Civilization and Climate

This book, originally published in 1915, is a product of the new science of geography. The old geography strove primarily to produce exact maps of the physical features of the earth's surface. The new goes farther. It adds to the physical maps an almost innumerable series showing the distribution of plants, animals, and man and of every phase of the life of these organisms. It does this, not as an end in itself, but for the purpose of comparing the physical and organic maps and thus determining how far vital phenomena depend upon geographic environment. Among the things to be mapped, human character as expressed in civilization is one of the most interesting and one whose distribution most needs explanation. The only way to explain it is to ascertain the effect of each of many cooperating factors. Such matters as race, religion, institutions, and the influence of men of genius must be considered on the one hand, and geographical location, topography, soil! , climate, and similar physical conditions on the other. This book sets aside the other factors, except incidentally, and confines itself to climate. In that lie both its strength and weakness. If the reader feels that due weight is not given to one factor or another, he must remember that many unmentioned phases of the subject have been deliberately omitted to permit fuller emphasis upon the apparent connection between a stimulating climate and high civilization. Ellsworth Huntington (1876-1947), was the American Geographer who was most widely known among educated people throughout the world. He wrote 29 books, parts of a score more, and hundreds of articles, many of which appealed to thinkers in one or more of several sciences, and in history, sociology, and population studies. Huntington's writings appealed because he took great pains to write attractively, and because he presented a succession of thought-provoking theories and generalizations. He studied with especial intensity weather and climate, their influences and changes, and greatly increased public recognition of their great significance. Huntington's books, especially, Pulse of Asia, Civilization and Climate, The Human Habitat, West of the Pacific, and Mainsprings of Civilization were widely read. Principals of Human Geography, a college text of which he was the senior author, has been widely useful and has been widely enjoyed by many students to an extent that few textbo! oks are. He also co-authored a high school and a grade school text. Huntington did much fieldwork in the West, especially on climatic changes, partly with the help of an extended study of tree rings. The Climatic Factor as Illustrated in Arid America reflects a vast amount of fieldwork in the West. He was at Yale University for 40 years. By many, Huntington was rated in his later years as the world's greatest geographer. He certainly aroused more interest in geography on the part of more people than any other geographer."