On Tuesday, 29 November 2022, a new and unique publication, Landscapes and Landforms of Slovakia, compiled by Milan Lehotsky from the Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences and Martin Boltižiar from the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra, was presented dedicated to the most significant landscapes and landforms in Slovakia. The event took place in the Malé kongresové centrum SAV (Small Congress Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences) in Bratislava and was attended not only by the authors and co-authors but also by enthusiasts of geology, geography or “just” nature. The book was “baptised” by a pine branch, symbolising longevity, determination and patience.
Landscapes and Landforms of Slovakia“Books are like doors; you open them and enter another world,” said Milan Lehotský, the publication editor. The decision to prepare the book was made in 2018. On May 1, 2022, the finished publication was available online, with M. Lehotský as the main editor, having to overcome the obstacles associated with the roughly two-year pandemic. The book Landscapes and Landforms of Slovakia does reveal a familiar piece of land, Slovakia, but from a previously uncharted perspective. “Slovakia is a diverse country; it is amazing that getting to know it is also a vocation for us,” said Daniel Michniak, Director of the Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and underlined that this is the first publication of this kind published by a renowned publishing house in a world language. “Uniqueness always pleases, and this monograph is really unique, and I thank for it also as a geologist,” added Pavol Siman, a member of the Presidium of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, in his appreciation of the authors.
The book, co-authored by 43 authors representing 14 scientific institutions, presents a wealth of geomorphological knowledge about the landscape of Slovakia. It results from cooperation between geomorphologists, geographers, geologists, speleologists and climatologists. It is rich in graphic elements, pictures, and diagrams and is thus, according to the editor-in-chief M. Lehotský, accessible to the general public.
“The book describes selected localities representing the diversity of the regional geographic and geological environment of Slovakia – from the Vysoké Tatry Mts. (High Tatras) with glacial relief as the highest area of the Carpathian Mountains through several mountain ranges to basins and lowlands, taking into account the most significant forms of their modelling, e.g. fluvial processes, slope processes, karst processes,” described M. Lehotský and especially thanked the authors of the individual chapters, “whom he did not even have to chase with deadlines”.
The book is divided into three parts – the introduction is devoted to the general framework of the physical geography of Slovakia, the second most extensive part describes the geomorphology of selected landscape units, and the third part introduces the sites of geomorphological/geological heritage and the policy of landscape conservation in Slovakia.
With this publication, Slovakia is among the 28 countries that can be proud of a similar publication issued within this edition of Springer’s renowned publishing house.
Text taken from the SAS website. (only in Slovak)
Processed by: Andrea Nozdrovická
Translated by: Ján Novotný
Photo: Martin Bystriansky
Publication Editors- Dr. Milan Lehotský (left) a prof. Martin Boltižiar (right)
Publication “baptism”- Dr. Miloš Rusnák (left) a Dr. Milan Lehotský (right)