Kerski - Interpreting our world: 100 discoveries that revolutionized geography

Copyright 2016 by ABC-CLIO, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kerski, Joseph J., author.

Title: Interpreting our world : 100 discoveries that revolutionized geography / Joseph J. Kerski.

Description: Santa Barbara, California : ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016015146 | ISBN 9781610699198 (print : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781610699204 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: GeographyHistory. | Discoveries in geographyHistory. | GeographersBiography. | ExplorersBiography.

Classification: LCC G80 .K47 2016 | DDC 910.9dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016015146

ISBN: 978-1-61069-919-8

EISBN: 978-1-61069-920-4

201918171612345

This book is also available as an eBook.

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The maps on used by permission. 2016 Esri.

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I would like to thank all the geography educators, in primary schools, secondary schools, community and technical colleges, universities, and in after-school and informal educational settings from libraries to national parks, who are dedicated to the teaching and learning of geography. As I hope this book makes clear, at no time has geography been more critical to the world and its people, and I salute the dedication that these educators have to increasing and fostering geographic literacy.

I also thank you, the reader of this book, for your interest in the subject, and your interest in the world around you. I ask you to consider, through the use of this book, how you might tell those in your sphere of influence how important the geographic perspective is to our 21st-century world.

I am especially grateful to my spouse, Janell, for encouraging me to press on with the writing of this book from its beginnings to its completion.

I also thank the visionary people at ABC-CLIO for their mission of providing high-quality resources for education.

Geography is revolutionary. Consider the task that is set before every geographer: Make sense of the whole world and everything in it. To consider the world as a system of systems, to create tools in which it is possible to study the world in its entirety and its variety, and to help the world become a more sustainable one in which its people, animals, and plants can thrive, is a radical, or revolutionary, idea. It is fitting that the title of this book focuses on 100 discoveries that revolutionized geography, for the history of geography is a series of ideas and innovations that changed our world, shaping it into what it is today.

It is also fitting that the title of this book is Interpreting Our World: 100 Discoveries That Revolutionized Geography, for a chief task of geographers is to do just thatinterpret the world. To even attempt to understand the complex, interconnected 21st-century world in which we live is a major feat. But not only do geographers unflinchingly take on this task, they do so in three ways: First, geographers bring deep and rich content knowledge to our world, from the way river systems work to the manner in which human populations are changing; from the impact that natural hazards have on locations and the people living in those locations to the impact that global trade has on transportation, energy, food security, and human health.

Second, geographers bring specific skills to understanding the world. The skills include knowing how to perform spatial analysis within a geographic information system (GIS) environment or how to operate a GPS receiver or an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Indeed, the development of these technologies have been revolutionary not just to geography but also to peoples everyday lives: Consider the number of times you have accessed a live Web map on your laptop, tablet, or phone, or one in a vehicle (light rail, train, or bus) in the past week. These live Web maps were developed in large part by geographers. Geographers make extensive use of tools, but they are also critical of their use, recognizing that even GIS often oversimplifies the complex nature of the Earth, or that map projections or map symbology can influence perceptions that people develop about the world and the data being portrayed.

And geographers are even critical of methods used by their own discipline, such as the research by Tuan and others who maintained that quantitative methods are useful but that the sense of place is still an important force acting in our world, one that is worthy of appreciation and study. This critical nature of geography has always been a part of the discipline: Robert Morden, who co-created a globe in the 1680s, declared in his Geography Rectified, or, A Description of the World (1693), It is a boldness justifiable by truth, to affirm that all former Geographies diligently compared with the more accurate Observations and Discoveries of late years are greatly defective, and strangely erroneous.

Other skills honed by geographers include quantitative and qualitative research techniques, thinking critically about data, and modeling geographic inquiry. The geographic inquiry model begins with asking thoughtful questions and moves to gathering data, assessing data, analyzing that data, interpreting the results, and making a decision and recommending solutions. This usually leads to additional questions. In fact, asking good questions is the most important part of the process. All of the revolutionary geographic thinkers described in this book asked difficult questions and sought to find the answers. Eratosthenes asked, How large is the Earth? Thomas Malthus asked, What are the constraints that agricultural production could have on future population growth? James Hutton asked, What processes created the landforms that we see, and how do they work?

Third, geographers bring the geographic, or spatial, perspective to issues and events. The geographic perspective considers scale, changes over space and time, the uniqueness of and commonalities between places and regions, and the importance of geographic patterns, relationships, and trends. It is, in short, a quest to understand the whys of where. The geographic perspective brings a holistic view while not neglecting the components of that whole. Geographers consider the impact on, above, and below the surface of the Earth of concepts such as atmospheric conditions, urbanization, land survey systems, agriculture, and ecoregions. Geographers bring a systems approachthey recognize that such things as climate, oceans, biomes, and the carbon cycle represent major systems that are interconnected but are also connected to other systems.

Nearly all of the innovations described in this book cut both ways: Geography influenced many scientific and cultural advancements, and conversely, the scientific and cultural advancements influenced geography. For example, photography was seized upon by geographers, who pushed it to airplanes and then satellites, allowing the research community to study the Earth from above. But aerial photography and remote sensing also influenced society, as Web mapping tools allowed the general public to see their planet from the skies, greatly aiding city planning, agriculture, archaeology, meteorology, and other disciplines. In another example, geographers had great influence on the environmental and land conservation movements, but these movements also had an influence on the research and teaching agenda in geography.