What is Geo= graphy?
When one is presented with the expansive question, “what is geography?,= 221; several explanations come into consideration. For example, according to Professor Graves, geography is, “a discipline in which its practitioners privilege issues of place and space as they seek understanding of, and provide explanations regarding, the world in which we live.” Several other definitions of the term geography are found in famous geographical writings such as W.D. Pattison’s The Four Traditions of Geography, Doreen Massey’s introdu= ction to Geography Matters, and Jerome Dobson’s Bring Back Geography= . This essay will gather evidence of the definition of geography as presented= in the works by Pattison, Massey, and Dobson, and from personal online researc= h, after which I will provide a personal thought of the definition of geography based upon the gathered information. ß nice introduction.
Pattison’s work, The Four Traditions of Geogra= phy, breaks geography into four traditions as follows: a spatial tradition, an a= rea studies tradition, a man-land tradition, and an earth science tradition. Th= e spatial tradition encompasses the traditional mapping of places but also goes on to include what the maps are; in a sense, as Pattison writes, showing, “= the geometry of and the movement of what is mapped.” The area studies tradition, otherwise known as the chorographic tradition, is based off the example of Strabo, a geographer who sent a report to the statesmen of Augus= tan Rome. This report, Pattison writes, “intended to sum up and regularize knowledge not of the location of places and associated cartographic facts [= ... but] the nature of places, their character and their differentiation.” The definition is that of characterizing places in an area studies perspect= ive. The man-land tradition according to Pattison, focuses on the, “tracing out of interaction between man and environment.” Pattison goes on to state that this broad statement stems from the “dropping” of a curtain of culture which hindered the influence of rising environmentalism.= Pattison also writes that man is now, “appearing as an independent agent, and = the land as a sufferer from action,” instead of Hippocrates’s propo= sed effects of the land on man in his writing of On Airs, Waters and Places. The final tradition geography is th= at of earth science, a study, as proposed by Pattison, “of the earth, the waters of the earth, the atmosphere surrounding the earth and the associati= on between earth and sun.” Aristotle, describes it as, “a wide-ranging study of natural processes in and near the surface of= the earth.” Earth science portrays a somewhat geologic side which is conc= rete and physical subject matter and which brings the planet earth into a harmon= y.
Massey’s introduction to Geography Matters provides a definition of geography in terms of a human geography in three separate relationships. The first relationship is that of the social and the spatial, the second is that of the social and the natural, and the third is that of the relationship between different elements such as economy, politi= cs, and social structure. According to Massey, geography is defined in a social= and the spatial sense, which is to say that geography, after a long evolution of sorts, is now often thought of as a region, area, or locality, associated w= ith facts and social studies. Things such as economics and social values now pl= ay a part in the study of areas. Massey also defines geography in a sense of soc= ial and natural, stating that the natural world and the social world, two spher= es which can be referenced as natural mother nature and progressive mankind, a= re in conflict. Society is trying to control nature, and often acts as if it i= s in charge of nature, while its very actions upon nature are in fact supporting nature’s control upon society. As Massey writes, “From acid rai= n to potential climatic disaster through devastation of the worlds major forests, ‘nature’ is hitting back.” The third definition of geogra= phy which Massey describes indulges the reader with the facts that aspects of s= ocial sciences such as sociology, politics, and economics, “tend to focus on specific parts of society,” while geography is concerned with, “= ;how those different elements come together in particular spaces to form the com= plex mosaic which is society.”
Dobson’s Bring Back Geography provides an expansive, theme based definition of geography, targeted at those masses of people who are geographically illiterate. Dobson writes that, “geogra= phy is to space what history is to time.” Dobson conveys geography as a k= nowledge of places, an understanding of people in a spatial sense, and how these pla= ces and people function; how humanity and culture flows based off scientific disciplines gathered into an analysis machine. Dobson writes that Professor= J.= Rowland Illick suggested that geography is, “why people do what they= do where they do it.” This quote is a trademark of Dobson’s geographical definition.
In a personal reflection on geography’s definition, I searched the inter= net and found the A.A.G.’s definition of geography to be a definition whi= ch seemed to envelop all the meanings of geography written about above. It sta= tes that, “geography is the science of place and space. Geographers ask w= here things are located on the surface of the earth, why they are located where = they are, how places differ from one another, and how people interact with the environment.” The A.A.G. goes on to divide geography into two classes, that of human and physical geography, and to provided relatively the same definitions for these two sub classes as described by Pattison and Massey. =
In conclusion, I have explored the definitions of geography as provided by Professors Graves, Pattison, Massey, and Dobson. I also explored the intern= et and found the A.A.G.’s website definition to be one of the best definitions of geography that seemed to include information from all of the authors mentioned above. From these definitions, I consider that geography = is branched into two primary areas, that of a social or human, and that of an earth, or physical, and that each area is concerned with not only locations= and information about the locations, but also the relationships of different fi= elds of information to these locations working together to provide answers to questions that one may ask.
Nicely done. Only minor problems with the gramma= r and syntax, but the organization of your composition is great.
I think you did a nice job incorporating the readings, and still offered a pretty good version of your= own definition, which is exactly what the assignment aimed for.
95