11. Where did “Geography” come from?
Geo- comes from Greek
“ge” = “Earth”
geoid
geology
geometry
-graphy comes from Greek
“graphe” = “writing” or
“description”
(Does it remind you of “graph”?)
12. Who were the first geographers?
The Greeks were not
the first to “do”
Geography…
Mesopotamian land ownership
map on a clay tablet
13. Who were the first geographers?
Egyptian gold mine map on papyrus
14. Who were the first geographers?
► The Greeks
codified it, broadened it, deepened it, named it,
lived it
► These were the first geographers in the
Western tradition, and their ideas have been
handed down over thousands of years
► The real reason we follow in the Greeks’
footsteps?
The ideas contained in their works survived and
were translated into other languages
15. A Brief History of the Early
Development of Geography
► Western Geography—Greece and Rome
Development of geometric principles
Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, Strabo and
Ptolemy
16. Asian Geography
► Academic knowledge was highly-prized
► Japan, Korea, and China all were
engaging in extensive trade long before
European explorers
17. China
► Expansion of the Chinese empire
Needed to know what was IN that empire
(resources, cultures, wealth, areas of potential
political threats or alliances, etc.)
► Chinese geographers created extensive
maps, wrote detailed descriptions of culture
groups and physical environments
18. Muslim Geographers
► One of the tenants (the 8 “pillars”) of Islam is that
every able-bodied Muslim must make a
pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca (in what is,
today, Saudi Arabia) at least once in a lifetime
► Pilgrimages to Mecca offered opportunities for
observation and description, from Africa to Spain
to India and throughout Southwest Asia
► As these pilgrims traveled, they wrote about
what they saw and experienced, and mapped
out land and seas
19. Immanuel Kant—18th Century philosopher
► Order out of chaos
He proposed three
Categories of Academic
Disciplines…
20. Immanuel Kant—18th Century philosopher
►Categories of Academic Disciplines:
1. Systematic Sciences—orderly, methodical, subject
matter is easily classified
(Physics, Geology, Botany, Zoology, etc.)
2. Temporal Sciences—the dimension of time
(History, Archaeology, Paleontology)
3. Spatial Sciences—the dimension of space
(Geography, Geophysics*, Astronomy)
The map is a geographer’s primary spatial tool
21. The Fundamentals
► Every study of Geography incorporates
one or more of the following 5
Fundamental Concepts in Geography:
1. Location
2. Place
3. Movement
4. Human-Environment Interactions
5. Region
22. The 5 Fundamental Spatial
Concepts of Geography
► 1. Location—study of
where something is
found in Earth space
23. The 5 Fundamental Spatial
Concepts of Geography
► 2. Place—study of the site and situation
characteristics of a particular portion of space
24. The 5 Fundamental Spatial
Concepts of Geography
► 2. Place—study of the site and situation
characteristics of a particular portion of space
“Sense of Place” is an important geographical
concept
30. JIMMY BUFFETT
“MARGARITAVILLE”
GLADIATOR
?
THE PERFECT VACATION
Sense of Place
some “imaginary” places
31. The 5 Fundamental Spatial
Concepts of Geography
► 3. Movement—study
of the circulation of
objects, people, and
ideas, and their
distribution (spatial
patterning) on Earth’s
surface
32. The 5 Fundamental Spatial
Concepts of Geography
► 4. Human-Earth
Interactions—study of
how humans perceive,
use, and alter the
planet, and how the
environment affects
and changes humans,
in return
32
33. The 5 Fundamental Spatial
Concepts of Geography
►5. Region—
study of an area on Earth’s surface that
exhibits some form of spatial cohesion
reflected by a homogeneity of specific
features or functional linkages to a central
node
(WHAAAA???)
35. Geography is holistic
► Interested in
interrelationships
► Informed by many other
sciences
Geography is actually the
Mother of many other
fields of science
► Test your professor:
Name a field which cannot
in some way be studied
by a geographer
36. AAG Specializations
► AAG: Association of American Geographers' M
http://www.aag.org/cs/membership/specialty_g
roups
37. The Subdivisions of Geography
► Geography can be divided into any number
of subfields. The main divisions are:
Physical Geography
►Biogeography is sometimes considered a part of
physical geography
Human Geography
Geomatics (Technical Geography)
38. Physical Geography
► Physical geography is the study of Earth’s
natural systems, their spatial distributions, and
interactions. It is the study of the natural and
human-induced processes that shape the
surface of our planet.
Subfields include geomorphology, climatology,
hydrogeography, etc.
Maintains connections with other physical
sciences
39. Biogeography
► The study of the spatial distribution of plants
and animals.
Subfields include phytogeography,
zoogeography, pedology (cross-over with
physical geography), etc.
Often considered a subfield of Physical
Geography
40. Human Geography
► The study of how people use the land, how
they perceive it and relate to it; the spatial
variations between human groups
Subfields include: cultural geography, economic
geography, urban geography, political geography,
ethnic geography, geodemography, religious
geography, geolinguistics, proxemics, etc.
Maintains connections with all other social
sciences
41. Geomatics/Technical Geography
► All of the technical specialties within the field
which assist geographic studies.
Cartography (GIS)
Remote sensing
Statistical studies
Maintains connections with information
technologies, mathematics, computer sciences,
etc.
42. Systems Science
► What is a “system”?
A system is “a set of things, structures,
processes, [or] activities…[that are] associated
and interconnected, forming and functioning as
a complex whole through a regular set of
relations….”
--Audrey N. Clark’s Dictionary of Geography
43
44. Systems Science
► Flow system—matter and/or energy moving around
Open system—has inputs and outputs
Closed system (also called a cycle)—constantly transforming and
reusing what’s already there; nothing ever leaves
45
45. Systems Science
► Feedback
Positive feedback
►When the result of a process causes conditions
which strengthen that process and increasingly
amplify its results
Feedback from an amplifier
Arctic ice melting
Negative feedback
►When the result of a process causes conditions
which weaken the process and reduce its effects
An air conditioning system
More water in Earth’s atmosphere creating more clouds
that reflect and scatter sunlight
46
46. Systems Science
► Time cycles--systems operate on all
different scales, including time scales, large
and small
47
47. Systems Science
► Earth’s systems are
always attempting to
achieve equilibrium, in
which exchanges of
matter and/or energy
are equal, in and out
► Equilibrium is difficult to
attain and even more
difficult to maintain over
long time cycles 48
48. Systems Science
► Sometimes a series of slight changes might
result in a larger change that pushes the
system over a threshold, a point at which
the same state can no longer be maintained
49
54. Congratulations!
You just finished Lesson #1….
Are you ready for some review questions
to test how well you’ve understood
everything we’ve covered so far?
55
55. Quick Review
1. What is the most important question in
Geography?
2. Who were the first geographers in the
Western tradition? Was theirs the only
culture to produce good geographic
studies?
3. Which of the Categories of Academic
Disciplines does Geography fit into?
4. Name the 5 fundamental spatial
concepts of geography. What one word
or phrase defines each of these? 56
56. Quick Review
5. What does it mean when we describe
Geography as being holistic?
6. What is a system?
7. What is the difference between an open
system and a closed system?
8. What is the difference between positive
feedback and negative feedback?
9. Name Earth’s four “spheres”.
57
58. Homework
Buy a three-ring binder and a notebook
just for this class (preferably one with
tear-out pages and binder holes)
Read Chapter 1 and work on the Chapter
1 Study Guide
Find a cool, geography-related video
online; post the name of the video and the
link on the class blog, in the Comments
Buy an atlas
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Every artist sees a landscape in a different way. Each brings to the canvas a sense of the place they are trying to interpret.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
-Filmmakers must also understand sense of place--every film has a setting, right? I like to think of film as VISUAL GEOGRAPHY.\n-Even musicians can give you a sense of a place. Where is “Margaritaville”?\n-In creating ads, advertising agencies play on your sense of place to build an image, a feeling.\nOften these places are “imaginary”--based on real places, but not actually “real” at all.\n
