Geographers study the interrelations of the world such as: climate, population, economic globalization, international migration, and many other relations. They find associations between elements of humans and biophysical domains, which is fitting, because geography come from the Greek words which mean earth describing. The need for geography has remained significant since the beginning of human kind, but the Greeks were the first to establish geography as logical body of knowledge. Ultimately, geography is a broad area of knowledge that seeks relations between spatial association and human movement thorough the use of maps. There is an old fable given in the reading that aids the understanding of geography.
The fable begins with three blind villagers who come across an elephant. The first villager feels the elephant’s leg, and automatically thinks it is a tree trunk. Next, the second villager grabs the tail of the elephant. The villager is certain the elephant is a rope. Lastly, the third villager touches the elephant’s trunk. Immediately, the villager believes the elephant to be a snake. This fable shows how human interaction with the world around them varies from person to person. Geographers have been seeking to comprehend the “proverbial elephant”, or in other words they pursue connections between human interaction and the world around them.
Geography is a broad area with many subsections, such as: physical geography, climatology, biogeography, geomorphology, and patterns geography. This book focuses on human geography, which studies the patterns and changing aspects of humans and their environment. Human geography can be narrowed down in to subcategories of study for example: urban geography or cultural geography. There is considerable amount of overlap in these areas of study.
To most people that study the world around them, they appreciate the world as distinctive place, but people with different discipline often view the world differently. The example given in our textbook was the study of corn and how different areas would examine different parts of corn. For example, an economist would study the micro and macroeconomics, where as a soil scientist would study the chemistry of the soil, and of course a geographer would study spatial patterns. The textbook then gives real word examples of three different geographer named John Borchert, Piers Blaikie, and Judith Carney. For instance John Borchert considered the connection between cities and their trade areas. These examples link how geography can be employed in the real world. It is vital for geographers to be able to read and understand maps in their jobs.
Maps are a large part of understanding the connections between humankind and their spatial environment, but it is important to have some suspicions about maps. Although is essential to lie on maps to reveal relationships, it is critical to know that cartographers are not licensed. Author, Mark Monmonier promotes people to have some skepticism when looking at maps in his book, How to Lie. Monmonier warns people that although it is essential to tell white lies within maps, it is important to look out for real lies. Incorrect maps can guide geographers to the wrong conclusion.
Geography helps us understand and explain the world’s history. The article, 1491 by Charles C. Mann examine the Western Hemisphere. This article shows how geography is crucial in understanding why and how things