V. V. Stanchinskii's Letters to Academician V. I. Vernadsky
- Authors: Yanin E.P1
-
Affiliations:
- Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences
- Issue: Vol 46, No 4 (2025)
- Pages: 775-789
- Section: Sources for the History of Science and Technology
- URL: https://ogarev-online.ru/0205-9606/article/view/361634
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.7868/S2713041X25060091
- ID: 361634
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Abstract
The article contains the letters from V. V. Stanchinskii, a renowned biologist, to Academician V. I. Vernadsky, as well as Stanchinskii's note about the need for publishing the "Russian Journal of Ecology" and the proposed program of this journal. These archival documents dating back to 1928–1929 are of considerable interest for historians of science, particularly for those who study these two brilliant scientists' life and work and those who are interested in the history of scientific periodicals in the USSR. These documents contain important information about Stanchinskii's scientific contacts with Vernadsky and how these contacts influenced the development of these scientists' ideas, including the following (1) the influence of Vernadsky's biogeochemical works and his concept of living matter on Stanchinskii's initiating his own ecological and biogeocenological studies; (2) Stanchinskii's joint works with Vernadsky and researchers from the Biogeochemical Laboratory of the USSR Academy of Sciences, aimed to determine geochemical constants and study the chemical composition of animals and plants; (3) Stanchinskii's proposal to Vernadsky to collaborate in the "Russian Journal of Ecology"; (4) Stanchinskii's active involvement in the organization of this journal whose first and only issue was published in 1931 although under a different name, the "Journal of Ecology and Biocenology"; (5) Stanchinskii's views on the content of ecology as a science and on its growing practical importance; and (6) Stanchinskii's collaboration with the USSR Academy of Sciences' Commission for the Studies on the Quaternary Period, one of whose organizers was Vernadsky.
About the authors
E. P Yanin
Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences
Email: yanin@geokhi.ru
Moscow, Russia
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