Physical Geography. Sphere of scientific interests - geographical space in the theory of geography. @ inbox.ru
The genetic classification of sciences, built “according to the forms of movement”, plays the role of a general methodological principle for studying the most complex theoretical issues of science, in our case, geography. Firstly, it requires clarification of the existing ideas about the object and subject of geography. Even posing the question of the place of geography in this classification requires a specific philosophical analysis of the content of geographical science. Does geography in general belong to this type of science? Secondly, what place among the objects of other sciences does the object of geography occupy and how is it genetically and structurally related to them? Thirdly, this is the basis for studying the relationship between the laws and methods of geography as a science with the laws and methods of sciences bordering on it. Fourthly, already these questions are enough to substantiate geography and the need for its further development. Fifth, to determine the place of geography in the genetic classification of sciences means to better understand its content and internal structure. This is the methodological basis for understanding the unity of physical geography and socio-economic geography, the correlation of their disciplines and, finally, the study of geography as a special social institution, the laws of its emergence and development.It is no coincidence that we raised the question of the place of geography in the genetic classification of sciences, since the appeal to other types of classification of sciences does not solve these issues.
geographic reality. The question of geographical reality is not so simple. If there is a geographical reality, then what are its essence, content, causes of occurrence and the basis of existence? How is geographic reality related to other kinds of reality? Is it only geography (and which one - physical or socio-economic) that studies this reality, and do other sciences conduct similar studies?
Usually, reality is understood as a set of interrelated and mutually conditioning objects and processes. Of course, science does not immediately come to a deep understanding of reality. The objects of the latter are first divided according to various properties and only then according to the laws of structure and functioning, and, finally, according to the causes of occurrence and modes of existence. From an objective, material understanding of the content of objective reality, science, on the basis of developing practice and its changing needs, comes to a systemic vision of reality. The main type of such systems are dialectical self-developing systems in which the main material content of the world is created.
Under the dialectical system - the carrier of a special form of the movement of matter - one can understand a self-developing system consisting of a specific type of matter and the conditions for its existence. The type of matter is a material formation that has a specific form of reflection, adequate to the mode of its existence. It is obvious that human consciousness, sensation, irritability and excitability in living nature, as well as specific forms of reaction of the formed minerals and rocks to the conditions of their existence are forms of reflection that are adequate to the mode of existence of each of the named types of matter. The conditions for the existence of a type of matter are a set of elements of the external environment involved in interaction with the type of matter and transformed by it. So, social view matter, people, in material production from the material of external nature create social things, primarily the means of production. In the biogeocenosis, microorganisms, plants and animals transform the elements of the maternal rock into a biological phenomenon - the soil. In geological systems, minerals and rocks are formed from elements of solutions or melts.
Interestingly, at the beginning of the XX century. A.I. Voeikov singled out the Aral Sea as an independent eternal geographical system with a closed heat and moisture exchange. This system is a dialectical unity of the objects of the hydrosphere and troposphere, which mutually generate and determine the existence of each other. Thus, evaporation from the surface of the Aral generates a special air mass with a specific system of clouds and cloud systems that transfer moisture to the spurs of the Pamir and Tien Shan. The emerging snow cover and glaciers then return moisture to the Aral Sea with the help of the Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya rivers. Metachronous development of ice sheet systems in the Northern and Southern hemispheres of the Earth, described by K.K. Markov, also expands our understanding of dialectical self-developing systems based on geographic heat and moisture exchange.
The main criterion for the selection of this type of systems is the presence of a specific type of matter and the conditions of existence characteristic of it, created by it. In modern natural science, each such set of systems of the same quality is considered as a special reality related to a certain level of matter organization. Each of these levels, or realities, acts as the main object of study of a particular science. The question of whether systems consisting of objects of the hydrosphere and troposphere with sculptural forms of relief included in them (all this was created by geographic heat and moisture exchange) belong to the geographical reality does not raise doubts among modern geographers. But is the content of geographic reality exhausted by this type of geographic systems alone? And the systems of landscape science and the systems of socio-economic geography - isn't this a geographical reality, isn't it the world that geography studies?
Answering these questions is not easy. First of all, let us try to imagine a hierarchy of realities or their historical sequence of emergence. With the exception of the group of physical forms of motion (processes), all forms of motion of matter known to us arise and exist not just within the Galaxy, but their entire history unfolds only on planets. At the same time, no matter what connections and relationships are established between these realities in the development of the planet, the main thing is the emergence of its material objects, i.e. those processes or forms of movement that produce and reproduce all its content. Thus, the absence of intelligent life on the planet indicates the absence of social reality there (at least on this stage development).
Consider the main stages of the development of the Earth. Initially, physical and chemical processes or forms of matter movement arise on the planet, with which the existence of physical and chemical realities is associated. Then a geological reality appears, represented by systems that eventually merge into an integral system - the lithosphere. The presence of the lithosphere is a necessary condition for the emergence of primary geographic systems, consisting of objects of the hydrosphere, troposphere, and sculptural landforms. These systems act as carriers of such geographical phenomena as climate, runoff and topography. These primary geographic systems play an essential role in the life of the planet. Firstly, they do not occur on every planet; moreover, they are the highest stage in the development of inanimate nature in general. Secondly, these geographical conditions are necessary for the emergence of life on the planet, or at least its higher forms. And, thirdly, only in the presence of developed geographical conditions is the transition from biological life to an intelligent civilization possible. The change in the group of physical forms of movement of chemical, geological, geographical, biological and, finally, the social form of movement - such is the historical sequence of the emergence of fundamentally new realities in the development of the Earth as a planet.
However, such a correlation between the form of movement, the type of reality and the object does not always suit science. Let's take geography, for example. The emergence of systems of the primary geographic envelope, consisting of objects of the hydrosphere, troposphere and sculptural landforms, is based on a special geographical process, or heat and moisture exchange between these components, which is both the cause of their occurrence and the basis of their existence and development. These geographic systems, whose content is climate, runoff, and relief, are the main object of general physical geography. But this by no means exhausts the whole content of geographical science. The complexity of this geographical reality already forces us to subdivide general physical geography into particular physical-geographical sciences, the object of study of which are the individual components of the physical-geographical system. Hydrology, oceanology, cryolithology, climatology and geomorphology emerge. It should be noted that the development of these sciences meets the level of the needs of modern social practice. Society still does not have the opportunity to study the geographic system or primary geographic reality as a whole and apply this knowledge for practical purposes.
It can be noted that the primary geographical reality also consists of two types of systems: dialectical and autonomous. The latter, as parts of dialectical systems, arise and exist only within the framework of a given whole. Like an integral system, they exist on the basis of a single geographic heat and moisture exchange. But the laws of the structure and functioning of the dialectical whole cannot be reduced to the sum of the laws of its parts. Therefore, the laws of general physical geography and the laws of particular physical and geographical sciences differ from each other.
Correlation systems in geography. If the objects of primary geographic reality named above have their essence geographic heat and moisture exchange, i.e. arise and exist only on the basis of this geographical process and differ from each other as parts and whole, then this cannot be said about the object of landscape science. But who is to say that landscapes are not a geographical reality? This type of systems has been widely studied in geography for a long time. It is still considered almost the only proper geographical object. The peculiarity of this type of systems lies in the fact that the system-forming links in them are the correlation or adaptation of components of a higher order to components of a lower organization. Even A. Tansley, defining the ecosystem, noted that in the josistem, the climate forces the soils to adapt to its characteristics, but the reverse effect of soils on the climate is negligible. All this applies to the landscape. We note in this connection that JI.C. Berg understood the natural landscape as a combination of relief, climate and vegetation, and that their combination forms a special "landscape organism". And if we talk about cultural landscapes, then Berg included a person and works of his culture in their content. The city or village was also considered by him as an integral part of the cultural landscape. He understood geography as the science of landscapes.
All this helps to understand that the system-forming factors in the natural landscape are geographic factors - climate, runoff and topography. This allows us to consider landscapes as geographical systems. But landscapes are geographical systems of a special type, which are formed at the junction of the geographical shell and the biosphere, consisting of biogeocenoses. They are fundamentally different from the objects of the hydrosphere and troposphere - the primary geographic reality in their content, backbone relationships and vertical thickness. They are secondary in origin (they appear only with the advent of life on Earth) and have a different essence, in comparison with the physiographic systems discussed above, which are based on geographic heat and moisture exchange.
Natural landscapes include wildlife systems - soils and living organisms. And cultural landscapes are of a person and the works of his culture. It is not physical geography that deals with the study of landscapes, as F.N. Milkov, and a special science - landscape science, which he considered as a private physical and geographical science, similar to geomorphology, climatology and hydrology. He opposed the identification of the geographic and landscape shells of the Earth. However, given the different system essence of the objects of physical geography considered above, on the one hand, and landscape, on the other, it can be argued that landscape science is not a private physical and geographical science, such as climatology, hydrology or geomorphology. Landscape science lies at the intersection of physical geography and biology, and in the case of cultural landscapes, at the intersection with some social sciences.
Systems of socio-economic geography. Geographical systems, like landscapes, with correlation system-forming links, are studied by socio-economic geography. Being a social science in its main parameters, it belongs to the totality of geographical sciences, since it studies economic and social processes and phenomena in the territorial, geographical aspect. It is clear that these systems refer to a new reality that is not reducible to either natural, geographical or social reality. These systems lie at the intersection of society and geographical nature. Economic and social geography, relying, on the one hand, on the laws of the development of society, and on the other hand, on the laws of nature, is engaged in the analysis and forecast of territorial interactions in the system "nature - population - economy". This is how modern domestic geographers interpret the object and subject of socio-economic geography. In our opinion, in this definition it is necessary to clarify what is meant by interaction with geographical nature (climate, runoff, relief), and not with any natural phenomena and processes. Are we talking about a rational territorial organization of productive forces, about the spatial structures of the population, nature management and economy, whether territorial production complexes (TPCs) and economic regions, energy and transport systems, settlement systems, industrial centers or agro-industrial complexes are analyzed - by the geographical aspect research is always taking into account the natural and geographical conditions.
However, the complex economic problems that have to be solved in modern society cannot be limited to geographic analysis alone. Social phenomena are simultaneously affected by many different natural and social factors. At the same time, and iii our opinion, a rather complex system is being formed and functions. 11o it is an object of study of social ecology, in which the geographical aspect does not always play a leading role. In this case, geography "works" for social ecology, and no one, except for geographers, can expertly assess the effect of geographical conditions.
Geographical shell of the planet as a set of dialectical systems. The emergence and development of primary geographic systems, the essence of which is heat and moisture exchange between objects in the hydrosphere and troposphere, led to the creation of a special geographic shell of the Earth. Here there is a constant exchange of heat and moisture not only within individual integral systems, but also between these systems themselves on a planetary plane. For example, global cooling of the climate causes the formation of glaciers and ice sheets. And they are formed from moisture evaporated from the surface of the oceans. This leads to a decrease in the level of the World Ocean and, as a result, to a redistribution of land and sea, a change in the shape of the continents, the emergence of new islands, etc., etc. At the same time, the integrity of the geographic shell is fundamentally different from the integrity of the systems that compose it. Therefore, the laws of the structure, functioning and development of the geographical shell are a special subject of geographical science.
The geographical shell as a special material system was identified by A.A. Grigoriev in 1932. Developing the dialectical-materialist doctrine of the forms of matter movement, he proposed a physical-geographical or simply geographical form of the movement of matter, which is a way of existence of a special surface shell. This geographical shell goes through three stages of development: inorganic - organic - and the stage when the geographical shell is influenced by human society. The essence of the first, inorganic, papa of the development of the geographic envelope consists of three interrelated and interdependent processes: climatic, hydrological and geomorphological. It is on the basis of these processes that the pseudo-material content of the geographic envelope arises: seas, oceans, glaciers and glaciers, lakes and rivers, air masses, clouds and cloud systems, as well as sculptural landforms. Grigoriev's reasoning was strongly influenced by the idea of landscapes as an object of geography. It was impossible to imagine geography without the study of wildlife. Therefore, the second stage in the development of the geographical envelope is associated with the emergence of life. There is an inclusion of its processes in interaction with climatic, hydrological and geomorphological processes. The scientist believed that the content of the geographical envelope with the advent of life becomes richer, while maintaining the established opinion about landscapes as the main objects of geography. The third stage in the development of the geographic envelope is characterized by the impact of society on climatic, hydrological, geomorphological, as well as phyto-ecological-geographical and zooecological-geographical processes.
Unfortunately, the problem of the forms of motion of matter was not developed in the philosophical literature of that time. The absence of philosophical methodology had a negative impact on the fate of Grigoriev's fundamental concept. In this regard, they themselves made serious mistakes.
First, the essence of a dialectical system cannot change from stage to stage. The inorganic essence of the geographic envelope must be preserved at all stages of its development. This is his first methodological error. Secondly, Grigoriev, paying tribute to the idea of the content of geographical science, when wildlife is an object of study in landscape science, included a biological form of movement in the composition of the geographical shell, and hence the geographical form of the movement of matter. This is his second methodological error. The biological form of movement, being the highest, cannot be included in the lower, geographical form, since the latter does not create biological objects. Thirdly, the scientists violated their own logic of reasoning. Why is the biological form of the motion of matter included in the geographic shell, being within its limits, but human society, also located inside the geographic shell, is not included in its composition?
All this shows how strong were the ideas about the landscape as an object of geography and how they “interfered” with the introduction of the methodology of the forms of the movement of matter into geography.
The bearers of the geographical form of reflection are the objects of the hydrosphere, which react in a specific way to the state of the troposphere and, due to this, support heat and moisture exchange between them. A.I. Voeikov at the beginning of the 20th century. predicted the existence of a special geographical form of reflection. He spoke about water bodies that react in a special way to the state of the troposphere. Voeikov called "rivers and lakes the mirror of the climate" or "the mirror of climate change". At the same time, these objects, as a geographical type of matter, are genetically and structurally related to the type of matter of the geological form of motion that had previously arisen on the planet. All objects of the hydrosphere consist of a special mineral or rock - water or ice.
The geographical form of movement, and hence the geographical reality, is the highest stage in the development of inorganic nature on the planet and, at the same time, a dead end branch of development on Earth. Therefore, the social form of reflection is preceded not by the geographical form of reflection, but by the biological one, which occurs after the chemical form of reflection.
Moreover, the unstable terminology also made it difficult to solve the problem and led to serious criticisms. Some geographers, not commensurating the content of the landscape shell with the geographical shell according to Grigoriev, accused him of “an idealistic separation of movement from matter”, arguing that, according to his concept, air masses seem to float above landscapes. Consequently, the climatic process is divorced from the landscape.
The approach to the definition of geographical reality with the help of the concept of the geographical form of the motion of matter helps to understand such a difficult and important issue for geography as the relationship between the geographical shell and the landscape sphere.
Landscape sphere of the Earth as a set of correlation systems. Natural landscapes appear on the planet only in the conditions of a geographical envelope and are very difficult to correlate with it. There is no general process in the landscape that would create all its components - objects of geographical and biological reality. The relief, heat and moisture are also part of the geographic shell, and soils, microorganisms, flora and fauna have a biological essence and are objects of the biosphere, consisting of biogeocenoses. However, as an ecosystem in which biological components adapt to geographic ones and correlate with their properties, the landscape is a special system, partly included in the content of the geographic envelope, and partly in the biosphere. But landscapes differ from dialectical systems - and the rulers of the geographical form of the movement of matter also in terms of vertical power. If, for example, the vertical thickness of the air masses of the troposphere reaches 8-16 km, and in general the thickness of the geographic envelope is determined, according to some estimates, at 30-35 km, then the vertical thickness of the landscape sphere does not exceed only 200 m. Such, for example, is the idea of the ratio of the geographical shell and the landscape sphere in the works of F.N. Milkov.
All this suggests that, firstly, it is impossible to identify the geographical shell and the landscape sphere. These are realities that are different in essence and content. Secondly, the landscape sphere is only partially (for example, sculptural landforms) included in the geographical envelope, being much inferior to it in vertical thickness. Thirdly, if the geographical envelope is an object of physical geography, then the landscape sphere is an object of landscape science as a special geographical science. But landscape science cannot be identified with private physical and geographical sciences, since its object has a completely different essence.
There is a certain connection between natural landscapes. By means of biological and geographical components, they exchange matter and energy, affect each other in a specific way. And since correlations are weaker than interaction (a special case of correlation), the systemic character of the landscape sphere is much weaker than the systemic nature of the geographic envelope.
Cultural (socio-natural) sphere of the Earth as a set of correlation systems studied by socio-economic geography. Like landscape science, which studies the landscape sphere, which consists of such correlation systems as landscapes, socio-economic geography studies the world as a set of special correlation systems. In such systems, socio-economic processes and phenomena are adapted or correlated with their physical and geographical components. Moreover, these territorial socio-economic systems influence each other in a certain way and thus form a special shell of the planet. Modern socio-economic geography not only considers it as an integral system, but studies the laws of its internal differentiation, the joint functioning and influence on each other of the systems that compose it. In socio-economic science, it is customary to single out a certain subordination of territorial communities by levels: large regions, individual countries, socio-economic districts, etc. “Such a division must comply with a certain rule: the most general and essential features of a given territorial unit must distinguish it from other units of the same level, but must be manifested in all its constituent territorial units of the next, lower level”1. The most difficult issue here is also the idea of a geographical criterion for distinguishing these systems. Thus, when distinguishing macrosystems, the generally accepted geographical criterion - the division of the world into continents - raises a number of questions and is unacceptable in solving some problems.
The difficulty in determining the geographical criterion is due to the fact that as civilization develops, the significance of many geographical factors noticeably decreases or even reduces to zero. But if this is true in relation to the development of transport and communication technology, then in the field of spiritual and cultural life, the influence of the geographical factor remains significant.
"Socio-economic history of the foreign world. M., 2001. S. 13.
mmm. This is most clearly manifested in the difference in languages, religions, way of life, painting, poetry, music, dance, etc. The entire history of the material and spiritual culture of peoples has always been closely connected with the geographic conditions of life. Any ethnic group is an element of a correlation system in which its material and spiritual culture adapts to natural conditions. The most important factors influencing it are, first of all, physical and geographical factors.
That is why the definition of the concept of culture should include not only a person and the results of his cultural activity, but also those natural factors with which social phenomena are correlated. That is why the sociosphere, as a shell consisting of such dialectical systems as individual countries, itself, in turn, is part of a wider shell, consisting of correlation systems such as society and its geographical environment (here a sociological concept denoting a historically changing set of natural conditions for the existence of society). In socio-economic geography, we are not interested in all of nature that affects society, but only in the role of geographical factors. That is why some authors note: "The definition of a macro-region can be reduced to the following formulation: a macro-region of the world is a historically established complex of neighboring peoples belonging to the same regional civilization and interdependently developing in certain geographical conditions." The shell of the planet, consisting of similar macro- and microsystems, in which socio-economic components adapt to physical and geographical conditions, is the object of study of socio-economic geography.
Thus, the main criterion for the selection of material geographical systems various types or the criterion of geographic research is their close connection with such physical and geographical factors as climate, runoff and topography.
Based on a systematic analysis of objects of geographical disciplines, it can be concluded that geography studies not only the actual geographical reality (climate, runoff and relief), but also such systems that are the result of the impact of this physical and geographical reality on the objects of other sciences.
It is impossible to understand the place of geography among the sciences and its internal structure without a deep and comprehensive study of the geographical reality itself and its connection with the realities that are studied by other sciences. A common shortcoming in the study of modern geography, in our opinion, is that scientists studying certain sections of geography - physical or socio-economic - tend to absolutize their object (and subject of study), present it as a standard of true geographical research. The mention of absolutization is not a reservation, because the objects of both geographies deal with "geographicity", but only to a different extent. However, this does not prevent them from understanding geography as a single science, the components of which are physical and socio-economic geography.
All difficulties begin immediately with the clarification of "geography". However, this is geography's own affliction, and it will cope with it. Abstract theorizing and philosophizing about the unity of geography, divorced from the actual content of geography itself, do more harm to geography.
So, the place of geography in the genetic classification of sciences, built according to the forms of the movement of matter, is determined by the position of the geographical form of the movement of matter among other forms of movement, since the appearance of geographical reality on Earth is connected with it. At the same time, the same relations are gradually developing between the sciences as between the forms of movement. For example, the genetic and structural connection between higher and lower forms of movement is also reflected in the content of the sciences about these forms of movement. Among the forms of movement: the group of physical - chemical - geological - geographical, the latter is the highest stage of the inorganic development of the planet, as if a dead end branch in the evolution of the forms of movement of inanimate nature. But the significance of the geographical form of the motion of matter in the development of the planet is difficult to overestimate. Only the presence of geographical conditions leads to the emergence of life, especially its developed forms, and the emergence of an intelligent civilization. The geological and geographical forms of the motion of matter are a necessary condition for the emergence on the planet of biological and social forms of motion. Only under these conditions, another branch of the forms of movement, going from the group of physical through the chemical form of movement, continues the development of the planet to the biological, and then to the social form of movement.
Thus, if we take into account that a special material reality is associated with each form of the movement of matter, and the data of modern science only confirm the importance of geographical conditions in the development of the planet, then we can conclude that geography is one of the basic sciences. But the structure of geography, due to the special position of its main object as the highest stage in the development of inorganic nature, is quite complex. So, from the side of the essence of the most geographical form of the movement of matter (the unity of climatic, hydrological and geomorphological processes), which acts as a way of existence of geographical reality, geography is a natural science.
Moreover, the correlation of geographical reality with the objects of the biosphere gives rise to natural landscapes, and landscape science also belongs to the natural geographical sciences, with the exception of landscape science, which studies cultural landscapes and belongs to the social sciences. All sections of socio-economic geography that study territorial systems in which geographic factors (climate, relief flows) are the system-forming components are among the social geographical sciences. Note that neither landscape science nor socio-economic geography have biological or social laws proper, respectively. They study the laws of objects, consisting of elements of geographical and biological reality - landscape science, and geographical and social reality - socio-economic geography. Geography, like a butterfly, has two wings: geographical natural science (landscape science) and geographical social (socio-economic geography). In both cases, the backbone are physical and geographical conditions. The body of such a butterfly is formed by physical geography, which has its own object - geographical reality (geographical form of the movement of matter). Physical geography is subdivided into private physical and geographical disciplines that study the main components of geographical reality: objects of the hydrosphere, troposphere, and sculptural landforms. Thus, the integrity of geography is conditioned by the geographical reality itself. Any geographical research, any geographical science is necessarily connected with climate, runoff and topography.
Despite the fact that the solution of many real problematic tasks requires the application of skills, concepts and knowledge of processes from other academic subjects, there are problems of a purely geographical nature. Having arisen in geography lessons, they can develop into geographical research. Their appearance is facilitated by the orientation of students in the directions of geographical knowledge, which were very accurately formulated by William Pattison: 1) geoscience, 2) interaction between man and the environment, 3) regional and 4) territorial-structural direction. Before formulating real educational problems within these areas, it is necessary to briefly dwell on the contribution of each of them to the study of geography.
There was a time in the history of geography when the basis of its content was the topics that are now referred to as geography. Scholars and the general public have turned to geography for information about surface shapes, water resources, the atmosphere surrounding the Earth and the connection between the Earth and the Sun. By studying geography, the student hoped to learn not only about the geographical location of various regions, but also about the natural environment in which a person lives, and how this environment changes from place to place. This direction is still alive, but today in schooling such topics are increasingly relegated to the field of natural science, and not to geography proper.
Traditionally, geographers have always dealt with the problems of interaction between man and the environment. This direction is still important, and its actual importance is even increasing as a result of our concern for the state of the environment and the increasing depletion of natural resources. At present, an increasing amount of research in geography is connected with the study of how a person perceives the natural environment, how he relates to it and how he influences it. Accordingly, training courses on various aspects of the interaction between man and his environment have been actively developed in recent years.
The third direction in geography, sometimes called regional or country studies, deals with the description of specific areas: countries, regions of the world, or zones within cities. This direction reached its apogee in the late 1930s and in the 1940s. Geographers saw their main function in the synthesis of knowledge about specific territories, or regions, and considered it necessary to interpret their features. The need for this kind of knowledge is undeniable. Man has always been interested in the world beyond his direct observation. Travelers, discoverers, statesmen and just lovers have always been interested in different areas of the world, their features and characteristics. Close connection of training courses in regional geography with research work has always been a criterion for the scientific character of our subject. Today, many geographers are interested not only in highly developed countries, but also in developing countries. They are armed with methodology and techniques for observing, measuring and analyzing the distributions and interactions of natural and cultural phenomena in specific parts of the world and are able to apply empirical research methods to create holistic, integrative descriptions of these areas.
Turning to the consideration of the fourth direction as a source of real educational problems in geography lessons, namely the territorial-structural direction, it should be noted that in our time it is of great interest to geographers. In terms of its goals, research methods and theoretical premises, it differs sharply from regional studies. As already mentioned, the latter adopts a holistic, integrative approach aimed at explaining the features of specific areas and phenomena in a specific period of time or their changes over time. Conclusions drawn from the study of one region should be applied with caution when exploring other regions that differ in their natural and cultural characteristics. Only in individual cases can such knowledge become the basis for studying other specific areas.
On the contrary, the territorial-structural direction seeks to discover territorial organization economic, social and political phenomena and learn how the results of their impact are manifested in a particular place in a particular period of time. This new direction in the research and teaching of geography began in the mid-1950s. It was new, both in content and research methods. It can be characterized as an approach whose starting points require a higher theoretical level and more abstraction in the study of geographical issues and in teaching; it relies on the use analytical methods and allows you to apply the theoretical provisions to the solution of practical problems of society. It also makes it possible to make fairly reasonable generalizations about the territorial-structural aspects of a small number of interrelated processes against a wide background of natural and cultural phenomena. Generalizations are formulated as tested hypotheses, models, or theories, and the study is judged on its scientific relevance and validity. The goal is to obtain knowledge that allows us to understand and predict reality. The application of analytical methods allowed geography to become more of a nomothetic science, or the science of patterns.
The territorial-structural direction in recent years has turned out to be especially productive for geographers involved in the search for solutions to the problems of the well-being of society. Many geographic models and theories have found practical application in solving problems such as the organization of health care and the improvement of education, as well as in the study of problems of poverty, unemployment, disorderly conduct and social injustice, which are a consequence of the misallocation of political, economic and social opportunities.
The listed four directions of geographical science are the basis on which it is possible to build a system of educational problems for all levels of education in all parts of the world. They must be perceived by the students as real problems and stem from their real difficulties.
Weather forecasting: an example of a real educational problem based on the material of the geoscience direction
Formulation of the problem
The teacher's first duty is to detect a particular problem or difficulty as soon as it arises. For example, the question of how to learn to predict the weather when planning an event, or the choice of clothing for many children in all parts of the world is a problem. They all know the feeling of disappointment caused by "bad" weather. "Bad" weather has become a problem for them. Under such circumstances, it would be natural for the class to ask the question: “How can one learn to predict the weather in order to correctly plan a day for a picnic (or other event)?” This approach is called direct.
A less direct way of stating the problem of weather forecasting may appear in the course of considering another real problem problem. So, when solving the problem of transportation, students will definitely find that the weather is one of the factors that need to be taken into account. This may lead them to study weather forecasting.
The third way is connected with a class discussion of some other topic in geography. So, children studying the geography of their own or any other area may be interested in studying weather conditions, and at the same time predicting them.
The real problematic problem can be formulated as follows: "How can I predict the weather for ... (today, tomorrow, next weekend)?"
