World Resources and Industries [antikvár]

Foreword to the First Edition That economic life as all social life rests on a physical basis is axiomatic. Realizing this evident relationship of their science to economics, somé geographers have vigorously pushed their research into the borderland which separates the two disciplines. Economists, on the other hand, perhaps preoccupied with the tantalizing and fascinating problems of value, price, distribution of income, and with similar phases of price economy in generál, have shown less inclination to explore this bordér region and to study the physical basis on which the structure of price economy rests. The economic geographer, approaching the study of economic life from the angle of under - lying physical realities, pushes upward from the physical basis toward the cultural superstructure. The economist, in turn, whose main task is the exploration of a limited section of the cultural superstructure, probes downward toward the physical foundation. Somewhere the two efforts meet, not in competition, but in coöperation. This book is not an economic geography, as that term is generally understood. Since, however, the analysis is directed downward toward the physical basis, the starting point of the economic geographer, there are bound to be numerous contact points between this study and that of economic geography. If, in this book, I have succeeded in repaying by somé modest contribution to the advancement of economic geography, the invaluable service which economic geographers have rendered the economist by promoting a fuller appreciation of physical realities, I shall consider myself amply rewarded for the eífort spent in this work. An attempt is made in this book to render more fully and more readily available, for the student of economics, material which allied social sciences, especially geography-humán, social, cultural and economic-have brought to light. To a lesser degree the fields of natural science and of technology have been drawn upon. The major purpose of this book is not to enlarge the body of scientific knowledge but to render more effective the teaching of the social sciences in generál and of economics in particular. In other words, this is a textbook for the use of college students. If, incidentally, somé contributions not only to interpretation but alsó to the analysis of somé specific aspects have been made, their significance is secondary. Since the major objective of this book clearly lies in the field of education, a few remarks about educational aims are appropriate. Among the numerous objectives of a college education two main aims seem to stand out, namely, vocational training preparatory to somé specific professional or business career, and generál preparation for life, for citizenship, and for participation in the great struggle which is continually going on over our civilization. This book definitely serves the second purpose. It is designed to develop in the student an awareness and somé appreciation of the peculiar nature of our modern machine civilization; and it is hoped that a careful study of it will help him to find his place in life more intelligently and to lead a more purposeful life. The student who, in order to qualify for somé specific job, seeks to acquire somé practical knowledge of a vocational nature, factual data, or technical