Europes Rise to Power essays

Europes Rise to Power essays Scholars have been debating Europes rise to power for centuries. In the earliest history, it was due to Gods will. Then, many promoted the race theory. Now, the argument comes down to a combination of environment and culture says Harvard historian David Landes. He argues that argues in his books Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor and The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe From 1750 to the Present that Europe has been more progressive than all other civilizations for thousands of years at first because of a number of different factors, including geography (climate), sociology, anthropology and culture and economics. Landes cites several reasons for his argument (xxi): better climate, soils, topography, natural vegetation, health, nutrition, reproductive habits, values, politics, institutions (family, church, market, state, city,) inventiveness, innovativeness, and venturesome spirit. In addition to having the foundation of climate, "If we learn anything from the history of economic development, it is that culture makes all the difference," he says. In general, Landes explains that the more wealthy society will be one that 1)Knew how to operate, manage and build the instruments of production and to create, adapt and master new techniques; 2) Could impart this knowledge and know-how to the young; 3) Elected individuals for jobs by competence as well as promoted them on the basis of performance; 4) Afforded the opportunity to individual or collective enterprise; 5) Encouraged initiative, competition and emulation; and lastly 5) Permitted citizens to enjoy and employ the extra fruits of their labor and enterprise (217-219). Landes first notes that successful countries tend to be located in temperate regions and poorer countries, in the tropics. In other words, tropical climates are negative factors for human progress. Europe b...

How to write numbers, figures, dates and times - Emphasis

How to write numbers, figures, dates and times How to write numbers, figures, dates and times How good are you at watching your figures? These can be a crucial part of your document and the more clearly you express them, the better. Here are our guidelines for expressing time, money, statistics, data, dates and anything else involving numbers: 1. Write out numbers one to ten in words. 2. Use figures for 11 and above. 3. Avoid mixing words and figures in the same phrase. For example: You can order in multiples of 9, 12 or 16, not nine, 12 or 16. 4. Always use figures in data if decimals or fractions are involved: 6.25 or 6 1/4. 5. Write ordinals (first, second, third etc) in full, not 1st, 2nd, 3rd. 6. Write fractions in full and hyphenate them in the body of text eg two-thirds of the class. 7. Write thousands as 60,000, not 60K. 8. Use a comma for tens of thousands or more: 9000; 12,000; 50,000. 9. Write millions as 60 million or 60m, not 60,000,000. 10. File sizes should always be written as abbreviations eg 45Kb, or 1.8Mb. 11. A billion is a thousand million (1,000,000,000), not a million million. Write billions as 6 billion or 6bn, not 6,000,000,000. 12. Use per cent in running text (as opposed to tables etc.), not the % sign. 13. Use these forms rather that the 24-hour clock: 9.30am, 12 noon, 5pm, 12 midnight. 14. Write dates in this format: 7 September 2008. 15. Use twentieth century, not 20th century. 16. When indicating time span, use from/to, between/and or X-X. But dont mix and match: use from 9am to 5pm; or between 9am and 5pm; or 9am5pm. 17. If spanning dates in the same century, drop the first two digits of the second date. But keep them if the dates span different centuries: 196769, 19992008. 18. Do not use apostrophes for collective dates: 1990s, not 1990s. A few of these are issues of style rather than hard-and-fast rules. If youre not sure, or if you still have any questions on writing numbers, leave a comment and well get back to you.