National Geographic Index 1947-1976 [antikvár]

Foreword I AM NOT A SCIENTIFIC MAN, nor can I lay claim to any special knowledge that would entitle me to be called a 'Geographer.' " Modest words like these often appear in the letters fellow National Geographic Society members write to me. It would surprise many of them to find that they are echoing the soft denial made in 1888 by Gardiner Greene Hubbard, a founder and first President of the Society. Geographer or not, any member of the Society can come to know the world in astonishing and intimate detail. The key to this remarkable familiarity lies in this book and its companion volume, National Geographic Index, 1888-1946. With these comprehensive reference tools, past issues of National Geographic yield a trove of authoritative information and rich images. This volume. National Geographic Index, 1947-1976, contains more than 14,000 entries spanning thirty years and more than 2,000 lucid and fascinating articles. It guides you to the summit of Mount Everest and the face of the moon, directs you to intriguing facts about subjects as varied as Polynesia and plankton, and charts your course through time from ancient China to scientific breakthroughs as new as tomorrow. Also in this volume, a special "Picture History of National Geographic, 1947-1976" recalls the phenomenal growth and change in your Society and its official journal during the past three decades. In 1947 the Society already numbered more than a million and a half members, a tremendous tribute to the late Gilbert H. Grosvenor, master builder of Geographic and Editor from 1899 to 19S4. Working closely with him was the late John Oliver La Gorce, Editor from 1954 to 1957. Another close colleague, Thomas W. McKnew, former Secretary and now Advisory Chairman of the Board, helped encourage the Society's expansion to a worldwide membership of nearly 9 1/2 million at the end of 1976. Outstanding editorial direction continued at National Geographic under Melville Bell Grosvenor, who became Editor in 1957 and whose infectious enthusiasm inspired many Society projects: the first National Geographic globe and World Atlas, the modern Book Service and Special Publications, and an award-winning series of television specials. Now Editor Emeritus, he was succeeded in 1967 by Frederick G. Vosburgh, who ensured that accuracy, grace, and style continued to be the hallmark of Geographic writing. In the introduction that follows, Gilbert M. Grosvenor, Editor since 1970, outlines the reasons for National Geographic's success, among them an adherence to high editorial standards and a willingness to pioneer new processes and directions to achieve what has always been the Society's, and the magazine's, primary purpose, "the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge." Many of the letters I receive close with the gratifying postscript that, better than anything else, National Geographic offers its readers the pleasure and excitement of having the world at their fingertips. You'll discover that the way to that pleasure and excitement is also at your fingertips—in this new National Geographic Index, 1947-1976. ROBERTS. OAKES president C ' I, . i ] J '» » .