Roots of Geography/ history of Geography

History of Geography

1. ROOTS of geography

2. ROOTS OF GEOGRAPHY The history of geography is closely connected with the history of human society and its development. Geography is as old as man's search for soil, water and trails. F irst geographical references are from travelers describing the landscapes and the people living in them. It can be said that the foundations of geography are in the natural sciences because the first scientific studies are from mathematicians and physicists interested in the environment. The oldest known world maps date back to ancient Babylon from the 9th century BC

3. GEOGRAPHY THROUGH AGES BABYLONIAN The oldest known world maps date back to ancient Babylons . The best known Babylonian world map, however, is the Imago Mundi of 6 th century BC. Clay tablet: O ldest known Map

4. ANCIENT GREEK CONTRIBUTIONs Eratosthenes (276-194BC) First time use the word of Geography by Eratosthenes. He calculated the circumference of earth. He described the known world and correctly divided Earth into 5 climatic regions a torrid zone, two frigid zones and two temperate bands. Eratosthenes also prepared one of the earliest maps of the known world.

5. His map of the world, though highly inaccurate, was the first of its kind, featuring a grid of parallels and meridians used to estimate distances between different locations.

6. ANCIENT GREEK CONTRIBUTIONs Homer The ancient Greeks saw the poet Homer as the founder of geography . His works the Iliad and the Odyssey are works of literature , but both contain a great deal of geographical information . Homer describes a circular world ringed by a single massive ocean.

7. ANCIENT GREEK CONTRIBUTIONs Thales of Miletus (624-546 BC) Thales of Miletus was proposed that world was based on water. He also laid down many mathematical rules that would allow geography to be studied scientifically . He applied principles of geometry to measuring land area.

8. ANCIENT GREEK CONTRIBUTIONs Anaximander He was the successor of T hales M iletus. He is the first person known to have attempted to create a scale map of the known world and to have introduced gnomon(a shadow-casting rod) to Ancient Greece . The Gnomon: Babylonian Instrument

9. ANCIENT GREEK CONTRIBUTIONs Herodotus A work of history the book contain a wealth of geography description covering much of the know world He is the first to have noted the process by which large rivers, such as the Nile, build up deltas, and also the first recorded as observing that winds tend to below from colder region to warmer ones.

10. ANCIENT GREEK CONTRIBUTIONs Pythagoras & Aristotle Pythagoras was perhaps the first to propose a spherical world , arguing that the sphere was the most perfect form. He noted that the Earth’s shadow during an eclipse is curved, and also that stars increase in height as one moves north. Aristotle embraced the idea of Pythagoras. He presented empirical evidence a verify this.

11. ANCIENT GREEK CONTRIBUTIONs Hipparchus He insists that a geographic map must be based only on astronomical measurements of latitudes and longitudes and triangulation for finding unknown distances. He was the first to use the grade grid to determine geographic latitude for star observations. Hipparchus listed latitudes for several tens of localities.

12. ROMANS CONTRIBUTIONs Strabo(63BC-24AD) Greek accomplishments in Geography were passed on to the Romans. Strabo (circa 64 BC - 20 AD) wrote a 17 volume series called " Geographia “ in which he described the Cultural Geographies of various societies found from Britain to as far east as India, and south to Ethiopia and as far north as Iceland.

13. ROMANS CONTRIBUTIONs Ptolemy (100-170 AD) Ptolemy published 8 volume book Geographike hyphegesis or "Guide to Geography" that summarized much of the Greek and Roman geographic knowledge. Ptolemy also made 3 important contributions to modern Geography: Created three different methods for projecting the Earth's surface on a map Calculated coordinate locations for some 8,000 places on the Earth Developed the concepts of geographical latitude & longitude.

14. A 15th century depiction of the Ptolemy world map, reconstituted from Ptolemy's Geographia (circa 150 ). The map is organized with crisscrossing lines of latitude and longitude.

15. Medieval Islamic world Muslim Geographers The Muslim geographer Al- Idrisi (1100-1165) prepared a world map and geography text in 1154. lbn-Battutah ( 1305-13687 ) wrote Rihlah (Travels ) based on three decades of journeys . An early supporter of environmental determinism was the Afro-Arab writer al- jahiz who explained how the environment can determine the physical characteristics of the inhabitants of a certain community .

16. Medieval Islamic world Abu Rayhan al- buruni In mathematical geography, around 1025, he was the first to describe a polar equi -azimuthal equidistant projection of the celestial sphere. He combines mathematical equations in order to develop methods of pin pointing location by recording degree of latitude and longitude. He introduced techniques to measure the earth and distances on it using triangulation . He found the radius of the earth to 6339.9 km. A value not obtained in the west until 16th century.

17. Medieval Europe Early Modern Period Benhardus Varenius (1622-1650) published an important geographic reference titled Geographia generalis (General Geography: 1650) . He used direct observations and primary measurements to present new ideas about geographic knowledge. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) also divided Geography into a number of sub-disciplines. He recognized the following six branches: Physical, Mathematical, Moral, Political, Commercial, and Theological Geography.

18. Medieval Europe Early Modern Period Alexander von Humboldt published Kosmos (1844) which examines the Geology and Physical Geography of the Earth . Fredrich Ratzel theorized that the distribution and culture of the Earth's various human populations was strongly influenced by the natural environment. Carl Ritter (1780-1859) developed the concept of Regional Geography

19. Medieval Europe 19 th Century The Royal Geographical Society was founded in England in 1830, although the United Kingdom did not get its first full Chair of geography until 1917. The National Geographic Society was founded in the USA in 1888 and began publication of the National Geographic magazine which became and continues to be a great populariser of geographic information.

20. Two opposing views Environmental Determinism Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and Carl Ritter (1779-1859) (German geographers) The theory that the human’s physical, mental and moral habits are directly due to the influence of their natural environment . They concentrated on how the physical environment caused social development, an approach called environmental determinism.

21. Two opposing views Environmental Determinism Freidrich Ratzel (1844-1904) and his American student, Ellen Churchill (1863-1932) claimed that geography was the study of influences of the natural environment on people. Ellsworth Huntington (1876-1947) argued that climate was the major determinant of civilization ( temperate climate of northwestern Europe produced greater human efficiency and better health conditions)

22. Two opposing views Characteristics of Environmental Determinism Environment control human action and activities Human are badly depended on natural environment Human were live due to environmental force Human were naturalized Human attitude, decision making influence by environment

23. Two opposing views Possibilism The geographic approach that emphasizes human environment relationships is now known as cultural ecology . To explain the relationship between human activities and the physical environment, modern geographers reject environmental determinism in favor of possibilism (the physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment)

24. Two opposing views Characteristics of Possibilism Human were free to choose and decide their activities Natural did not control human being Nature provided opportunities and possibilities to human

25. Two opposing views Probabilism Another school of geographic thought, regional studies, developed in France during the 19th century. Also called the cultural landscape approach, it was initiated by Paul Vidal de la Blache (1845-1918) and Jean Brunhes (1869-1930). It was later adopted by American geographers, including Carl Sauer (1889-1975) and Robert Platt (1880-1950). They rejected the idea that physical factors simply determine human actions. They argued that each place has its own distinctive landscape that results from a unique combination of social relationships and physical processes. Everything in the landscape is interrelated.