2. THE PUBLIC RELEVANCE OF HISTORICAL STUDIES: A REPLY TO DIRK MOSES

I am grateful to Dirk Moses for taking the time to study my work so assiduously and to comment on it so perspicuously. His essay is eminently well‐informed and even‐handed, and I have little to add to or correct of his characterization of my many, long on‐going, and admittedly flawed attempts to deconstruct modern historical discourse. He understands me well enough and I think that I understand his objections to my position(s). We do not disagree on matters of fact, I think, but we have different notions about the nature of historical discourse and the uses to which historical knowledge can properly be put.     

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS and GEOGRAPHERS IN THE 1990s

This paper explores the potential for interaction between the development of geographic information systems (GIS) and the development of geographical methodology in the next decade. Several interrelated themes occur throughout the paper: first, trends in the nature and extent of GIS development; second, opportunities for geographic investigation inherent in those developments; and third, contributions that geographers can make to the design of GIS It is suggested that GIS offer a wealth of geo-referenced data for potential use in modeling, as well as the capabilities to handle such data in geographical models. Geographers, in turn, can contribute to GIS design in ways that will enhance their capabilities and also facilitate geographical investigations. The incorporation of the quantitative geographical methods of the 1950s and 1960s with the GIS capabilities of the 1990s is foreseen This article's fourth theme is the concern over the critical shortage of trained persons competent in GIS technology and possessing a knowledge of spatial analytic methods. This may in itself be the limiting factor to the rational development of the field in the next decade. Suggestions are made for the types of training needed to remedy the problem. The fifth theme is the view of GIS from a global perspective, including the role of Canadian geographers in analysing global problems similar to those they face in Canada It is suggested that a convergence of the technologies for the gathering, storage, analysis, and display of georeferenced data occurring at local, regional, national multinational, and global scales has a potential in the next decade for an enriched geographical methodology Dans cet article, on explore les possibilités dinteractions entrp l'élaboration des systèmes d'information géographique et celle des méthodes géographiques au cours de la prochaine décennie. Plusieurs thèmes étroitement liés reviennent dans l'article. D'abord, on peut distinguer certaines orientations dans la nature et la portée de l'évolution des systèmes d'information géographique. Ensuite, il en ressort que quelques unes d'entre-elles pourraient faire l'objet d'enquêtes géographiques. Troisièmement, plusieurs contributions pourraient être apportées par les géographes à la conception des systèmes d'information géographique. Les systèmes d'information géographique sont une importante source de données à référence géographique pouvant être adaptés à la modélisation, et ils comportent de fortes capacités de manipulation de ces donnés dans des rnodèles géographiques. Les géographes, à leur tour, peuvent contribuer à la conception de ces systèmes de façon à augmenter leurs habilités, et en même temps, faciliter les enquêtes géographiques. On prévoit l'incorporation des méthodes géographiques quantitatives des années cinquante et soixante aux capacités des systèmes d'information géographique des années quatre-vingt-dix. Le quatrième motif tient à l'inquiétude que suscite la pénurie critique de personnel compétent dans la technologie des systèmes d'information géographique ainsi que dans les méthodes d'analyse spatiale. Cette pénurie pourrait imposer des limites au développement rationnel de ce domaine au cours de la prochaine décenpie. On propose des types de formation pour remédier à ce problème. Le cinquième motif porte sur la perspective des systèmes d'information géographique du point de vue mondial, et du rôle des géographes canadiens dans ce dornaine en évolution, qui connaît des problèmes semblables à ceux qu'on rencontre au Canada. On suggère une convergence technologique dans la collecte, l'entreposage, l'analysk et l'étalage des données a référence géographique aux niveaux local, régional, national, pluri-national et mondial offrant des possibilités d'enrichissement des méthodes géographiques au cours de la prochaine décennie.     

A Trial PIXE/PIGME analysis of Pre-Islamic Arabian Coinage

Eight previously published (1) pre-Islamic coins minted in Arabia were subjected to non-destructive ion beam analysis by Proton Induced X-Ray (PIXE) and Gamma-Ray Emission (PIGME) at Lucas Heights. The results (2) were interpreted using Principal Components Analysis (PCA). The relative X-ray intensities of fifteen elements, supplemented with additional L alpha lines for two of the elements, were extracted for this analysis. PCA (results appended) was first carried out on the whole dataset where the distinctive high iron and nickel composition of two coins (331 and 335) resulted in their position as outliers. A second analysis of the subset of silver coins showed the compositional similarity between four coins (44, 222, 226, 359) and distinguished two separate outliers. One of these (369) has a high lead and tin content while the other (354) has a greater proportion of elements present as impurities (?) including iron and nickel. The two outliers and the relatively homogenous compositions of the group of four coins suggest that three compositional types of silver coinage are represented in the dataset: 1. a relatively silver-rich group of four coins; 2. silver coins debased with lead; and 3. silver coins debased with iron and nickel.     

Editorial Introduction 40(2): Debating the Biology,Archaeology, Language,and Gender of Human-Made Nuclear Disaster

Fedigan. Linda Marie. Primate Paradigms: Sex Roles and Social Bonds. Montreal, Canada: Eden Press, 1982. vi + 386 pp.     

Editorial Introduction 39(2): Beginnings,Endings, Transformations

Jack Goody. Cooking, Cuisine and Class. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982, ix. 253 pp. $9.95, (paper).     

Editorial Introduction 35(1)

In recent decades many anthropological studies have suggested new approaches to conversion in order to grasp the connections between local Christianities and modernities. However, the relationship between conversion in indigenous societies and modernity remains problematic. The notion of transformation is often used as an ideological concept, which gives little information on the nature of the process of conversion, which is organized by complex processes of transitions and continuities. A better understanding of the various forms of indigenous Christianity is crucial to the development of an anthropology of Christianity.