Evolution of Geographical Knowledge and its Subfields
Evolution of Scientific Knowledge
Prehistory: Agriculture, natural resources, and populations represented by humankind.
Antiquity: Anaximander’s world map, Earth’s sphericity, parallels and meridians, the geocentric model by Aristotle, Ptolemy, Eratosthenes, etc.
Middle Ages: Compass (Chinese), invention of zero (Maya), Al-Idrisi’s world map and 70 local maps, Ibn Battuta’s travels.
Renaissance: Evidence of Earth’s sphericity from Magellan’s voyages, invention of the telescope by Galileo Galilei, the heliocentric system by Copernicus, Kepler’s elliptical planetary orbits, Newton’s law of universal gravitation.
Modern Age: Alexander von Humboldt’s travels in America and interest in evolution, Carl Ritter’s explanation of the relationship between the physical environment and humankind, Ratzel’s view of nature beyond aesthetics.
Contemporary Age: Radical geography (Harvey, Bunge, Lacoste), the quantitative revolution (Harvey, Berry, Schaefer), Mackinder’s concept of man and space.
Geographical Concepts
Emmanuel de Martonne defined geography as the science that studies Earth’s surface phenomena (physical, biological, and human), their distribution, relationships, and causes.
Geography studies the relationships between social phenomena and geographical facts, encompassing the interaction between nature and society, expressed as variations from place to place and region to region.
Geography in the 20th Century
Landscape: The study of the distribution of landscapes shaped by the relationship between their components. Depending on the degree of human intervention, landscapes can be classified as:
- Natural: Forests, jungles, etc. (with minimal human intervention).
- Artificial: Teotihuacan (human-modified due to necessity).
Geography can also be defined as a science of synthesis, providing a reasoned and comprehensive explanation of the interrelationships between humans and nature at local, regional, or global levels.
Geographical Principles
- Location: The spatial extent of a geographic phenomenon or event on Earth’s surface, considering its distribution and extension (time and space).
- Causality: Investigating the causes of a geographic event or phenomenon.
- Relationship or Connection: The relationship between human and natural events (e.g., economic factors).
- Evolution: The continuous transformation of living organisms and the environment on Earth’s surface.
Divisions of Geography
Physical Geography
The study of the physical environment, including relief, water bodies, fauna, flora, etc.
Subdisciplines: Geomorphology (relief), biogeography (flora and fauna), climatology (climate), hydrography (inland waters), oceanography (oceans), pedology (soils).
Human Geography
The study of humans and their relationship with the environment, including their static organization and dynamic changes.
Subdisciplines: Economic geography, population geography, rural geography, urban geography, transportation geography, political geography, social geography, cultural geography.
Regional Geography
The study of geographic systems.
Uses of Geography
Mapping, weather forecasting, etc.
Historical Contributions to Geography
- Greek Etymology: Geocentric model (Ptolemy), demonstration of Earth’s sphericity (Aristotle).
- Copernicus: Introduction of the heliocentric system.
- Humboldt: Travels in America, field research, historical perspective, interest in evolution.
- Carl Ritter: Explanation of relationships between the physical environment and humankind.
- Perception Geography: Human spatial behavior is not solely determined by the geographical environment.
- Radical Geography: Focus on issues like poverty, hunger, pollution, and disease.
- De Martonne: Geography as the study of physical, biological, and human phenomena.
Geographic Phenomena Examples
- Geo-human: War
- Geo-biological: Plague
- Geo-physical: Mountain range, tornado
- Human-modified geo-physical: Highway
- Human-modified geo-biological: Cultivated forest
Principle of Evolution: Dwellings affected by earthquakes (connected to edaphology and geomorphology).
Cosmology and the Universe
Big Bang Theory (Lemaitre): The universe originated from a massive explosion, with elements produced within minutes when high temperatures and density fused subatomic particles into chemical elements.
Structure of the Universe:
- Stars: Masses of helium and hydrogen gas emitting light.
- Galaxies: Clumps of stars, gases, and dust.
- Quasars: Distant objects emitting large amounts of energy.
- Pulsars: Sources of radio waves vibrating with regular periods.
- Black Holes: Bodies with a gravitational field so strong that light cannot escape.
Our galaxy: The Milky Way.
Materials within and outside galaxies: Interstellar matter, dark matter, light, background radiation.