Landscape science: a Russian geographical tradition

The Russian geographical tradition of landscape science (landshaftovedenie) is analyzed with particular reference to its initiator, Lev Semenovich Berg (1876-1950). The differences between prevailing Russian and Western concepts of landscape in geography are discussed, and their common origins in German geographical thought in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are delineated. It is argued that the principal differences are accounted for by a number of factors, of which Russia's own distinctive tradition in environmental science deriving from the work of V. V. Dokuchaev (1846-1903), the activities of certain key individuals (such as Berg and C. O. Sauer), and the very different social and political circumstances in different parts of the world appear to be the most significant. At the same time it is noted that neither in Russia nor in the West have geographers succeeded in specifying an agreed and unproblematic understanding of landscape, or more broadly in promoting a common geographical conception of human-environment relationships. In light of such uncertainties, the latter part of the article argues for closer international links between the variant landscape traditions in geography as an important contribution to the quest for sustainability

V.A. Wagner and the Origin of Russian Ethology

Institute of History of Science and Technology Russian Academy of Sciences

V.A. Wagner and the Origin of Russian Ethology

Institute of History of Science and Technology Russian Academy of Sciences&nbsp

O Programa Brasileiro de genética evolucionária de populações, de Theodosius Dobzhansky Theodosius Dobzhansky's Brazilian program of evolutionary population genetics

Nas décadas de 1940 e 1950, a Fundação Rockefeller estabeleceu um programa para o desenvolvimento da genética de populações na Universidade de São Paulo, sob a direção do geneticista norte-americano Theodosius Dobzhansky, nascido na Rússia. O grande sucesso desse programa foi atribuído ao tipo de organização da pesquisa, realizada em grupos, prática introduzida por Dobzhansky. O presente artigo analisa essa conclusão, com base nas reminiscências do geneticista suíço Hans Burla, membro estrangeiro do grupo original de Dobzhansky.<br>In the 1940s and 50s the Rockefeller Foundation established a program for the development of population genetics at the Universidade de São Paulo under the direction of the Russian/North American geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky. The great success of this program was said to have been the result of the kind of research organization, in teams, that Dobzhansky introduced. An evaluation of this conclusion is analyzed, based on the reminiscence of the Swiss geneticist, Hans Burla, a foreign member of the original Dobzhansky group

Trypanosoma cruzi, cancer and the Cold War Trypanosoma cruzi, câncer e a Guerra Fria

In the summer of 1946, the international community of cancer researchers was inspired by the announcement that two Soviet scientists, Nina Kliueva and Grigorii Roskin, had discovered anticancer properties in culture extracts made from the South American protozoan, Trypanosoma cruzi, and had produced a preparation - named after its discoverers KR - which showed clear therapeutic effects on cancer patients. Research teams from various countries enthusiastically pursued the promising new line of investigation. The story of the rise and fall of interest in the anticancer properties of T. cruzi in different countries suggests that during the second half of the twentieth century, the Cold War competition between the superpowers played an important role in shaping the research agendas of cancer studies.<br>No verão de 1946, a comunidade internacional que desenvolve pesquisas sobre o câncer, inspirou-se no anúncio de que dois cientistas soviéticos, Nina Kliueva e Grigorii Roskin, descobriram propriedades anticancerígenas em cultura extraída do protozoário existente na América Latina, o Trypanosoma cruzi e produziram um preparado que foi denominado com as iniciais KR - em sua homenagem. Grupos de pesquisadores de diversos países buscaram com entusiasmo as promessas dessa nova linha de investigação. A história da ascensão e queda do interesse nas propriedades anticâncer do T. cruzzi em diferentes países sugere que durante a segunda metade do século 20, a Guerra Fria teve um papel importante na definição das agendas de pesquisas sobre o câncer

The return of the Phoenix: the 1963 International Congress of Zoology and American zoologists in the twentieth century

This paper examines the International Congress of Zoology held in Washington D.C. in 1963 as a portrait of American zoologists’ search for effective and rewarding relationships with both each other and the public. Organizers of the congress envisioned the congress as a last ditch effort to unify the disparate subdisciplines of zoology, overcome the barriers of specialization, and ward off the heady claims of more reductionist biologists. The problems zoologists faced as they worked to fulfill these ambitious goals illuminate some of the challenges faced by members of the naturalist tradition as they worked to establish disciplinary unity while seeking public support in the competitive world of twentieth century science