ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS

Dějiny věd a techniky, No. 4, Vol. XLIV (2011)

PAPERS

DVT 114, 219
Evoluce ve vlhku zrozená: Analogie a paralely Anaximandrovy pra-evoluce a darwinovské evoluce
Radim Kočandrle – Karel Kleisner

Evolution born moist: Analogies and parallels of Anaximander’s primeval evolution and Darwinian evolution
The study deals with the origin of life as presented in the thought of Anaximander of Miletus. Further, it compares parallel motifs of Anaximander’s philosophy with much later conceptions – pre-Darwinian German romantic science and post-Darwinian twentieth century biology.

Keywords:Anaximander · anthropogony · evolution · moisture · zoogony

Summary: According to Anaximander, life originated in the moisture associated with earth. This moist environment of sea or mud hosted the first living beings that later ascended to land. In connection with this idea, the first hints of environmental adaptation can be traced. Also some references to rather complicated human ontogeny were reported; such as, for instance, the origin and development of premature human beings inside the fish-like animals. This study further gives a comparison of parallel motifs present in Anaximander philosophy and much later periods of pre-Darwinian German romantic science and post-Darwinian twentieth century biology. Anaximander anticipated the changes in development of living beings (adaptations) and also was seeking the origins of human beings. In Anaximander’s thought, we do not find the most characteristic trait of Darwin’s evolutionary account; i.e. the emphasis on the historicity and uniqueness of all what comes into being.

DVT 114, 237
Vybrané kolonizační podniky stejných lokátorů v Čechách
Zuzana Pešková

Chosen undertakings of colonization of the same locators in Bohemia
The surveying of villages in the High Middle Ages is imprinted with features characteristic of Czech settlement structure. It was connected with the person of the so-called locator. The article uses selected criteria to compare the layout of particular groups of settlements measured by the same locator, identifies the surveying system, and verifies the connection of the basic module and boundary lines.

Key words: urbanism · colonization · 13th and 14th centuries · Beroun, Dobříš, Chomutov and Humpolec regions · Štěpán z Tetína, Jiří z Milevska, Jan Jindřich (baillif from Provensdorf), Pešek Benešovský, Arvo, Jindřich (master of the mint in Humpolec)

Summary: The figure of the locator was one of the most critical engaged in the process of colonization during the High Middle Ages. Most often, that person is represented in the literature as an entrepreneur, mostly from the nobility or highly situated in society. The locator determined whether the location of a new settlement (or group of settlements) made sense economically and hired specialists for the actual demarcation. This important position required a great deal of knowledge to determine a location that would assure the prosperity of the newly established settlement. It would have been purposeless if the locator had only training in surveying and could use his skills only once at the locality or localities that were entrusted to him. Nevertheless, it is not possible to rule out the possibility that the work of the locator and surveyor coincided in some cases.
Surveying activities were evidently so common in the High Middle Ages that it was not considered necessary to specify them in writing. Therefore, this study compares selected colonization campaigns in Bohemia, laid out by the same locator or by group of locators. The criteria for comparison include urban type, orientation to cardinal points, site of the water course, existence and placement of the church, approximate size, probable founding module (the width of a trail between parcels, which is repeated in the layout of the village in its absolute value or in its multiplies), and various aspects of the module system. The comparison of settlements’ layouts, taken from the maps of stabile cadastre, show that the founding schema was never repeated identically. Some of them were close in style, and in some it is possible to recognize the same principles or a certain similarity, but the author discovered a divergence in the versions of different systems even at sites that appeared very similar at the first sight. The lengths that were repeated in the ground layout in absolute values or in multiplies could suggest something about the size of the surveying unit – about the medieval unit of length and surveying tools. The measurements determined through this study document the consistency of the application of ground lines of various lengths in time and in the region.
The similar urbanism of some groups of Czech settlements – their layout schema and the values of the borders – points to other common denominators than just the person of the locator.

COMMUNICATION

DVT 114, 261
Helpianska valcha – technická kultúrna pamiatka na pozadí valchárstva ako tradičného remesla na Slovensku
Pavol Sakáč

Scouring board in Helpa – technical and cultural relic of the traditional craft in Slovakia
In Bohemia as in Slovakia there are many technical relics that are already forgotten; often no publication about their existence exists. The article originated when its author saw an audiovisual clip about the scouring board and its function. He was so interested that he decided to write a contribution about the craft and the one device still in existence.

Key words: traditional crafts · milling machine · scrubbing board · Slovakia

Summary: The article refers to already almost forgotten handicraft – milling that was practically spread across the whole area of the country – focuses on one region and a milling machine that has been conserved till present time. It mentions the authors familiar with the problem. The author analyses the historical development of the handicraft since the Middle Ages and identifies parts of the country where it was spread. It follows the ownership of milling machines from the Middle Ages until today. The article describes the milling machine from a technical point of view, discusses its individual parts, functions and the materials that it consists of, and mentions other types of machines for milling various types of materials. In the end the article is concerned with a milling machine preserved up to the present time in a specific region of Slovakia.