90 REVIEWS

Other studies

DOUGLAS AMEDEO and REGINALD G. GOLLEDGE, An Introduction to Scientlpc Reasoning in Geography (New York: John Wiley, 1975. Pp. xvi+431. $21.20 and g10*60)

There is a variety of ways in which we can “account for” or “explain” things that puzzle us. In a disarming preface, the authors of this book acknowledge that the scientific method is not the only one used in geography, but they maintain that it has produced the greatest bulk of substantive work. Their preoccupation may perhaps repel some historical geographers: I would guess that among our number there is a large propor- tion for whom “scientific geography” never came into fashion or is already out of fashion. Nonetheless, many of the problems with which we deal, and the kinds of answers which we customarily seek, are amenable to the careful observation, clear description of findings and rigorous attempts at objective explanation and generalization which are characteristic of this methodology. The subject matter of this book should concern us.

The first three chapters deal with relationships between generalizations, laws, theories and models, and their roles in scientific explanation. They show how theory is necessary to underpin and verify generalizations, they demonstrate the structures of theories of various kinds, which may be either “well-formed” or “not so well-formed”, and they illustrate the deficiencies of each variety. Many readers of the Journal of Historica/ Geography will already be acquainted with much of this material, but the exposition provided by Amedeo and Golledge is exceptionally clear and may be recommended to those who have, like me, floundered in other books of this kind.

Chapters on measurement and statistics and regionalization follow, for no very obvious reasons, before the authors get down to presenting what they consider to be the predominant form of scientific reasoning in geography, which they describe as “process- form reasoning”. This term is fully explained on pp. 173-7: basically, it describes attempts to explain a spatial pattern at a particular point in time by reference to the operation of a process through time. Geography must be concerned with “a considera- tion of how things interact and effect one another through time and over space” (p. 177). This emphasis may provide a pleasant surprise to many historical geographers. So, too, might the contents of the remaining half of the book, which is concerned with models of processes that generate those sorts of spatial patterns which are of particular concern to geographers.

These are split into two broad groups. The authors deal first with processes which operate on a “macro-scale”, such as the marketing process (central place theory), the socialization process (diffusion), colonization, land-use competition (von Thtinen) and industrial production (Weber). A distinction is made in this section of the book between the last two “normative” models and the rest, although the difference between them and central place theory in this respect escaped me. The authors then present models of “micro-scale” processes, defined as processes operating upon individual human activities such as those involved in the location of an industrial plant, in the decision to migrate, in learning about the environment, mentally mapping it and responding to its hazards.

Each of these models is introduced rather than fully elaborated, but this will be useful to those whose reading in journals tends to hover on or beyond the fringes of this wide range of topics. However, although the various parts of the book are intrinsically interest- ing they do not cohere into an integral whole. Some of the earlier chapters on processes are clearly linked to the opening section on the scientific method in general, but these links quickly disappear: the chapters about individual behaviour do not deal with theories or general models at all, but with a series of particular techniques appropriate to narrowly defined problems. They are linked together only through their concern with the decision making or perception of individuals. The last chapter ends with the state- ment that “in neither example did we arrive at any significant generalization” (p. 420), a somewhat incongruous conclusion to a book which sets out to demonstrate means of

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achieving and using generalizations, boldly claiming that “spatial laws are what geographers hope toJind” (p. 23).

This gradual disintegration of the book into a series of technical episodes is one reason why I would hesitate to recommend it as a text for undergraduates. It is not the only reason. Another is the degree of awareness of statistical methods presumed in the reader: some knowledge of at least the gist of techniques ranging from correlation to factor analysis and from matrix algebra to probability theory seems to be expected. Statements such as “if we assume that a constant stochastic operator . . . is applied to the . . . probabilities . . . the process is readily discernible as a Markov chain” (p. 370) are disconcertingly frequent. The standard of presentation is not always as high as it should be, leading to both annoyance and confusion on the part of the reader. Thus six of the seventeen Chilean place-names on figure 9.21 are wrongly spelled: “data” and “stimuli” are used as singular nouns; “mediums”, “phenomenon” and “need” as plurals; there is a total neglect of “imply” in favour of “infer”; “Von Thuen” is referenced on p. 298; and there is an abundance of unfelicitous language, such as “we plug in data . . . into the given formula” (p. 126). The worst errors and confused expres- sions appear in the chapter on measurement and statistics, where

(3x21)+(5x20)+ . . . (4x24) 102 (3+5+2+3+4) = -i?-

(a result, I presume, of the appearance of Xi rather than Xj in the formula for sub- group means). I could only make sense of the authors’ treatment of the geometric mean by inserting a root sign into their formula, using the numerical subscripts of r in table 4.19 as superscripts and shifting each down a row. Such aberrations should not appear in a book intended to demonstrate and inculcate the scientific method, in which care, clear presentation and thorough checking are essential.

In short, then, the subject matter of this work should prove informative and interesting to historical geographers who, in general, will not already be well versed in it. But I cannot unhesitatingly recommend that students should first encounter it in this particular book.

University of Liverpool JOHN LANGTON

CARLA BIANCO, The Two Rosetos (Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1974. Pp. xv-t234. $10.00)

Studies of persistence and change in the cultures of single villages are numerous and in some cases redundant. Although comparative analyses of communities are less common, this book by the anthropologist Carla Bianco is not the first such study in an Italian context. Constance Cronin’s work on the Sicilians in Sicily and the transplanted Sicilians in Australia, The Sting of Change, preceded it by a few years. Bianco’s approach, however, is new for folklore tales, songs and life histories are used as the basis of her study of transformation.

The two Rosetos are communities with similar names whose inhabitants have similar roots : Roseto Valfortore in Apulia is a village on the slopes of the Appennine Mountains thirty miles from Foggia; the town of Roseto in Pennsylvania was established ninety years ago by immigrants from the Apulian Roseto. The people of the two communities originally shared the same beliefs, customs, attitudes and folk culture. Almost a century of separate life and different experiences has modified them: the traditional and contemporary components followed different paths, although both retain a substantial amount of common folklore. Students of history and culture should approach this story with expectations though with caution. They should be aware of the frail nature of documentation and the untested frame of folklore which is the bases of the historical narrative.