李希霍芬地貌学思想在德国的继承与发展

THE SUCCESSION AND DEVELOPMET OF FERDINAND VON RICHTHOFEN'S GEOMORPHOLOGICAL THOUGHTS IN GERMANY

文章介绍李希霍芬(1833～1905,F.vonRichthofen)对地貌学建立的重要贡献及这门学科自此以后在德国的理论进展;论证了在过去的100年中,在不同时期都有德国杰出的科学工作者叙述对李希霍芬著作的认同和赞赏。总体上来讲,很多人都同意称李希霍芬为关于地形和景观科学的“地貌学之父”。在A.洪堡(A.Humboldt)和C.李特尔(C.Ritter)早期概念的基础上,李希霍芬使地理学变成一门研究人类生存空间的自然科学。尽管在李希霍芬之后所发展起来的气候地貌学和地生态学的重要性是不可低估的,但直到今天李希霍芬所开展的与地质学有紧密联系的地貌学的分支仍具有活力。

This paper was aimed to primarily review F. von Richthofen's fundamental contributions for the initiation of geomorphology and this discipline's theoretical development since then in Germany. It shows that quite a few papers, published in the past 100 years from distinguished scientists, have expressed appreciative acceptance of Richthofens' books and ideas. In general, it can be confirmed that Richthofen has been widely considered as the father of geomorphology, the modern science about landforms and landscapes. One of Richthofen's significant contributions was that he led the geography to have become a natural science about humans' living space on the basis of A. Humboldt's and C. Ritter's earlier conceptions. However, in China it appears that Richthofen's geological research is more influential than his geomorphological thoughts. Although the great importance of climatic geomorphology and geoecology, developed after Richthofen's era, can never be overestimated, the sub-direction of Richthofen's geomorphology, characterized by a strong connection to geology, is still quite vital to date. Referring to the geological science of China, this paper again reinforces what is already known about Richthofen's role. The significance of Richthofen's contribution to the geological research of China can be well elucidated by this citation “Geology of China is being built upon the solid foundation laid down by Ferdinand von Richthofen” (Wong, 1933). In addition to his scientific publications, one of his comments on Chinese intellectuals' backward attitude towards field work is often taken as mirror to motivate young Chinese scholars to dedicate themselves to geosciences.