Berg Lev Semenovich. World celebrities come from Moldova: Lev Berg - President of the Geographical Society of the USSR - locals Lev Semenovich Berg

(1876-1950)

Lev Semenovich Berg was an outstanding encyclopedic scientist, primarily a geographer and zoologist. He left a deep mark on the history of science. The works of L. S. Berg are devoted to general issues of physical geography, the geography of individual countries and regions, geomorphology, climatology, soil science, lake science, paleogeography, zoogeography, general biology, taxonomy of fish, history geographical science and geographical discoveries, ethnography and other branches modern science. Latitude scientific interests, systematic work, the ability to see the phenomenon under study in its history and relationships with the environment, deep erudition and outstanding memory allowed L. S. Berg to create a number of remarkable works that were included in the golden fund of Soviet science. He has over 900 works to his credit.

L. S. Berg was an excellent public figure and teacher. He prepared many textbooks. For ten years he headed the Geographical Society of the USSR.

Leya Semenovich Berg was born in Bendery (Moldova) on March 14, 1876 in the family of a notary. After graduating from the Kishinev gymnasium in 1894, he entered the natural department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, where the outstanding abilities of L. S. Berg attracted the attention of his teachers. Moscow University was famous for its professors, and Lev Semenovich managed to listen to lectures by such remarkable Russian scientists as D. N. Anuchin, A. P. Bogdanov, V. I. Vernadsky, M. A. Menzbir, A. P. Pavlov and K. A. Timiryazev. The geographer, anthropologist and ethnographer D. N. Anuchin and geologist A. P. Pavlov had a particularly great influence on the formation of L. S. Berg as a scientist.

While still a student at Moscow University, L. S. Berg makes his first trip to the mouth of the river. Ural and Lake Inder. The deserts of the Trans-Volga region made a great impression on the young traveler; from that time on, he retained an interest in the geography of deserts and their peculiar nature for the rest of his life.

In 1898, L. S. Berg graduated from the university and, on the recommendation of D. N. Anuchin, went to Western Siberia to study lakes lying in flat depressions among the steppes. In these studies, Berg is formed - a limnologist who continues the work on the study of the lakes of Russia, begun by Anuchin, and subsequently gave classical works on the lakes of our country. In 1899, L. S. Berg went to Turkestan to study the Aral Sea. For several years he has been studying this huge body of water, located among dry deserts, and is in charge of fishing in the Syr Darya and the Aral Sea, and then in the Middle Volga.

A systematic study of the nature of the Aral Sea and its fauna allowed L. S. Berg to take a fresh approach to explaining the nature of this reservoir and draw a picture of its development in connection with the history of the Turan lowland and the dry channel of the Uzboy, through which part of the Amu Darya waters flowed to the Caspian Sea. During the period of work in deserts and on lakes Central Asia L. S. Berg conceived thoughts about the inaccuracy of the ideas prevailing in science about the drying up of Central Asia, about the progressive change in its climate in the direction of increasing desertification.

In 1903, L. S. Berg visited Norway, from where he again went to Turkestan, this time to study Balkhash and Issyk-Kul - these two large lakes of Central Asia, unlike each other.

From 1904 to 1914, L. S. Berg worked as the head of the department of fish and reptiles of the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg and carried out a number of remarkable monographic studies on the fish of Turkestan and the Amur region. In 1906, he again studied the Aral Sea, the sands of Big Badgers and the glaciers of the Turkestan Range. In 1909, L. S. Berg made a long journey through the Caucasus, where he was especially interested in the wonderful Lake Sevan. In the same year, at Moscow University, L. S. Berg defended his master's thesis "The Aral Sea" - a complete and comprehensive scientific work, which has retained its significance to this day. Reviews on the dissertation were given by outstanding Russian scientists, M. A. Menzbir and G. A. Kozhevnikov, V. V. Bartold, E. E. Leist. The Academic Council, at the suggestion of D. N. Anuchin, immediately awarded L. S. Berg a doctorate degree. It was a very rare event in the life of the university.

In 1912, L. S. Berg was engaged in physical and geographical research of the Chernigov province; in 1913 he studied the Tyrolean glaciers. Since 1914, he began his professorship in ichthyology at the Petrovsky Agricultural Institute in Moscow, and in 1916 he was elected professor of geography at Petrograd University, where he worked until the end of his days.

First World War, and then Civil War interrupted the cycle of L. S. Berg's field work, which resumed again in 1925, when he again visited his beloved Aral Sea, interested in the state of fishing. These studies were connected with work at the Institute of Experimental Agronomy, where from 1922 to 1934 L. S. Berg headed the department of applied ichthyology. At the same time, he worked as an employee of the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences, where he was in charge of the fish department.

In 1926, as part of a delegation of the USSR Academy of Sciences, L. S. Berg visited Japan, where he traveled through Manchuria and Korea. This road, according to the memoirs of the traveler himself, left him a great and vivid impression.

In 1928-1930. L. S. Berg is back in the field. He travels to Kyrgyzstan, to the mountains of the Tien Shan, which he has long known, where he again works on Issyk-Kul, this deep mountain lake. After Issyk-Kul, L. S. Berg conducted research on Lake Ladoga (1929) and Kokchetav lakes in Kazakhstan (1942-1944).

Many years of field work left a deep mark on the entire work of L. S. Berg. As is often the case, observations in nature gave rise to a series of thoughts that later turned into coherent scientific theories.

The amazing breadth of scientific interests and the scope of L. S. Berg's works are the first distinguishing feature of his scientific work. But, despite his broad scientific interests, he was at the same time extremely systematic and organized in his work.

It is also important to note the second essential feature scientific research L. S. Berg. Whatever topic he worked on, he always tried to cover all issues as widely as possible and give clear conclusions that connect the research topic with other branches of knowledge. This makes the work of L. S. Berg necessary and interesting not only for geographers, but also for climatologists, zoologists, soil scientists, botanists, geologists, and naturalists in general.

Complexity in the approach and resolution of individual topics narrow in name is characteristic of the methods of L. S. Berg. In this regard, his book “Fish of the Amur Basin” (1909) is indicative, it would seem that a narrowly zoological summary of taxonomy, made as a result of processing the collections of Amur fish that were at that time in the museums of St. Petersburg and Warsaw. As the author himself wrote, this work "gives a description and a key to all hitherto known fish found in the Amur River system." Meanwhile, three small chapters of the general part of the book: General character ichthyological fauna of the Amur basin”, “Amur fish from the point of view of zoological geography” and “The origin of the ichthyological fauna of the Amur” are of great interest to geographers and naturalists in general. L. S. Berg approaches natural phenomena in their complex relationships, draws a vivid picture of the origin of modern landscapes of the Amur basin with its unique combination of coniferous and broad-leaved forests, where there is a striking geographical unity of Siberian and southern subtropical forms. To do this, in addition to ichthyological materials, he drew on data from ornithology, entomology, information about the distribution of individual species of mammals, and most importantly, botanical geography (analysis of the distribution of the so-called vicarious, i.e., replacement species - hornbeam, oak, yew, elm, etc. ). All this allowed L. S. Berg to approach the issue of the origin of the fish fauna of the Amur basin, based on the study of the history of the basin and its landscapes.

For L. S. Berg, the identification of “causal relationships of phenomena” is the task and method of his geographical research. He believed that the study of soils, vegetation, topography, climate and other elements of the geographic environment does not yet allow us to talk about geography: only studying them in causal relationships will make it possible to understand and explain the structure and mechanism of the geographic environment in different zones and regions, and this is main task of geography.

The third distinguishing feature of the scientific work of L. S. Berg lies in the historicism that permeates his work. His historical approach to explaining, say, geographical landscapes is not an end in itself, but a method of revealing the causality underlying modern phenomena. When analyzing the nature of Lake Baikal, the historical method in solving complex and controversial issues of the development of the Baikal fauna helped the author to come to a number of conclusions proving not a marine, but a freshwater origin of the Baikal fauna.

It should also be noted the remarkable work of L. S. Berg on paleoclimatology, paleogeography, biogeography, and especially climate change in the historical period. Of greatest interest is the work “The Question of Climate Change in the Historical Epoch”, in which the author convincingly showed the inconsistency of the views of those scientists who adhered to the idea of a progressive shrinkage of dry and arid regions of Eurasia over the past millennium.

The works of L. S. Berg on "shrinking" are not only of outstanding theoretical interest, but also of great practical value in connection with the fight against drought in our country.

If we add to the above that in his well-known works “Geographical zones of the USSR” and “Nature of the USSR”, he connects the description of landscapes, where appropriate, with paleogeography, then it becomes obvious that the historical background for Lev Semenovich Berg is the necessary foundation, without which will not be clear and scientifically explained many of the constructions arising from the analysis natural conditions modernity.

Fourth feature scientific work of L. S. Berg is an extremely simple and intelligible form of presentation of his works. His works are written strictly, logically, with emphasis on the final conclusions. Some of his works are popular in the best sense of the word. All literary, social and pedagogical activity A. S. Berg was aimed at ensuring that geography - the most fascinating branch of knowledge - became the property of millions of our fellow citizens.

L. S. Berg found time to communicate with children. He often spoke in the Houses of Pioneers and the school lecture hall of the city of Leningrad, published articles in Pionerskaya Pravda, children's and youth magazines. His articles could be seen in the children's geographical yearbook "Globe" and the magazine "Around the World". In 1950, just before his death, A. S. Berg created a warm book full of love for the characters and readers about the remarkable Russian travelers.

One more remarkable feature of L. S. Berg as a scientist should be noted - his patriotism. For decades, he has been developing questions of the history of Russian geographical science. Working in the archives, he found remarkable facts that allowed him back in 1929 to assert that “the Russians, within the limits of only one USSR, mapped and studied an area equal to one sixth of the land surface, that vast expanses were explored in the regions of Asia bordering Russia, that all the coasts of Europe and Asia from the Varanger Fjord to Korea, as well as the coasts of a significant part of Alaska, are put on the map by Russian sailors. Let us add that many islands have been discovered and described by our navigators in the Pacific Ocean.

A. S. Berg defends the rights of our Motherland in the Antarctic, making presentations and publishing a number of works on the discoveries of Russians at the beginning of the last century in this part of the globe.

A. S. Berg's works on the history of geography have long been universally recognized. Such are the monograph "Discovery of Kamchatka and Bering's Kamchatka Expeditions" and the book "Essays on the History of Russian Geographical Discoveries" and "The All-Union Geographical Society for a Hundred Years."

“There are three types of geographers: travelers, country explorers and organizers. Pyotr Petrovich was both one and the other and the third,” wrote L. S. Berg in the article “Peter Petrovich Semenov-Tyan-Shansky as a geographer.” These words, more than anyone else, refer to L. S. Berg himself.

A. S. Berg is primarily a naturalist. For him, facts are the bricks without which the construction of scientific work is impossible. Nature in all its diversity, with its interrelations, is the first creative laboratory of a scientist. Endless inquisitiveness, a noble desire to comprehend the laws of the world, to go deeper into the recesses of nature hidden from the indifferent eye made L. S. Berg a field worker who was most attracted to Central Asia and Kazakhstan. It was in these studies of the lakes of the Turan and West Siberian lowlands, while studying the deserts and mountains of Central Asia, that ideas arose that were guiding in a number of his works on the history of the development of Asian landscapes. Central Asian field materials allowed L. S. Berg to publish his famous works: “The Fishes of Turkestan” (1905), “Forms of Russian Deserts” (1911), “The Experience of Dividing Siberia and Turkestan into Landscape and Morphological Regions” (1913), “The Structure of the Surface Asiatic Russia" (1914), "On the origin of loess" (1916).

In 1929, his great works “The History of the Study of Turkmenistan” and “The Relief of Turkmenistan” were published; several times he returns to one of his favorite topics about loess formation, which he understands as a kind of soil process under certain conditions of an arid climate and the carbonate composition of parent rocks. The last major report on loess was published by L. S. Berg in 1947 in the book Climate and Life, republished in Hungary in 1953.

L. S. Berg did an enormous amount of work in the field of regional studies, starting from the geography of individual, relatively small countries, to which L. S. Berg’s books are devoted (for example, Bessarabia, 1918), and ending with the geography of everything Soviet Union. Here we should also note the remarkable monographs "The Nature of the USSR" and "Geographical Zones of the Soviet Union" - a work that is outstanding in its structure and abundance of geographical facts. The description of geographical zones is given in their change against the background of development and formation. "Nature of the USSR" was translated into Ukrainian, English, French, and two volumes of "Geographical zones" were published on German in Leipzig in 1958 and 1959. In the study of the geographical zones of L, S. Berg was a direct successor to the classical works of V. V. Dokuchaev.

Through the works of L. S. Berg, the doctrine of the zones of nature in our time has become the property of not only geographers, but also botanists, zoologists, and in general all naturalists, and has firmly entered science.

L. S. Berg believed that regional studies are geography proper. All my scientific activity in the field of geography, he showed an example of the direction in which Soviet regional studies should be developed, based on the genetic connections of natural phenomena, on spatial and historical methods for studying countries, zones, landscapes, and regions.

L. S. Berg was also one of the first to deal with issues of scientific geographical zoning. Here, the works already mentioned by us stand out: “The experience of dividing Siberia and Turkestan into landscape and morphological regions”, “The arrangement of the surface of Asiatic Russia”, as well as “The relief of Siberia, Turkestan and the Caucasus” (1937). They showed L. S. Berg's ability to geographical synthesis, to simplicity in generalizations, to a strict system in classification.

Work on the study of fish took L. S. Berg a lot of time. According to the scientist himself: “My daily routine is as follows: during the day I work at the Zoological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where I study fish, and I devote evenings at home to geography.” L. S. Berg owns the capital summary "Fish of fresh waters of the USSR and neighboring countries." This monograph speaks not only about the taxonomy of freshwater and brackish-water fish, but also treats questions of fish biology broadly. It gives a systematic description of freshwater, anadromous and brackish-water fish not only in our homeland, but throughout Europe, excluding the fish of the Mediterranean countries. Of the 528 fish species found in the rivers and lakes of our country, 70 were discovered and described for the first time by the author of the monograph. It concludes with a remarkable zoogeographical analysis of the freshwater fishes of the USSR against the background of the zoogeography of the whole world.

The publication of this book, which received the award, attracted the attention of not only ichthyologists, but also fisheries and industry workers. Working on issues of the zoogeography of the ichthyofauna, L. S. Berg created a scheme for dividing the whole world, the Soviet Union and Europe into a number of zoogeographic regions based on the distribution of certain fish species.

In search of ways for the development of fish, L. S. Berg began to study fossil fish, which resulted in the outstanding work “The System of Fish-like and Fish, Living and Fossil” (two editions 1940, 1955, German edition - Berlin, 1958).

The pedagogical activity of Lev Semenovich was not limited to lecturing, guiding graduate students or the department. L. S. Berg created several textbooks on geography for universities: "Nature of the USSR", "Geographical zones of the Soviet Union"; textbook "Fundamentals of climatology".

L. S. Berg devoted a lot of time to editorial work. As a scholar and as an editor, he was always aware of the literature that came out. In the journals of the Academy of Sciences and the Geographical Society, in whose work he took part for half a century, reviews by L. S. Berg were often published.

L. S. Berg was elected a full member of the Russian Geographical Society in 1904. At the beginning of his activity, L. S. Berg was most of all associated with the Turkestan Department of the Geographical Society, in which he participated for almost 50 years. In 1940 he was elected an honorary member and president of the society. Thus, for more than 10 years, A. S. Berg led the Geographical Society of the USSR.

The social activities of L. S. Berg were not limited to the Geographical Society. He took part in many public organizations. L. S. Berg worked in a number of academic commissions, often led them, gave public lectures at the Society for the Propagation of Political and scientific knowledge, willingly responded to numerous letters coming to him from all over our country, helped young scientists in their endeavors.

Geographers and zoologists are indebted to L. S. Berg for many new ideas and important facts. The development and deepening of physical geography and zoology are inextricably linked with the name of L. S. Berg.

Bibliography

Murzaev E. M. Lev Semenovich Berg / E. M. Murzaev // People of Russian Science. Essays on outstanding figures of natural science and technology. Geology and geography. - Moscow: State publishing house of physical and mathematical literature, 1962. - S. 559-566.

(March 14, 1876, Bender, Bessarabian province Russian Empire(now the Republic of Moldova) - December 24, 1950) - the largest Russian Soviet scientist, geographer and biologist (ichthyologist), Doctor of Geography and Doctor of Biology, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences, President of the USSR Geographical Society (1940–1950), Honored Scientist of the RSFSR, laureate of the State Prize of the USSR, researcher.

L.S. Berg: biographical information

Born in the family of notary Simon Grigoryevich Berg and his wife Klara Lvovna Bernshtein-Kogan. In 1885 he entered the 2nd Kishinev classical gymnasium, from which he graduated with a gold medal in 1894. During his studies at the gymnasium, he became interested in independent study of nature.

He received his higher education at the natural department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of Moscow University, where he entered in 1894. In the same year, he was baptized into Lutheranism in order to obtain the right to higher education within the Russian Empire. During his student years, he performed a series of experiments on breeding fish. The diploma work on pike embryology became the sixth printed work of the young scientist. After graduating with a gold medal from the university (1898), Lev Semenovich until 1905 worked in the Ministry of Agriculture as an inspector of fisheries in the Aral Sea and the Middle Volga, explored steppe lakes, rivers, and deserts.

In 1902-1903 he continued his education in Bergen (Norway), and then in 1904-1913 he worked at the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences.

For the master's thesis "Aral Sea", prepared in 1908, L.S. Berg was awarded academic degree doctor of geography.

In 1913 L.S. Berg moved to Moscow, where he received a professorship at the Moscow Agricultural Institute. In 1916 he was invited to the Department of Physical Geography of Petrograd University, where he worked until the end of his life.

In the period 1909–1916 L.S. Berg published five monographs on the ichthyology of Russian water bodies, but physical geography became the main subject of his scientific interests.

Lev Semenovich created a theory of the origin of loess, proposed the first classification of natural areas of the Asian part of Russia.

After being elected professor of the department of geography at Petrograd University, in 1917 he finally moved to Petrograd. Participated in the creation of the Higher Geographic Courses, and then the Geographic Institute. In 1925 the Institute was transformed into the country's first department of geography and became part of the Leningrad University. L.S. Berg headed the Department of Physical Geography and directed it until the end of his life.

January 14, 1928 L.S. Berg was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the biological category of the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, and on November 30, 1946 - an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the Department of Geological and Geographical (with a specialization in Zoology, Geography). It is assumed that the election of 1928 was sanctioned by the authorities on the condition that L.S. Berg from further work on the theory and mechanisms of evolution of species in nature.

In 1934, Lev Semenovich Berg was awarded the degree of Doctor of Zoology. In the same year he was awarded the title of Honored Scientist of the RSFSR.

In parallel with his work in geographical organizations, he headed the department of applied ichthyology in State Institute experimental agronomy (1922–1934), laboratory of ichthyology at the Zoological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1934–1950).

In the period 1940–1950 L.S. Berg is the President of the Geographical Society of the USSR.

L.S. Berg is an honorary member of many scientific associations: Geographical Societies of the USSR, Poland, Bulgaria, USA, Moscow Society of Naturalists, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpentologists. He - active member London Zoological Society, an active member of the editorial boards of the journal "Nature", "Izvestia" and "Notes of the All-Union Geographical Society", "Izvestia of the State Hydrological Institute".

L.S. Berg: research work

To the outstanding Russian scientist-encyclopedist L.S. Berg owns about 1000 works in various fields of the Earth sciences, such as climatology, biology, zoology, ichthyology, zoogeography, lake science, the theory of evolution, the study of landscapes, geomorphology, cartography, geobotany, paleogeography, paleontology, economical geography, soil science, ethnography, linguistics, history of science.

In climatology, L.S. Berg gave a classification of climates in relation to landscapes, explained desertification by human activity, and glaciation - by "factors cosmic order". In zoogeography, Berg proposed original mechanisms for the distribution of fish and other aquatic animals. In particular, in 1906 he published articles on the ichthyology of lakes Kosogol (now Khubsugul) and Baikal, where he drew attention to the identity of the species composition of the ichthyofauna of these lakes and noted the complete absence of sculpins characteristic of Baikal in the fauna of Kosogol. He developed one of the leading concepts of the origin of fauna. Berg thoroughly and convincingly proved the freshwater origin of the bulk of Baikal animals. In the work “Baikal, its nature and the origin of its organic world” he wrote: “single species of the Baikal fauna are scattered sporadically in separate water bodies of Europe, Siberia, the Siberian Arctic, China, and North America. But these forms are collected together in large numbers. On the basis of faunistic analysis, the scientist came to the conclusion about the antiquity of the Baikal organic world, its continental origin. He noted that the amazing endemism of the Baikal fauna is a consequence of its antiquity. Wrote 15 works about Baikal.

In 1922, in the most difficult conditions of war communism, L.S. Berg prepared a number of works on the theory of evolution, in which, in an elegant polemic with the conclusions of Charles Darwin, he put forward the evolutionary concept of nomogenesis (evolution based on patterns). Apolitical L.S. Berg, on the basis of colossal empirical material, rejected the role of the struggle for existence as a factor in evolution, both in nature and in human society. Theory of evolution L.S. Berg was subjected to both constructive criticism by modern scientists (A.A. Lyubishchev, D.N. Sobolev, etc.), and severe ideological pressure from the dogmatic political system, especially after the publication in 1926 of the book "Nomogenesis" in English.

Historical works of L.S. Berg dedicated detailed description domestic discoveries in Asia, Alaska and Antarctica, the study of ancient maps, the culture and ethnography of small peoples, the compilation of biographical descriptions of famous scientists.

L.S. Based on the analysis of original documents, Berg consistently defended the priority of Russian researchers in the discovery of Antarctica and pointed out the need integrated research ice continent. Ideas and historical approach of L.S. Berg contributed to the development of a national position in the field of Antarctic exploration.

A street in Bendery, a volcano on the island of Urup, a peak in the Pamirs, a cape on the island of Severnaya Zemlya, glaciers in the Pamirs and the Dzungarian Alatau are named after Lev Semenovich Berg. Berg's name was included in the Latin names of more than 60 animals and plants.

Awards

Research and social activity awarded with many awards. Among them: a diploma of the 1st degree of Moscow University and gold medal for the best thesis (1898), gold medal P.P. Semenov-Tian-Shan of the Russian Geographical Society for work on the Aral Sea (1909), Big gold (Konstantinov) medal - highest award Russian Geographical Society (1915), gold medal of the Asiatic Society of India for work on the ichthyology of Asia (1936), etc. L.S. Berg is a laureate of the State Prize of the USSR (1951), holder of two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor and medals "For the Defense of Leningrad" and "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic war 1941-1945".

Lev Semenovich Berg died on December 24, 1950 in Leningrad and was buried on the Literary bridges of the Volkovsky cemetery.

Compositions

Bessarabia. Country - People - Economy. Chisinau, 1993.
All-Union Geographical Society for 100 years. M.-L.: Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1946.
Selected works. M.-L., 1956–1962. T. 1–5.
Climate and life / ed. 2nd, revised. and additional M.: Geografgiz, 1947.
climate and life. M., Gosizdat. 1922.
Lomonosov and the hypothesis of the movement of the continents // Izvestiya VGO. 1947. Issue. 1. S. 91–92.
Lomonosov and the first Russian voyage to find the northeast passage // Izvestiya VGO. 1940. T. 72. Issue. 6. S. 712–730.
Names of fish and ethnic relationships of the Slavs. 1948.
Essays on the history of Russian geographical discoveries. M.-L:. Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1946.
Homeland of Tokharov and distribution of salmon // Izvestiya VGO. 1946. T. 78. Issue. 1. P.122.
Russian discoveries in Antarctica and modern interest in it. M.: Geografgiz, 1949.
Freshwater fishes of the USSR and neighboring countries. 1949. Vol. 1–3.
Fishes of Turkestan. 1905.
System of pisciformes and fishes, now living and fossils. 1940.
Evolution theory. Pg., 1922.
Works on the theory of evolution. L.: Science. 1976.
Uralians on the Syr Darya. 1900.

A complete list of works by L.S. Berg until 1952 inclusive was published in the book “In Memory of Academician L.S. Berg". M.-L., 1955. S. 556–560.

Literature

Zolotnitskaya R. Not subject to oblivion // URL: http://www.spbumag.nw.ru/2000/30/16.html.
Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius.
Irkutsk: Dictionary of Local Lore and History. Irkutsk, 2011, p. 62.
Murzaev E.M. Lev Semenovich Berg (1876–1950). M., Nauka, 1983.

He was the first to express the idea of the existence of natural complexes.

Awards and prizes:

A family

Berg is a classic of world ichthyology. He described the fish fauna of many rivers and lakes, proposed "systems of fish and fish-like, living and fossils." He is the author of the capital work "Fish of fresh waters of the USSR and neighboring countries."

Berg's contribution to the history of science is significant. This topic is devoted to his books about the discovery of Kamchatka, the expedition of V. Bering, the theory of continental drift by E. Bykhanov, the history of Russian discoveries in Antarctica, the activities of the Russian Geographical Society, etc.

Repression

L. S. Berg was subjected to public accusations for a 1921 article and the theory of nomogenesis at a meeting on March 19, 1931 at Leningrad University. It was concluded by its critics:

Berg showed a complete inability to understand reality, he showed a complete unwillingness to abandon his objectively completely harmful theoretical principles. He did not act like Prof. Mebusu with a frank and honest admission of his errors and mistakes.

Awards, prizes and honorary titles

2 Orders of the Red Banner of Labor (06/10/1945; 1946)
medals
Stalin Prize of the first degree (1951, posthumously) - for the scientific work "Fish of fresh waters of the USSR and neighboring countries" (1948-1949)

1909 - Gold medal named after P. P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shan RGS for work on the Aral Sea
1910 - Prize to them. Akhmatova for the essay "Fish of the Amur Basin"
1915 - Konstantinovsky medal from the Russian Geographical Society, elected an honorary member of the MOIP
1936 - Gold Medal from the Asiatic Society of India for Zoological Research in Asia

Major writings

Only the most important works are listed here. For a complete bibliography, see the book by V. M. Raspopova.

1905. Fishes of Turkestan // Izvestiya Turk. otd. Russian Geographical Society, vol. 4. 16 + 261 p.
1908. Aral Sea: Experience of a physical-geographical monograph // Izvestia Turk. otd. Russian Geographical Society, vol. 5. no. 9. 24 + 580 s.
1912. Fishes (Marsipobranchii and Pisces). Fauna of Russia and adjacent countries. Vol. 3, no. 1. St. Petersburg. 336 p.
1913. Experience of dividing Siberia and Turkestan into landscape and morphological regions in the book: "Collection in honor of the 70th anniversary of D. N. Anuchin", M., 1913
1914. Fishes (Marsipobranchii and Pisces). Fauna of Russia and adjacent countries. Vol. 3, no. 2. Pg. pp. 337-704.
1916. Fresh water fish of the Russian Empire. M. 28 + 563 p.
1918. Bessarabia. Country. People. Economy. - Petrograd: Lights, 1918. - 244 p.(the book contains 30 photographs and a map)
1922. Climate and life. M. 196 p.
1922. Nomogenesis, or Evolution based on regularities. - Petersburg: State Publishing House, 1922. - 306 p.
1929. Essays on the history of Russian geographical science (until 1923). - L .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, State. type of. them. Evg. Sokolova, 1929. - 152, p. - (Proceedings of the Commission on the History of Knowledge / USSR Academy of Sciences; 4). - 1,000 copies.
1931. Landscape and geographical zones of the USSR. M.-L.: Selkhozgiz. Part 1. 401 p.
1940. System of pisciformes and fishes, now living and fossils. In book. Tr. Zool. Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the SSR, vol. 5, no. 2. S. 85-517.
1946. Discovery of Kamchatka and Bering's expedition. M.-L.: Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Author's preface - dated January 1942, circulation 5000, 379 pages.
1946. Essays on the history of Russian geographical discoveries. M.-L., 1946, 2nd ed. 1949
1947. Lomonosov and the hypothesis of the movement of the continents // Proceedings of the All-Union Geographical Society. - M .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1947. - T. No. 1. - S. 91-92. - 2000 copies.
1977. (posthumously). Works on the theory of evolution, 1922-1930. L. 387 p.

Addresses in Petrograd - Leningrad

Memory

Named after L. S. Berg: a volcano on the island of Urup, a peak in the Pamirs, a cape on the island of the October Revolution (Severnaya Zemlya), a glacier in the Pamirs, a glacier and a peak on the Dzungarian Alatau.

His name was included in the Latin names of more than 60 animals and plants, for example, a deep-sea stingray is named after him.

On February 28, 1996, in the city of Bender, one of the streets of the microdistrict of the city - Borisovka - was named after Berg.

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Notes

Literature

Murzaev E. M. Lev Semyonovich Berg (1876-1950). Series: Scientific and biographical literature. - M.: Nauka, 1983. - 176 p.
Raspopova V. M. Lev Semyonovich Berg (1876-1950). // Materials for biobibliography of scientists of the USSR. Ser. geogr. Sciences. Issue. 2. - M., 1952. - 145 p.
Volkov V. A., Kulikova M. V. Moscow professors of the 18th - early 20th centuries. Natural and technical sciences. - M .: Janus-K; Moscow textbooks and cartolithography, 2003. - S. 29-30. - 294 p. - 2,000 copies. - ISBN 5-8037-0164-5.

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An excerpt characterizing Berg, Lev Semyonovich

“And the devil brought them! he thought while Tikhon covered his dry, senile body, overgrown with gray hair on his chest, with a nightgown. - I didn't call them. They came to ruin my life. And there's a little left."
- To hell! he said while his head was still covered with a shirt.
Tikhon knew the prince's habit of sometimes expressing his thoughts aloud, and therefore, with an unchanged face, he met the inquiringly angry look of the face that appeared from under his shirt.
- Lie down? the prince asked.
Tikhon, like all good lackeys, instinctively knew the direction of the master's thoughts. He guessed that they were asking about Prince Vasily and his son.
- We deigned to lie down and put out the fire, Your Excellency.
“There’s nothing, there’s nothing ...” the prince said quickly and, putting his feet into his shoes and hands into his dressing gown, went to the sofa on which he slept.
Despite the fact that nothing was said between Anatole and m lle Bourienne, they completely understood each other regarding the first part of the novel, before the pauvre mere appeared, they realized that they had a lot to say to each other secretly, and therefore in the morning they were looking for an opportunity see you alone. While the princess went to her father at the usual hour, m lle Bourienne met with Anatole in the winter garden.
Princess Mary approached that day with special trepidation to the door of the study. It seemed to her that not only did everyone know that today the decision of her fate would be made, but that they knew what she thought about it. She read this expression in the face of Tikhon and in the face of the valet Prince Vasily, who met with hot water in the corridor and bowed low to her.
The old prince this morning was extremely affectionate and diligent in his treatment of his daughter. This expression of diligence was well known to Princess Mary. This was the expression that used to appear on his face at those moments when his dry hands clenched into a fist from vexation because Princess Mary did not understand an arithmetic problem, and he, getting up, moved away from her and in a low voice repeated several times the same and the same words.
He immediately got down to business and began the conversation by saying "you."
“They made me a proposition about you,” he said, smiling unnaturally. “I think you guessed,” he continued, “that Prince Vasily came here and brought his pupil with him (for some reason, Prince Nikolai Andreevich called Anatole a pupil) not for my beautiful eyes. I made a proposition about you yesterday. And since you know my rules, I treated you.
“How can I understand you, mon pere?” said the princess, turning pale and blushing.
- How to understand! the father shouted angrily. - Prince Vasily finds you to his liking for his daughter-in-law and makes you a proposition for his pupil. Here's how to understand. How to understand?! ... And I ask you.
“I don’t know about you, mon pere,” the princess said in a whisper.
- I? I? what am I? then leave me aside. I won't get married. What do you? Here is what you want to know.
The princess saw that her father looked at this matter with unkindness, but at that very moment the thought came to her that now or never the fate of her life would be decided. She lowered her eyes so as not to see the look, under the influence of which she felt that she could not think, but could only obey out of habit, and said:
“I desire only one thing - to fulfill your will,” she said, “but if my desire had to be expressed ...
She didn't have time to finish. The prince interrupted her.
“And wonderful,” he shouted. - He will take you with a dowry, and by the way, he will capture m lle Bourienne. She will be a wife, and you ...
The prince stopped. He noticed the effect these words had on his daughter. She lowered her head and was about to cry.
“Well, well, I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” he said. - Remember one thing, princess: I adhere to those rules that the girl has every right to choose. And I give you freedom. Remember one thing: the happiness of your life depends on your decision. There is nothing to say about me.
- Yes, I don't know ... mon pere.
- Nothing to say! They tell him, he will marry not only you, whom you want to marry; and you are free to choose ... Come to yourself, think it over and in an hour come to me and say in front of him: yes or no. I know you will pray. Well, please pray. Just think better. Go. Yes or no, yes or no, yes or no! - he shouted even at that time, as the princess, as if in a fog, staggering, had already left the office.
Her fate was decided and decided happily. But what the father said about m lle Bourienne - this hint was terrible. Not true, let's say, but all the same it was terrible, she could not help but think about it. She was walking straight ahead through the conservatory, seeing and hearing nothing, when suddenly the familiar whisper of m lle Bourienne woke her up. She raised her eyes and saw Anatole two paces away, embracing the Frenchwoman and whispering something to her. Anatole, with a terrible expression on his beautiful face, looked back at Princess Mary and in the first second did not let go of the waist of m lle Bourienne, who did not see her.
"Who is here? What for? Wait!" as if Anatole's face was speaking. Princess Mary looked at them silently. She couldn't understand it. Finally, m lle Bourienne screamed and ran away, and Anatole bowed to Princess Mary with a cheerful smile, as if inviting her to laugh at this. strange case, and, shrugging his shoulders, went through the door leading to his half.
An hour later Tikhon came to call Princess Mary. He called her to the prince and added that Prince Vasily Sergeyevich was there too. The princess, while Tikhon came, was sitting on the sofa in her room and holding the weeping m lla Bourienne in her arms. Princess Mary gently stroked her head. The beautiful eyes of the princess, with all their former calmness and radiance, looked with tender love and pity at the pretty face of m lle Bourienne.
- Non, princesse, je suis perdue pour toujours dans votre coeur, [No, princess, I have lost your favor forever,] - said m lle Bourienne.
– Pourquoi? Je vous aime plus, que jamais, said Princess Mary, et je tacherai de faire tout ce qui est en mon pouvoir pour votre bonheur. [Why? I love you more than ever, and I will try to do everything in my power for your happiness.]
- Mais vous me meprisez, vous si pure, vous ne comprendrez jamais cet egarement de la passion. Ah, ce n "est que ma pauvre mere ... [But you are so pure, you despise me; you will never understand this infatuation of passion. Ah, my poor mother ...]
- Je comprends tout, [I understand everything,] - answered Princess Mary, smiling sadly. - Calm down, my friend. I'll go to my father, - she said and went out.
Prince Vasily, with his leg bent high, with a snuffbox in his hands, as if utterly moved, as if he himself regretted and laughed at his sensitivity, sat with a smile of tenderness on his face when Princess Marya entered. He hurriedly raised a pinch of tobacco to his nose.
“Ah, ma bonne, ma bonne, [Ah, dear, dear.],” he said, standing up and taking both of her hands. He sighed and added, “Le sort de mon fils est en vos mains.” Decidez, ma bonne, ma chere, ma douee Marieie qui j "ai toujours aimee, comme ma fille. [The fate of my son is in your hands. Decide, my dear, my dear, my meek Marie, whom I have always loved like a daughter. ]
He went out. A real tear appeared in his eyes.
“Fr… fr…” snorted Prince Nikolai Andreevich.
- The prince, on behalf of his pupil ... son, makes a proposition for you. Do you want or not to be the wife of Prince Anatole Kuragin? You say yes or no! he shouted, “and then I reserve the right to say my opinion. Yes, my opinion and only my own opinion, ”added Prince Nikolai Andreevich, turning to Prince Vasily and answering his imploring expression. - Yes or no?
“My desire, mon pere, is never to leave you, never to share my life with yours. I don’t want to get married,” she said resolutely, looking with her beautiful eyes at Prince Vasily and at her father.
- Nonsense, nonsense! Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! - Prince Nikolai Andreevich shouted, frowning, took his daughter by the hand, bent her to him and did not kiss, but only bending his forehead to her forehead, touched her and squeezed the hand he was holding so that she frowned and screamed.
Prince Vasily got up.
- Ma chere, je vous dirai, que c "est un moment que je n" oublrai jamais, jamais; mais, ma bonne, est ce que vous ne nous donnerez pas un peu d "esperance de toucher ce coeur si bon, si genereux. Dites, que peut etre ... L" avenir est si grand. Dites: peut etre. [My dear, I will tell you that I will never forget this moment, but, my kindest, give us at least a small hope of being able to touch this heart, so kind and generous. Say: maybe... The future is so great. Say maybe.]
- Prince, what I said is everything that is in my heart. I thank you for the honor, but I will never be your son's wife.
“Well, it’s over, my dear. Very glad to see you, very glad to see you. Come to yourself, princess, come, - said the old prince. “Very, very glad to see you,” he repeated, embracing Prince Vasily.
“My vocation is different,” Princess Marya thought to herself, my vocation is to be happy with another happiness, the happiness of love and self-sacrifice. And whatever it costs me, I will make poor Ame happy. She loves him so passionately. She repents so passionately. I will do everything to arrange her marriage to him. If he is not rich, I will give her money, I will ask my father, I will ask Andrey. I will be so happy when she is his wife. She is so unhappy, a stranger, lonely, without help! And my God, how passionately she loves, if she could so forget herself. Perhaps I would have done the same!…” thought Princess Mary.

For a long time the Rostovs had no news of Nikolushka; only in the middle of winter was a letter handed over to the count, at the address of which he recognized the hand of his son. Having received the letter, the count, frightened and hastily, trying not to be noticed, ran on tiptoe to his office, locked himself and began to read. Anna Mikhailovna, learning (as she knew everything about what was going on in the house) about the receipt of the letter, with a quiet step went to the count and found him sobbing and laughing together with the letter in his hands. Anna Mikhailovna, despite her improved affairs, continued to live with the Rostovs.
Mon bon ami? - Anna Mikhailovna said inquiringly sadly and with a readiness of any participation.
The Count sobbed even more. "Nikolushka... letter... wounded... would... be... ma shere... wounded... my darling... countess... promoted to officer... thank God... Countess how to say?..."
Anna Mikhailovna sat down beside him, wiped away the tears from his eyes, from the letter dripped by them, and her own tears with her handkerchief, read the letter, reassured the count, and decided that before dinner and before tea she would prepare the countess, and after tea she would announce everything, if God will help her.
All the time of dinner, Anna Mikhailovna talked about rumors of war, about Nikolushka; she asked twice when the last letter from him had been received, although she had known this before, and remarked that it was very easy, perhaps even today, to receive a letter. Every time, at these hints, the countess began to worry and glance anxiously first at the count, then at Anna Mikhailovna, Anna Mikhailovna in the most imperceptible way reduced the conversation to insignificant subjects. Natasha, most endowed of all the family with the ability to feel the shades of intonations, looks and facial expressions, from the beginning of dinner pricked up her ears and knew that there was something between her father and Anna Mikhailovna and something concerning her brother, and that Anna Mikhailovna was preparing. Despite all her courage (Natasha knew how sensitive her mother was to everything related to the news about Nikolushka), she did not dare to ask a question at dinner and, from anxiety at dinner, did not eat anything and fidgeted in her chair, not listening to the remarks of her governess. After dinner she rushed headlong to overtake Anna Mikhaylovna and, in the sofa room, threw herself on her neck from a running start.
- Aunty, my dear, tell me what is it?
“Nothing, my friend.
- No, darling, my dear, dear, peach, I will not leave you, I know that you know.
Anna Mikhailovna shook her head.
“Voua etes une fine mouche, mon enfant, [You are an agitator, my child.],” she said.
- Is there a letter from Nikolenka? Maybe! cried Natasha, reading the affirmative answer in the face of Anna Mikhailovna.
- But for God's sake, be careful: you know how it can hit your maman.
- I will, I will, but tell me. Won't you tell? Well, I'm going to tell you now.
Anna Mikhailovna briefly told Natasha the contents of the letter on the condition that she not tell anyone.
“Honest, noble word,” Natasha said, crossing herself, “I won’t tell anyone,” and immediately ran to Sonya.
“Nikolenka…wounded…a letter…” she said solemnly and joyfully.
– Nicholas! - only Sonya uttered, instantly turning pale.
Natasha, seeing the impression made on Sonya by the news of her brother's wound, for the first time felt the whole sad side of this news.
She rushed to Sonya, hugged her and cried. - Slightly wounded, but promoted to officer; he is healthy now, he writes himself, she said through tears.
“It’s clear that all you women are crybabies,” said Petya, pacing the room with resolute long steps. - I am so very glad and, really, very glad that my brother has distinguished himself so much. You are all nurses! you don't understand anything. Natasha smiled through her tears.
- Have you read the letters? Sonya asked.
- I didn’t read it, but she said that everything was over, and that he was already an officer ...
“Thank God,” Sonya said, making the sign of the cross. “But maybe she deceived you. Let's go to maman.
Petya silently paced the room.
“If I were in Nikolushka’s place, I would have killed even more of these Frenchmen,” he said, “they are so vile!” I would have beaten so many of them that they would have made a bunch of them, ”Petya continued.
- Shut up, Petya, what a fool you are! ...
“I’m not a fool, but those who cry over trifles are fools,” said Petya.
– Do you remember him? Natasha suddenly asked after a moment's silence. Sonya smiled: "Do you remember Nicolas?"
“No, Sonya, do you remember him in such a way that you remember well, that you remember everything,” Natasha said with a studious gesture, apparently wanting to attach the most serious significance to her words. “And I remember Nikolenka, I remember,” she said. I don't remember Boris. I don't remember at all...
- How? Do you remember Boris? Sonya asked in surprise.
- Not that I don’t remember - I know what he is, but I don’t remember it like Nikolenka. Him, I close my eyes and remember, but there is no Boris (she closed her eyes), so, no - nothing!
“Ah, Natasha,” said Sonya, looking enthusiastically and seriously at her friend, as if she considered her unworthy to hear what she was about to say, and as if she was saying it to someone else with whom one should not joke. “I once fell in love with your brother, and no matter what happens to him, to me, I will never stop loving him all my life.

Geographer, ichthyologist, climatologist.

“... It was an unusually backward county town,” recalled Berg, “there were no pavements, and by autumn all the streets were covered with a layer of liquid mud, on which one could only walk in special ultra-deep galoshes, which I have never seen since then; obviously they were made specifically for the needs of the inhabitants of Bendery. There was no street lighting in the city, and on dark autumn nights one had to wander through the streets with a hand lamp. From the middle educational institutions there was one progymnasium, for some reason female. Newspapers in the city, of course, were not published.

Only the gold medal with which Berg graduated from the Chisinau gymnasium allowed him to enter Moscow University.

Lectures by prominent scientists D. N. Anuchin, A. P. Bogdanov, V. I. Vernadsky, M. A. Menzbir, K. A. Timiryazev helped Berg to determine his scientific interests early. Anthropologist and ethnographer D. N. Anuchin and geologist A. P. Pavlov had a special influence on him.

Berg graduated from the university in 1898.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to get a job in Moscow in any scientific or educational institution. Only the recommendation of Academician Anuchin helped Berg get a job as a fishery inspector in the Aral Sea. Wasting no time, he left for the provincial town of Akmolinsk.

The Aral Sea was then real. Water from the Amu Darya had not yet been diverted to the desert through ditches, and the skeletons of the ships of the former fishing flotilla did not stick out among the dry sands. Berg studied the huge reservoir for several years. He managed to take a new approach to explaining the nature of the Aral Sea and drew a fairly convincing picture of the development of the sea, closely connected with the history of the Turan lowland and the dry channel of the Uzboy, through which part of the Amu-Darya waters once flowed into the Caspian. In the work “The Question of Climate Change in the Historical Epoch”, Berg refuted the then widespread ideas about the drying up of Central Asia and the progressive change in its climate towards increasing desertification.

In 1909, for his work on the Aral Sea, which Berg presented as a master's thesis, he was immediately awarded a doctorate. Reviews were submitted by D.N. Anuchin, V.I. Vernadsky, A.P. Pavlov, M.A. Menzbir, G.A. Kozhevnikov, V.V. time.

From 1904 to 1914, Berg was in charge of the fish and reptile department of the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. During these years, he completed and published a number of excellent studies on the fish of Turkestan and the Amur region.

In 1916, Berg was elected professor at Petrograd University.

The main works of this period are devoted to the origin of the fauna of Lake Baikal, the fish of Russia, the origin of loess, climate change in the historical era, and the division of the Asian territory of Russia into landscape and morphological regions.

Revolutionary events interrupted Berg's field research for a long time.

The first major works of the scientist, published after the revolution, were "Nomogenesis, or Evolution Based on Regularities" and "Theory of Evolution" (1922). Berg wrote both of these books while wearing his overcoat in an unheated room, heating freezing ink over the fire of an oil lamp. In these works devoted to the theory of evolution, Berg singled out three directions:

criticism of the main evolutionary teachings and, first of all, Darwin's,

development of one's own hypothesis about the causes of evolution, based on the recognition of some initial expediency and "autonomic orthogenesis" as the main law of evolution, acting centripetally and independently of the external environment, and

generalization of the patterns of macroevolution, such as irreversibility, an increase in the level of organization, a long continuation of evolution in the same direction, convergence, etc.

Berg's evolutionary work was prompted by the crisis that Darwinism experienced in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Berg never shared Charles Darwin's point of view on the causes of evolution. He believed that variability in nature is always adaptive, and organisms do not react gradually to changes in external conditions, but, on the contrary, sharply, abruptly, massively. Thus, Berg attached decisive importance to variability, and not to natural selection. Of course, "Nomogenesis" ("a set of patterns"), developed by Berg, caused a lot of objections. Berg's assertion that there is no place for chance in biological evolution, and that everything happens according to law, sounded too defiant. But historically, these works of Berg turned out to be extremely important, if only because both sharply posed the problem of the direction of evolution and the role of internal factors in phylogenesis, polyphily, convergence, and parallelisms. The view of the majority of Berg's opponents was well expressed by Professor N. N. Plavilshchikov. “The book Nomogenesis,” he wrote, “is one of the latest attempts to overthrow the theory of selection. Of course, nothing worthwhile came out of this attempt and could not come out, despite the monstrous erudition of the author and the well-known wit of his conclusions: twice two is always four. Deny the theory of selection... Can there be another explanation for the expediency in the structure of organisms?...”

This, however, can be answered in the words of Herbert Spencer: humanity goes straight only after exhausting all possible crooked paths.

As a natural scientist, Berg always sought to give his arguments the form of strictly empirical constructions. “To find out the mechanism of formation of adaptations is the task of the theory of evolution,” he wrote. As for living matter, Berg generally believed that it is conceivable only as an organism. “Naive are the dreams of those chemists who thought that by synthesizing a protein in a flask, they would get a “living substance”. There is no living matter at all, there are living organisms.”

“Darwin's theory aims to explain mechanically the origin of purposefulness in organisms,” he wrote in The Theory of Evolution. - We consider the ability to expedient reactions to be the main property of the organism. It is not evolutionary teaching that has to figure out the origin of expediency, but that discipline that will undertake to reason about the origin of living things. This question, in our opinion, is metaphysical. Life, will, soul, absolute truth - all these are transcendent things, knowledge of the essence of which science is not able to give. Where and how life originated, we do not know, but it is carried out on the basis of laws, like everything that happens in nature. Transmutation, whether it occurs in the realm of dead or living nature, takes place according to the laws of mechanics, physics and chemistry. The principle of chance dominates in the world of dead matter, i.e. big numbers. Here the most probable things happen. But what principle underlies the organism, in which the parts are subordinate to the whole, we do not know. Similarly, we do not know why organisms in general increase in their structure, i.e., progress. How this process takes place, we begin to understand, but why- to this science can now answer just as little as in 1790, when Kant made his famous prophecy.

Under the pressure of criticism to which his views on evolution were subjected, Berg returned to questions of geography and ichthyology. One after another, his books “The Population of Bessarabia” (1923), “The Discovery of Kamchatka and Bering’s Kamchatka Expeditions” (1924), “Fundamentals of Climatology” (1927), “Essays on the History of Russian Geographical Science” (1929), “Landscape and Geographical Zones USSR" (1931), "Nature of the USSR" (1937), "The system of fish and fish" (1940), "Climate and life" (1947), "Essays on physical geography" (1949), "Russian discoveries in the Antarctic and modern interest in her" (1949).

The breadth of Berg's views can be judged by the content of his books.

Essays on physical geography, for example, include sections: "On the alleged separation of the continents", "On the alleged connection between the great glaciations and mountain building", "On the origin of the Ural bauxites", "On the origin of iron ores of the Krivoy Rog type", "The level of the Caspian Sea for historical time”, “Baikal, its nature and the origin of its organic world”. And in the book Essays on the History of Russian Geographical Discoveries, he touches not only on the history of these discoveries themselves, but also on such a seemingly unusual topic as Atlantis and Aegeis, in which he comes to a conclusion unexpected for contemporaries. “I would place Atlantis not in the area between Asia Minor and Egypt,” he writes, “but in the Aegean Sea, south to Crete. As is known, in our time it is recognized that the sinkings that gave rise to the Aegean Sea occurred, geologically speaking, quite recently, in the Quaternary, perhaps already in human memory.

In 1925, Berg again visited his beloved Aral. These studies were connected with his work at the Institute of Experimental Agronomy, where Berg headed the department of applied ichthyology from 1922 to 1934.

In 1926, Berg visited Japan as part of a delegation from the USSR Academy of Sciences. He went there specifically through Manchuria and Korea in order to get the most complete picture of the nature of these countries. And the following year, Berg represented Soviet science in Rome at the Limnological Congress.

Incredible diligence was the main feature of Berg. During his life he managed to perform over nine hundred scientific works. He worked constantly, which is probably why he managed so much. In everything he followed a certain system. He was a staunch vegetarian, never smoked, and only walked to work. Enormous erudition allowed Berg to feel at home in any field of science.

“...Science leads to morality,” he wrote in the book “Science, Its Meaning, Content and Classification,” “because it, requiring proof everywhere, teaches impartiality and justice. There is nothing more alien to science than blind admiration for authority. Science honors its spiritual leaders, but does not make idols out of them. Each of these provisions can be challenged and, indeed, has been challenged. The motto of science is tolerance and humanity, because science is alien to fanaticism, admiration for authorities, and therefore, despotism. The scientist's consciousness that in his hands is the only objective truth accessible to man, that he possesses knowledge supported by evidence, that this knowledge, until it is scientifically refuted, is obligatory for everyone, all this makes him value this knowledge extremely highly, and, in the words of the poet , "... for power, for the livery, do not bend either conscience, or thoughts, or neck." The high moral value of science lies in the example of selflessness set by the dedicated scientist. It is not in vain, therefore, that the crowd, which strives for wealth, fame and power, and for the material goods associated with all this, looks at the scientist as an eccentric or a maniac.

Whatever topic Berg worked on, he always tried to expand it broadly and give clear conclusions.

In this regard, the book Fishes of the Amur Basin (1909) is indicative.

It would seem that this is a narrowly zoological summary that gives a description of the fish found in the Amur River system. But three small chapters of this work - "The general character of the ichthyological fauna of the Amur basin", "Amur fish from the point of view of zoological geography" and "The origin of the ichthyological fauna of the Amur" - are of enduring interest to geographers and naturalists. Berg approaches natural phenomena in their complex relationships, draws a vivid picture of the origin of modern landscapes of the Amur basin, and draws not only on ichthyological material. Actually, the identification of causal relationships of phenomena is the main task and method of his research.

Berg's works on paleoclimatology, paleogeography, biogeography, and especially climate change in the historical period are very significant. All of them are written plain language, some are popular in the best sense of the term. For example, the book "Climate and Life" can be read and understood by anyone who is interested in climate and life issues. Berg's books about Russian travelers and explorers went through a lot of editions. Working in the archives, he sometimes found absolutely remarkable facts that allowed him back in 1929 to boldly assert that “... the Russians, within the limits of only one USSR, put on the map and studied an area equal to one sixth of the land surface, that vast expanses were explored in the border with Russia areas of Asia, that all the coasts of Europe and Asia from the Varanger Fjord to Korea, as well as the coasts of a significant part of Alaska, are put on the map by Russian sailors. Let us add that many islands have been discovered and described by our navigators in the Pacific Ocean.

Geographical work brought Berg wide fame.

The mountains of Norway, the deserts of Turkestan, the Far East, the European part of Russia - everything was reflected in his system of views on the world. He did an enormous amount of work in the field of regional studies, his profound works on the zones of nature became the property of not only professional geographers, but also botanists and zoologists. He was one of the first to deal with the issues of scientific geographical zoning, having done remarkable work on the zoning of Siberia and Turkestan, Asiatic Russia and the Caucasus. He owns the capital summary "Fish of fresh waters of the USSR and neighboring countries." Of the 528 fish species found in the rivers and lakes of our country, 70 species were first discovered and described by Berg. He created a scheme for dividing the whole world, separately the Soviet Union and Europe, into a number of zoogeographic regions on the basis of the distribution of certain species of fish. In search of ways for the development of fish, Berg took up the study of fossils. And here he achieved excellent results, writing an outstanding work "The system of fish and fish, now living and fossils" (1940, 1955, Berlin, 1958).

Berg's university textbooks are written in excellent living language. He always spoke out against abstruse terminology, through which one had to wade through, as if through a prickly thicket. He even wrote a special article in which he sharply opposed such complicated terminology as, for example, "differential centrifugation of the dermal pulp of infected rabbits" or "anthropodynamic impulses." The latter, by the way, means only something - the influence of man. Berg never tired of recalling the words of Lomonosov: "What we love in the style of Latin, French or German, is sometimes worthy of laughter in Russian."

In 1904, Berg was elected a full member of the Russian Geographical Society, thirty-six years later he became its president. Academician since 1946. In 1951 he was posthumously awarded the State Prize.

Death caught the scientist with a book in his hands.

G. Prashkevich

(March 14, 1876, Bendery, Bessarabian province of the Russian Empire (now the Republic of Moldova) - December 24, 1950) - the largest Russian Soviet scientist, geographer and biologist (ichthyologist), Doctor of Geography and Doctor of Biology, Academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, President of the Geographical Society USSR (1940–1950), Honored Scientist of the RSFSR, laureate of the USSR State Prize, researcher.

L.S. Berg: biographical information

In 1902-1903 he continued his education in Bergen (Norway), and then in 1904-1913 he worked at the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences.

For the master's thesis "Aral Sea", prepared in 1908, L.S. Berg was awarded the degree of Doctor of Geography.

In the period 1909–1916 L.S. Berg published five monographs on the ichthyology of Russian water bodies, but physical geography became the main subject of his scientific interests.

Lev Semenovich created a theory of the origin of loess, proposed the first classification of natural areas of the Asian part of Russia.

In 1934, Lev Semenovich Berg was awarded the degree of Doctor of Zoology. In the same year he was awarded the title of Honored Scientist of the RSFSR.

In parallel with his work in geographical organizations, he headed the department of applied ichthyology at the State Institute of Experimental Agronomy (1922–1934), the laboratory of ichthyology at the Zoological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1934–1950).

In the period 1940–1950 L.S. Berg is the President of the Geographical Society of the USSR.

L.S. Berg is an honorary member of many scientific associations: the geographical societies of the USSR, Poland, Bulgaria, the USA, the Moscow Society of Naturalists, the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpentologists. He is a full member of the London Zoological Society, an active member of the editorial boards of the journal "Priroda", "Izvestia" and "Notes of the All-Union Geographical Society", "Izvestia of the State Hydrological Institute".

L.S. Berg: research work

To the outstanding Russian scientist-encyclopedist L.S. Berg owns about 1000 works in various fields of the Earth sciences, such as climatology, biology, zoology, ichthyology, zoogeography, lake science, the theory of evolution, the study of landscapes, geomorphology, cartography, geobotany, paleogeography, paleontology, economic geography, soil science, ethnography, linguistics, history of science.

In climatology, L.S. Berg gave a classification of climates in relation to landscapes, explained desertification by human activity, and glaciation - by "factors of a cosmic order." In zoogeography, Berg proposed original mechanisms for the distribution of fish and other aquatic animals. In particular, in 1906 he published articles on the ichthyology of lakes Kosogol (now Khubsugul) and Baikal, where he drew attention to the identity of the species composition of the ichthyofauna of these lakes and noted the complete absence of sculpins characteristic of Baikal in the fauna of Kosogol. He developed one of the leading concepts of the origin of fauna. Berg thoroughly and convincingly proved the freshwater origin of the bulk of Baikal animals. In the work “Baikal, its nature and the origin of its organic world” he wrote: “single species of the Baikal fauna are scattered sporadically in separate water bodies of Europe, Siberia, the Siberian Arctic, China, and North America. But these forms are collected together in large numbers. On the basis of faunistic analysis, the scientist came to the conclusion about the antiquity of the Baikal organic world, its continental origin. He noted that the amazing endemism of the Baikal fauna is a consequence of its antiquity. Wrote 15 works about Baikal.

Historical works of L.S. Berg are devoted to a detailed description of domestic discoveries in Asia, Alaska and Antarctica, the study of ancient maps, the culture and ethnography of small peoples, and the compilation of biographical descriptions of famous scientists.

L.S. Based on the analysis of original documents, Berg consistently defended the priority of Russian researchers in the discovery of Antarctica and pointed out the need for comprehensive studies of the icy continent. Ideas and historical approach of L.S. Berg contributed to the development of a national position in the field of Antarctic exploration.

Awards

Research and social activities are marked by many awards. Among them: a diploma of the 1st degree from Moscow University and a gold medal for the best thesis work (1898), a gold medal by P.P. Semenov-Tian-Shan of the Russian Geographical Society for work on the Aral Sea (1909), Big Gold (Konstantinovskaya) Medal - the highest award of the Russian Geographical Society (1915), Gold Medal of the Asiatic Society of India for work on the ichthyology of Asia (1936), etc. L .FROM. Berg is a laureate of the State Prize of the USSR (1951), holder of two Orders of the Red Banner of Labor and medals "For the Defense of Leningrad" and "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945".

Lev Semenovich Berg died on December 24, 1950 in Leningrad and was buried on the Literary bridges of the Volkovsky cemetery.

Compositions

Bessarabia. Country - People - Economy. Chisinau, 1993.
All-Union Geographical Society for 100 years. M.-L.: Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1946.
Selected works. M.-L., 1956–1962. T. 1–5.
Climate and life / ed. 2nd, revised. and additional M.: Geografgiz, 1947.
climate and life. M., Gosizdat. 1922.
Lomonosov and the hypothesis of the movement of the continents // Izvestiya VGO. 1947. Issue. 1. S. 91–92.
Lomonosov and the first Russian voyage to find the northeast passage // Izvestiya VGO. 1940. T. 72. Issue. 6. S. 712–730.
Names of fish and ethnic relationships of the Slavs. 1948.
Essays on the history of Russian geographical discoveries. M.-L:. Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1946.
Homeland of Tokharov and distribution of salmon // Izvestiya VGO. 1946. T. 78. Issue. 1. P.122.
Russian discoveries in Antarctica and modern interest in it. M.: Geografgiz, 1949.
Freshwater fishes of the USSR and neighboring countries. 1949. Vol. 1–3.
Fishes of Turkestan. 1905.
System of pisciformes and fishes, now living and fossils. 1940.
Evolution theory. Pg., 1922.
Works on the theory of evolution. L.: Science. 1976.
Uralians on the Syr Darya. 1900.

A complete list of works by L.S. Berg until 1952 inclusive was published in the book “In Memory of Academician L.S. Berg". M.-L., 1955. S. 556–560.

Literature

Zolotnitskaya R. Not subject to oblivion // URL: http://www.spbumag.nw.ru/2000/30/16.html.
Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius.
Irkutsk: Dictionary of Local Lore and History. Irkutsk, 2011, p. 62.
Murzaev E.M. Lev Semenovich Berg (1876–1950). M., Nauka, 1983.