Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
convincingly expressed in the Preface to this topic, where he unfolds the new
horizons of regional science:
Over the historical record, the process of social development and economic growth has
been for the most part cumulative though at times seemingly erratic. On occasion it has
been recessive. Some of its stages have been forced to start at their origins more than once.
Moreover, these stages have started independently at diverse places on the earth at different
times. Together with the manifold cultural, political, social, and economic forces which
have evolved this fact has led, over the centuries, to marked regional differentiations and to
tremendous disparities in the welfare of the peoples of the several regions of the world.
Such a record of man's adaptation to, and interaction with, his physical environment
suggests that a comprehensive theory of society or economy should embrace both time and
space dimensions. It should be able to unravel the dynamic interplay of forces not only
currently but also over the long past. Its propositions should be testable against the
background of historic development in the several regions of the world and concomitantly
should offer explanation of this development. Its hypotheses should encompass the influ-
ence of past events and intermingling of forces upon existing economic and social structure
and conditions. Ideally, its conceptual framework should enable one to anticipate the course
of future development, given certain premises and judgments.
Photo taken by Bill Staffeld, College of AAP, Cornell University
(The editors wish to
thank David Boyce for his great support in obtaining an original photograph and personal
signature of Walter Isard.)
Unhappily, the state of the social science disciplines leaves very much to be desired in
the way of achieving such a comprehensive theory. The dynamic frameworks of these
disciplines, frameworks which are designed to catch the effect of what some characterize as
the “time variable”, are rather crude and even at times na
¨
ve. Still more so are their spatial
and regional frameworks (Isard
1956
, pp. vii-viii).
The methodology of regional science was further developed by Isard in subsequent
works, in particular, in his
Methods of Regional Analysis
(Isard
1960
). The latter
topic—containing 784 (!) pages—has served for years as a toolbox for regional
scientists all over the world, and brought harmonized approach in the multidisci-
plinary approach of regional science.
