Erki Tammiksaar

The Expeditions of the First International Polar Year

When reading through the accounts of the various IPY-1 expeditions, one is easily struck by the great variation in the courses of each expedition. These reports were originally published in five different languages and each one gives a thorough description of the execution of the specific expedition, including details that for many of us are of far more interest than the meticulously noted scientific observations.

Alexander von Middendorff and his expedition to Siberia (1842–1845)

Alexander Theodor von Middendorffs name is closely associated with the exploration of Siberia and research on the natural history of the Russian Arctic. Yet it is surprising that, in the extensive literature in Russian and German on the environment of those regions, there are no specific analyses of Middendorffs important contribution to these areas of research. He is barely mentioned in English language studies on the history of exploration and science in Siberia and there are very few accounts of his life and work. The present paper is largely based on a number of newly discovered archival documents and contemporary literary sources and is an attempt to fill this lacuna. In this account, all dates are given according to the new style calendar.

The International Polar Year 1882–1883

During the nineteenth century in the western world knowledge production was centred in North America and Europe including Russia, while Asia and Africa were not considered. Economical progress was accompanied by the establishment of national weather services and the development of systematic data collections. The Gottingen Magnetic Association (1836–1841) paved the way for international co-ordinated scientific work, when an international network of altogether 53 magnetic stations was established all over the world. On special days, called “term days”, readings of magnetic parameters should be made every 5 min at exactly the same time for the period of 24 hours. The British “Magnetic Crusade” to search for the magnetic pole of the southern hemisphere in the early 1840s was initiated in this context. Concerning maritime meteorology, a conference at Brussels in 1853 promoted the collection of meteorological data from ships, and the establishment of weather services all over the world was another remarkable milestone of scientific endeavour. The institutionalization of both disciplines – meteorology and oceanography – led to international arrangements concerning standard measurements and observing time. Traditionally, in all observatories investigations of the terrestrial magnetism were made together with meteorological measurements. “Although there is only a weak relation between both phenomena, one is used to considering them as related.”1

Estonia and Antarctica

The Russian South Pole expedition carried out in 1819–1821 was an early milestone in the scientific exploration of the Antarctic. The expedition took place under the command of the Baltic German Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. Bellingshausen came from the Island of Saaremaa in Estonia. The Russian empire, and followed by the Soviet Union, did not attach much importance to Bellingshausens expedition. It was only after World War II as the question of the Antarctic received close attention that the Bellingshausen expedition received political significance in the Soviet Union. The fact that the expedition really took place was used by the Soviet Union to claim rights to the Antarctic and also to argue for its participation in Antarctic exploration (see Tammiksaar 2007; Bulkeley 2011). In the early stages of exploration of the continent, Estonians were given the opportunity to carry out investigations there. The first Estonian research programme in the Antarctic, on noctilucent clouds, was elaborated by the astronomer Charles Villmann. Altogether some tens of Estonians have visited the southern continent performing investigations in earth sciences, atmospheric physics, hydrology and ecology of surface waters and the human influence on them. They have also carried out isotope studies of the ice sheet to reconstruct environmental conditions in the past.

Russia and the International Polar Year, 1882–1883

While it is well known that the originator of the plans for the first International Polar Year was Carl Weyprecht, and that Georg Neumayer was important in guiding the project in its early stages and to eventual fruition, the pivotal role of Heinrich Wild, who became chairman of the International Polar Commission, and was a member of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences and of the Russian Geographical Society, has been largely overlooked in this context. Furthermore the important work undertaken by the Russian scientific establishment with regard to the project is also little known. This paper seeks to throw light on these matters. Because of the difference in 12 days in the Russian and European calendars in the 19th century, for the sake of clarity, only the new (European) calendar is employed in the text.

A CONTINUITY OF IDEAS? SALME NÕMMIK, EDGAR KANT AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY IN SOVIET ESTONIA

Abstract The aim of this article is to analyse the accommodation of Estonian geographical science into that of the Soviet Union after World War II. The process is viewed in the context of scientific and political developments in the Soviet Union on the basis of the scientific legacies of Edgar Kant (1902–1978), the first professor in economic geography in the pre‐war Republic of Estonia, and Salme Nõmmik (1910–1988), the first professor of economic geography in Soviet Estonia. Kant, who was recognized abroad and was probably the first who proposed to apply Walter Christallers (1893– 1969) central place theory, namely, in reorganization of Estonian rural communities (1935–1938), was in disgrace in Soviet Estonia where his works were actively criticized. This article distinguishes, for the first time, different periods in the reception and valuation of the scholarly activities of Kant in Estonia during the Soviet period. On the basis of the archival documents of the Estonian Historical Archives, the department of manuscripts of the University of Tartu Library, and archive of the University of Tartu, it appears that in her investigations, Nõmmik often made use of the concepts Kant had put forward before the war. As a result, Estonian geography managed to secure an important position in the discipline of economic geography in the USSR.

The First Experiments on Ascidian and Sea Urchin Eggs Fertilization

In 1845 Karl Ernst von Baer made the first experiments on artificial fertilization of ascidian and sea urchin eggs in Cornigliano near Genoa (Italy). These studies were continued in Venice and Trieste and the results were published in 1847 as a preliminary note. von Baer considered the eggs of sea urchins to be an excellent material for embryological investigations. He described the formation of the fertilization envelope, the nuclear migration to the center of the egg, and the nuclear divisions which determined the pattern of the cytoplasmic divisions. These observations led to the conclusion that all nuclei of larval and adult tissues are derived from the nucleus of the fertilized egg. The 1847 preliminary note did not include figures, but von Baer illustrated his findings with a pencil drawing that is published here for the first time.

Salme Nõmmik ja Eesti NSV majandusgeograafia - võimalused ja valikud

Salme Nommik and Estonian economic geography – possibilities and choices Erki Tammiksaar, Taavi Pae, Ott Kurs The becoming of Salme Nommik (1910-1988) an economic geographer was a coincidence of several favourable circumstances; in the first place, it was conditioned by the emigration of the academic personnel of the Republic of Estonia abroad in the fear of Soviet rule in 1944. In comparison with the general level of Soviet economic geography, she was in several scientific aspects more successful than her Russian colleagues, although she took up geographical science relatively late (she was 36). To reach such an academic level, Nommik greatly made use of the scientific legacy created in independent Estonia. Edgar Kant (1902-1978) who had an opportunity to work in a liberal society open for new ideas, was far ahead of his time. Criticizing Kant´s ideas ideologically, Salme Nommik managed to make use of the achievements of Kant - mathematical methods in economic geography - which took her among the classics of Soviet economic geography. As the direction in economic geography approved by the party at the beginning of the 1950s was not favourable for the investigation of administrative-economic regions and their sub-regions, supporting large and instead simple regions based on industry, Nommik did not become a pioneer in the application of mathematical methods in economic geography in the Soviet Union. As soon as the party changed its attitude and it was possible to study the regionalization of smaller territories, Nommik took up that work. The comparative material collected by Estonian geographers during the Republic of Estonia between two world wars was sufficient to be used effectively in establishing changes under socialism and prognosticating the developments. It, unfortunately, did not give results as 1) the Soviet government did not allow to use reliable statistical data neither from the period of the Republic of Estonia, nor from the Soviet period, 2) the building up of the state by regions of different types, following the party principles, was too artificial and rejected marketing laws, 3) objective restrictions in the use of mathematical methods, did not enable to comprehend completely the essence of geographical space. Although the Soviet society is part of the history, we have to accept that the system existed and required a methodological basis for its existence. One of the important fields warranting the existence of the Soviet rule was economic geography. That is why the investigations by Salme Nommik will in future also be referred to in Russia, where the state and power rested on regionalization for over 60 years.

Carl von Ditmar, 1822–92: a geologist in Kamchatka

From 1851 to 1855, the Baltic-German geologist Carl von Ditmar explored and made scientific observations of Kamchatka. This area had first been scientifically investigated by Georg Wilhelm Steller and Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov in the 1730s and 1740s. However, until the last decade of the nineteenth century, little was added to the studies by Steller and Krasheninnikov, despite almost all of the Russian circumnavigations having gone through Kamchatka. It was only in 1890 that Ditmars detailed investigation of the natural history and peoples of the Kamchatka peninsula was published. Although Ditmar remains little known to the broader public, his investigations are still used by those investigating Kamchatka.

Alfred Wegener und sein Einfluss auf die Meteorologie an der Universität Dorpat (Tartu)

In fall 1918 Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) was ordered to the German university at Dorpat (Tartu/Estonia). From October until the closure of the university at the end of November 1918, he lectured on meteorology and was director of the meteorological cabinet and observatory. His influence on the meteorology at Dorpat is especially shown in the research Johannes Letzmann (1885-1971) started under his supervision. Besides, Wegener provided Karl August Frisch (1892-1953, since 1935 named Kaarel Kirde) with further education, who later became professor of geophysics at the university and director of the meteorological observatory at Dorpat. Wegeners scientifically so productive stay and his influence on the meteorology in Dorpat will be shown in context with the end of World War I in the Baltic provinces.