Peaks of geographical science: Academician L. S. Berg. Russian geographer Lev Semenovich berg L s berg what he discovered

Lev Semenovich (Simonovich) Berg was born on March 2 (14), 1876 in Bendery, Bessarabian province, in the family of a notary.

Already during the period of study at the gymnasium (Kishinev, 1885-1894), Lev Semenovich became interested in an independent study of nature. In 1894 L.S. Berg entered Moscow University, where, in addition to his studies, 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 worked at the Ministry of Agriculture as an inspector of fisheries on the Aral Sea and the Volga, explored steppe lakes, rivers, and deserts.

In 1902-1903 L.S. Berg continues his education in Bergen (Norway), and then in 1904-1913. works at the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences. For the master's thesis "Aral Sea", prepared in 1908, L.S. Berg was awarded a Ph.D.

In 1913 L.S. Berg moved to Moscow, where he received a professorship at the Moscow Agricultural Institute.

In 1916 L.S. Berg 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.C. Berg published 5 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.

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. 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.

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, Lev Semenovich showed the local origin of the fauna of Baikal, and, on the contrary, explained the formation of the diversity of the fauna of the Caspian Sea by the migration of species along the Volga in the post-glacial period.

In 1922, in the most difficult conditions of war communism, "heating the freezing ink on the fire of an oil lamp", 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" on English language. N.I. Vavilov, who protected L.S. Berg from attacks, wrote to him in 1927: "We will not release you from your post. The ship must be driven, no matter what monsters get in the way."

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, he was elected an academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the Department of Geological and Geographical (with a specialization in zoology, geography). There is reason to believe 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.

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 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.

During the period 1940-1950. L.S. Berg - President of the Geographical Society of the USSR.

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

In 1951 L.S. Berg was awarded the State Prize of the USSR (posthumously) for a classic three-volume book on ichthyology (1949).

In the name of L.S. Berg are named:

  • The Lev Berg Mountains (67° 42" S, 48° 55" E 14 miles south of Cape Buromsky, Krylov Peninsula) are mountains on the George V Coast, Victoria Land, East Antarctica. Named in 1959
  • Cape Berg - a cape in the North of the island of the October Revolution of the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Named in 1913
  • Cape Berg - a cape on the island of Georg Land, Franz Josef Land archipelago. Named in 1953
  • Berg Peak and Berg Glacier in the Pamirs
  • Berga Volcano on Iturup Island
  • research vessel "Akademik Berg"

    • Literature about L.S. Berge:

  • Nikolsky G.V. Lev Semenovich Berg as an ichthyologist // Lev Semenovich Berg. 1876-1950. M. Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR. 1952.- S.20-26.
  • Berg L.S. Autobiographical note / In the book. In memory of Academician L.S. Berg. M. 1955.- S. 7-17.
  • Kalesnik S.V. The remarkable geographer L.S. Berg / Globe. M., 1960 - 300-301.
  • Gumilyov L.N. Ethno-landscape regions of Eurasia for the historical period // Reports at the annual readings in memory of L.S. Berg. L. 1968. - Issue. VIII-XIV. - P.118-134. http://www.kulichki.com/~gumilev/articles/Article14.htm
  • Murzaev E.M. Life is action. M. Thought. 1976. - 102 p.
  • Krupenikov I.A. L.S. Berg. Pages of life and creativity. Kishinev. Shtiintsa. 1976.
  • Murzaev E.M. Lev Semyonovich Berg. M.: Nauka.1983. –176 s.
  • Isachenkov V.A., Kvasov D.D. L.S. Berg. M. Enlightenment. 1988.
  • Mosionzhnik L.A. L.S. Berg as a cultural anthropologist. // STRATUM plus 1999. - No. 5.
  • Zolotnitskaya R.V. A high standard of teacher and friend. To the 120th anniversary of Academician L.S. Berg // St. Petersburg University. 2000. - No. 17-18 (3540-3541). http://www.spbumag.nw.ru/OLD/Spbum26-96/6.html

    • Selected works:

  • Berg L.S. Uralians on the Syr Darya. 1900.
  • Berg L.S. Fishes of Turkestan. 1905.
  • Berg L.S. Climate and life. - M., Gosizdat. - 1922.
  • Berg L.S. Evolution theory. Pg., 1922
  • Berg: L.S. System of pisciformes and fishes, now living and fossils. 1940.
  • Berg L.S. Lomonosov and the first Russian voyage to find the northeast passage // Izvestiya VGO. 1940. - T. 72. - Issue. 6. - S. 712-730.
  • Berg L.S. Selected works. M.-L., 1956-1962. T. 1-5.
  • Berg L.S. Climate and life / 2nd, revised and enlarged edition. - M.: Geografgiz, 1947.- 356 p.
  • Berg L.S. Lomonosov and the hypothesis of the movement of the continents // Izvestiya VGO. 1947. - Issue. 1. - S. 91-92.
  • Berg L.S. Essays on the history of Russian geographical discoveries. M.-L. Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR - 1946. -358 p.
  • Berg L.S. All-Union Geographical Society for 100 years. M.-L. Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR - 1946. -263 p.
  • Berg L.S. Homeland of Tokharov and distribution of salmon // Izvestiya VGO. 1946.- T.78, Issue 1. - P.122.
  • Berg L.S. Names of fish and ethnic relationships of the Slavs. 1948.
  • Berg L.S. Freshwater fishes of the USSR and neighboring countries. 1949. - T. 1-3.
  • Berg L.S. Russian discoveries in Antarctica and modern interest in it. - M.: Geografgiz, 1949.- 20 p.
  • Berg L.S. Works on the theory of evolution. L., Science. 1976.
  • Berg L.S. Bessarabia. Country - People - Economy. Kishinev. Universitas. 1993.

    • Berg Lev Semenovich(1876-1950) - Russian biologist and geographer, created classic works on ichthyology (the study of fish), lake science, and the theory of life evolution.

    L.S. Berg traveled a lot and participated in expeditions, explored Ladoga, Balkhash, Issyk-Kul, Aral Sea. He was the first to measure the temperature at different depths of this large lake-sea, studied the currents, the composition of the water, the geological structure and its coasts. He established that seiches are formed in the Aral Sea.

    L.S. Berg wrote more than 1000 works; the largest of them are "Nature of the USSR", "Geographical zones of the USSR", thanks to which the doctrine of natural zones was raised to a high scientific level. “... And when did he manage to find out all this and think it over so seriously?” - wrote about his friend and student L.S. Berg, Professor of Moscow University D.N. . Berg's work "" was presented by the author in 1909 to Moscow University as a master's thesis. At the suggestion of D.N. Anuchin L.S. Berg was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science.

    He devoted a lot of time to pedagogical and social work, was an honorary member of many scientific societies, foreign and Russian.

    The name of Berg was assigned to, on and in the Dzungarian Alatau.

    Berg Lev Semenovich (March 2 (14), 1876 - December 24, 1950) - geographer and biologist, academician (since 1946, corresponding member since 1928). Honored Scientist of the RSFSR (1934). In 1898 he graduated from Moscow University. In 1904-1913 - head of the ichthyology department of the Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. In 1914-18 he was a professor of ichthyology and hydrology at the Moscow Agricultural Institute.

    From 1916 he was a professor of geography at Petrograd University. In 1922-34 - Head of the Department of Applied Ichthyology of the State Institute of Experimental Agronomy (later - the Institute). Since 1934 - ichthyologist at the Zoological Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and head of the laboratory of fossil fish. Berg - member (since 1904) and president (since 1940) of the Russian geographical society(All-Union Geographical Society).

    Berg was a prominent historian of Russian geography, as well as an outstanding ichthyologist. He developed and deepened the ideas of V.V. about the zones of nature and created the doctrine of. According to Berg, the object of geography as a science is landscapes (or aspects) - characteristic areas of the earth's surface, bordered by natural boundaries and representing regular collections of objects and phenomena. Geography studies the form and classification of landscapes and their groupings, the merging of landscape elements and individual landscapes into each other, the placement of landscapes on the ground, as well as their development.

    Berg outlined his doctrine of landscapes in the works: “Landscape-geographical zones of the USSR” (part 1, 1931, 3rd edition, 1947; part 2, 1952 under the title “Geographical zones Soviet Union”) and “Nature of the USSR” (1937). Berg's most important works on the history of Russian geography are: "Essay on the history of Russian geographical science (until 1923)" (1929), "and Kamchatka expeditions" (1924, 3rd ed., 1946), "Essays on the history of Russians" (1946 , 2nd ed., 1949), “Russian discoveries in and modern interest in it” (1949), “All-Union Geographical Society for 100 years. 1845-1945" (1946) and others.

    For many years Berg was engaged in limnology; explored the lakes of Western Siberia, Aral,. Author of the monograph "Aral Sea" (1908). Berg owns many works on climatology, including Fundamentals of Climatology (1927, 2nd ed., 1938) - a summary of modern knowledge about the geographical context. In other works - "On Climate Changes in the Historical Epoch" (1911), "Climate and Life" (1922, 2nd ed., 1947) - Berg paid special attention to climate changes and fluctuations, studied the influence of climate on relief, vegetation, and animal life. peace.

    The soil hypothesis of the formation of loess developed by Berg is widely known, according to which loess and loess-like rocks are formed on the spot from the most diverse as a result of soil formation in a dry climate. Berg's works also touch upon the problems of geomorphology (about the relief of the Aral Sea region, Siberia, Turkestan, Chernihiv region, classification of Russians, the origin of underwater valleys), biogeography, geology, petrography of sedimentary rocks, hydrobiology, paleogeography, ethnography, toponymy, glaciology, ichthyology and general biology.

    Lev Semenovich Berg died in Leningrad in December 1950. He left a huge scientific legacy in the geography and history of this science, climatology, geology, and zoology.

    At Moscow University, among the students of D. N. Anuchin, there were many talented students who later became outstanding scientists. Among them, a prominent place is occupied by the physical geographer Academician Lev Semenovich Berg. Lev Semenovich Berg was born in 1876 in the county town of Bender, the former Bessarabian province. He graduated from the gymnasium with a gold medal in Chisinau. At that time, in the gymnasium, the main attention was paid to the study of ancient languages ​​- Latin and Greek, while the natural sciences were almost not taught. But, finishing the gymnasium, Lev Semenovich dreamed of studying the natural sciences. And in 1894 he entered the natural department of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of Moscow University.

    Under the influence of university professors A. P. Bogdanov, A. A. Tikhomirov and N. Yu. Zograf, the young man was fond of zoology, especially the section devoted to the study of fish, ichthyology. In senior years, he listened to lectures on geography by prof. D. N. Anuchin, who from that time became his scientific adviser in the field of geography.

    Even in his student years, L. S. Borg began to study fish on the river. Dniester, in Bessarabia, and in the Urals. After graduating from the university, in the summer of 1898, he went to explore the lakes of Western Siberia and the surrounding area. As a result of these works, he came to the important conclusion that the level of lakes is gradually rising. Prior to this, scientists believed that the lakes in the southern part of Western Siberia were gradually drying up.

    Already at the time when Berg began his scientific career, Anuchin was struck by the versatility and depth of his scientific knowledge.

    “And when did he manage to find out all this and think it over so seriously?” Anuchin said.

    A deep passion for geography, an amazing capacity for work, a desire for new knowledge and many scientific works allowed Berg to take a prominent place in the ranks of the largest scientists and educators of our time.

    Geography establishes natural, natural boundaries separating one landscape from another, and gives a description of landscapes; at the same time, regularities in the development of individual landscapes and their influence on each other are revealed.

    Berg distinguished landscapes of lowlands and mountains. All flat land the globe he subdivided into the following landscape zones: 1) tundra, 2) temperate forests, 3) forest-steppe, 4) steppes, 5) Mediterranean zone, 6) semi-deserts, 7) temperate deserts, 8) subtropical forest zone, 9) tropical zone deserts, 10) zone of tropical steppes, 11) zone of tropical forest-steppe (savannah), 12) zone of tropical rainforests. In addition, he singled out mountain landscapes.

    Describing landscapes, Berg gave a description of the climate, relief, soil and vegetation cover, and the animal world of each geographical zone.

    He wrote many works on climatology. His books "Fundamentals of Climatology" and "Climate and Life" highlight the importance of climate in the life of all nature, as well as man and his economic activity. He gave a new division of the globe into climatic zones and regions.

    Studying the issue of climate changes and fluctuations throughout the history of the Earth, Berg argued that at present there is no increase in the dryness of the climate of Central and Central Asia, as some scientists believed.

    Many of Berg's works are devoted to the study and writing off of the relief of our country. Traveling through Central Asia, he studied the relief of deserts and compiled a description of the sandy, clayey, saline and rocky deserts of this peculiar part of our country.

    For many years, Berg was engaged in the study of Issyk-Kul, Balkhash, Lake Ladoga, the Aral Sea and the lakes of Western Siberia. The result of these studies were works in which a comprehensive geographical description lakes.

    A particularly outstanding work on lake science is L. S. Berg's book "The Aral Sea", in which he outlined the results of his four-year work. He carried out all the research on a simple fishing boat, boldly setting sail on the waters of the then little-studied large lake-sea. Berg was the first to measure the water temperature at different depths in the Aral Sea, studied the geological structure and topography of its coasts, collected geological, zoological, and botanical collections, studied currents, waves, and water composition. For this work in 1909, Moscow University awarded L.S. Berg the degree of doctor of geographical sciences.

    Lev Semenovich owns numerous works on the history of geography.

    Having studied ancient Russian geographical works - historical documents and maps, Berg wrote about the first explorers of the Bering Strait, about the discovery of Kamchatka and Bering's expeditions, about the history of the study of Yakutia and Turkmenistan, about the travels and work of N. M. Przhevalsky and N. N. Miklukho-Maklay, P. P. Semenov-Tyan -Shansky and D.N. Anuchin. Berg wrote a general outline of the history of Russian geographical science and the book The All-Union Geographical Society for a Hundred Years. In this last work, Berg, as he himself says, “strived to illuminate not only the external course of events, but also to present in a popular form scientific results mined by our great geographers.

    Shortly before his death, Berg published a book for children about remarkable Russian travelers, which is useful for all those who are interested in the history and geography of our Motherland to read. Very great importance for science and economy are the works of L. S. Berg on fish.

    In 1940, Berg was elected president of the All-Union Geographical Society, and at the end of 1946, an academician.

    Lev Semenovich Berg died in Leningrad in December 1950. He left a huge scientific legacy in the geography and history of this science, climatology, geology, and zoology.

    Internet source.

    (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 Geographical Society of the USSR (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 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 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 Lake 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 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 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 work awarded with 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 (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

    1. Bessarabia. Country - People - Economy. Chisinau, 1993.
    2. All-Union Geographical Society for 100 years. M.-L.: Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1946.
    3. Selected works. M.-L., 1956–1962. T. 1–5.
    4. Climate and life / ed. 2nd, revised. and additional M.: Geografgiz, 1947.
    5. climate and life. M., Gosizdat. 1922.
    6. Lomonosov and the hypothesis of the movement of the continents // Izvestiya VGO. 1947. Issue. 1. S. 91–92.
    7. Lomonosov and the first Russian voyage to find the northeast passage // Izvestiya VGO. 1940. T. 72. Issue. 6. S. 712–730.
    8. Names of fish and ethnic relationships of the Slavs. 1948.
    9. Essays on Russian history geographical discoveries. M.-L:. Ed. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1946.
    10. Homeland of Tokharov and distribution of salmon // Izvestiya VGO. 1946. T. 78. Issue. 1. P.122.
    11. Russian discoveries in Antarctica and modern interest in it. M.: Geografgiz, 1949.
    12. Freshwater fishes of the USSR and neighboring countries. 1949. Vol. 1–3.
    13. Fishes of Turkestan. 1905.
    14. System of pisciformes and fishes, now living and fossils. 1940.
    15. Evolution theory. Pg., 1922.
    16. Works on the theory of evolution. L.: Science. 1976.
    17. 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

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

    Lev Semenovich (Simonovich) Berg (March 26, 1876 - December 24, 1950) - Soviet zoologist and geographer.

    Corresponding member (1928) and full member (1946) of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, president of the Geographical Society of the USSR (1940-1950), laureate of the Stalin Prize (1951 - posthumously). Author of fundamental works on ichthyology, geography, theory of evolution.

    Born in Bendery, in a Jewish family. His father, Simon Grigoryevich Berg, was a notary; mother, Klara Lvovna Bernstein-Kogan, was a housewife. They lived in a house on Moskovskaya street.

    Family

    The first wife of L. S. Berg (in 1911-1913) - Paulina Adolfovna Katlovker(March 27, 1881-1943), younger sister of renowned publisher B. A. Katlovker. Children - geographer Simon Lvovich Berg(born October 23, 1912, St. Petersburg) and geneticist, writer, doctor of biological sciences Raisa Lvovna Berg (March 27, 1913 - March 1, 2006). In 1922, L. S. Berg remarried a teacher at the Petrograd Pedagogical Institute Maria Mikhailovna Ivanova.

    In 1921-1950. Berg occupied a residential service wing of the former palace of Alexei Alexandrovich (Leningrad, Prospekt Maklina, 2).

    He died on December 24, 1950 in Leningrad. He was buried on Literatorskie mostki at the Volkovskoye cemetery.

    Education and scientific career

    1885-1894 - studied at the second Chisinau gymnasium, which he graduated with a gold medal. In 1894 he was baptized into Lutheranism in order to obtain the right to higher education within the Russian Empire.

    1894-1899 - student of the natural department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics of the Imperial Moscow University. (His thesis was devoted to fish embryology and was awarded a gold medal)

    1899-1902 - superintendent of fisheries in the Aral Sea and the Syr Darya.

    1903-1904 - superintendent of fisheries in the middle reaches of the Volga.

    1905-1913 - head of the fish department of the Zoological Museum of the Imperial St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.

    1913-1914 - acting professor of ichthyology and hydrology at the Moscow Agricultural Institute.

    1916-1950 - as a professor of geography, he headed the department of geography of Petrograd, and then Leningrad University.

    1918-1925 - professor of geography at the Geographical Institute in Petrograd (Leningrad).

    1932-1934 - Head of the Department of Applied Ichthyology at the Institute of Fisheries.

    1934-1950 - head of the department in the laboratory of ichthyology of the Zoological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Leningrad.

    1948-1950 - Chairman of the Ichthyological Commission of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

    Since 1934 - Doctor of Zoology.

    Since 1928 - Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

    Since 1946 - full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

    Contribution to science

    The scientific heritage of Lev Semyonovich Berg is very significant.

    As a geographer, having collected extensive materials on the nature of different regions, he carried out generalizations on the climatic zonality of the globe, a description of the landscape zones of the USSR and neighboring countries, and created the textbook Nature of the USSR. Berg, the creator of modern physical geography, is the founder of landscape science, and the landscape division he proposed, although supplemented, has survived to this day.

    Berg is the author of the soil theory of loess formation. His works have made a significant contribution to hydrology, lake science, geomorphology, glaciology, desert science, the study of surface sedimentary rocks, issues of geology, soil science, ethnography, and paleoclimatology.

    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. His books on 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. are devoted to this topic.

    Berg is the author of Nomogenesis, or Evolution Based on Regularities (1922), in which he proclaimed his anti-Darwinian concept of evolution. His followers considered themselves such scientists as A. A. Lyubishchev and S. V. Meyen. Even in our time, that is, a hundred years later, his concept has its adherents. These include, for example, V.V. Ivanov - Russian and Soviet linguist, semiotician, anthropologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2000) .

    Awards, prizes and honorary titles

    • 1909 - gold medal P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky for work on the Aral Sea from the Russian Geographical Society (RGO).
    • 1915 - Konstantinovsky medal from the Russian Geographical Society, elected an honorary member of the MOIP.
    • 1934 - Honored Scientist of the RSFSR.
    • 1936 - Gold Medal from the Asiatic Society of India for zoological research in Asia.
    • 1945 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor and medal "For the Defense of Leningrad"
    • 1946 - Order of the Red Banner of Labor in connection with the 70th anniversary of his birth and the medal "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945."
    • 1951 - Stalin Prize of the 1st degree for the work "Fish of fresh waters of the USSR and neighboring countries" (posthumously).

    Major writings

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

    • 1918. Bessarabia. The country. People. Economy. - Petrograd: Lights, 1918. - 244 p. (the book contains 30 photographs and a map)
    • 1905. Fishes of Turkestan. Izv. Turk. otd. Russian Geographical Society, vol. 4. 16 + 261 p.
    • 1908. Aral Sea: Experience of a physical-geographical monograph. Izv. Turk. otd. Russian Geographical Society, vol. 5. no. 9. 24 + 580 s.
    • 1912. Vol. 3, no. 1. St. Petersburg. 336 p.
    • 1914. Fish (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.
    • 1922. climate and life. M. 196 p.
    • 1922. Berg L.S. Nomogenesis, or Evolution based on regularities. - Petersburg: State Publishing House, 1922. - 306 p.
    • 1929. Berg L.S. Essays on the history of Russian geographical science (until 1923). - L .: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, State. type. 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. Essays on the history of Russian geographical discoveries. (M. - L., 1946, 2nd edition 1949).
    • 1947. Berg L.S. 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.
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