Introduction to Geography: People, Places, and Environment - Softcover

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Edward F. Bergman stands beside the stone wall that is the very eastern edge of the North American tectonic plate, where it is exposed in Iceland. Professor Bergman was born in Wisconsin and studied at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), the University of Vienna (Austria), and the University of Washington in Seattle. Today he teaches at Lehman College of the City University of New York and lectures widely across several continents. When not lecturing or writing, he enjoys Manhattan's cultural and social life.

William H. Renwick earned a B.A. from Rhode Island College in 1973 and a Ph.D. in geography from Clark University in 1979. He has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Rutgers University, and is currently Associate Professor of Geography at Miami University. A physical geographer with interests in geomorphology and environmental issues, his research focuses on impacts of land-use change on rivers and lakes, particularly in agricultural landscapes in the Midwest. When time permits, he studies these environments from the seat of a wooden canoe.

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This book's cover is an aerial photo of a market in the Xochimilco district of Mexico City. This mosaic of brightly colored parasols hides a bustling market that offers fresh fruits arid vegetables, a selection of handmade local products, plus small household items of both local and foreign manufacture. Mexico boasts a vigorous international economy, with exports growing at a rate of 18 percent every year. Nevertheless, economic inequality is growing, and in some areas average earnings are as little as a quarter of the national average. Mexico's participation in the global economy exemplifies the global connections and farces that trigger constant and dynamic change everywhere on Earth. The study of these forces is one of modern geography's central missions.

This book develops the idea that modern geography explores and explains the forces behind today's world. The book organizes its coverage around several main themes and ideas:

In today's interconnected world, what happens at places depends more and more on what happens among places. Therefore, we can understand maps of economic or cultural activity only if we understand the activities and movements that create them.

What you read in your geography text and learn in your geography classroom will help you understand current events and form your own well-informed ideas about issues. Each chapter in this book uses the geographic concepts under discussion to help you understand current affairs.

This book features many different types of maps and cartograms, as well as graphs, charts, and carefully chosen photographs. All are designed to clarify and illustrate the concepts under discussion. The book features contributions to the field made by new techniques in Geographic Information Science.

Earth's physical environment sets the stage upon which humans act out their lives. The theme of human-environmental interaction is woven throughout the book.