Natural advantages exist and vary from place to place. There are fertile
valleys; there are also mountains and deserts. There are a few fine
harbors, but for the most part landings are difficult and dangerous.
Certain islands have become the bases of civilizations, but this is true
of only a very small number of many existing islands.
Civilizations have flourished in certain climatic zones and not
elsewhere. At one historical period civilizations were established in
the tropics and semi-tropics. In the present period they are located
chiefly in temperate climatic belts.
Another source of differences between civilizations is the variation and
the adaptability of certain peoples to the peculiar conditions out of
which civilization grows.
Still another explanation of the presence or absence of civilization in
particular times and places is the "great man" theory of history. All
human communities, pre-civilized and civilized, have had gifted leaders
whose thoughts and actions have brought about social changes. These
"greats" were the divinely, ideologically or sociologically inspired.
Divine inspiration or revelation led to the founding of religious
faiths. Ideological and sociological inspiration resulted in domestic
cultural changes and the extension of economic, cultural and ideological
activities into foreign lands, thus pushing the frontiers of nations,
empires, and civilizations farther from the chief wealth-power centers.
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