with nature as one aspect of an evolving ecological balance.
Civilization's basic unit--the city--as it sprawls, cuts off man from
more and more contacts with the earth and its multitudinous life forms;
with fresh air, sunshine, starshine; with nature's sequences--day and
night, the procession of the seasons; with the birth, growth, death
animating so many of nature's aspects. The city is man-made. Well
planned, properly built and organized, it might have become an ornament
beautifying and exalting nature. Page the cities of the West one by
one--they are monotonous, ungainly, ugly slums and rookeries set off by
an occasional bit of creative architecture.

Western civilization has differed in certain respects from the long line
of its predecessors, stretching back through the centuries. In one sense
it has matured, ripened, taking its ideas and practices from its nearest
of kin. In the course of its life cycle it has already made distinctive
contributions:

1. It has become more nearly planet-wide than any of its
known forerunners.

2. It has developed unique approaches and controls through
its science and its technology, inaugurating the power age
by making riotous use of nature's energy sources.

3. It has extended man's conquest of the planet and begun
his adventures into space.

4. It has enlarged the field of human creativity by increasing
the number and proportion of men and women trained and
experienced in productive and creative enterprises.