Physical Geography

The careful reader will detect a tendency to group the separate elements of physical geography into features or categories that can be related to climatic patterns. This purely arbitrary organization was considered advisable because the amount of quantitative data available on climatic differences over the earth surface is much greater than the amount available for the other elements. Several other approaches, however, could have been used. This textbook has been designed primarily for use in an introductory course in physical geography on the college level. The large number of ideas and concepts it contains, however, enable it to be used as a springboard for advanced courses in this subject. Its value can be increased enormously by field and laboratory exercises. There is no substitute for short walks into a countryside, where a capable teacher can soon remove the blindfold of indifference from student eyes and enable them to see nature for the first time in all of its challenging wonderment. Nor is there any substitute for wise training in the use of maps, one of the major contributions that instruction in geography can make to general education. An excellent course in physical geography could be given by a competent teacher using only the maps contained in this volume, without any supplementary text material. Although the text is designed mainly for courses in physical geography, it could well be used in earth science survey courses. This is another advantage of the systematic treatment of the physicial element in geography.