vladimir ivanovich vernad

7/28/2019 Vladimir Ivanovich Vernad

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Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky andhis Revolutionary Theory of theBiosphere and the Noosphere

Irina Trubetskova

Department of Natural ResourcesUniversity of New Hampshire, [email protected]

Living matter gives the biosphere an extraordinaryunique in the universe... Cosmic energy determines tof life that can be regarded as the transmission of sto the Earth's surface... Activated by radiation, the mbiosphere collects and redistributes solar energy, andultimately into free energy capable of doing work on E

A new character is imparted to the planet by thcosmic force. The radiations that pour upon the Earthbiosphere to take on properties unknown to lifeles

surfaces, and thus transform the face of the Earth... Ideath, and its decomposition an organism circulatethrough the biosphere over and over again.

Vladimir Vernadsky, Bio

It is essentially Vernadsky's concept of the biosphereaccept today.

Evelyn Hutchinson, The Bios

I look forward with great optimism. I think that we undonly a historical, but a planetary change as well. We ltransition to the noosphere.

Vladimir Vernadsky,The Biosphere and the Noos


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Much time will have to pass before the historian of scbe able to review the vast scientific legacy of Vernadsfully grasp the depth and many-sidedness of his influe

Alexander Vinogradov, Development of V.I. Vernad

The originator of the modern theory of the

Biosphere (Grinevald, 1998, p. 21)... One of the

greatest thinkers of history and philosophy of

science (Levit, 2001, p. 9)... A world-class scientist

and writer (Margulis et al., 1998, p. 18)... WhatCharles Darwin did for all life through time,

Vernadsky did for all life through space (Ibid.)... The

Vernadskian renaissance... The international revival

of Vernadsky... Vernadsky's scientific revolution

(Grinevald, 1998, p. 21, 27)... Vladimir Ivanovich

Vernadsky (1863-1945) was the scientist whoelaborated the concept of the biosphere and who is

now generally acknowledged as the originator of a

new paradigm of life studies (Smil, 2002, p. 2), a

principal architect of our contemporary ecological

vision of the biosphere (Engel, 1990, p. 6)...

... After years of silence, the West finally started

to discover and scientifically recognize a prominent

Russian researcher, organizer of science, educator,

public figure, person of encyclopedic knowledge,

philosopher, and thinker - Vladimir Ivanovich


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Vernadsky, a genius that belongs to all of humanity.

Paradoxically, Vernadsky's ideas for more than half

of a century insensibly and organically penetrated

many fields and branches of modern science. Theyhave been used widely, without attaching his name

though. His ideas even predetermined the

appearance and influenced the development of such

important disciplines as Biogeochemistry, Global

Ecology, and Earth System Science. According to

Evelyn Hutchinson (1903-1991), "the twentiethcentury's most eminent limnologist [i.e. freshwater

ecologist] and the founder of the Yale school of

ecology, whose influence is still felt in disciplines

ranging from systems ecology to biogeochemistry"

(Smil, 2002), "it is essentially Vernadsky's concept of

biosphere... that we accept today" (Hutchinson,

1970). Alexander Vinogradov (one of Vernadsky's

numerous students and closest collaborators) wisely

noticed, "Much time will have to pass before the

historian of science will be able to review the vast

scientific legacy of Vernadsky and fully grasp the

depth and many-sidedness of his influence"

(Vinogradov, 1963, p.627)."Just as all educated westerners have heard of

Albert Einstein, Gregor Mendel, and Charles Darwin,

so all educated Russians know of Vladimir Ivanovich

Vernadsky (1863-1945). He is widely celebrated in


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Russia and the Ukraine. A Vernadsky Avenue in

Moscow is rivaled by a monument in his memory in

Kiev. His portrait appears on Russian national

stamps, air letters, and even memorial coins"(Margulis et al., 1998, p. 14).

Vernadsky symbolizes personal integrity and Slability. In the years to come, as the Russian anpeople look for sources of cultural pride, Vernadskycertain to grow. Already named in his honor are(vernadite), a geologic museum, the Ukrainian cenlibrary, several mountain peaks and ranges, a peninAntarctica, a submarine volcano, a crater on the backmoon, a mine in Siberia, a scientific researchsteamship, a village in Ukraine (Vernadovka), a stree(Vernadsky Prospekt), and a species of diatoms (Rowquoted in Margulis et al., 1998, p. 14).

This list could be continued with such additions

named in his honor as a Moscow Metro station, anavenue in Kiev, a railroad station in central Russia,

peaks in Siberia and on the Kurile Islands, an

Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry

of Russian Academy of Sciences, a Biosphere

museum (Russian Academy of Sciences, St.-

Petersburg), All-Russia Teenage Readings (The Youth

Research Papers' Competition for high school

students in Russia), two awards (from the Russian

and the Ukrainian Academies of Sciences) for

outstanding achievements in Mineralogy,


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Geochemistry, and Cosmochemistry, the

Nongovernmental Vernadsky Ecological Foundation,

Vernadsky Scholarship Alumni Association (VSAA), an

honorable Award Medal "For Contribution toSustainable Development", the Russian Academy of

Sciences' Committee on the study of the scientific

heritage of academician V.I. Vernadsky.

Why is such a great tribute and unprecedented

attention given to just one person, even though he is

an extraordinary talented scientist? Is his popularitythe result of his extreme productiveness and

immense contribution to modern science in general?

Indeed, the following list of his scientific interests and

achievements may give an idea about his breadth,

depth, and effectiveness as a researcher and

scientist:

Of Vernadsky's 416 works that were published dutime, 100 were devoted to mineralogy, 70 - biochegeochemistry, 43 - history of science, 37 - orgascience, 29 - crystallography, 21 - radiogeologyscience, and the rest - to different questions of scienetc. (Pyatibratova, 2000).

His research ranged from meteorites and cosmic

dust to microbiology and migration of microelements

via living organisms in ecosystems. Numerous

volumes of his writings and materials were published
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after his death, and this work is still going on.

Vernadsky "made an enormous contribution to

crystallography, genetic mineralogy, and

geochemistry. He created radiogeology,cosmochemistry and biogeochemistry, and wrote

excellent works on the history of scientific thought"

(Yanshin, 1989).

However, the main reason for the appreciation of

his work is our urgent "necessity of a complex

holistic conceptual approach" to the problems ofincreasingly and rapidly deteriorating environment

and impending global ecological crisis (Yanshin,

1993). Today, the word biosphere is a common word

in our language; it is widely used by mass media and

by ordinary people. How many people, though,

associate this term with Vladimir Vernadsky? What

does it really mean? Where did it originally come

from?

The term biosphere was coined in 1875 by the

famous Austrian geologist Eduard Suess (1831-

1914). "In fact, Suess literally tossed the new term

away, just once and without an explicit definition, in

his pioneering book on the genesis of the Alps (Suess1875)" (Smil, 2002). In his interpretation, the

"biosphere" is an envelope of life, which "is limited to

a determined zone at the surface of the lithosphere".

The term was never given a definition or elaborated


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upon until Vladimir Vernadsky.

Vernadsky developed a complete theory about

the biosphere of the planet Earth in two monographs

and several dozens of papers. He specifiedboundaries (limits) of the biosphere, explicitly

defined the difference, i.e. qualities, of living and

non-living matter, determined the total mass of living

matter, calculated the amount of cosmic energy that

is absorbed by the biosphere through trapping of

solar energy by chlorophyll of green algae,developed a mathematical method for determining

the pressure of different types of living matter,

determined cycles of chemical elements passing

through living organisms of the biosphere, etc. In his

words (Vernadsky, 1944):

... a definite geological envelope markedly distinguisother geological envelopes of our planet. This is onlyis inhabited by living matter, which reveals itself as aforce of immense proportions, completely rembiosphere and changing its physical, chemical, and properties, but also because the biosphere is the onof the planet into which energy permeates in a nochanging it even more than does living matter.

Under Vernadsky's definition, the Biosphere is the

single greatest geological force on Earth, moving,

processing, and recycling several billion tons of mass

a year.


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Vernadsky's The Biosphere and the Nosphere

published inAmerican Scientistin 1945, was the first

publication about his revolutionary theory of the

Biosphere and Noosphere in English. The paper waswritten in 1943 and reflects the summary of

V.Vernadsky's concept of the Biosphere and

Noosphere as a planetary and cosmic phenomenon

that he has been working on during the first quarter

of the 20th century. His concept of the Biosphere and

the Noosphere was expounded earlier in multiple anddetailed publications in Russian (the book Biosfera,

1926 and others), French (La Biosphre, 1929), and

German (Biosphre, 1930), and also during his

research, lecturing, and discussions in Western

Europe (1922-1924). However, Western scientists did

not have the opportunity to read Vernadsky's

Biosphere in English until 1986 (reduced English

translation, though), i.e. 60 years after the first

publication in Russian, or 57 and 56 years later than

in French and German. Finally, the first full English

translation ofThe Biosphere saw the light in 1998.

In the biosphere thesis, the Earth represents itselfparticle in a gigantic Universe, a minute oasis where laws the conditions for life emerged, life whichprotects from penetration by the Sun's ultra-violet rayand Bolshakov, 1987).


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The most amazing point about Vernadsky is his

approach to the Biosphere as a planetary and cosmic

event - a new way of looking at the Earth - as if he

observed the Earth from space, although the firstsatellite, Sputnik (USSR), was launched only half a

century later, in 1957, and the first cosmonaut, Yuri

Gagarin, became the first human in the history of

mankind to see the beautiful planet Earth from orbit

on April 12, 1961. It is not surprising for us to see

images of our planet taken from space, but forVernadsky it was impossible:

The famous photos of Earth that we received as apresent from NASA some twenty five years ago haour vision of Earth and humanity's place in tprofoundly. To understand just how much of an effechad, go to your attic or to the public library. Dig out

or newspaper from 1969. Go through it carefully anoccurrences of the words global andplanetary. You wnot find them at all. Yet in 1994 most of us have these photographs and are beginning to understanas global or planetary citizens on a small planet in tan immense cosmos (Gonzalez, 1995)

I wonder what grand and dynamic pictures

Vernadsky saw in his mind, as early as at thebeginning of the 20th century, when he came to the

understanding that the biosphere, in fact, is a great

geological and cosmic force, changing the face of the


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unique, living planet Earth through space and time.

Vernadsky defined the future evolutionary state of

the biosphere as the Noosphere, the sphere of

reason. The term "Noosphere" was first coined by theFrench mathematician and philosopher, Edouard Le

Roy (1927). "Le Roy, building on Vernadsky's ideas

and on discussions with Teilhard de Chardin [they

both attended Vernadsky's lectures on

biogeochemistry at the Sorbonne in 1922-1923],

came up with the term "noosphere", which heintroduced in his lectures at the College de France in

1927 (Le Roy, 1927)... Vernadsky saw the concept as

a natural extension of his own ideas predating Le

Roy's choice of the term" (Smil, 2002, p. 13). Le Roy

understood the noosphere as a shell of the Earth or a

"thinking stratum", including various components,

such as industry, language, and other forms of

rational human activity (Arbatov and Bolshakov,

1987). Le Roy's concept was developed by De

Chardin, who considered the noosphere as

something external to the biosphere - a progression

from biological to psychological and spiritual

evolution. Teilhard based his conception based onphilosophical writings, and was completely ignorant

of Vernadsky's biogeochemical approach. Vernadsky

developed his concept of the noosphere out of his

theory of the biosphere, combining his


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biogeochemical works with his own work in

philosophy of science (Grinevald, 1998, p. 24-25):

Both Vernadsky and Teilhard were cosmic pglobalization. If Teilhard was a "cosmic mystic",defined himself as a "cosmic realist"... They sharedscience and technology as a universal, peaceful anforce... But in The Biosphere and in all his work, Vscientific perspective is radically different from that

The divergence is perhaps best expressed as anbetween the anthropocentric view of life (Teilhardian

and the biocentric view of the nature's economy (VBiosphere)...

According to Vernadsky, the biosphere became a

real geological force that is changing the face of the

earth, and the biosphere is changing into the

noosphere. In Vernadsky's interpretation (1945), the

noosphere, is a new evolutionary stage of thebiosphere, when human reason will provide further

sustainable development both of humanity and the

global environment:

In our century the biosphere has acquired an entirelymeaning; it is being revealed as a planetary phenomecosmic character... In the twentieth century, man, fortime in the history of earth, knew and embraced the wbiosphere, completed the geographic map of the planand colonized its whole surface. Mankind became a stotality in the life on earth... The noosphere is the laststages in the evolution of the biosphere in geological


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Vernadsky made an important contribution to

science in general, and in ecology in particular. It is

essentially Vernadsky's theory of the biosphere,expounded in his work "Biosfera" (1926) that is

embodied in the global approach to ecological

problems today. To solve global ecological problems

that may endanger even the very existence of

humanity in t5he future, a cultivation of a new

worldview among people, and especially younggenerations, is absolutely needed. I.P.Volkov (1997)

puts it this way:

The methodological rule of the global approach is tothe everyday occurrence, run up above the Earth,that astronaut who's observed the Earth from theexample, as the American astronauts have done it s

or to become a spaceman watching (and studying)phenomena from the orbit near our Earth.

Though none of the globalists has visited outer nevertheless, each of them is able to do it with psyche in his imagination, in his thoughts, in his imaof the planet from space. That is the noospheric outphenomena of the Earth.

The best way to be acquainted with Vernadky's

doctrine of the Biosphere and Noosphere is to read

his original writings as some of them are fortunately

available in English now (see the reference list). It


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seems that it would be interesting to touch upon

another, human side of this incredible personality,

especially in the light of the fact that the vast

literature about his life (including more than tenbooks in Russian) is not available in English.

According to the German philosopher and

educator, Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762-1814), "the

kind of philosophy a person chooses depends on the

kind of person one is. A philosophical system is not a

lifeless piece of furniture that can be accepted ordiscarded, according to how we feel. Rather, a

philosophy is given its soul by the soul of the person

who possesses it" (translation and personal

communication by Lenore Bronson). These words are

totally true for Vladimir Vernadsky, both as a

professional and a personality.

In addition to the importance of Vernadsky's ideas

for forming a new, scientific and holistic worldview as

well as approaches for solving global problems the

humanity is facing today, his character was another

important component that gave a rise to such

incredible appreciation from the side of his nationals.

Under the Soviet regime, where Vernadsky livedthe last 28 years of his 81-year life, communist

ideology was an official philosophy and religion. It

was almost impossible to succeed in any sphere of

life without becoming a member of the Communist


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Party in the USSR. Vernadsky did. His example is

unprecedented. Vernadsky was one of the few high-

level scientists that consciously decided to stay in

the country to save academic traditions and science.His patriotism was, in fact, conscious and free-will

civic duty. He did not leave his native land when dark

times of communism arose after the October socialist

revolution of 1917, like the two millions of the most

educated, intelligent, and cultured people of Russia

did. Many of others, who decided to stay, were eitherkilled, died of hunger during the Red terror and Civil

War, or were physically annihilated later in Stalin's

prisons or labor camps. Russian aristocrat by birth,

Vernadsky consciously made his choice between

emigrating abroad, which would mean to continue

his science under favorable conditions (British

Association of Science arranged that one of the Red

Cross ships was waiting for him near the Crimean

coast in 1920), and staying in the country. He stayed

with a noble purpose, although he knew that he

would have to face a hard life (Aksenov, 1993, p.

132). He received another tempting offer in 1924,

when he was staying in Paris for research and read alecture course on Geochemistry (as one of the

founders and developers of this young discipline at

that time) at the invitation of the Rector of the

Sorbonne (University of Paris). Vernadsky was


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offered a permanent faculty position at the

Sorbonne. He had to make a choice again - to return

to Russia that survived really hard times, or to stay in

the West. Take into account that Stalin alreadystarted to gain power in Russia, and both of

Vernadsky's children had emigrated. He chose to

return. Every devoted scientist, and generally a

creative person, can sincerely understand the

hardship of Vernadsky's sacrifice, when he refused

the tempting job offers abroad that would haveprovided him with an outstanding research

environment and peaceful civil life.

All of this emphasizes the high level of

Vernadsky's civil responsibility and courage.

Unbelievable, but without bowing to political

authorities, making foul compromises, or losing his

human dignity, he miraculously succeeded to survive

all turmoil and hardships of Russian history that

happened during his life, which began under czarism

and ended under the horrors of Stalinism. Moreover,

he managed not to interrupt his creative scientific

work and teaching for even one single day (thinking

and developing his ideas when there was noopportunity for performing research, writing or

lecturing). Against a background of dramatic

historical events that impacted his everyday life

(three revolutions at the beginning of the 20th


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century, civil war, two bloody world wars, and a

deadly cult of personality), he was busy organizing

research laboratories and institutes, education and

libraries, founding the Academy of Sciences ofUkraine, establishing new branches of science, and

popularizing his revolutionary scientific view by

giving speeches to the public. It is necessary to

admit that although Vernadsky was already an

internationally recognized scientist since the end of

the 19th

century, he was not very well known in hisown country during the communist era. "Following

Nikita Kruschev's secret speech of February 24-25,

1956, denouncing Josef Stalin's brutal rule, Soviet

intellectuals began to rediscover and rehabilitate the

reputation of Russian scholars and scientists who had

been neglected or disparaged during the Stalinist era

for political reasons. Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky...

was one of the Russian thinkers whose work was

promoted and popularized during the 1960s and

1970s" (Kauffman, 1991). Today Vernadsky is widely

recognized and respected in Russia, as it is shown

above.

All of Vernadsky's life was an act of the highestcivic courage and responsibility not only in relation to

Russia and Russian people (as he contributed all his

talent, power, and capabilities for the continuity and

succession of Russian pre-revolutionary academic


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science and traditions), but as history has shown, his

life was in fact a continuous service for the name of

science and progress of knowledge in general, i.e.

internationally, on the global scale - because scienceand knowledge are a phenomenon peculiar to the

whole humanity. For there cannot be a national

science - science is always international.

Nowadays, Vladimir Vernadsky is often compared

to Albert Einstein: "His name is as inseparably linked

with the biosphere as Albert Einstein's name is withrelativity" (Kauffmann, 1991). It is remarkable that

two giants of scientific thought of the 20th century,

Vladimir Vernadsky (1863-1945) and Albert Einstein

(1879-1955), lived on Earth simultaneously.

Unbelievable, but it actually happened that

Vernadsky and Einstein once met. It was in 1927,

when Vernadsky stayed in Germany for his research

at the same time when there was a week of Russian

science in Berlin, in which he participated. Einstein

directed a group of German scientists for this event.

According to Aksenov (1993, p.161), there is an old

photograph from this scientific event, with both of

them among the other members of the Russian andGerman delegations. I wonder - did they have a

chance to talk?Both Vernadsky and Einstein, two stars of the first

magnitude of the 20th century civilization, were very


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concerned about responsibility of those who possessknowledge. Vernadsky warned (1945, p. 8):

The whole of mankind put together represents an

mass of the planet's matter. Its strength is derived matter, but from its brain. If man understands this, ause his brain and his work for self-destruction, afuture is open before him in the geological history of

Einstein outlived Vernadsky only by 10 years, but

this decade brought much more evidence of theplanet's deteriorating environment. "Technological

progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathologicalcriminal", Einstein noted once. Did he meanHiroshima and Nagasaki? Or emerging globalecological problems? Does this not agree withVernadsky's words? Although half a century passedsince then, and we have enough evidence for theprogressively deteriorating global environment,humanity still does not take the problem seriously

enough. As Laurens van der Post argues (1986): "Wehave already got power enough to destroy the wholeof human life; but we have not yet got the moralobligation, the sense of good and bad, to match itand follow it as our instrument of metamorphosis. Wehave not yet accepted that every act of knowledge,every increase of knowledge, increases ourresponsibility towards creation".

In connection with our recent seminar debate onscience and religion, it is interesting to consider

Vernadsky's and Einstein's opinions on the matter as

they look to be very similar. It is well known that both


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of them were great humanitarians, although neither

associated themselves with any particular religion.

Nevertheless, both Vernadsky and Einstein admitted

repeatedly and independently their deep religiosity,without following any particular religion, practicing

rituals, and attending church though. It is amazing

that they even expressed their attitude in the same

words. Einstein: "I am a deeply religious nonbeliever"

(Einstein, 1954). Vernadsky: "I consider myself a

deeply religious man, but meanwhile I do not needeither church or prayer. I do not need words and

images... So called religious feeling... is a sum of

moral aspirations that could take various forms"

(Mochalov, 1988). "The essence of Vernadsky's

religiosity is... emotional experience of unity with

living nature, with Cosmos in general, with living

nature in particular, sense of cosmic nature of life

and mind, and harmony of the universe, i.e. what

Einstein once called a 'cosmic religious feeling'"

(Mochalov, 1988):V. I. Vernadsky considered religion as one of threality's reflection alongside with science, philosophBut he had not belonged to any particular religiouhe had not been a religious believer. His 'religconventional, it was connected with deep involvement in creative process, with feeling of hisuniverse, with living matter.


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Einstein expressed a similar opinion. "My feeling",

he wrote, "is religious insofar as I am imbued with

tile consciousness of the insufficiency of the human

mind to understand more deeply the harmony of theUniverse which we try to formulate as 'laws of

nature'"(Einstein, 1952).

What they both understood under religiositywas,

in fact, expression of their personal integrity (the

quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to

high moral principles, Encarta Reference Library,2003) and spirituality (awe for creation and

appreciation of beauty, reverence of life and love for

nature, sense of belonging to and unity with the

universe, search for harmony, wisdom, and truth),

intensified by their extraordinary creative

imagination and intuition. As a matter of fact, they

did not need a religious, i.e. spiritual leader because

genuine spirituality is far beyond any particular

existing religion.Both Vernadsky and Einstein were

internationalists, fighters for justice, and peace. Asprominent scientists and thinkers, they felt they wereresponsible for purposeful usage of scientific and

technological progress for the well being of humanityas a whole. Therefore, no wonder, if they would bealive today, to find them in the first rows of soundadvocates and propagandists for a new, ecologicalworldview and sustainable development. Therewould not be a surprise to see Vernadsky in this role


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as his concept of the Biosphere and Noosphere isembodied already practically (consciously orunconsciously) within all major eco-ethicalapproaches of environmental movements. The

following words of Einstein also suggest that hewould be among active environmentalists thesedays: "A human being is a part of a whole, called byus 'universe', a part limited in time and space. Heexperiences himself, his thoughts and feelings assomething separated from the rest... a kind of opticaldelusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kindof prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires

and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Ourtask must be to free ourselves from this prison bywidening our circle of compassion to embrace allliving creatures and the whole of nature in itsbeauty".

People need to change their worldview andattitude toward their fellow brothers and the rest ofcreation from anthropocentric and limited to

ecocentric and holistic; otherwise, impending globalecological catastrophe is inevitable. Humans areproud of their possession of reason - for which theycall themselves a pinnacle of evolution. However, ifan outside observer would watch our planet for sometime, s/he would not see us as creatures of reason.Indeed, human beings destroy their ownenvironment and themselves by behaving like a

cancer tumor in the organism. Are we a pinnacle ofevolution then?

Vernadsky believed in human reason. His positive

character and personality could explain his optimism

and his belief in positive reasoning and good will of


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other human beings at the planetary, cosmic level: "I

look forward with great optimism. I think that we

undergo not only a historical, but a planetary change

as well. We live in a transition to the noosphere"(Vernadsky, 1945). However, Vernadsky was not just

an idealistic dreamer. His scientific theory of the

Biosphere and Noosphere was built on a vast

empirical basis and solid laws of nature. Skeptics,

who do not believe in the positive future of humanity

and in the "higher" nature of human beings, could bereferred to the most recent history of humanity. Of

course, because of our short lifespan, we could not

see the changes that are already on the way. But

progress or at least a positive shift is obvious in such

dimensions as the process of disarmament, the

struggle for peace, the prevention of nuclear war, the

formation of the European Union, international space

projects, international environmental agreements,

ecological movements, etc. Slowly, as slow that it

could not be seen yet, positive changes are

developing. However, more and more efforts are

needed to reach people's consciousness to involve

them in these processes.The need for popularization of Vernadsky's

concept of the Noosphere towards the formation of a

new, global and holistic world view among people,

and especially younger generations, is hardly


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disputable. This could and should be a powerful tool

to resist such fundamental contemporary

phenomena as individualism and consumerism,

growthism and economism, to which our society isaddicted. All components of human nature such as

our mind (through appropriate information and

knowledge), heart (through feelings and emotions),

and spirit (through highest human aspirations and

morals) are supposed to be reached and moved in

this process, thereby providing motivation to live andact properly. Family, school, and religious

communities are called to play principal roles in

cultivating a new world view and attitude toward our

common home, the planet Earth. The organized

effort for overall ecological literacy on national and

international levels is needed for the implementation

of a new world-view of the Earth, humanity, and our

existence in the Universe. Ecological literacy must

become a mandatory part of education in

elementary, middle, high school; a requirement in

institutions of higher education (colleges and

universities, technical - schools, community colleges,

junior colleges); and should involve mass media(especially television, magazines, and internet) as a

part of national and international programs.

Alexander Fersman, the closest pupil of Vladimir

Vernadsky and his successor in the area of the


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development of geochemistry, who only outlived his

teacher by several months, had time to write about

Vernadsky: "His general ideas will be studied and

elaborated during centuries and one will discovernew pages in his works which will serve as the source

for new searches. Many scientists will learn his

creative thought which is acute, stubborn and

articulated, always genial, but sometimes poorly

understood. As for young generations, he always will

be a teacher in science and a striking example of afruitfully lived life".

... There are extraordinary people, who continue

to affect the path of humanity, its cultural, scientific,

and moral evolution profoundly, even though they

have passed away. These names are on everybody's

lips, and they are referred to as if they are our

contemporaries because of their unique capacity to

be ahead of their own time. They continue to send

their light of knowledge, inspiration, and hope like

the bright stars in the night sky, which in fact went

out millions or billions years ago. The thinkers, of this

kind, serve as the leading lights for the progress ofhumanity. Among these exclusive personalities there

are, for example, Pluto and Aristotle from ancient

times, Leonardo da Vinci and Giordano Bruno from

the Renaissance, Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler,
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Isaac Newton and Michail Vasilyevich Lomonosov,

Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein, Leo Tolstoy and

Mahatma Gandhi from the most recent history of

humanity. Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky, the founderof the concept of the Biosphere and Noosphere (the

most progressive contemporary scientific and

philosophical worldview), is certainly one of these

exceptional thinkers that leave indelible marks in

human history and will affect future evolution of

humanity for a long time.

References

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International Response, Ed.J. Ronald Engel and KoanGibb Engel, The University of Arizona Press: Tucson,1990, pp.1-23.

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Glossary

Atmosphere - The air envelope surrounding theEarth. Earth's atmosphere is the layer of gasessurrounding the planet Earth retained by the Earth'sgravity (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 2004).

Biosphere - The totality of living organisms with theirenvironment, i.e. those layers of the Earth and the

Earth's atmosphere in which living organisms arelocated (VanDeVeer and Pierce, 2003). Vernadskydefined ecology (originally intended as the "economyof nature") as the science of the biosphere.

Ecology - The branch of science that studies thedistribution and abundance ofliving organisms, theirhabitats, and the interactions between them and

their environment - which includes both biotic (non-living) elements like climate and geology, and bioticones like other species (Wikipedia Encyclopedia,2004).

Hydrosphere - The water envelope surrounding theEarth. Hydrosphere describes collective mass ofwater that is found under, on and over the surface of

the Earth (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 2004).Lithosphere - The outer solid shell of the Earth(Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 2004), i.e. the outer layersof the earth made up of the crust and the outerportion of the mantle (the layer between the core
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_(biology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiotichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_(biology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiotichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotic


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and the crust) (VanDeVeer and Pierce, 2003).

Noosphere - Literally, "the envelope of mind" (Smil,2002, p. 12) or the "sphere of human thought"

(Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 2004). "The Noosphere isthe last of many stages in the evolution of thebiosphere in geological history" (Vernadsky, 1945, p.10)."Looking far ahead, Vernadsky considered theemergence of the noosphere as a criticalevolutionary step needed for preserving andreconstructing the biosphere in the interest of

humanity as a single entity... We have alreadyaltered the biosphere to such an extent that the onlyrational way out is to understand as good as possibleits intricate functions - and then to make sure thatthe future changes we inflict on the globalenvironment will remain within tolerable limits.Obviously, the collective role of humanconsciousness will be essential if this unprecedented

process of planetary management is to succeed...Moral choices will be essential. Limiting andeventually reducing the human impact on thebiosphere would require an unprecedented degree ofinternational, indeed global, cooperation and,inevitably, collective willingness to forgo certainkinds of consumption (Smil, 2002, p. 25, 265, 266).

Sustainability- An economic, social, and ecologicalconcept. It is intended to be a means of configuringcivilization and human activity so that society and itsmembers are able to meet their needs and expresstheir greatest potential in the present, whilepreserving biodiversity and natural ecosystems, and


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planning and acting for the ability to maintain theseideals indefinitely. Sustainability affects every levelof organization, from the local neighborhood to theentire globe (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 2004).

vladimir ivanovich vernad

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