The Navigator
www. volatileworld.net
THIS BOOK is deliberately free of tables, graphs, and maps, in order
to make it easier and more attractive to read. Nor is there a traditional
bibliography in alphabetical order, because all the cited sources are de-
scribed in the endnotes. Instead, there is a special apparatus: the Navi-
gator. The Navigator is a website, www.volatileworld.net, especially
prepared for interested readers. It contains a vast amount of statistical
information connected with the material presented on these pages. You
can fi nd tables, graphs, and maps that illustrate many of the phenom-
ena and processes that I discuss. There are also my own photographs
showing various corners of our wandering world, and places discussed
in this book.
Moreover, the data presented in this unique virtual annex is updated
regularly, on a quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis so that the reader
can quickly fi nd the latest information.
Of course, the Navigator is only for those who wish to explore the
statistics and performance indexes in greater depth, who enjoy charts,
trends, and the shapes and colors of maps and photographs. The Navi-
gator is more than essential background and statistical information to
supplement the book. Years from now, users of the Navigator will still
be able to keep up to date with the themes that I discuss. Scholarly in-
terpretation, facts, and logic will still hold true, but the statistical back-
ground keeps changing.
The Navigator also includes an extensive bibliography of the works I
consulted while working on the issues examined in the book. This is
not a complete scholarly bibliography—something that would be nearly
unthinkable, given the broad, interdisciplinary scope. Nevertheless, it