Paleontology, title. Geography: ancient and modern science What science studies about planet earth

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62. EARTH SCIENCES

Earth sciences- a complex of sciences that study the Earth, its geospheres, their natural properties, population and the results of its economic activity. The geosciences include the natural and social sciences. Any of the Earth sciences is divided into general and regional. General science studies the patterns inherent in all objects studied by this science, and regional science studies the features of these objects in a certain territory.

The sciences that study our planet (geology, tectonics, climatology, hydrology, geography, etc.) are combined into a section of natural science called earth science. We give only the most modest list of sciences, the scope of which includes the study of our planet.

Geology- the science of the composition, structure, history of the development of the bowels of the Earth, primarily the earth's crust, as well as the placement of minerals in the earth's crust. As constituent parts geology includes mineralogy (the science of the composition and properties of minerals), petrography (the science of the composition and structure of rocks), paleontology (the science of extinct plants and animals), geochronology, tectonics (studies the forms of occurrence of geological bodies, the movements of the earth's crust), hydrogeology (the science of groundwater), geophysics (studies the physical properties of all geospheres and physical processes occurring in the Earth's shells), etc.

Geography- a system of natural, physical-geographical and social, economic-geographical sciences that study the geographic shell of the Earth, natural and industrial territorial complexes, their components and the relationship between them.

The physical and geographical sciences include general geography (the study of the Earth as a world body and its geographical shell as a whole), landscape science (the study of the patterns of territorial differentiation of the geographical shell), sciences that study individual components of the geographical shell: geomorphology (studies the structure, origin and development relief of the Earth), meteorology (the science of the Earth's atmosphere and the processes occurring in it), climatology, oceanology, land hydrology, glaciology, soil geography, biogeography, paleogeography (studies the history of the development of the geographic shell for the period preceding the modern one).

The economic and socio-geographical sciences include the geography of the population, demography, the geography of industry, Agriculture, transport, non-production sphere, political geography, social geography, economic geography, regional studies, geography of recreation and tourism and other areas.

Ecology- biological science of the relationship of organisms and their communities with environment. Currently, ecology is characterized by a kind of "spraying" of research and the subject of study.

There are such areas as nature management, urban ecology, agroecology, industrial ecology, engineering ecology, etc.

Geodesy- a science that studies the shape and dimensions of the Earth, methods for measuring distances, angles and heights on the earth's surface. The branch of geodesy that includes the technology and organization of measurements on the ground to create maps and plans is usually called topography. The science of maps, their creation and use is called cartography.

Lecture notes

Earth science classification

Earth sciences - a complex of sciences that study the Earth, its geospheres, their natural properties, population and the results of its economic activity.

Geology is a complex of sciences about the composition, structure, history of the development of the Earth, the movements of the earth's crust and the placement of minerals in the bowels of the Earth. The main object of study, based on the practical problems of man, is the earth's crust.

Mineralogy and petrography - the sciences of minerals and rocks; hydrogeology is the science of groundwater. Geology deals with the study of the laws of water on the surface of the earth; hydrometry is the science of measuring water.

Soil science is the science of soils, their formation (genesis), structure, composition and properties; about their regularities geographical distribution; about the processes of interconnection with external environment, which determine the formation and development of the most important property of soils - fertility; about ways rational use soils in agriculture and national economy and on changes in soil cover under agricultural conditions.

Climatology is the science of climate that studies the causes of the formation of different types of climate, their geographical location and the relationship between climate and other natural phenomena. Climatology is closely related to meteorology - a branch of physics that studies the short-term states of the atmosphere, i.e. weather.

Geology is one of the main natural sciences and became an independent branch of natural science in the 18th - early 19th centuries. The great Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov, and from foreign countries - D. Getton, Ch.

Lyell and others.

The accumulation of empirical knowledge about the soil began from the time when man moved from collecting wild plants to growing them in the fields, to cultivating the soil. The first attempts to generalize this knowledge date back to the ancient period. As a scientific discipline, soil science originated in Russia at the end of the 19th century thanks to the works of the outstanding Russian scientists V.V. Dokuchaeva, P.A. Kostycheva, N.A. Sibirtseva and others, who developed its scientific foundations and main research methods.

The first scientific definition of soil was given by V.V. Dokuchaev in his work “Analysis of the Main Soil Classifications” (1886): “I would propose to understand by soil only those daytime or close to them horizons of rocks (no matter what), which are more or less naturally changed by the mutual influence of water, air and various species of organisms - living and dead, which in a certain way affects the composition, structure and color of such weathering products.

Hydrology as an independent science arose in the 20th century, and until that time it was one of the sections of hydraulic engineering.

The geosciences include:
— natural sciences: geology, physical geography, etc.; and
— social sciences: population geography, economic geography, etc.

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What is earth science called?

Geography(from the Greek words: γέα - earth and γράφω - I write, depict, - the name "geography" means "description" or "image of the Earth") - a set of sciences about the planet Earth.

A very significant issue in relation to the content, tasks, and limits of geosciences is the difficult question of distinguishing it from geology, which, in particular, with its department of so-called dynamic geology (the study of the forces whose action caused and is causing the origin and change of rocks and the formation of the earth's surface ), enters the field of physical geography and even takes its place. The history of science shows us that geography began to deal with the development of many physical-geographical problems earlier than geology. We find attempts to study these issues already in Vareniya, Riccioli and others in the 17th century, in Thorbern Bergman, G. Forster, Saussure, etc. at the end of the 18th century, in Al. Humboldt, Schmidt, F. Hoffmann, Studer, Berghaus - in the first third of this century. But then geographers are carried away by the connection of geography with the history of culture, while geologists, especially under the influence of Lyell, Murchison, Forbes, and others, begin to diligently study the forces currently acting and changing the earth's surface in order to find an explanation for those phenomena that caused the gradual formation of the earth's crust. , change in the boundaries and outlines of the ancient land and sea, the deposition of sediments, the eruption of plutonic rocks, the change in climate and the organic world, etc. Geologists include in their science "all the qualities, manifestations of forces and conditions of the globe, insofar as they can be a subject at all direct or indirect knowledge. Naumann included in geology, in addition to geognosy and geogeny, also geodesy, geodynamics, geophysics, hydrography and meteorology. Kredler, in addition to petrography, petrogeny, stratigraphy, historical and dynamic geology, also accepts "physiographic geology", the object of which is the study of the shape, size and type of the Earth's surface and its physical relationships. However, this program was never actually carried out; about the limits of geology - see Geology.

There are questions equally important for physical geography and geology (for example, orography), and it cannot be denied that the work of geographers and geologists can only supplement and illuminate each other. If a detailed acquaintance with the map of the country and its geographical features, then it is also inevitable for the geographer to become familiar with key facts past of this country, with the distribution of the rocks and soils that form its surface, with the participation in the formation of this surface of the tectonic and volcanic forces of the Earth.

It is necessary to dwell a little more on the term geophysics, with which Gerland replaces the name "physical geography". This term came into use relatively recently, namely in the sixties, when it was used by Muri (M ü hry). Later, he was accepted by Tseprits in his reports on the successes of the physical geographer, which were placed in the "Geograph. Jahrbuch". Finally, in modern times it was used by Professor Günther for the title of his extensive manual: "Lehrbuch der Geophysik und physikalischen Geographie" (). In the preface to it, however, it is said that the names "physical geography, geophysics, physics of the Earth" are, in essence, synonyms. Nevertheless, Günther admits some difference between the concepts of "geophysics" and "physical geography" - the first name, in his opinion, is more suitable for that department of geographical science that considers the Earth as a whole, as a world body, especially in its internal properties, while the name "physical geography" is more appropriate when it comes to the study of the earth's surface. In accordance with this, Günther calls "geophysics in the narrow sense" that department of physical geology, which includes the consideration of the internal heat of the Earth, guesses about the composition and state of the Earth's core, the study of volcanic and seismic phenomena, and he identifies this department with dynamic geology, which, however, as is known, is understood by geologists in a much broader sense. Richthofen is also inclined to call that department of general geography geophysics, adding to it the study of the density of the Earth, the influence of terrestrial and cosmic attraction, magnetic forces, etc. G. Wagner agrees with this distinction. Richthofen notes that geophysics is developed by the combined efforts of astronomers-geologists and geographers. The study of seismic phenomena in general and even all meteorology could be classified as geophysics. Thus, geophysics could include: research on the exact shape of the geoid (changes in gravity, ocean levels, tides) and on deviations in its rotational motion; the doctrine of terrestrial magnetism (which some geographers, for example, Zupan, completely distinguish from physical magnetism in view of the fact that magnetic phenomena do not interact with others and do not exert a noticeable influence on them); meteorology and seismology. All these branches of knowledge, which require careful observations with the help of various precise instruments and special observatories and are more or less suitable for mathematical processing, are able to develop, so to speak, in addition to the geometry itself; nevertheless, we do not separate geophysics from geophysics in the broad sense of the word (see below).

In general, one can say that G. in her modern development does not represent a strictly closed science, but is a complex of a number of sciences, each capable of being developed on its own. In this respect, however, G. does not represent anything exceptional; many other branches of knowledge also disintegrated over time into a number of separate sciences. G. represents a complex of at least seven sciences, which can be listed in this order: 1) astronomical, or mathematical, G., closely related to astronomy and geodesy and providing the basis for cartographer, i.e., the art of compiling and drawing maps in various projections; 2) geophysics, or physics of the globe associated with physics, astronomy and partly geology; 3) physical g. breaks down into a) orography, closely related to some departments of geology, b) oceanography and c) climatology, based on meteorology, but whose task is not so much the analysis of thermal, light and electrical phenomena, but the synthesis of data to characterize climatic differences on the earth's surface; four) biological G.: a) G. plants and b) G. Animals(both of these branches are closely connected with botany and zoology and are developed mainly by specialists in these sciences); 5) anthropogeography, based, on the one hand, on the data of physical and biological geology, on the other hand, on the data of anthropology, ethnography, statistics, and history; all the last three departments (3, 4, 5) together constitute the so-called "general geography"; 6) private G., or regional studies, i.e., the study of individual countries in relation to the three departments of "general geography" just mentioned; 7) history g. both in the sense of the spatial expansion of information about the earth's surface, and the development of geographical concepts and views. We have not included in this list the sciences that are more or less in contact with geography, but pursue their own special tasks, such as astronomy (although some facts from it, which are not directly related to the Earth, continue to be cited in many geographical manuals and textbooks) or anthropology, ethnography, statistics, although data from these sciences are often also entered into G. and although geographers sometimes take an active part in their processing (we point out, for example, to the works on the ethnography of Peschel and Ratzel, Gerland's ethnographic reviews, statistical - G . Wagner, etc.). In essence, however, these sciences, as having their own goals and methods, can be developed and are actually developed separately from geology, and therefore should not be combined and mixed with it.

The disintegration of geology into various departments, processed more or less independently, is not noticed in Germany alone, where geoscience now stands at the highest level, being represented by a number of departments at universities, by many well-known scientists, exemplary textbooks, journals, observatories, cartographic institutes, etc. etc., - but also in other European countries, where, however, the various departments of G. managed to delimit themselves, without entering into methodological squabbles, which were spent in last years a lot of effort on the part of German geographers. So in England a school of geophysicists has long been isolated, one of the prominent representatives of which at present is J. Darwin; on the other hand, a number of geologists stood out there who provided significant services to orography, several hydrographers (for example, Buchanan), meteorologists, and, finally, a number of geographers proper, who, following Ritter, allow a significant participation of the anthropogeographic element (for example, D. Freshfield , Keltie, Mackinder and others). In France, where cartography, the physics of the earth, meteorology, the history of geography, and so on, have long been isolated, geology proper always maintains a close connection between the physical-geographical element and the anthropogeographical element; The best example of this is El. Reclus, who, having published a sketch of the physical G. (La Terre), excellent for his time, proceeded to present the G. of individual countries (G é ographie Universelle), in which he gave excellent examples of how a geographer should combine the latest physical data on the earth's surface with bio- and anthropogeographic data. Interestingly, the best representatives of G. in France, for example, Vivien de St. Martin, Levasseur and others, in their geographical writings even give priority to historical and statistical elements.

The complexity of geographical science, which needs the assistance of various specialties, is clearly confirmed by geographical congresses, at which astronomers, physicists, geologists, ethnographers, statisticians, etc., abstract alongside geographers; then geographic yearbooks and journals that publish articles and reviews on various branches of knowledge that are more or less closely related to geography; finally, projects for the founding of special geographical institutes for the higher teaching of geography in its entirety - projects that appeared after recent times and in Italy, and in France, and here in Russia (project of the Imperial Geographical Society and the project of founding a special department at St. Petersburg University). Leaving even such grandiose plans aside, one cannot help but admit that geography, for the purpose of more rational higher teaching, should be represented by at least two departments: one that could be given the name geophysics, which would require special physical and mathematical training and which would be connected to a well-equipped and adapted geophysical observatory; and another - geography, i.e., general geography and private geography of individual countries. This department requires special training in natural history and geography and presupposes a certain familiarity with cartography, the history of geography and the sciences auxiliary to anthropogeography, it must be equipped with a geographical office with a sufficient number of maps, books, magazines and other aids for desk study and excursions. One of the most important tasks of a geographer should be the development of the geography of individual countries, which is inconceivable without a detailed acquaintance with general geography, which in turn is closely connected with the successes of private geography. The connection between general and private geography, obvious in itself, is also confirmed by the example of Western universities - especially the best-established, German ones - in which "L änd erkunde" is developed and read by the same professors who teach "Allgemeine Erdkunde". The isolation of geophysics is expressed in the fact that courses in its departments (for example, meteorology, terrestrial magnetism, etc.) are taught by other specialists in greater or lesser connection with physics courses. The study and teaching of particular geography also presupposes a more or less extensive assumption of the human element, as we see in the best synthetic works of foreign geographers, and as Professor Zupan specifically insisted on this recently. The development of private grammar requires no less attention, critical tact, and observation, and is able to bring even more immediate benefit in explaining certain practical questions of life.

Literature: BUT) Astronomical geography: Scharnhorst, "Initial Foundations of Astronomy and Mathematical Geography" (St. Petersburg, ); Günther, "Handbuch der mathem. Geographie"; on cartography: Zöpprits "Leitfaden der Kartenentwurfslehre" (); Struve, "Landkarten" (). - B) Geophysics: Günther, "Lehrbuch der Geophysik" (2 B-de, , with extensive literary indications); on meteorology: Bebber, "Lehrbuch der Meteorologie" (), after seismology : De Rossi, "La Meteorologia endogena" (1879-82); Milne, "Earthquakes" (). - AT) General geography: Hann, Hochstetter und Pokorny, "Unser Wissen von der Erde, Allgemeine Erdkunde" (ed. Kirchhoff, ); Supan, "Grundz ü ge der phys. Erdkunde" (); Klöden, "Physical Geography" (, obsolete); Berghaus, "Physikalischer Atlas" (new ed., 1889-92). - a) Physical geography: Günther, "Lehrbuch der physik. Geographie" (); Peschel-Leipoldt, "Phys. Erdkunde" (1884-85); Reclus, "La terre" (obsolete). -α) Orography: Sonklar, "Allgem. Orographie" ( , obsolete); Mushketov, "Physical Geology" (1888-91); v. Richthofen, "Führer für die Forschungsreisenden"; Neumayr, "Erdgeschichte" (Bd. I, ); Süss, "Das Antlitz der Erde" ( , ff.) - β) Oceanography: Krümmel, "Der Ocean" (); Thoulet, "Oceanographie" ( .); Boguslavsky und Krümmel, "Handb. d. Oceanographie". -γ) Climatology: Voeikov, "Climates of the globe" () and his own: "Die Klimate der Erde" (); his: "Snow cover" (); Hann, "Handb. der Klimatologie". - b) Biogeography. - α) plant geography: Drude, "Handb. der Pflanzengeographie"; β) animal geography: Wallace, "Geographie Distribution of Animals" and others - c) anthropogeography: Ratzel, Anthropogeography. - G) Private geography, or regional studies: Reclus, "Nouv. Gé ographie universelle", 17 volumes (in Russian translation, ed. 11 so far); "Unser Wissen von der Erde", Bd. II and III. "Länderkunde", ed. Kirchoff (Europe); popular: De Varigny, "Nouv. Géographie moderne" (1890-91). History of geography: Peschel, "Geschichte der Erdkunde (2nd ed.); Oppel, "Terra incognita" (); Vivien de St. Martin, "Historie de la gé ographie" with atlas; by geography among the ancients: Beyer, "Gesch. d. wiss. Erdkunde der Griechen" (1887-91, 3rd edition, unfinished); Bunbury, "History of anc. Geography" (); according to the medieval Kretschmer, "Die phys. Erdkunde im christl. Mittelalter" (); according to the Middle Ages and the Age of Discovery: S. Ruge, "Gesch. d. Zeitalters der Entdekungen" (); on the discovery of America: Cronau, "America. Die Geschichte seiner Entdeckung" (); S. Ruge, "Ch. Columbus" (); Fiske, "The Discovery of America" ​​(Moscow,, vol. I); Windsor, "Chr. Columbus" (); 16th century: Nordenskiöld, "Facsimile Atlas" (); Gallois, "Les Géographes allemands de la Renaissance" (). -e) Atlases: Stieler "s "Hand-Atlas" (, 95 cards); Schrader, Pru dent et Anthome, "Atlas de géographie moderne" (1890-91); pocket atlases: German Habenicht "a, English Bartolomew (); Russian atlases of Ilyin and Linberg; Berghaus, "Chart of the World" (updated. - F) Geogr. dictionaries:"Nouv. Dictionnaire de geo graphie moderne et ancienne" p. Vivien de St. Martin, Volume 5 (not completed); Metzger, "Geogr.-stat. Welt-Lexicon (); Embacher, "Lexikon der Reisen und Entdeckungen (); Egli, "Nomina geographica" (

Paleontology, title- The word paleontology comes from three Greek words: ancient, being and doctrine. Thus, in an exact translation into Russian, this term means: the science of ancient beings.

Paleontology is the science of organisms that existed in past (geological) times. Since fossil remains or fossils are the main natural material of paleontological research, paleontology is often defined as the science of fossil remains of organisms.

The term "paleontology" was proposed by the famous French scientist Blainville (N. M. Ducrotay de Вlainville) in 1825 in his great work "Guide to Malacology and Conchiliology". This word he, in his words, created "to designate the science that deals with the study of fossil organic bodies." At first, only a few scientists used this term; he gained wide popularity only after the well-known naturalist, professor of Moscow University G. I. Fischer von Waldheim spoke in favor of replacing the term "pegromatognosia", which he had previously designated "the study of fossil organic bodies", with the term "paleontology". In 1834, G.I. Fischer’s book “Bibliographia paleonthologica animatium systematica” was published in Moscow, where such a replacement is justified by the fact that, on the one hand, “it is desirable to include geological foundations in this teaching”, and on the other hand, by the fact that "Equally he needs the concepts of zoological and zootomy."

The word "paleontology", according to G. I. Fisher, "expresses and combines these two conditions better" than "petromatognosia". Fisher began to use the term "paleontology" in lectures he gave to students at Moscow University, as well as in his subsequent works. He contributed so much to the rooting of this term in the scientific literature that he is often considered the author of the latter. Thus, the author of the first major reference manual on paleontology, the famous German scientist K. Zittel, in his major work “History of Geology and Paleontology until the End of the 19th Century”, argued that this name was introduced in the early 1930s. of the last century "almost simultaneously" by Blainville and G. I. Fischer von Waldheim, and this mistake has been repeatedly repeated in the specialized literature so far. For example, the English scientist Stubblefield recently wrote that "The term paleontology has existed since 1834, when it was used by both Blainville and Fischer von Waldheim" (Stubblefield, 1954).
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Yet primitive people began to accumulate knowledge about what surrounds them. As mankind developed, this knowledge became more and more. People sought to know the world around them as deeply as possible. Gradually, various sciences arose and began to develop. Some of them explore nature, others - the life of people, their spiritual world, history, culture, economy.

Nature in the old days was called "nature". Therefore, the natural sciences received common name natural Sciences. They study various bodies, substances and natural phenomena. The body can be called any object, any living being. Substances are what bodies are made of. And phenomena, as you already know, are any changes that occur in nature.

Let's get acquainted with the basic sciences about nature.

Astronomy

The name of this science comes from the Greek words "astron" - "star", "nomos" - "law".

Astronomy is the science of celestial bodies: their origin, structure, composition, movement in outer space.

The world of celestial bodies, perhaps, seems to us a particularly mysterious part of nature. And probably everyone, more than once peering into the distant, bewitching starry sky, felt like all people and the whole Earth as a small part of a huge, immense world - the Universe. Astronomy has already uncovered many of the mysteries of the universe and continues to solve them, striking the imagination of people with new discoveries.

Physics

Translated from Greek, the word "physis" means. tea "nature".

Physics is a science that studies various natural phenomena.

We often encounter many of these phenomena in Everyday life. For example, the movement of bodies, the changes that occur to bodies when heated and cooled, electricity, sound, light. It is physics that answers the questions why lightning flashes and thunder rumbles, how an echo occurs, what a rainbow is ... But physics does not only explain what can be seen in nature. It is the basis of technology. Without knowledge of physics, it is impossible to create a car, or an airplane, or a refrigerator, or a crane, or a computer. It is hard to even imagine what our life would be like if the science of physics did not exist.

Chemistry

The origin of the name of this science is not exactly known, perhaps from the Greek word "chemeusis" - "mixing".

Chemistry is the science of substances and their transformations.

You already know that bodies are made of substances. Water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, sugar, starch, table salt are all examples of substances. There are a lot of them now - several million. Each substance has its own properties. Under certain conditions, some substances may produce others. There is no miracle, no magic in such transformations. Thanks to chemistry, people have learned to obtain in laboratories and on chemical plants those substances that are needed in the household and in everyday life.

Geography

This is another earth science. Its name comes from the Greek words "geo" - "earth", "grafo" - "I write", i.e. "description of the earth".

Indeed, geography describes our planet: what oceans and continents it has, seas, lakes and rivers, lowlands, hills and mountains, what countries, cities and villages arose on Earth, what is the life and economy of the peoples inhabiting our planet. A lot of questions are studied by geography. As you can see, they concern not only nature, but also life and economic activities of people. About what main sections geography is divided into and what they study, as well as what geographical sciences exist, you will learn from the next paragraph.

Biology

Translated from Greek, the word "bios" means "life", "logos" - "science, teaching".

Biology is the science of living nature.

Without life, it is impossible to imagine our planet. A variety of creatures - bacteria, protozoa, fungi, plants, animals - inhabited the oceans and land, plains and mountains, soil and even deep, mysterious caves. We ourselves are part of nature. Biology answers many questions: what living beings are there on Earth and how many there are, how a living body is arranged and works, how organisms reproduce and develop, how they are connected with each other and with inanimate nature.

Ecology

The name of this science comes from the Greek words "ekos" - "house", "logos" - "science, teaching".

Ecology is the science of the relationship of organisms with each other and with their environment, the interaction of man and nature.

Ecology originated as a part of biology, but now more and more people talk about it as an independent science - the science of the natural home of mankind. The word "ecology" is often heard on radio, television, and appears in newspapers. This is due to the fact that our natural home is in danger. To save it, each person should be at least a little familiar with the environment.

People have always sought to know the world around them. Gradually, various sciences arose and began to develop. The sciences of nature are called natural sciences. They study various bodies, substances and natural phenomena. The basic sciences of nature include astronomy, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, geology, and ecology. Astronomy is the science of the heavenly bodies. Physics considers various natural phenomena. Chemistry is the science of substances and their transformations. Geography studies our planet. Biology is the science of living nature. Ecology is the science of the relationship of organisms with each other and with their environment, the interaction of man and nature.

1. What is the common name for the natural sciences?
2. What are bodies, substances and phenomena of nature? Give examples of bodies and substances that you encounter in everyday life.
3. List the natural sciences you know.
4. What does each of the natural sciences (astronomy, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, ecology) study?
5. The great English scientist Isaac Newton wrote: “I don’t know about others, but I feel like a child who wanders all day at the water’s edge, finding either a shell or a stone polished by a wave, while a huge ocean of truth stretches before him, boundless, unexplored.” How do you explain these words?

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