The land and the people of the Pilbara in north-western Australia have been perceived, and the landscape conceptualized, used or abused (depending on one's perception), in a variety of ways through time. Differing perceptions have been reflected and modified by linguistic use, especially the metaphors applied, including the search for `a key to the country'; by conditions of observation, including the means of transport; by changing economic and utilitarian values; by images generated by painters and photographers; by the commodifications of (...) the tourist industry and by scientific research, especially in anthropology, archaeology, geology and ecology. Changing perceptions of the Pilbara play a significant part, not only in Australia's economic performance, but also in its sense of global positioning. Yet awareness of the Pilbara itself by contemporary Australians lacks the intimacy that its indigenous inhabitants once had: it has been premature to remove the words `Terra Incognita' from much of the map. (shrink)

In 1972, George Seddon wrote Sense of Place, documenting his experience and research into the Swan Coastal Plain, which has since become a landmark Australian environmental publication. Among its claims to influence is having given modern currency to the term sense of place. Although Seddon did not coin the phrase, it was this book that introduced the phrase into the fields of landscape and environmental design. The book includes information on landforms, climate, geology, soils, flora, the Swan River, the coast, (...) offshore islands, wetlands, and urban areas. Mr. Warner in his Adirondack story, shot a bear by aiming, not at his eye or heart, but at him 'generally'. But we cannot aim 'generally' at the universe, or if we do, we will miss our game. So said William James, the philosopher, and it is good advice on how to take aim at environmental problems. Sense of Place is a topographic essay, not on the universe, but the environs of Perth, Western Australia. It is in three parts: The Land - The Plants - Man. The landforms, climate, drainage geology and plant-cover are discussed in detail, to construct a picture of the region before European settlement. The last third deals with the land use by Aboriginal and European, and the major environmental resources of the region. (shrink)