Summer Assignment In the book “Why Geography Matters More Than Ever”, the author, Harm de Blij, discusses the importance of geography, how it can affect us in any place or any time, and why it matters. But most importantly, he succeeds to advance our perception of the world’s geography. Throughout the book de Blij highlights the many benefits of being educated about geography. He explains that it is important that we are informed about this topic so we can be more prepared for the events happening around the world. This book illustrates just how essential it is to be well-educated when it comes to geography. Throughout the book, Harm de Blij brings to our attention how illiterate Americans are when it comes to geography. He brings us This is an example of absolute location not to be confused with relative location because here, de Blij uses coordinates to indicate where the capitals are located. “Now the possibility arises that further global warming, speeded up by human pollution of the atmosphere, will cause a further rise in sea levels”(134). This quote is a great representation of human-environment interaction because it demonstrates how our actions as humans can have a large impact on the environment. “The Black Death swept over an already weakened Europe in waves that often killed half the population or more…”(pg 130). This quote provides an example of movement because it shows that not only humans move, other things such as disease, ideas, and recourses travel around just as much. “Just as americans use geographic references such as ‘Midwest’ and ‘Great Plains,’ so do Russians refer to their vast country’s broad physiographic regions”(pg 273-274). Here, de Blij briefly explains what a region is and takes us through some of the regions of Russia. These themes help provide a more organised way of learning about
them to. This example is significant to the topic because it shows that the geography of the
“Longitudes and Attitudes”, written by Thomas Friedman, is a collection of columns, broken by September 11th’s great catastrophe and including material from his diary. The book displays his outstanding strengths as a commentator along with a few weaknesses.
Blij has clearly put this book into historical significance by mentioning the idea of geography and how it plays a role in societies all over the world. However, the five themes of culture regions, cultural diffusion, cultural interaction, cultural ecology, and cultural landscapes are all clearly defined within a specific context to a particular nation. Through reading this intriguing piece of literature I received the underlying notion that Blij firmly believes that landscapes of the world realm are not going to change. De Blij worldview of regions, diffusion, interaction, ecology, and landscapes has allowed him to simultaneously link issues together from the United States all the way to Southeast Asia.
Historical geographer JB Harley wrote an essay on Map Deconstruction in 1989, in which Harley argues that a map is more than just a geographical representation of an area, his theory is that we need to look at a map not just as a geographical image but in its entire context. Harley points out that by an examination of the social structures that have influenced map making, that we may gain more knowledge about the world. The maps social construction is made from debate about what it should show. Harley broke away from the traditional argument about maps and examined the biases that govern the map and the map makers, by looking at what the maps included or excluded. Harley’s “basic argument within this essay is that we should encourage an epistemological shift in the way we interpret the nature of cartography.” Therefore Harley’s aim within his essay on ‘Deconstructing the Map’ was to break down the assumed ideas of a map being a purely scientific creation.
The book A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah has a setting, which coincides with “Geography Matters” (Chapter 19 of How to Read Literature like a Professor). This chapter explains how geographical location can explain how a novel will turn out to be. Geography also sets circumstances and limitations in a novel. Themes, symbols, plot, and most important character development can all be introduced from geographical location.
India and China however, were landlocked and were by far the greatest industrial powers in the world till the Industrial revolution. Technology, not geography, helped temperate agriculture and industry to zoom ahead. One way a country overcomes geographical isolation is to improve its transportation infrastructure. Better roads, ports, paths, and other modes of transport provide access to world markets. But a country can only derive full benefits from these investments against a backdrop of good trade and macroeconomic policies. Consequently this leads to the belief that people again control the thought of their own geography.
During the 1950’s a revolutionary movement influencing everyday life and the city; members of Situationist International Guy Debord and Asger Jorn founded psychogeography and defined the research as: "the study of the precise effects of geographical setting, consciously managed or not, acting directly on the mood or behaviour of the individual." (International Situationniste, 1958) These areas were mainly perceived as a new domain of experiment with the prospect of analysing the everyday familiarity of society and exploring the alienation highly involved within class society and capitalist production; infiltrating the fabrics of our social and cultural lives as we know it. There is the understanding of the “precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organised or not, on the emotions and behaviour of
This paper contains several applicable national standards for geography. Liechtenstein's position in the Alps and on the Rhine apply to analyzing the spatial organization of people, places, and environments on Earth's surface. Because of the modern trend of globalization, and consolidation, many people have never heard of Liechtenstein. This applies to how culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions. Liechtenstein's diminutive size can be applied in using geography to interpret the past, to interpret the present, and plan for the future.
‘Through identifying places and organizing them, we make sense of the world we inhibit’ (Unwin,
De, Blij Harm J., and Peter O. Muller. Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts. New York: J. Wiley, 1997. 340. Print.
The claim being discussed here is that the only way a map or a way of representing things can be useful is if it simplifies the knowledge that the actual territory gives, that is, if it reduces the salient i...
Since the beginning of humankind, the study of geography has captured the imagination of the people. In ancient times, geography books extolled tales of distant lands and dreamed of treasures. The ancient Greeks created the word "geography" from the roots "ge" for earth and "grapho" for "to write." These people experienced many adventures and needed a way to explain and communicate the differences between various lands. Today, researchers in the field of geography still focus on people and cultures (cultural geography), and the planet earth (physical geography).
To counter balance Cartesianism Hirsch puts forward Vico’s argument of ‘sensory topics’ which places imagery of shared identities and interactions at the heart of the landscape. The relationship between the physical and the metaphorical whilst very separate can be united. Only when the physical place or subject oriented (‘indexical’) place can be examined then the metaphorical space, non-subject orientated (‘non-indexical’) can begin to be understood (Gell, 1985). Thus the development of the indexical (e.g. maps) can lead to the understanding of the non-dexical (e.g. images). Mutually related.
Document 7 says “Recent world events lend a sense of urgency to geographic inquiry. Geography’s spatial perspectives help to relate economic changes in Europe, the Middle East, and other regions to the spatial distributions of cultural features...population growth and migration…”. The statement is saying that the locations of cities and countries or regions contribute or affect to other places. For example, places in the Eastern hemisphere might have the same languages. The language spreads throughout the land as migration takes place, causing languages, cultures, and religions to spread. Places might be where they are today because of the spread of those things into that region thousands of years ago. In document 8, the author states “Maps and mapping, of course, play a key role in how geographers analyze and portray the world. They are also key in introducing to others geographers’ ideas about the way that places and regions are made and altered.” From the text, you can see that the author is saying that without maps and mapping of the land, other geographers might not be able to see what other geographers see, people may not know what the world looks like. Therefore, without maps, humans would not know what the Earth actually looks like from above without going into space which is most likely impossible for most people. Geographers would not know where things are located on the surface and they would not be able to understand why places are at the locations that they
The Royal Geographical Society (RGS) in 1830 was established in London and in 1859 received the royal charter from Queen Victoria. The purpose was to explore ‘unknown’ lands for the purpose of scientific investigations and to share discoveries of the exploration with other geographers. The society was established in order to advance Geography as a subject and science it is viewed as vital in shaping the past and future of Geography. The society was also a heavy influence in establishing Geography as an actual academic subject when Oxford ratified a readership of Geography in 1887 (Bonnett, 2008). This essay will discuss the influence the Royal Geographical Society (with the institute of British Geographers) had on the history of geography and how that in turn has formed and shaped the geography of today.