The word geography, invented by the ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes, is based on two Greek words. Geo means “Earth,” and graphy means “to write.” Geography is the study of where things are found on Earth’s surface and the reasons for their locations. Human geographers ask two simple questions: Where are people and activities found on Earth? Why are they found there?
I Key Issue 1.1: Why is Geography a Science?
A Geography’s Basic Concepts
1 Geography & History
a. geography—location of places, ask where and why
b. history—important events, ask when and why
2 Everywhere is Unique
a. place—a specific point on Earth, has distinctive characteristics
b. region—an area of Earth defined by one or more distinctive characteristics
3 All Locations are Interrelated
a. scale—relationship between the portion of the Earth being students and the Earth as a whole
b. space—physical gap or interval between two objections
c. connection—relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space
B Mapping
1 Map—two-dimensional or flat-scale model of Earth’s surface or a portion of it
2 Purposes
a. reference tool—location, routes
b. communications tool—depicts distribution of human activities, physical features
3 Geography in the Ancient World
a. Thales of Miletus—used geometry to measure land area
b. Anaximander—claimed world was shaped like a cylinder
c. Pythagoras—claimed world was a sphere
d. Hecataeus—produced first geography book
e. Aristotle—used evidence to demonstrate Earth was a sphere
f. Eratosthenes—invented the world geography, calculated circumference of the Earth
g. Strabo—wrote 17-volume Geographica
h. Ptolemy—wrote eight-volume Geographica, codified principles of mapmaking
4 Geography’s Revival
a. Yu Gong—described economic resources of provinces
b. Pei Xiu—father of Chinese cartography
c. Muhaddad al-Idrisi—Arab geographer, recorded travels
d. Ibn Batuta—Moroccan scholar, recorded travels
e. Martin Waldseemuller—German cartographer, first to use label “America”
f. Abraham Ortelius—Flemish cartographer, first modern atlas
g. Bernhardus Varenius—wrote treatise on systematic geography
C Contemporary Geographic Tools
1 GIScience: Analyzing Data
a. geographic information system—captures, stores, queries, and displays geographic data
b. photogrammetry—science of taking measurements of Earth’s surface from photographs
c. remote sensing—acquisition of data about Earth’s surface from satellites orbiting Earth
2 GPS: Pinpointing Locations
a. Global Positioning System—system determining precise locations on Earth using satellites
b. geotagging—identification of a piece of information through the use of latitude and longitude
3 VGI: Making Maps Yourself
a. volunteered geographic information (VGI)—creation and dissemination of geographic information contributed and shared for free by individuals
b. citizen science—scientific research by amateur scientists
c. participatory GIS (PGIS)—community-based mapping
4 mashup—map with overlays from different sources
D Making Maps
1 Map Scale—relationship of a feature’s size on a map to its actual size on Earth
a. ratio
b. written
c. graphic
2 Projection
a. Definition—methods of transferring locations on Earth’s surface to a flat map
b. Maps distort
i. relative size
ii. shape
iii. distance
iv. direction
c Examples
i. Winkel
ii. Mercator
iii. Goode Homolosine
iv. Gall-Peters—relative size, shape distorted
E Interpreting Maps
1 The Geographic Grid
a. meridian—longitude, time
b. parallels—latitude
2 Types of Maps
a. isoline—connects places of equal value
b. dot distribution—each dot represents a predetermined number of observations
c. choropleth—shaded in proportion to the measure of the variable
d. graduated symbol—symbols sized according to the value of the variable
e. cartogram—size of place proportional to the value of a particular variable
Key Issue 1: Why Is Geography a Science?
Although the earliest humans were practicing Geography, it wasn’t until the ancient Greek philosopher
Eratosthenes that the discipline was bestowed the name it is known by today—geo, from the Greek, meaning “Earth,” and the Greek word graphy, meaning “to write,” were combined to describe the study of where things are found on Earth’s surface and the reasons for the locations. To contrast history with geography, one could view history as posing questions of when and why, while geographers ask questions of where and why.
Two features of human activity encompass the field of human geography as it is covered in this text: culture and economy. Two basic concepts are used by geographers to explain what makes a certain place unique: place and region. A place is a specific point on Earth, distinguished by a particular characteristic. Every place occupies a unique geographic location, or position, on Earth’s surface. A region is an area of Earth defined by one or more defining characteristics. The Earth is partitioned into a number of regions by geographers, such as the Midwest and Latin America.
To explain the relationships between locations, geographers employ three basic concepts: scale, space, and connection. Scale is the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole. Geographers study a variety of scales, from local to global. Space refers to the physical gap or interval between two objects. Connection refers to relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space.
A map is a two-dimensional or flat-scale model of the Earth or a portion of its surface. Cartography is the science of making maps. Maps are used for reference (where things are located) and for communication of the distribution of physical and human features.
Geography in the Ancient World Maps have been created for thousands of years. The earliest maps were used as reference tools—simple navigation devices designed to show a traveler how to get from Point A to Point B. Following the mapmakers of the ancient eastern Mediterranean world, European mapmaking and geographic thought became less mathematical and more fanciful, displaying Earth as a flat disk surrounded by mythical figures and fierce animals.
Geography’s Revival Mapmaking as a reference tool was revived during the Age of Exploration and Discovery. Explorers who sailed across the oceans in search of trade routes and resources in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries required accurate maps to reach their desired destinations without wrecking their ships.
Contemporary Geographic Tools Maps are the geographer’s most essential tool. Maps are used by geographers for displaying geographic information and for displaying the results of geographic analysis.
GIScience: Analyzing Data is the analysis of data relating to Earth acquired through satellite and other electronic information technologies. A geographic information system (GIS) is a complex computer system which stores and presents geographic data. Different types of information are stored in layers. Separate layers may include boundaries of countries, bodies of water, roads, place names, and economic data. GIS-produced maps contain multiple layers and are more accurate and more complex than maps drawn by hand.
The acquisition of data about Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting Earth or from airplanes is known as remote sensing. At any moment, a satellite sensor records the image of a tiny area called a picture element, or pixel. A map created by remote sensing is essentially a grid that contains many rows of pixels. Geographers use remote sensing to map the changing distribution of a wide variety of features, such as agriculture, drought, and sprawl. Remote sensed layers can be further combined and analyzed in a GIS.
GPS: Pinpointing Locations uses satellites to reference locations on the ground. GPS is most commonly used for navigation. Pilots of aircraft and ships stay on course with GPS. On land, GPS detects a vehicle’s current position, the motorist programs the desired destination into a GPS device, and the device provides instructions on how to reach the destination. GPS can also be used to find the precise location of a vehicle or person. Geographers find GPS to be particularly useful in coding the precise location of objects collected in fieldwork. Geotagging is used to identify places by linking a piece of information to its latitude and longitude coordinates.
VGI: Making Maps Yourself Electronic devices such as smart phones, tablets, and computers are ubiquitous parts of culture the world over today. These electronic devices allow individuals to produce maps and share them with others. Volunteered geographic information (VGI) is the creation and dissemination of geographic data contributed voluntarily and for free by individuals using these electronic devices. VGI is part of the wider trends of citizen science, which is scientific research conducted by amateur scientists, and participatory GIS (PGIS), which is community-based mapping.
The term mashup refers to the practice of overlaying data from one source on top of one of the mapping services. Computer users have the ability to create their own GIS maps because mapping services provide access to the application programming interface, which is the language that links a database such as an address list with mapping software. A mashup map can show the locations of businesses and activities within a neighborhood in a city. The requested information could be all pizza parlors within a mile of a certain address. Mapping software can also show the precise locations of gas stations with the lowest prices or current traffic tie-ups on highways.
Map Scale A map’s scale shows the relationship between map units and the actual distance on Earth. A ratio or fraction scale represents the relationship as a ratio, for example, 1: 100,000 means that 1 unit on the map equals 100,000 units on the ground. In a written scale, units are expressed in a simple statement, for example, “1 centimeter equals 1 kilometer.” A graphic scale is shown with scale bar that is used to compare map distance to Earth distance.
Projection Maps are a planar (flat) representation of Earth’s curved surface. Earth is nearly a sphere and is therefore only accurately represented on a globe. Thus, some distortion must result when using maps, especially at small scales (continental or whole-Earth maps). Cartographers chose among hundreds of projections in order to minimize distortion of shape, distance, relative size, and direction.
The Geographic Grid Provides a system by which a place’s location can be described using a coordinate system such as latitude and longitude. Longitude is culturally defined as starting at Greenwich, England, and measures degrees east and west of that line of longitude, or meridian. The zero-degree longitude line in Greenwich, England, is known as the prime meridian. Latitude measures degrees north and south of the equator (0° latitude) which is the line of latitude halfway between the North Pole (90° north latitude) and the South Pole (90° south latitude). A latitude line is known as a parallel because all latitude lines are parallel to the equator. The equator is the parallel with the greatest circumference and is the baseline for measuring latitude. Each degree of latitude or longitude is further divided into 60 minutes and each minute into 60 seconds.
Types of Maps Geographers use a variety of maps to represent distribution of data for one or more variables. Isoline maps connect places with the similar values such as temperature or precipitation. Dot distribution maps use points with each point representing a number of observations.
Distribution maps show clustering or dispersion in a variety of ways. A choropleth map uses color to show quantities of a certain variable. Generally, the darker the color, the higher the value of the variable being shown. Graduated symbol maps also show quantities by using larger size symbols to indicate higher values. Cartograms show the size of a country of U.S. state proportional to the value of a particular variable. The relative positions of the locations are preserved, but size is changed to reflect the variable’s value.
1.1 Key terms
Cartogram
A map in which the projection and scale are distorted in order to convey the information of a variable.
Cartography
The science of drawing maps
Geospatial
Relating to data that is specific to one location
GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
Software that captures, manages, analyzes, and displays data that is collected geographically
GPS (Global Positioning System)
A system that measures distance from a series of satellites to determine location on the planet
Latitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator (00).
Longitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (00).
Map
A two-dimensional or flat, representation of Earth's surface or a portion of it.
Map scale
The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth's surface.
Parallel
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians.
Prime meridian
The meridian, designated as 00 longitude, that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.
Projection
A method of taking a 3D object and putting in on a 2D plane
Qualitative data
Subjective information that is opinion based, is usually descriptive, and often expressed as text
Quantitative data
Objective data that is fact based, usually measurable and usually expressed in numbers
Reference Map
Maps that emphasizes the location of places (without data attached)
Region
A place larger than a point and smaller than a planet that is grouped together because of a measurable or perceived common feature
Region
An area distinguished by one or more distinctive characteristics.
Remote sensing
The science of making measurements of the earth using sensors on airplanes or satellites
Scale
The relationship between the distance on the ground and the corresponding distance on a specific map - also a concept describing how "zoomed in" you are while studying a geographic trait
Scale of Analysis
How zoomed in or out you are when looking at geographic data
Thematic maps
A map that displays not only locations but maps a topic or theme of information with the location
Surveying
Examining and measuring the surface of the Earth for planning, preparing to build, or mapping
Situation
A way of describing where a place is based on its relationships with the surrounding areas