Author: Herbert Ernest Gregory

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2015-06-26

Total Pages: 493

ISBN-13: 9781330400319

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Excerpt from Physical and Commercial Geography: A Study of Certain Controlling Conditions of Commerce From the time when they are first offered to the child for study, the facts of production and trade have been listed rather than interpreted. The books which have dealt with these matters have been prevailingly of a statistical nature, and the study of what they have had to give has too often reduced itself to a mere mnemonic exercise. And yet there are behind the facts of trade, as behind all facts, certain principles about which they can be grouped, and which serve to lend them life and meaning; and it is interpretation rather than arbitrary memorizing which is of educational importance. It is the reference to principles which tends to fix knowledge in the mind in a vital way; the principles form the nucleus about which a command of data can be extended. The interpretation of the facts of trade calls for the inclusion of principles of many kinds. The popular persuasion that trade is a thing to be manipulated through laws, regulations, and the like has in it undoubtedly a considerable show of truth; but it is certainly the most superficial and least scientific view of the matter. Again, it is true enough that other social factors, in addition to the political, have entered largely into the controlling of trade, and so must not be neglected in the interpretation of its data. But the complexity of these social influences is so great that it is difficult to make an educational beginning with them. Nor are they the only factors that exercise a determinative influence upon exchange; there are controls in physical nature that are more concrete and simple of apprehension, and which have been, and still are, of great ultimate importance in the molding of trade, and, indeed, of human affairs in general. These, for want of a better and comprehensive term, might be called the environmental (or geographical) factors; they cover man's and society's relations with the whole natural environment. In writing the present book the authors have been actuated by the desire to cover this series of relations - a series which, we are convinced, has received too little of systematic attention. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Download or read book Physical and Commercial Geography written by Herbert Ernest Gregory and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-26 with total page 493 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Physical and Commercial Geography: A Study of Certain Controlling Conditions of Commerce From the time when they are first offered to the child for study, the facts of production and trade have been listed rather than interpreted. The books which have dealt with these matters have been prevailingly of a statistical nature, and the study of what they have had to give has too often reduced itself to a mere mnemonic exercise. And yet there are behind the facts of trade, as behind all facts, certain principles about which they can be grouped, and which serve to lend them life and meaning; and it is interpretation rather than arbitrary memorizing which is of educational importance. It is the reference to principles which tends to fix knowledge in the mind in a vital way; the principles form the nucleus about which a command of data can be extended. The interpretation of the facts of trade calls for the inclusion of principles of many kinds. The popular persuasion that trade is a thing to be manipulated through laws, regulations, and the like has in it undoubtedly a considerable show of truth; but it is certainly the most superficial and least scientific view of the matter. Again, it is true enough that other social factors, in addition to the political, have entered largely into the controlling of trade, and so must not be neglected in the interpretation of its data. But the complexity of these social influences is so great that it is difficult to make an educational beginning with them. Nor are they the only factors that exercise a determinative influence upon exchange; there are controls in physical nature that are more concrete and simple of apprehension, and which have been, and still are, of great ultimate importance in the molding of trade, and, indeed, of human affairs in general. These, for want of a better and comprehensive term, might be called the environmental (or geographical) factors; they cover man's and society's relations with the whole natural environment. In writing the present book the authors have been actuated by the desire to cover this series of relations - a series which, we are convinced, has received too little of systematic attention. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.