Thomas Kohler - Böcker

Mountains cover a quarter of the Earth's land surface and a quarter of the global population lives in or adjacent to these areas. The global importance of mountains is recognized particularly because they provide critical resources, such as water, food and wood; contain high levels of biological and cultural diversity; and are often places for tourism and recreation and/or of sacred significance. This major revision of Larry Price's book Mountains and Man (1981) is both timely and highly appropriate. The past three decades have been a period of remarkable progress in our understanding of mountains from an academic point of view. Of even greater importance is that society at large now realizes that mountains and the people who reside in them are not isolated from the mainstream of world affairs, but are vital if we are to achieve an environmentally sustainable future. Mountain Geography is a comprehensive resource that gives readers an in-depth understanding of the geographical processes occurring in the world's mountains and the overall impact of these regions on culture and society as a whole.The volume begins with an introduction to how mountains are defined, followed by a comprehensive treatment of their physical geography: origins, climatology, snow and ice, landforms and geomorphic processes, soils, vegetation, and wildlife. The concluding chapters provide an introduction to the human geography of mountains: attitudes toward mountains, people living in mountain regions and their livelihoods and interactions within dynamic environments, the diverse types of mountain agriculture, and the challenges of sustainable mountain development.

Travel has been a major theme in photography for over 100 years. In the late 19th century, an age of colonial expansion and nascent tourism, photographers roamed the globe with a simple spirit of discovery to report back from distant places. Traveling has also prompted artistic explorations of cultural, political, and social conditions in countries around the world. Some works are spontaneous responses to the unfamiliar, while others are rooted in conceptual notions. Featuring over 130 images by 15 famous and lesser-known photographers, this book illustrates key eras and styles in photography from modernism until the present (1880-2015).