THE ESSENTIAL of GEOGRAPHY

Geography, science that deals with the distribution and arrangement of all elements of the earth's surface. The word geography was adopted in the 200s bc by the Greek scholar Eratosthenes and means “earth description.” Geographic study encompasses the environment of the earth's surface and the relationship of humans to this environment, which includes both physical and cultural geographic features. Physical geographic features include the climate, land and water, and plant and animal life. Cultural geographic features include artificial entities, such as nations, settlements, lines of communication, transportation, buildings, and other modifications of the physical geographic environment. Geographers use economics, history, biology, geology, and mathematics in their studies.

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DEFINITION of GEOGRAPHY

Many famous geographers and non-geographers have attempted to define the discipline in a few short words. The concept of geography has also changed throughout the ages, making a definition for such a dynamic and all-encompassing subject difficult. With the help of Gregg Wassmansdorf, here are some ideas about geography from throughout the ages:

"The purpose of geography is to provide 'a view of the whole' earth by mapping the location of places." - Ptolemy, 150 CE

"Synoptic discipline synthesizing findings of other sciences through the concept of Raum (area or space)." - Immanuel Kant, c. 1780

"Synthesizing discipline to connect the general with the special through measurement, mapping, and a regional emphasis." - Alexander von Humboldt, 1845

"Man in society and local variations in environment." - Halford Mackinder, 1887

"How environment apparently controls human behavior." - Ellen Semple, c. 1911

"Study of human ecology; adjustment of man to natural surroundings." - Harland Barrows, 1923

"The science concerned with the formulation of the laws governing the spatial distribution of certain features on the surface of the earth." - Fred Schaefer, 1953

"To provide accurate, orderly, and rational description and interpretation of the variable character of the earth surface." - Richard Hartshorne, 1959

"Geography is both science and art" - H.C. Darby, 1962

"To understand the earth as the world of man" - J.O.M. Broek, 1965

"Geography is fundamentally the regional or chorological science of the surface of the earth." - Robert E. Dickinson, 1969

"Study of variations in phenomena from place to place." - Holt-Jensen, 1980

"...concerned with the locational or spatial variation in both physical and human phenomena at the earth's surface" - Martin Kenzer, 1989

"Geography is the study of earth as the home of people" - Yi-Fu Tuan, 1991

"Geography is the study of the patterns and processes of human (built) and environmental (natural) landscapes, where landscapes comprise real (objective) and perceived (subjective) space." - Gregg Wassmansdorf, 1995

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