The paper presents the indicator method as an important tool of research in social sciences with the focus on socio-economic geography. It introduces the notion of indicator in the methodological meaning and concentrates on its basic type, i.e. the inferential indicator. The concept of an indicator is explained using a realistic approach, which assumes that unobservable conceptual properties can be represented by observable real properties. In this approach, an indicator is characterised as an observable variable assumed to point to, or estimate, some other unobservable variable. The indicator method is then a way of the realistic conceptualization and a cognitive operation as well. The paper contains the systematization of cognitive indicators in socio-economic geography. It also shows the examples of the construction and interpretation of applied indicators.

Krzysztof Maurin was an extremely versatile intellectual and academic teacher. He worked in mathematics (monograph “Methods of Hilbert space”), philosophy (publication “Karl Jaspers – a philosopher of truthfulness”), theology (essay “The Son of Man as the foundation of great religions”) as well as in psychology and he taught in the Faculty of Physics of the Warsaw University: I was taught by Him during a second half of His life since the beginning of the 70s. Now we are seeing and presenting his various activities in the time analysed by him in senses of quantum and cosmic physics, Heidegger's philosophy, Schweitzer's theology and human and humanitarian psychology. Therefore we remind below his lectures on Medieval Universities, Humboldt's reform, the XIX century mathematics and indeterministic interpretation of quantum mechanics. Then, according to a chronological order, we are switching our attention to Krzysztof Maurin himself as a student of university underground courses during the time do Nazists occupation in Poland, then as a silent university employee resisting communist totalitarian ideology and after 1956, as a methodical professor of the University of Warsaw collaborating with Western Europe scientists such as LDrs GDrding, Werner Heisenberg, Rene Thom and Friedrich von Weizsacker as well as admiring especially intellectual achievements of Hermann Weyl and Martin Heidegger. To the end of biographical considerations we can observe successes and obstacles encountered by Krzysztof Maurin while He has tended to conciliate various or opposite ways of philosophical understanding or social behaving by his beloved thinkers.

The aim of the article is to present the problem of revitalization of marketplaces in the context of the challenges they face in contemporary socio-economic conditions. This issue was developed based on desk research and inquiry conducted on a representative marketplace in Gdańsk Oliwa. They served to formulate guidelines for the implementation project aimed at improving the image and economic condition of traditional marketplaces in Poland. Despite significant importance for the local economy, traditional marketplaces are not able to compete with shopping malls and shopping centers, as a result of which they become unsustainable. The ongoing degradation of marketplace areas reduce their attractiveness and role they play in public spaces network. The authors of the project recognize that the solution to the issue of marginalization of traditional marketplaces is to strengthen their image in both physical and media realms. One of the proposed solutions is institutional support for marketplaces by non-governmental organizations involved in the revitalization and aestheticisation of urban areas.

Detailed studies on the effects of pulsed laser interference heating on surface characteristics and subsurface microstructure of amorphous Fe80Si11B9 alloy are reported. Laser interference heating, with relatively low pulsed laser energy (90 and 120 mJ), but with a variable number (from 50-500) of consecutive laser pulses permitted to get energy accumulation in heated areas. Such treatment allowed to form two- Dimensional micro-islands of laser-affected material periodically distributed in amorphous matrix. The crystallization process of amorphous FeSiB ribbons was studied by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Detailed microstructural examination showed that the use of laser beam, resulted in development of nanostructure in the heated areas of the amorphous ribbon. The generation of nanocrystalline seed islands created by pulsed laser interference was observed. This key result may evidently give new knowledge concerning the differences in microstructure formed during the conventional and lased induced crystallization the amorphous alloys. Further experiments are needed to clarify the effect of pulsed laser interference crystallization on magnetic properties of these alloys.

Paper describes the results of Fe80Si11B9 amorphous ribbon investigation after pulsed laser interference heating and conventional annealing. As a result of interference heating periodically placed laser heated microareas were obtained. Structure characterisation by scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed in case of laser heated samples presence of crystalline nanostructure in amorphous matrix. Microscopy observations showed significant difference in material structure after laser heating – nanograin structure, and material after annealing – dendritic structure. Magnetic force microscopy investigation showed expanded magnetic structure in laser heated microareas, while amorphous matrix did not give magnetic signal. Change of magnetic properties was examined by magnetic hysteresis loop measurement, which showed that the laser heating did not have a significant influence on soft magnetic properties.