trace the evolution of geography as a distinct discipline

geographers believed that numbers are more precise, and therefore perceived as Notably, phenomena akin to allopatric speciation were described before Darwin's voyage on the Beagle; for instance, by Leopold von Buch in 1825, based on his work in the Canary Islands. Testing the roles of competition and expansion in tetrapod evolution. Humboldt (1769-1859) provided scientific base to geography. Eldredge N. The allopatric model and phylogeny in Paleozoic invertebrates. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. Google Scholar. During the first 50 years of the 1900s, many academics in the field of geography extended the various ideas presented in the previous century to studies of small regions all over the world. In Europe, the Vikings of Scandinavia were the only group of people carrying out active exploration of new lands. Emergence of Modern Geography. -24 A.D.), Ptolemy (127-151 A.D.) in their great work Geographia provided a new direction to geography. One occurs north of a large river in Argentina, the Rio Negro, whereas the other species occurs south of the river. A better definition of geography may be the study of natural and human-constructed phenomena relative to a spatial dimension. This appointment acted as a catalyst, and after this, many other universities started to follow suit. In 1498 Vasco da Gama made a successful voyage and landed at Calicut on the west coast of India. Occurrence records for some Late Cretaceous marine vertebrates, a shark (light gray) and a mosasaur (dark gray), shown on a map of the modern world (a) and the Cretaceous world (b), from Myers and Lieberman (2011), used with permission, Range reconstructions for marine vertebrate species from the Late Cretaceous showing how species distributions typically change through time. 4. It is also important to recognize that this is the same method used by professionals around the world working to address social, economic, political, environmental, and a wide-range of other scientific issues. (ESRI). Some of these species would experience such profound range reductions that they would go extinct (the Turnover phase of her hypothesis). the environment to suit them. Parallel to this trend towards specialization, there developed a tendency to use quantitative techniques of analysis. (Graves, 1975). this time, Phoenician, Chinese and Egyptian civilisations were in the beginning 2009a;2:3554. Integrating these new methodological developments with important theoretical insights holds major promise for the future of biogeography and charts a pathway connecting past and future discoveries. They found no statistical evidence for competitive replacement. three phases namely (1) The age of discovery (1400-1800), (2) The period Large quantities of high-quality data are necessary if geography is to be successfully implemented in the education system We need a new attitude towards research. location of trade routes, relief features Physical geography, as a discipline in itself, has been profoundly susceptible to an array of diverse influences throughout its development. composed his famous work Politics. To do this, geographers go through a geographic methodology that is quite similar to the scientific method, but again with a geographic or spatial emphasis. Models in paleobiology. Geography. Essentially, the subject needed to be defined, and this would entail more detailed research. discovery of a Babylonian clay tablet map that dates back to 600 BCE. 1980;6:38396. The nineteenth century witnessed emergence of geography as a discipline. statement and At last there were specialised areas that focused on one particular area of geography. Ross MI, Scotese CR. For as long as people have been on the planet, humans have had to live within Earths boundaries. Therefore, Geography literally means to write about the earth including that appears on it.. Like other research methods, it also asks you to explore, analyze, and act upon the things you find. who laid the foundations and gave a solid form to geographic studies and on Al-Idrisi is best known for his skill at making maps and for his work of descriptive geography Kitab nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq or The Pleasure Excursion of One Who Is Eager to Traverse the Regions of the World. Ibn Battutah and Ibn Khaldun are well known for writing about their extensive travels of North Africa and the Middle East. By the beginning of twentieth century there was growth of geographic knowledge in the form of man-environment relationships. Chapter 3 Planet earth and Plate tectonics, 8. exploration, discovery and conquest through the voyages of Vasco da Gama and WebA peep into the history reveals that Public Administration as a distinct activity can be traced from the ancient river civilizations of Egypt, China, India and Mesopotamiathe earliest cradles of civilization. Let us throw some more light on this issue. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License ( Another one of Ratzels students, Ellsworth Huntington also applied Ratzels theory of regional geography to the reasoning behind the rise and fall of civilisation. beings have several alternatives in their environment and their actions are During this period, geography was primarily focused on describing and classifying the Earth's physical features, but it gradually evolved to include the study of human geography and the interactions between humans and the environment. many academics as a milestone contribution to geography. extreme possibilities. Greek philosophers and scientist were also interested in learning about spatial nature of human and physical features found on the Earth. Therefore, it was sometimes also known as Gazetteer Geography. Biogeography comprises two disciplines: historical The cultural features are like cities, temples etc. As a result, an increasing number of researchers in geography are studying how humans modify the environment. interested in geographic issues. Manage cookies/Do not sell my data we use in the preference centre. This research was particularly relevant because it considered how species' differentiation across geographic space became translated into evolutionary differentiation through time. these foundations, the pillars of modern geography were erected by others in It lost its place as a highly regarded subject, and was starting to be regarded as overly descriptive with no relevance to science, the Greeks named it as a description of the earth. From the time of his birth until his death man is always engaged in obtaining knowledge of his close surroundings as well as far off places. Over the past few decades, geography has had to forge its way to stand as a fundamental scientific subject. This style of speciation is especially significant to evolutionary theory because if speciation is primarily allopatric, then the forces that produce geographic barriers play a big role in causing evolution. 2009;35:597611. Behaims invention was a significant advance over two-dimensional maps because it created a more realistic depiction of the Earths shape and surface configuration. In Egypt there is a city named Alexandria. On the variation of species as related to their geographic distribution, illustrated by the Achatinellidae. The quantitative revolution involves the use of In this great work he described some major human settlements of that time and some chief geographical concepts. Patterns pertaining to the geographic distribution of organisms and patterns in the fossil record played a fundamental role in convincing Darwin and other scientists that evolution had happened, and they still play an important role today in providing insights into the evolutionary process. understand the processes that were becoming more diversified and complicated. processes that are working in these areas. Varenius also suggested that the discipline of geography could be subdivided into three distinct branches. Mostly vegetables, replace the cereals crops. For instance, humans Quantitative paleobiogeography: GIS, phylogenetic biogeographic analysis, and conservation insights. These It is more than just a body of knowledge; science is a way of thinking that provides a means to evaluate and create new knowledge without bias. A simple example of a geographic study in human geography would be where is the Hispanic population concentrated in the U.S., and why? Chapter 8 Cultural Patterns and Processes, 10. Human geography is a social science that focuses on people, where they live, their ways of life, and their interactions in different places around the world. CAS 2008;120(1):517. The theory of Environmental Determinism the view that the physical environment sets limits on human environment was being questioned due to claims of its lack in the intellectual relevance and faults in its descriptions of certain locations. Then, if similar patterns of evolution are found across geographic space, it suggests that changes in geology or climate motivated the macroevolutionary patterns in the group. from resource exploitation. human and physical geography of the Persian Empire. Physical geographys primary subdisciplines study the Earths atmosphere (meteorology and climatology), animal and plant life (biogeography), physical landscape (geomorphology), soils (pedology), and waters (hydrology). The fields of climatology and meteorology are required to understand the physical effects of adding additional greenhouse gases to the atmospheres radiation balance. Researchers now began investigating process rather than a mere description of the event of interest. Ptolemy was also a great map maker (cartographer). Homer (900 B.C.) Making of maps (cartography) was It was the ancient Greek scholars At its best, science uses objective evidence over subjective evidence to reach sound and logical conclusions. Geography as a discipline (1.2) a) originated in ancient Greek interest in the nature of the universe and the varying character of the known parts of the earth. Google Scholar. identified the heat zones of earth i.e. The map, both as graphic language and visual Cookies policy. The focus here is on outlining some of these major developments, specifically in the context of paleontology, by emphasizing the significance of geographic isolation and allopatric speciation, punctuated equilibria, and the Turnover Pulse Hypothesis to evolutionary theory. Punctuated equilibrium: an alternative to phyletic gradualism. Fieldwork is an effective teaching method in geography is an interactive fun way for people to learn and experience what they are learning at first hand. The diversity of the living world is staggering. By contrast, widespread, abundant species, the species most likely to be preserved in the fossil record, should show little concerted change. Lyell C. Principles of geology, vol. the reasons for these patterns. This method can be simplified as the geographic inquiry process. He was the first to use the word geography to describe earth. Geographic knowledge saw strong growth in Europe and the United States The map-makers drew their maps and charts. This research was supported by NSF DEB-0716162. The law of geminate species. 1985;72:596635. This contrasts with inductive reasoning which begins from new observations and attempts to discern the underlying principles that explain the observations. The fall of the Roman Empire ushered in the Medieval period in Europe in which scientific progress in Europe was largely overlooked. Early advances in geography were also made by the Greeks. Physical geography attempts to determine why natural phenomena have particular spatial patterns and orientation. The phenomena is characterised by the actions of sense organs-eye, ear, and nose by which we can see, hear or smell. geographer was Herodotus (484 - 425 BCE) who wrote a number of volumes on the Nomadic pastoralism is so much Several chapters are devoted to the effect people have on the planet. These scholars proposed a radically new understanding of the cosmos, one in which Earth and the other planets orbited around the centrally located Sun. In: Coleman W, Limoges C, editors. Biogeography is the discipline of biology that studies the present and past distribution patterns of biolog-ical diversity and their underlying environmental and his-torical causes. Paleobiology. A significant number of these projects also develop strategies to reduce the negative impact of human activities on nature. Mayr E. Animal species and evolution. In this essay I will be looking at the development of geography as an academic discipline, and then I will be discussing the role that theory has had in the development of geography. 2010;296:2843. Webtrace development of Geography as a discipline; GEOGRAPHY 1 understand man-environment relationships and their impacts on each other; illustrate the systematic and Scientists conduct scientific investigations by asking testable questions that can be systematically observed and careful evidenced collected. WebThe academic discipline of geography is extremely broad in subject matter and approaches; it contains specialists covering diverse subjects but sharing concerns over places, spaces, and environments. Some of his other notable contributions include the creation of three different methods for projecting the Earths surface on a map, the calculation of coordinate locations for some eight thousand places on the Earth, and development of the concepts of geographical latitude and longitude. Looking for a flexible role? This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. In the UK, The Geography Education Research Collective is dedicated to the promotion of geography education through research and publication. (http://www.geography.org.uk/gtip/gereco/) 13 teachers come together every four years with the resolution of creating research in geography education. Discuss the extent to which the development of Physical geography in the early 20th Century was influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution. This period also saw the emergence of a number of societies interested in geographic issues. Paleobiology. during this period as an attempt to explain the relationship between human Evolution. Both are important in science. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) The value of this approach is that it emphasized developing techniques to rigorously analyze biogeographic patterns using phylogenies. The early Greeks were the first civilization to practice a form of geography that was more than just map-making or cartography. which offered the people new principles, ideals and beliefs. The first few steps forward for geography were the opening of the first geographical institutions, such as the establishment of the first institution by Humboldt and Ritter in Germany in 1874, The National Geographic Society in 1888 and also the Royal Geographical Society, founded in 1830 in Britain. Information about distant lands was very important to prospective traders, administrators and settlers. 1987), where he argued that geographic barriers could serve to isolate populations of species, leading to differentiation. We will first attempt to understand the answers to some of these questions in this post. In undertaking field work, students are effectively carrying out innovative research over and above what could be achieved in a classroom. In this we also provide trending questions which come out of recent recent exams. We're here to answer any questions you have about our services. It is somewhat interesting then that although this pattern helped convince Darwin that evolution had happened, he later came to de-emphasize allopatric speciation, particularly in Darwin (1859). Geography branched out as a new light and the thought process was now in place. Historical biogeography is called paleobiogeography and studies the past distributions of species. The Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, in the second century, using an Aristotelian approach and mathematics, observed the Sun, Moon, and stars moving across the sky and deductively reasoned that Earth must be at the center of the universe with the celestial bodies circling Earth. Darwin C. Voyage of the Beagle. Eldredge N, Gould SJ. 2005), but overall net stability prevailed. This speech also became the foundation for his book Man and Nature or The Earth as Modified by Human Action, first published in 1864. The Aristotelian approach came under criticism by 17th-century scholars of the Renaissance. They recognized that most species throughout their history, often many millions of years, were stable and displayed what they termed stasis (Eldredge 1985). location of the activities, carefully identify patterns using maps and find out Environment and evolution: alternative causes of the temporal distribution of evolutionary events. In 1847, George Perkins Marsh gave an address to the Agricultural Society of Rutland County, Vermont. This gap led to the quantitative revolution, which was one of the major turning points of modern geography. b) developed as an outgrowth of the "Age of Discovery," beginning in the 15th century. geology and physical geography of the earth. Considering all of the statements presented concerning the history and development of geography, we are now ready to formulate a somewhat coherent definition. Instead, he suggested that human beings were a dominant force shaping the form of the environment. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.io. earth and the question like why it is there came later. Geography is the study of the physical and cultural environments of the earth. showed the importance of geographic factors in the composition of a state. Biodiversity Institute and Department of Geology, University of Kansas, 1475 Jayhawk Blvd., 120 Lindley Hall, Lawrence, KS, 66045, USA, You can also search for this author in They also promoted geography in schools and universities, leading to the first university lecturer appointed in 1888. In the 17th century, Bernhardus Varenius (1622-1650) published an important geographic reference titled Geographia generalis (General Geography: 1650). Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1991. In this manner, several new species in the same region would evolve at roughly the same time. Bruce S. Lieberman. For the most part, the Middle Ages (5th to 13th centuries AD) were a time of intellectual stagnation. It forms the centre of focus of geography. From modern prospective this definition is very close to the point. WebGeography differs from the discipline of geology because geology focuses mainly on the physical Earth and the processes that formed and continue to shape it. These forces principally involve episodes of geologic and climatic change. In 1630 Bernhard Varen, a Dutchman, in his famous work Geographia Generalis wrote on the subject matter of geography and provided modern geography a definite direction. According to the possibilism school of thought, human He developed the skills of cartography. The Essay Writing ExpertsUK Essay Experts. This first calculation was unusually accurate. During Europes Medieval period, science flourished in the Middle East between 800 and 1450 CE as the Islamic civilization developed. Privacy Policy, Also during the Renaissance, Martin Behaim created a spherical globe depicting the Earth in its true three-dimensional form in 1492. revolution because it marked a new beginning in the way the subject matter of This helps us in expanding our realm of thought our thinking, perception and reasoning further expand our capacity to absorb knowledge, thus helping to make us better citizens. The second sub-discipline deals with tides, climatic variations over time and space, and other variables that are influenced by the cyclical movements of the Sun and moon. Quantification came tropics Frigid and temperate zones. Despite being one of the oldest disciplines, in todays society, geography struggles to define itself as an academic subject. Studies in the history of biology. There he held that rather than geographic isolation, it was primarily competition that led to the formation of new species. It is an important method of learning as fieldwork teaches things that cannot be taught or learned in class. The last branch of geography examined distinct regions on the Earth using comparative cultural studies. Darwin came to learn of more examples on the Galapagos Islands including mockingbirds and also tortoises. There are two schools of thought that emerged influenced by the decisions they make in the environment. At this time, Chinese, Egyptian, and Phoenician civilizations were beginning to explore the places and spaces within and outside of their homelands. 1. careful measurement and hypothesis testing. The discipline of geography became more distinct as a subject One instance where such techniques have proven valuable is in showing the role that invasive species played in causing the Late Devonian biodiversity crisis (Rode and Lieberman 2004, 2005; Stigall 2010). beings and their environment. In other words, it is the sociological study of cities and their role in the development of society. Open Access was the first to describe round shape of the earth. Following on from an era of discovery and exploration came It was a turning point, and geography started to grasp attention once again. Some of the dominant themes in these studies include environmental degradation of the hydrosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere; resource use issues; natural hazards; environmental impact assessment; and the effect of urbanization and land-use change on natural environments. For instance, in South America, there are two species of large flightless birds or Rheas. changing their outlook in life and the way they perceive. Truth in science is a difficult concept, and this is because science is falsifiable, which means an initial explanation (hypothesis) is testable and able to be proven false. In the later period of 19th century geography subject gained great popularity in schools. For, if a theory is to be developed, then some understanding of the nature of theory and of the process of theory building was required. (Graves, 1975) Today geography continues to flourish and expand in education. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, Next: Chapter 2 Techniques of Geographic Analysis. The Greek word geographos from which geography is derived, is literally translated as writing (graphos) about the Earth (geo). Simpson (1944) and Eldredge and Gould (1972) rightly rejected this view. Late in the 19th Century, Ratzel theorized that the distribution and culture of the Earths various human populations were strongly influenced by the natural environment. In this he described the effects of geographic factors on the composition of a state. Study Material, Lecturing Notes, Assignment, Reference, Wiki description explanation, brief detail, 11th Geography : Chapter 1 : Fundamentals of Geography : Evolution of Geography |. WebWhen we trace these modern-day species through evolutionary history, we see patterns of trait evolution that are driven by the continental shifts of the Late Cretaceous, similar to These increases are the result of a growing human population and the consequent increase in the consumption of natural resources. Ithaca: Cornell University Press; 1987. The word has been in use in astronomy before Christian era, describing the round shape of the earth. geographers concerned with answering questions like what is where on the However, when allopatric speciation transpires in this manner, it usually will involve only a single species at a time; and further, whether or not speciation happens depends to a major extent on the individual ecological characteristics of the organisms in the species. GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE3 Put together , they mean description of the earth. The earth has always been seen as the abode of human beings and thus, scholars defined geography as, the description of the earth as the abode of human beings. such as Israel, humans have overcome the constraints set by the natural In a sense, it was reintegrating the proper role of geography into evolutionary theory in general, and speciation in particular, that allowed them to make key predictions about the nature of species and speciation in the fossil record. WebGeography transformed from a discipline centered on navigation to a pathway for imperial exploration, and then to a discipline of imperial science. As science progressed, certain aspects of science that could not be experimented and sensed awaited the development of new technologies, such as atoms, molecules, and the deep-time of geology. Lieberman BS. Fieldwork started to make a real impact in higher education in 1985. phenomena on the earth surface, e.g. Man first started expressing his geographic beliefs in words. Geographic descriptions are found in not find mention in old Vedic literature. Vrba (1980, 1985, 1992) essentially extended vicariance biogeography directly into the realm of evolutionary theory by focusing on the significant role that climate change plays in causing evolution via the mechanisms of geographic isolation and allopatric speciation. Maguire KC, Stigall AL. Eldredge (1971) and Eldredge and Gould (1972) in their formulation of punctuated equilibria did rely on allopatric speciation, but they specifically focused on Mayr's (1942, 1963) discussion of the concept whereby geographic isolation occurred when a population of a species dispersed over a preexisting geographic barrier. His emphasis shifted to a reliance on what is today called sympatric speciation to explain diversification and thus on a view that evolution is driven by competition rather than by climate change and geology (Lieberman 2008). A good example of Roman military commanders and administrators used this information to guide the expansion of their Empire. In the early 19th century, many geography scholars believed that environment had a key role on the living marvels. Today, geography is a diverse and interdisciplinary field that encompasses both physical and human geography, as well as specialized subfields such as GIS, environmental geography, and urban geography. The Romans also made several notable additions to geographical knowledge. This field of knowledge is, of course, called history. For example, the study of the enhancement of the Earths greenhouse effect and the resulting global warming requires a multidisciplinary approach for complete understanding. New technical developments, including in the area of Geographic Information Systems, allow continued detailed testing of the relative roles that biotic as opposed to abiotic factors play in causing evolution, and some of the work in this area will also be described. Following the publication of Darwin (1859), for a long time, most scientists tended to de-emphasize the role of allopatric speciation, although some including Gulick (1872), Wagner (1873), and Jordan (1908) did continue to assert its significance, such that climatic and geologic factors were not typically viewed as the primary factors motivating speciation. In this volume, Varenius used direct observations and primary measurements to present some new ideas concerning geographic knowledge. Chapter 11 Economic Geography: Industry, R. Adam Dastrup; David Dorrell;Joseph Henderson; Todd Lindley;; and Georgeta Connor, 13. The Hello-centric Theory that planets and their moons revolve round the sun is now universally accepted. New York: Columbia University Press; 2008. disasters such as drought, famine, floods and earthquakes. Then there was no geographic tradition in India like that of Europe. The pattern of punctuated equilibria not only characterized the bulk of species preserved in the fossil record, but also very much went against the Darwinian notion that species should be changing slowly and gradually over millions of years across their entire range (Eldredge and Gould 1972; Eldredge 1985). Humboldts publication Kosmos (1844) examines the geology and physical geography of the Earth. In your mind you use this diverse information to construct meaningful geographic patterns. Yet Darwin never claimed to be a geographer, with his main concentration being botany. While gaining altitude you may even notice changing varieties or species of trees. The importance for technology to develop in society had increased massively by the end of World War II, which meant there was a gap for geography to grow. Myers C, Lieberman BS. the linkages and movements between places and are able to infer the spatial Now, most neontological and paleontological studies continue to reiterate the notion that speciation is transcendentally allopatric (e.g., Eldredge 1971; Eldredge and Gould 1972; Wiley and Mayden 1985; Eldredge 1989; Brooks and McLennan 1991; Lieberman 2000; Coyne and Orr 2004; Rode and Lieberman 2005; Morrone 2008; Stigall 2010). Then, through the use of the program PaleoGIS (Ross and Scotese 2000), the continents can be rotated back into the position they once were in when those fossil taxa were actually living (Fig. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol. Eldredge N. Experimenting with transmutation: Darwin, the Beagle, and evolution. The ancient Greeks were also interested in the form, size, and geometry of the Earth. Lighter polygons show the ranges for the mosasaur Tylosaur. New York: Wiley; 1981. Even if he would have used either, of these two words it would have equally been a meaningful word. contributors to geography are, Thales, Aristotle and Eratosthenes (276 - 194 If a deductive conclusion is derived from sound principles, then the conclusion has a high degree of certainty. Geographic descriptions are found in Vedas, Puranas, Mahabharta and Ramayana. 3. New York: Penguin; 1839. Want to create or adapt books like this?

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