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The article presents abstracts of the papers presented at the 63rd annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Saint. Louis, Missouri. The meeting took place in April 1967. The paper "Defense and the Morphology of Certain Settlements in the Western Mediterranean," discusses economic growth. Another paper "Approach to a Generating Model for Climatic Statistics," discusses a set of probability models for generating climatic statistics. After a brief review of previous work on this subject, a model based on moving waves superimposed, on standing waves in the zonal winds is outlined.

This study emphasizes the dynamism of the enterprise approach in manufacturing geography and the elusive quality of the milieu concept. It identifies the facilitating and restraining conditioning elements of the changing milieu of a large shipbuilding firm which, form 1950 to 1964, the period analyzed, comprised a major though rapidly declining part of the export base of Northern Ireland. The paper suggests that the local region provided a relatively permissive milieu for the firm, though it offered few opportunities for diversification. Competitive difficulties that arose during the period came mainly from the changing international milieu, especially movements in the composition of world demand and the appearance of Japanese suppliers. These difficulties were suggested in part to reflect the condition of the firm's internal resources, but they were increasingly assigned to the state of its national milieu. Also outlined are some of the firm's adoptive and adaptive features and the form of its adverse impact, including through multiplier effects, on the development of the local region.

Between 1857 and 1860 William Gilpin promoted a new regional concept of the Cis-Rocky Mountain West. After reviewing the earlier ideas about the area this paper traces the stages in Gilpin's formulation of his Great Plains concept. The final statement of 1857 is analyzed and appraised from several points of view: as a geographical concept. as a factor influencing settlement, and as a basis for predicting economic developments. As a geographical concept it was much more valid than its precursors. As a factor influencing settlement it provided a powerful motivating image However, as a basis for prediction it was too generalized and grossly incomplete. Nevertheless, for twenty-one years it remained the most significant statement on the region. until eventually superseded in 1878 by the more mature concepts of John Wesley Powell.

This paper presents three methods for mapping levels of economic development and applies each to the case of India. First, to provide a substantive addition to knowledge about the economic geography of India; second, to demonstrate that even within nations generally recognized simply as "underdeveloped" one can meaningfully map differential sub-levels of development; and third, to stimulate critical discussion of the various methods by which maps of economic development can be made. The chief statistical problem is how best to combine the several series of individual indices into a single set of areal ratings.