FROM HOMO SAPIENS TO HOMO PLACIDUS - MORPHOLOGICAL AFTERMATHS OF WARS

Abstract

The article is a little modified and edited version of an article by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Boris Nikityuk (1933-1998), an famous Soviet and Russian anatomist and anthropologist, initiator of publications and founder of the scientific journal «Russian Morphological Newsletter», which was the opening first article in the first issue of this journal. The Editorial Board of the journal publishes this article in memory of the 85th anniversary date of birth (1933) of the founder of the journal, Professor Boris Nikityuk and on occasion of the 25th anniversary, which was in 2018 since the date of the founding of the journal «Morfologicheskie Vedomosti - Morphological Newsletter» (1993). It is devoted to the most pressing problem in the modern world from a scientific anatomical and anthropological point of view - the morphological, more precisely biological, consequences of one of the most difficult and catastrophic social phenomena - wars. Numerous scientific data, including the author’s own data, are argue the point of view, expressed a century ago by renowned anthropologist Valerian Bunak’s, that wars have as their main consequence not a direct reduction in the number of people who have the best physical qualities, but more pronounced and adverse effects on populations of subsequent generations. The author uses the term original scientific term «biological well-being» of a species «homo sapiens» as one of the criteria characterizing its evolution in the absence of wars and the peaceful coexistence of peoples. The title of the article has been changed, as a main conclusion of the article has been added the phrase «from homo sapiens to homo placidus» and also has been added the references, which are absent in original text.