ABSTRACT
The ideas associates with Dokuchaev and his school intertwined with broader geographical thinking during the late tsarist period as geography established itself within the university system and practitioners discussed the character of the aforementioned natural complexes as well as more idiosyncratic physical-geographical regionalization schemes. Dokuchaev play an active role in St Petersburg's intellectual life and was heavily involved with the work of organizations such as the Free Economic Society and the Russian Geographical Society. More specifically, Dokuchaev conceptualized soil as the emergent product of the complex interaction of a range of so-called soil-forming factors. The emphasis on a genetic understanding of soil formation, which highlighted the complex character of soil formation whilst remaining sensitive to emergent spatial patterns, found some support within Russia's early cohort of professional geographers. It is Dokuchaev's emphasis on understanding the spatial regularity of complex natural phenomena that forms a key focus of the current chapter.
