6. Answer the following questions:
•What
groups of people took an active part in the development of the
Russian Far East?
•What activities did these groups fulfill?
•What was the role of scientists in the process of development?
•Which scientists do you know?
•What was the result of their researches?
•Who initiated PDIRGS?
•Why was the number of the PDIRGS members rapidly increasing?
•What were the purposes of the PDIRGS?
•Does this organization still exist?
7. Translate into English. Исследование Сибири и Дальнего Востока
Развитие России настоятельно требовало изучения всех азиатских окраин, в особенности Сибири Дальнего Востока. Ознакомление с природными богатствами и населением этих территорий могло осуществляться только с помощью больших геолого-географических экспедиций.
Сибирские купцы и промышленники, заинтересованные в изучении природных ресурсов края, материально поддерживали такие экспедиции. Сибирский отдел Русского географического общества, организованный в 1851 г. в Иркутске, используя средства торгово-промышленных компаний, снаряжал экспедиции в бассейн р. Амура, на о. Сахалин и в золотоносные районы Сибири.
В них участвовали по большей части энтузиасты из разных слоев интеллигенции: горные инженеры и геологи, учителя гимназий и профессора университетов, офицеры армии и морского флота, врачи и политические ссыльные. Научное руководство осуществлялось Русским географическим обществом.
8. Speak about the importance of the scientific research for the development of the Far East.
9. Scan the texts. Richard Karlovich Maack (1825-1886)
Richard Karlovich Maack was born on September 4, 1825 in Estonia. He was a 19th century Russian naturalist, geographer, and anthropologist.
He is most known for his exploration of the Russian Far East and Siberia, particularly the Ussuri and Amur River valleys.
He was a member of the Siberian branch of the Russian Geographical Society. He studied natural sciences at the University of St. Petersburg. In 1852 he became a professor of natural sciences at the Gymnasium in Irkutsk and later director of the school.
From 1868 to 1879, he was the superintendent of all schools of northern Siberia. During the 1850s he undertook a number of expeditions in Siberia including those to the Amur River valley (1855–1856) and the Ussuri River (1859).
Maak was the first Russian and European scientist, who described the Amur, its banks and closest vicinity. When he came to Khabarobka, he met with the aboriginal people living near the Amur Cliff at the Byri River (the future Chardymovka River).
Later Maak wrote in his notes about the wealth of local nature:”During this trip I was certain that the Amur is rich in fish, I shot some sturgeons with my gun; huge sturgeons jumped out of the water and disappeared again, flapping their wide tails. Sturgeons and a lot of other fish were swimming near our feet between the stones; they were playing under the sun, splashing the water and leaving quickly disappearing circles on the surface of the river. (The scientist observed this pageant near the present-day plant “Daldiesel”).
The scientist wrote some of the first scientific descriptions of the natural history of remote Siberia and collected many biological specimens, many of which were original type specimens of previously unknown species. Maack is most famous for collecting previously unknown species and sending specimens back for scientific descriptions and naming. A number of those he found during the Amur River expedition bear his name.
Plants named after Maack
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Maackia amurensis — Amur maackia |
Lonicera maackii — Amur Honeysuckle |
Prunus maackii — Amur choke cherry |
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