World Geography: 0 - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0893560243 ISBN 13: 9780893560249

Publisher: Salem Press, 2005

Synopsis

Covers the major region of the world, with information on such topics as physical geography, biogeography, economic geography, human geography, and natural resources.

About this title

From Booklist:

World Geography presents the topic in accord with the national K-12 geographic standards, "Geography for Life." Volume 1 covers "Basic Geographic Concepts and World Overview." Volumes 2 to7 focus on the major world regions. Volume 8 contains a glossary, set index, a bibliography, and appendixes, which consist of tables and listings of various ordinal data (lakes, mountains, population, etc.) similar to tables found in almanacs.

The 236 entries in volumes 2 to 7 are written by 175 contributors. Entries are organized in sections entitled "Regions," "Physical Geography," "Biogeography and Natural Resources," "Human Geography," and "Economic Geography." Each of these volumes also includes a gazetteer containing terms and location names found in the respective volume and an index. Of 1,300 photos throughout the set, 800 are full color, placed in one of four 16-page plates sets per volume. Icons in text margins refer readers to photos and maps located in the plates, although numbering the photos in the plates would have been helpful.

Entries are current and provide a good mix of additional references to both scholarly monographs and popular articles (e.g., National Geographic). Also listed are a few carefully selected and annotated Web resources. Much useful, current, and interesting information is found in some 500 sidebars scattered throughout the text. Indexing is generally very good, although photo references are indistinguishable from text entries. Rarely, facts on the more obscure areas of the world are somewhat dated and misstated. For instance, Micronesia comprises more than 2,000 islands, not the 25 stated in the entry on the Pacific Islands. The discussion of Melanesian prehistory uses a term, Negrito, that is no longer in scientific use.

This work is appropriate for the middle- and high-school levels. It would work well both as a classroom reference set and in the school or public library reference collection. Although many scholarly works are referenced in the entries and the bibliography, the text generally lacks sufficient depth to be of use in any but the most introductory college-level courses. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From Library Journal:

This eight-volume set, which integrates physical, human, and economic geography, is organized by topic and region: "The World" (basic geographical concepts and world overview), "North America and the Caribbean," "South and Central America," "Africa," "Europe," "Asia," "Antarctica, Australia, and the Pacific," and "Glossary, Bibliography, Appendices" (with general index). Each of the six regional volumes includes sections covering "regions, physical geography [physiography and hydrology, climatology], biogeography and natural resources, human geography [people, population distribution, culture regions, exploration, urbanization, political geography], economic geography [agriculture, industries, transportation, trade, communications, engineering projects]" and a gazetteer. Unlike the five-volume World Geography Encyclopedia (McGraw-Hill, 1995), edited by Sybil P. Parker, this does not feature country-by-country coverage. It does, however, include extensive bibliographical and web-site notes and some 235 essays, many of which run up to 6000 words and are punctuated with sidebars, tables, and other graphics. More than 100 maps and 1000 illustrations, many in full color, supplement the text. Edited by Sumner (Long Beach Community Coll.). this useful and quite comprehensive resource is most suitable for public and middle school through college libraries not requiring country-by-country treatment. Edward K. Werner, St. Lucie Cty. Lib. Syst., Ft. Pierce, FL

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Salem Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0893560243
• ISBN 13: 9780893560249
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 8
• Editor: Salem Press