ABSTRACT
The idea of a separate physical environment superficially seems simple but is not on closer inspection. As air-conditioning spreads around the world, so does legionnaires’ disease, a lethal environmental hazard-but not quite part of the intended ESRC research programme. However, in this chapter we are going to risk the inevitable raised eyebrows by attempting to say something about significant characteristics of the physical environment in Britain and India: not to demonstrate that they are separate and not part of the planetary system but to demonstrate those differences which will lead to difference in perception and understanding of each other’s predicament.
