V. A. Gurkin

By this author

B. S. Sokolov. Essays on science and scientists; Science journalism (Novosibirsk, 2006), reviewed by V. A. Gurkin

Issue 1 from 01.03.2008

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Pallas and Lepekhin in Simbirsk Province

Issue 3 from 01.09.2006

What was the significance of the first academic expeditions to the Russian provinces in the 18th century? Until that time, the primary sources of geographical knowledge came either from the testimony of foreign travelers or reports by military governors and trades men. This essay examines the formation of knowledge about the interior territories of the Russian state through the example of Pallas and Lepekhin’s expedition to Simbirsk Province in 1768-1769. The extensive material collected then important as a source for ecological and sociocultural surveys of the territory even now, two and a half centuries later.

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The early cartography of the mid-Volga region

Issue 1 from 01.03.2005

The early cartography of the mid-Volga region. Much of the history of Russian cartography has yet to be written. Until now, the names of many of the Russian geodesists and cartographers of the 17 th and 18 th centuries, who worked selflessly to develop precise geographical representations of their country, remained unknown. This essay recounts the story of a few of them - Aleksei Izvolov, Vasily Kipriianov, Aleksandr Svechin, and others - who created some of the early maps of the mid-Volga territory. This essay also publishes, for the first time, some of the hand-drawn, large-scale maps of the 18 th century, which provide a new look at the history of this region.

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