Now in its third edition,
Human Geography has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect the recent changes in scholarship in human geography. The book explores all aspects of human geography and introduces students to the relevant methodologies within the discipline. It explains how human geography has a strong explanatory power for major cultural and economic issues, and reveals its human impact on the surrounding environment.
No one methodology dominates this book. Human geography is presented as a wide-ranging discipline, which focuses on the concepts of space and place, with interest in cultural and economic issues. By acknowledging that human geography is closely linked to other disciplines -- social sciences, humanities, and physical science -- this text helps to ensure that human geographic learning is applied to other academic contexts. It also emphasizes disciplinary history in order to give students an appreciation of the longevity of human geography.
This new edition features substantial revisions, updates, and additions, including new text, boxes, figures, tables, maps, and color photographs. There is also new factual information relating to population (chapter 5 and 6) and political matter (chapter 9). The front and back covers of the text feature world maps of political boundaries and world relief and drainage, providing useful references for students. Human Geography introduces the diverse scope of human geography, its fascinating history, and its close links with other disciplines. It explains why human geographers do what they do and encourages students to explore this eclectic and exciting discipline.
Introducing human geography from a unique global perspective, this concise but comprehensive work provides readers with a basis for understanding the human world as it is today and as it has evolved through the centuries. Exploring the long history of human geography, from pre-classical maps to today's technical advances, and stressing its links with other academic disciplines in the social sciences, humanities, and physical sciences, the book offers a new organizational framework exploring all of human geography in a logical sequence, and introducing all relevant methodologies, including environmental determinism and possibi8lism, positivism, humanism, and Marxism. The author presents human geography as a pragmatic, wide-ranging discipline, grounded in space and place, with a strong explanatory power for major cultural and economic issues, continually evolving in response to the changing needs of society. Offering readers a firm foundation in theory, Human Geography also provides a wealth of provocative case studies chosen to illustrate philosophical and conceptual ideas, and to impart basic geographical knowledge. Accessible and comprehensive, it is essential reading for anyone who needs to understand the world we live in, and how we live in the world. _
List of Figues
List of Tables
List of Boxes
Preface
To the Student
Introduction
Three Recurring Themes
Why Human Geography?
The Goal of Human Geography
The Human Geographer at Work
About This Book
About Being a Human Geographer
Summary
Writing to Peruse
Chapter 1 What Is Human Geography?
What This Chapter Is About
Preclassical Geography
Classical Geography
The Fifth to Fifteenth Centuries: Geography in Europe, China, and the Islamic World
The Age of European Exploration and Discovery
Geography Rethought
Institutionalization: 1874-1903
Prelude to the Present: 1903-70
Contemporary Geography
Postscript
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writing to Peruse
Chapter 2 Studying Human Geography
What This Chapter Is About
Philosophical Options
Human Geographic Concepts
Techniques of Analysis
A Concluding Question
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 3 The Earth: A Human Environment
What This Chapter Is About
Planet Earth
Physical Processes
Making the Physical Landscape
Global Environments
Life on Earth
Human Origins
Conclusion
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 4 The Earth: A Fragile Home
What This Chapter Is About
A Global Perspective
Humans as Simplifiers of Ecosystems
Environmental Ethics
Human Impacts
Earth's Vital Signs
Sustainability and Sustainable Development
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 5 The Human Population: History and Concepts
What This Chapter Is About
Fertility and Mortality
History of Population Growth
Explaining Population Growth
The Need for Better Explanations
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 6 The Human Population: An Unequal World
What This Chapter Is About
Distribution and Density
Migration
Refugees
The Less Developed World
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writing to Peruse
Chapter 7 Cultures: The Evolution and Regionalization of Landscape
What This Chapter Is About
A World Divided by Culture?
Humans in Groups
The Evolution of Culture
Cultural Regions
The Making of Cultural Landscapes
Language
Religion
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 8 Cultures: Symbolic and Social Landscapes
What This Chapter Is About
Rethinking Culture: A Symbolic View
Types of Society
Social Theory
Landscape as Place
Vernacular Regions
Ethnicity
Landscapes and Power Relations
Popular Culture and Folk Culture
Group Engineering
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 9 The Political World
What This Chapter Is About
State Creation
Geopolitics (and Geopolitik)
The Stability of States
The Role of the State
Elections: Geography Matters
The Geography of Peace and War
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 10 Agriculture
What This Chapter Is About
The Agricultural Location Problem
Distance, Land Value, and Land Use
World Agriculture: Origins, Evolution, and Regions
Contemporary Agricultural Landscapes
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 11 Settlement
What This Chapter Is About
Rural Settlement
Origins and Growth of Cities
Urban Locations: I. Historical Explanations
Urban Locations: II. Central Place Theory
Cities in the More Developed World
Cities in the Less Developed World
Summary
Some Links to other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 12 Industry and Regional Development
What This Chapter Is About
The Industrial Location Problem
The Industrial Revolution
World Industrial Patterns
Industrial Restructuring
The Geography of Uneven Development
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Chapter 13 The Geography of Movement
What This Chapter Is About
Concepts of Distance and Space
Diffusion
Transportation
Trade
Summary
Some Links to Other Chapters
Writings to Peruse
Conclusion The Human Geography of the Future... and the Future of Human Geography
Changing Human Landscapes
Changing Human Geography
Being a Human Geographer: Where We Began
Summary
Writings to Peruse
Glossary
References
Index