Japan’s traditional and fragile satoyama landscape system was developed over centuries of human life on mountainous island terrain in a monsoon climate. The carefully managed coppice woodlands on the hillsides, the villages strung along the base of the hills, and the carefully tended paddy fields of rural Japan made possible the sustainable interaction of nature and humans. Radical changes in the middle of the twentieth century led to the abandonment of satoyama landscapes which now are being rediscovered. There is a new realization that these woodlands still play a vital role in the management of the Japanese landscape and a new determination to manage them for the future. This multifaceted book explores the history, nature, biodiversity, current conservation measures, and future uses of satoyama. The information presented here will be of interest in all parts of the world where patterns of sustainable development are being sought.  

This book was written after one of us published two editions of a smaller book (Atomic Structure and Valency by R. D. Brown, 1961 and 1966) and from the experiences of all three of us teaching a first-year university course in valency at Monash University. Our object has been to give enough of an historical introduction to quantum mechanics to enable a student to grasp the fundamental ideas without being subjected to much mathematical formalism. We have also tried to avoid making erroneous statements in the interest of simplicity (e. g" the widespread tendency to ignore the difference between 2Pl, 2po, 2p-l and 2px, 2py, 2p z) because these lead to irritation and confusion of the better students, when they proceed to further studies of chemical quantum mechanics. The topics we have chosen to expand upon-i. e., energy levels of electrons in atoms, energetic considerations of bonding in diatomic molecules, and packing of ions in the simplest solid state structures we believe form a good basis for students to progress to more complicated systems in a qualitative way. Both space and the intended level ofthe book have necessitated that the experimental section on spectroscopic and diffrac tion methods be very introductory. Again we believe that it is essential for a student to have some acquaintance with this, if the whole subject is to have a firm basis."

Japan s traditional and fragile satoyama landscape system was developed over centuries of human life on mountainous island terrain in a monsoon climate. The carefully managed coppice woodlands on the hillsides, the villages strung along the base of the hills, and the carefully tended paddy fields of rural Japan made possible the sustainable interaction of nature and humans. Radical changes in the middle of the twentieth century led to the abandonment of satoyama landscapes which now are being rediscovered. There is a new realization that these woodlands still play a vital role in the management of the Japanese landscape and a new determination to manage them for the future. This multifaceted book explores the history, nature, biodiversity, current conservation measures, and future uses of satoyama. The information presented here will be of interest in all parts of the world where patterns of sustainable development are being sought.

"