Evening star., 1932-10-18
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
/. G.. NJ.

Van Loon. New York: Simon a.
Schuster.
"In truth the world was going along
well enough before man came. 1t did
not need him. Tides swelled and ebbed.
storms relaxed into calm. genera tions
of living things were born, mated and
died without any thought OF him. Un-
ostentatiously slipping into a corner of
the picture he throve there, as he was
able to keep out of the way of destruc
tive forces that surrounded him" Not
Van Loon speaking. Instead, DR.. Keller
Of Yale in Mans Rough Road"
A long stretch. an unimaginably long
stretch. of centuries between now and
then However. Henrik Van Loon him.
self travels that endless way for the
sake of explaining us to ourselves, hold
ers of the planet which We claim as
lawful heritage by right of m,n's will
to survive. Upon this basis Mr.. Van
/ Loon offers a new and different geog-
raphy for consideration and use.
Education has marched far since
school children sang their geogl Apply
lessons in joyous and robust chorus
Maine. Augusta. Kennebec River New
Hampshire. Concord Merrimac River:
Vermont, Montpelier, Onion River" and
so on down the coast. Since they had
/ 10 memorlZe cities by place and popu-
lation, mountains by location and
height. rivers by source and direction
and exit. along with many another
budget of useful fact in direct assault
upon the memory alone, no wonder
they sang their Lessons, or prayed them,
even.
/ However this is NV day and here
IS new sort OF geography for its uses
/ Ihe author goes back, TOO, to a world
going along well enough before man
came Back to a smallish body cut
III space spinning diZzilv upon its oEn
lmpelling center. Whirling grancly. at
] the same time, through a defi..i.e orbit
OF vastly greater compulsion than Itself
And upon the crust of this revolving
ball heights were pushing out here
and there. up and down and criss-
cross. Valleys and plains forming in
between. Weathers were breeding mois-
lures that ran down the heights, widen
ing and carving the valleys. carrying
loose surface stuff to deposit at lower
levels. Just a planet laying its own
pattern by motion. heat, cold, time
Just the making of the earth as a
place to live upon. 1t is this stu
pendous initial fact that stands as
foundation of the new Van Loon geog-
raphy.
The continents but islands in an en-
velOping sea The thrust of noun
tains. this way or that determining the
rise and quality Of civilizations millions
of years later Rivers carving earth
surfaces into innumerable designs of
grandeur, of beauty. Rivers. carrying
soils and laying these down along THEN
banks. Future fields OF sustecance for
plant and animal life Rivers the first
highways. early means of communica-
lion. No more than the earth's pat
tern. all this. Merely Its outer gar
ment OF a richness inGeScribab
I Then life. as We interpret he. bega Il
to appear. Plant life. animal life All
simple. it must have been At flrs.
Then, somehow. some time. under con-
ditions that summoned him. the man
animal appeared and perSis. 81. SOM :
thing like an eellike instinct of eiuS.o ]
must have possessed him. the impulee
20 slither away from ham to sex
coverts of safety. Nothing el~e cruld
have saved him. LonG p-ac'ics IN his
perpetual act Of dcdg.n2 gave rise, no
doubt to the habit Of ccut on Of look
ing around a BIT before ren,uring
forth. And there two early acqC.s:-
time to be honorably named sS ',dap.a-
bility and foresight. In other words,
mans will to survive took roo in these
two life-saVng practices. And ii is rv
way of these two that he has out
stripped other animal creations n the
activities which. correctly ur not, are
summed as progress. civilization.
Something like this is the run Of a
scientists outlook upon the beginning
of things. A rough. very rough. sketch,
but maybe it will do to indicate some
thing of the purpose of the new geog-
raphy.
Il is upon such foundation that this
author invites students TO look upon the
world in its growth and becoming.
Man. by the laboriously acquired
powers OF foresight and adaptability
: became the most daring and adventur-
Gus of all the animals. He accepted
mountain and stream and neighboring
sea as partners in the business of get
ting around and ahead. 1t is for this
reason and no other that the continent
of Europe came early into civilization.
1t is fascinating story. centuries long.
that Of mastering the seas. Of making
: these highways Of discovery. empire.
vast riches A far cry from the modern
mariners elaborate scientific equipment
early men, sailing the Mediterranean,
the North Sea. the Baltic. the Black,
with only shore signs as their guide
Tall trees. high towers. the barking of
dog. all saying Land not far of
Sail this way" Or, when quite lost,
those early sailors loosed a pigeon. al
ways on board for that purpose. to note
anxiously. his own sure flight toward
land. Meanwhile, through the centu-
ries. contraptions were being devised
and tried. and bettered or thrown away
to make sailing safer to make it reach
farther. Hundreds of years later these
many efforts became the mariners
compass, became the full modern tech
nical equipment of scientific seaman
ship.
So with many another interesting
thing. 1t was the Pyrenees. shutting
Spain and Portugal away from the rest
OF Europe, that made these two coun-
tries take to the neighboring seas. be-
coming. thereby. the greatest explorers
OF their time, the greatest colonizers
the great marauders. just as the in
sularity Of England made it. a little
later. all OF these things. And so. with
Europe as example of mans debt to the
pattern Of the earth's surface. Henrik
Van Loon travels the world over, ac-
lbS IlOuS ClVlllZdllOIlS, OF
lack of progress. by way of the various
relations set up between them and their
span of ground through the foreseeing,
accommodating and adjusting powers
Of man himself.
point to make. Despite the far be-
ginnings of this new study, each point
OF weight comes up to the moment for
one to look at with his own eyes. For
one to measure back through history
for logical sequences. for proper evalu-
atlons. for an added interest in every
present illuminated by so clear a light
out OF the past. Every significant part
OF the world steps forward here. bring
ing its own reckoning out of its own
past for the interest and instruction OF
the student. the reader. Current and
contemporaneous in effect throuehout
tremendously stimulating.
Another point to make. Never once
is this author the schoolman. At every
turn he is himself A companionabie