卷 46, 编号 3 (2025)

Based on the archival documents and published works, the article examines the studies conducted by Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences A. A. Chernov in the 1930s – 1940s, and concerned with mineral resource exploration in the European North-East of the USSR. Chernov became involved in these studies when the interest in the economic exploration of the European North-East of the USSR increased in connection with the industrialization of the country. The article reviews research areas that aroused his greatest interest and the expeditions in the Polar and Subpolar Urals and Timan he had participated in. Chernov obtained the data on the geological and tectonic structures of the region and established a stratigraphic breakdown of the deposits in the areas he studied. Chernov was involved in mineral prospecting and estimating oil presence in the Timan / Pechora region. A critical component of these works was a detailed review of the geology of the Pechora Urals with its offshoots, the arc of the Novaya Zemlya, the Timan and the Kanin Peninsula, the northern part of the Russian plate; and the analysis of mineral resources in the northern areas and of their economic and industrial prospects. Chernov summarized his research in the field of geology and mineral resources, which he had conducted over many years, in his monograph titled “Productive Forces of the Komi ASSR. Vol. 1. Geological Structure and Mineral Resources of the Komi ASSR”.

The article examines the joint activities of the RSFSR / USSR’s relevant scientific bodies, aimed at organizing the studies of the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya in the 1920s. The documents used in the article are deposited at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Central State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation of St. Petersburg, the Russian State Archive of Economics, and the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute. The Novaya Zemlya Subcommission under the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Polar Commission in 1922–1923 combined the efforts of scientific organizations (the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Northern Scientific and Commercial Expedition, the Geological Committee, the Main Hydrographic Directorate, etc.) to develop the first scientific program for the studies of Novaya Zemlya. We examine the key results of scientific organizations’ expeditionary trips to Novaya Zemlya and the scientists’ activities to develop a unified plan for the archipelago exploration. It was determined that the main factors in the intensification of the Novaya Zemlya exploration process in the 1920s were the need in the investigation of mineral potential of the islands in connection with the economic crisis in the country, and the protection of the state’s geopolitical interests in the Arctic. It is concluded that the archival documents used here contain valuable historical evidence of the Novaya Zemlya exploration in the 1920s and of the functioning of the first interdepartmental body for the studies of the archipelago. Despite its short life, the Subcommission’s activities were of great scientific and geopolitical importance for the exploration of the Arctic borders of the USSR.

Based on the analysis of relevant publications and a large number of newly introduced archival documents, the history of the construction of the Ligovsky Canal and its two storage reservoirs and water towers is described. It is shown that these structures, built based on V. G. Tuvolkov’s original idea, became a successful implementation of the attempts to create a hydrotechnical water supply system for the fountains in the Summer Gardens and other imperial parks. The article analyzes Peter the Great’s mistake in drawing up the design assignment for the water towers; the conflict between M. G. Zemtsov and a Dutch master builder, Harmen van Bol’es, when designing these towers; the disastrous destruction of the Ligovsky Canal when water was first let into it in the summer of 1729; and the history of numerous repairs of the Ligovsky Canal. The dimensions of all hydrotechnical facilities involved in water supply to the Summer Garden fountains (water towers, storage reservoirs on their roofs, aqueducts that connected them, etc.) are provided as well as the information about who was involved in the repair and maintenance of the Ligovsky Canal, and how and by whom it was guarded. The question of how the Ligovsky Canal and the water towers were depicted on the St. Petersburg maps (“plans”) in the first half of the 18^th century is briefly considered.

The article examines a very relevant problem related to the formation of a Soviet government strategy for the development and production of computers in the second half of the 1960s. The novelty of the research is determined not only by the introduction of previously unpublished, declassified archival documents for scientific use, but also by solving the problem of identifying the factors that prompted the central authorities to switch to cloning American models. It is shown that, in 1967, leaning on the leading experts’ opinion, Soviet leadership acknowledged that all the measures taken earlier to accelerate the development and production of modern computers failed to produce the desired effect. The gap between the Soviet Union and advanced countries continued to grow. It is concluded that the analysis of the options proposed by various departments prompted the government to follow the well-trodden path and borrow American models. Among the factors that determined this decision were the prevalence of the departmental approach and the failure to recognize the importance of computer industry for the development of the country. Other options proposed by the leading scientists were ignored by the authorities.

The article is devoted to the history of evolutionism in the USSR. The main approaches to evolution research are phylogenetic and biosphere approaches. Phylogenetic approach was typical for Darwinism and Modern Synthesis. Adherents to this approach described the development of phyletic lines without explaining the aspects of macroevolution in biotic communities. Adherents to biosphere approach have come to understand the evolution of the living world as a succession of ecosystems in geological time. The approach to the evolution of biota as a single system can be seen in the works of L. S. Berg and D. N. Sobolev; subsequently the biosphere approach in the modern sense began to develop thanks to V. I. Vernadsky and a number of Russian ecologists. Thus, the biosphere approach in evolutionism developed in the USSR along with the Modern Synthesis.