KARSTOLOGY AND PETAR MILANOVIĆ'S KARST RESEARCH CONCEPT.
KARSTOLOGY AND PETAR MILANOVIĆ'S KARST RESEARCH CONCEPT.

Summary/Abstract: The term karstology refers to a scientific endeavor that seeks to encompass the karst as a whole. The paradox is that in Dinaric Karst, the cradle of karstology, that expression is very rare, certainly less frequent than in some other prominent karstological zones. It was used only by several domestic researchers, mostly on the margins of their research. One of them is Petar Milanović, a geologist who spent most of his career exploring extremely demanding Trebišnjica karst basin. At that time, completely new scientific research was carried out, the results of which had a strong echo in the worldwide professional literature. In 2018 Milanović marks 80 years anniversary. On this occasion, we try to analyze how this controversial and symptomatic phenomenon was copied through his work. This paper will discuss biographical and social contexts of Milanović's use of karstology or karst research; then a regional scientific tradition related to this problem; it will also question terminology Milanović used in describing karst, a phenomenon that was usually researched in his work in a more comprehensive way than a single discipline. Although Milanović used the term “karstology” quite rare in his work, he often crossed the boundaries set by the definition of that concept. In doing so, he was faced with the limitations of his own scientific and professional environment and social circumstances. For all that he was able to preserve the need for a broader and more open view of karst.

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