Influences of Geographic Environment On the Basis of Ratzel's System of Anthropo-Geography

Abstract

THE influence of geology on that part of geography which deals especially with the forms of the earth's surface, and of mathematics on the measurement and representation of that surface, have given a definiteness and precision to the inorganic side of the subject which are less evident in the geographical study of man and of his relations to the region in which he dwells. In German the work of Ratzel has long furnished a basis for the scientific development of this part of the subject, and though his “Anthropologie” is rather a collection of brilliant essays than a logical and even treatment of this vast subject, its influence on subsequent workers has been far-reaching. In English such treatment of the subject in a scientific manner on a like scale has not been attempted, and the organic side of geography has been delayed in its scientific development here by its absence. Miss Semple's volume is therefore particularly valuable, especially as it is not simply a restatement of the principles embodied in Ratzel's work but comprises such amplification of some portions and abridgment of others as were necessary to make a more even presentation of the subject; at the same time as much evidence as possible of typical peoples of all races and all stages of cultural development living under similar geographical conditions has been incorporated.

Influences of Geographic Environment. On the Basis of Ratzel's System of Anthropo-Geography.

By Ellen C. Semple. Pp. xvii + 683. (New York: Henry Holt and Co.; London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1911.) Price 4.00 dollars net.