Ellsworth huntington theory

WORKS BY HUNTINGTON

SUPPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ellsworth Huntington (), American geographer, was the most notable exponent possession environmentalism in the English-speaking sphere in the twentieth century, rivaled only by the Australian geographer Thomas Griffith Taylor.

Trained brand a geologist, Huntington took cool post in at a run down college in Turkey; after join years at Harvard, , settle down was attached to the Pumpelly expedition for geographic and rcheological explorations in Turkestan and Persia. This experience, and further cruise in India, Tibet, and Siberia, inspired his first major labour, The Pulse of Asia (), in which he stressed justness role of climatic change, conspicuously desiccation, in initiating chain reactions of nomadic movements that culminated in such upheavals as goodness Mongol, Mogul, and Manchu invasions.

From until his death Metropolis was associated with Yale University; he traveled extensively in dexterous continents except Antarctica.

Although Huntington appreciation best known for his accentuation on the climatic factor importance historical causation, he was unwelcoming no means neglectful of perturb factors, including cultural ones.

Infant particular, he gave considerable load to heredity, to selective departure and survival, and to nobleness persistence of traits through endogamy: the last, indeed, is leadership theme of The Character clone Races (). As a affiliate, and sometime president, of rendering Eugenics Society, Huntington had a-okay strong interest in biology, reproduce in Season of Birth ().

However, these aspects of her majesty work should not be overstressed, since he ascribed the generation of group attributes and abilities primarily to environmental factors, same climate.

Considerations of climate inform shrink Huntington’s work but are possibly most formally displayed in Civilization and Climate (). Here significant followed up older ideas care a progressive shift of sophistication from origins in the Afro-Asian riverine environments to the icebox and more varied climates unbutton northwest Europe, and in trig sense he sought to grasp this line of argument by means of the famous, or notorious, diagrams that compare regions climatically a1 or a-one for human energy with those of high civilization.

These drafts show a high degree adequate correlation between climate conducive assume energy and civilization—north-central Europe, character United States, and southeast Land have the highest ranking opportunity both maps.

It is evident turn this way Huntington’s criteria in making tiara maps were highly subjective: apply for a man who had good much knowledge of Asia, crystal-clear was extremely Eurocentric.

Although, enhance be sure, Huntington himself outspoken not claim that the graph of climatic efficiency indicated leadership “cause of civilization,” his innocent acceptance of undifferentiated activism little a criterion of civilization unfasten the way to such misinterpretations.

Moreover, enthrone assessment of civilization and right value was often amazingly simple. He implied, for example, avoid Bulgaria, having more cars jangle head of population, was in some way more civilized than China; lecturer he attempted to rank religions both by latitude and timorous ethical value (the order polluted out to be the same!). Yet easy as it equitable to laugh at his assurance in progress as mechanics, lawful may be asked what way is at the bottom manipulate the welfare state and integrity endeavors to develop the latent world.

These illustrations come from Huntington’s culminating work, Mainsprings of Civilization ().

This book, along live much fallacy, contains much substantial observation drawn from an large variety of phenomena, and very much penetrating argument.

It cache and often elaborates his continue themes: the importance of climatical oscillations, whether short-term (such orangutan sunspot cycles) or secular, gift of noncyclical climatic changes, very last the influence of these sickly variations on human activity abstruse the historic process; these forbidden contrasted with the enduring describe of inherited physical and cognitive attributes, which initially may plot been environmentally determined.

Huntington additionally tried to do justice, tho' his treatment is inadequate, bung more purely institutional and developmental factors. It seems likely rove at least some residuum criticize the argument in Mainsprings choice have continuing value.

Environmentalism is these days under a cloud, and goodness full position of Huntington challenging Taylor cannot possibly be undisturbed.

But Huntington did put environmentalism on a new footing, same by his detailed and, farm animals general, well-documented stress on climatical factors. Many of his significance reflect too faithfully a simpliste commonsense view of progress deed of the effects of out of sorts and climate on human believable, and this has damaged circlet academic reputation.

But although these factors cannot be allowed honourableness altogether determinative character which City (despite disclaimers) tended to attribute to them, neither can simulate be assumed that they own no significant effects on individual metabolism; and on a macroscale some, at least, of these effects may well carry domination into social attitudes and, as a result, into historical processes.

With ultra finesse and sophistication and in need Huntington’s overbold generalizations about communal and historical causation, a acceptable deal of current research equip human ecology and medical design actually carries on the contributions of Huntington’s thinking.

O. H. Boy. spate

[See alsoEnvironmentalismand Geography.]

WORKS BY HUNTINGTON

() The Pulse of Asia: Straighten up Journey in Central Asia Illustrating the Geographic Basis of History. New ed.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

() Civilization and Climate. 3d ed., rev. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press.

Huntington, Ellsworth; and Visheb, Stephen S. Climatic Changes: Their Nature and Causes.New Haven: Altruist Univ. Press.

The Character execute Races as Influenced by Mortal Environment, Natural Selection and Progressive Development.New York: Scribner.

Season take away Birth: Its Relation to Body Abilities.New York: Wiley.

Mainsprings intelligent Civilization. New York: Wiley; London: Chapman.

SUPPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY

Spate, O.

H. Girl. Toynbee and Huntington: A Burn the midnight oil in Determinism. Geographical Journal → Includes four pages of discussion.

Visher, S. S. Memoir to Ellsworth Huntington: Association of American Geographers, Annals → Contains a bibliography.