Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Geography: Its Development, Research Theme, and Concepts
2.1 Getting started
o Learning abut geography can teach us about what is happening in the
world
o Connections can be made between ozone depletion and global warming
o Geography is known as spatial science
o Geography discovers the spatial arrangements
o Does not deal with abstract items
o You are aware of what you are doing now
o You have an observation/understanding of how the world works: you
understand geography personally
o UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan believed that the UN and geographers
dealt with the same problems; humanity, climate change, consumption,
poverty
o Geography classroom should be able to put in context what they learn to
the real world
o Geographic technologies could allow for developmental systems to warn
us about natural disasters
o Geographers can contribute to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
which will map the Un geographic Information Working Group is specially
geographically based
Spotlight Box 2.1
o Different types of careers in geography
o Work for the government or in the field
o Jobs that find data in health care, transportation, population, and
economy
o Geographic training can be used to plan businesses and market analysis
o Geography is concerned about both the natural sciences (physical
geography) and social/liberal sciences (human geography)
o Geography does not look at a place as somewhere on a map, it combines
the geographical location with the aspects of the culture
2.2 Evolution of the discipline
o Geography came from a Greek scientist Eratosthenes geo means Earth
and graphien means to write o Strabo (64 B.C.E-A.C.E 20) took on the task of describing the land
o Herodotus wrote a book about people, land and economies of the Persian
empire
o Greek (then the Romans) measured the Earth creating meridian (marking
latitudes and longitudes
o Explored different climates
o They could describe river systems, deforestations, variations in natural
landscapes
o They also focused on language and culture of humans
o The ancient Chinese were involved in geography as an explanatory
viewpoint
o Early map of trading in Canada
2.3 The Evolution of geography in Europe
o Immanuel Kant was influenced by temporal (history) and spatial
geography
o He stated that geography changes over time
o Alexander von Humboldt wrote Cosmos with its subtitle Sketch of a
physical description of the world
o He focused more on the interactions between people
o He make comparisons and connections between different places
o Carl Ritter observed landscapes and how humans interacted with the
environment
o During the Renaissance period (1350-1750) European explorers would
map areas
o High demand for accurate navigation maps
o As trades became important map making was important
o Importance of geography was highlighted in the 1800s when Prussian
(now German) government decided to allow chairs of geography at the
university
Spotlight Box 2.2: Environmental Determination, Possibilism and Probabilism
o Environmental determinism: environment is determined by human
activities
o Friedrich Ratzel published a book that illustrates environmental
determinism o Elleworth Huntingston: cilivalizations could develop in regions of hot
climates; mid latitudes
o Griffith Taylor first people to have a chair in the geography department of
Canada
o General desire by geographers to provide explanations of human
settlements
o Lucien Febvre had the idea of possibilism that the environment can have
effects on human activities
o Probabilism lies somewhere between possibilism and environmental
determination
o 1953 paper by Fred Schaeler challenged the discipline to adopt more
scientific approach
o He wanted a more rule and systematic approach
o 160s maps had measurements, traffic records and we much more
organized
o Focused mainly on direction and distance
o 1960s and early 1970s geography was criticize for not being able to
explain human patterns or the landscape
o People were not able to use this for economical gain
o Researchers called behaviouralist can provide a general explanation to
how humans should adjust to urban areas
o Since 1970 a number of philosophies have been influential; social and
technological
o Radical geographies include Marxism and structuralism
o Examining why people make decisions based on geography
o Why we dress certain ways
Spotlight Box 2.3: Feminist Geographies
o Radical geographies exists when examining males and females
o Inequity exists and geographies try to determine why this happens
o Some philosophers try to determine political geographies
o Development of technology using computers can make mapping easier
Spotlight Box 2.4: The Geographical Standards o Use to develop geography as a subject matter
o World in Spatial Terms
o 1. How to use maps in spatial terms
o 2. Mental naps to recognize people, places and environment
o 3. How to analyze the spatial context
o Places and Regions
o 4. The physical and human characteristics of places
o 5. People creating regions to understand the Earth’s complexity
o 6. How culture and experience influence people’s perceptions of places
o Physical Systems
o 7. The physical systems that change the earth’s surface
o 8. The characteristics of the Earth’s surface
o Human Systems
o 9. Characteristics, distribution and migration of human population on
earth’s surface
o 10. Characteristics, distribution and complexity of earth’s culture mosaics
o 11. Patterns and networks of economical interdependence on earth’s
surface
o 12. Processes, patterns and functions of human settlement
o 13. How the focuses of cooperation and conflict among people the
division and control of the earth of the earth’s surface
o Society and the environment
o 14. How human actions modify the physical environment
o 15. How physical environment effects humans
o 16. The changes that occur in meaning, use, distribution and importance
of recourses
o The Uses of Geography
o 17. How to apply geography to interpret the past
o 18. How to use geography to plan for the future and present
o The Canadian associated of Geographers (CAG) started in 1951 at a
meeting in Montreal by 65 people
o First honorary president was Griffith Taylor and first president D.F
Putnam
o Strong relationship between CAG and the public
o Prior to the 1960s the majority of geographers were white and male o 1950s and 1960s increa
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