Fedorov's Complex Method in Climatology

A recent article in the Annals has reminded American climatologists of the existence of a contemporary Soviet school of that stands apart from most of the climatological thinking in other countries, that is, E. E. Fedorov's Complex Method in Climatology.2 But the fact that most articles on the nature of ignore this Soviet school of thought makes it evident that the so-called climatology is little known and little understood in the United States. Surely it should be worthwhile for American climatologists to be versed in the development of the complex method, not only because it represents a separate school of thought that must be taken into account in any total picture of the field of today, but also because it provides the prime example for the case study of an actual attempt to grasp somehow the immeasurable Gestalt of the instantaneous weather of a place and to work this nebulous and undefined unit into a quantitative system of classification. This desire, to more truly depict weather conditions than is done by traditional use of statistics of individual elements, is not a new desire among climatologists, but no one before has gone so far in the attempt to devise an elaborate system for handling basically incommensurable, unprecise quanta objectively. Fedorov was an idea man, a philosopher, who was always groping into the unknown. His thoughts constantly carried him beyond the realm of the practicable, so that his concepts were frequently impossible of complete communication. Therefore, his writing is somewhat fragmentary, often only shallow expressions, in terms of the real aspects of climate that do occur, rather than expressions encompassing his entire thought and leading to the ideal that he sought. His students have acknowledged his originality of thought and

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