Geoscience development on the basis of materials from the museum and library exhibition “Life of the Earth in scientific periodicals”

Abstract

The periodicals “Zemlevedenie” (Earth Science) (1894-1990) and “Zhizn Zemli” (Life of the Earth) (1961-present) are ideologically and content-wise related, spanning a 130-year shared history. Throughout this time, their pages have reflected a holistic planetary geoscientific worldview, its transformations in the history of science, and the emergence of new concepts; the most up-to-date understanding of geospheres interactions, the relationship between nature and humanity, geoecosystemic and social transformations; and the pulse of the scientific and educational community through coverage of event chronicles, publications, and personalities. The history of these periodicals has seen a variety of genre solutions, namely: classic articles summarizing research results; unusually large works (monographic issues) with extensive appendices; expedition reports; analytical reviews (by topic, region, scientific direction); methodological works on education and museology; materials on the history of scientific directions, specific scientific groups and schools, and scientists; bibliographic notes on global scientific, educational, and popular science publications; biographical notes, and obituaries. Peculiarities of their history at different historical stages, as well as the content and organization of the publications, are reflected in the format of the museum and library exhibition “Life of the Earth in Scientific Periodicals,” organized by the Earth Science Museum of Moscow State University and the Library for Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, with the participation of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Forest Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushchino town), the Moscow Planetarium, and the Moscow Society of Naturalists. The content of the journals, which has covered the entire spectrum of Earth science issues over 130 years, is conditionally structured by the themes “Earth and Space,” “Into the Depths of the Earth,” “Description of the Earth,” “Evolution of Ecosystems,” and “Man on Earth,” as reflected in the exhibition space. An analysis of the history and content of “Zemlevedenie” and “Zhizn Zemli,” as well as the exhibition materials, allows for a new perspective on the subject field of modern Earth science as a metascience, its paradigmatics, axiomatics, and methodology, interdisciplinary connections with other sciences, and prospects for development within the system of the Earth, life, and space sciences.