WHAT DOES GEOGRAPHY STUDY?
Since ancient times, man has felt the need for geographical, that is, land-descriptive knowledge. Familiarity with one's own country has always been considered imperative from a purely practical point of view, while knowledge of other countries has been largely dictated by curiosity. But geography as a science for a long time could not rise above the primitive stage of simple data collection. This initial period continued until the obtained data began to be compared with each other and until appropriate conclusions began to be drawn from this comparison. When this happened, geography became a true science. But then the question arose about her own method and its place among other previously established sciences. For many generations, people have been attracted to one side or another of geography. The basic concepts of the new science changed accordingly.
Geography is the science of the distribution of objects and phenomena on the surface of the Earth.
He was the first to use the concept of “geography” ( compound word, in which “Ge” means Earth, and “grapho” means description) by the ancient Greek scientist Eratosthenes. He lived in III V. BC But people have defined a circle geographical issues long before that. Story geographical knowledge is a chronicle of human efforts undertaken in an effort to obtain as much scientific and practical information about your surroundings and the distribution of people across to the globe: scientific - in an attempt to explain the observed phenomena with a sufficient degree of reliability (through testing and verification), and practical - in order to use them to make life easier for people in various natural conditions, in order to be able to modify unfavorable environmental conditions or even establish control over them .
Curiosity. It all started with him. Nothing prevents us from assuming that among the very first questions that I asked myself primitive man, there were also those that related to the properties of the surrounding natural environment. Like many other animals, primitive man allocated certain areas earth's surface as a territory necessary for his life. And like many other animals, he was constantly tormented by a vague premonition that, perhaps, in some other places the grass was even greener. Curiosity pushed him to search, giving rise to the desire to find out what was behind the nearest ridge of hills that limited his horizon. But the world that he discovered was imprinted in his consciousness only narrowly and one-sidedly. Therefore, for a long time historical period people have discovered and described many different worlds. Apparently, a person's ability to observe and generalize the results of observation is limitless. But along with the improvement of this ability in a person’s consciousness, the picture of the world he creates also changes, which, however, does not interfere with everyone possible worlds remain in reality quite different from their descriptions.
The human world includes everything that, being on the surface of the Earth, he can perceive and know with the help of his senses. Earth is a medium-sized planet orbiting a medium-sized cosmic " nuclear reactor", which we call the Sun. If you imagine the Sun to be the size of an orange, then the Earth at the same scale would look like the head of a pin, about a foot away from it. However, this pinhead is large enough to use gravity to hold a thin film of gases called the atmosphere near its surface. In addition, the Earth is located at such a distance from the Sun that in the lower, surface layers of the atmosphere provides a temperature that allows water to be in a liquid state.
The shape of the Earth is close to spherical, but more precisely it is a geoid, a unique figure - a ball “flattened” at the poles.
The “face” of the Earth is a sphere, the depth and height of which from the day’s surface are determined by the degree of human penetration into it. All sciences and all forms of art are born of the observations and perceptions of people within this sphere, which personifies right up to the beginning Space age the entire human world. But it's very complex world: it develops phenomena caused by physical and chemical processes, there are plants and animals - the result biological processes; Man himself lives here, exposed to the influence of his natural environment and at the same time serving as the cause of changes occurring in it that arise in connection with economic, social and political events. All these phenomena and events exist in a complex combination and relationships with each other, forming what is calledgeographical envelope.
The geographic shell is a set of four interconnected and interpenetrating shells: the hydrosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere and biosphere.
Main feature geographic envelope is that life exists in it, humanity arose and is developing.
Therefore, the interaction of Man and Nature is the most important subject geographical study. Here I would like to quote the words of B.B. Rodoman: “The existence of geography does not need to be justified by the needs of science and practice. Geography is an established cultural phenomenon; famous landmark of civilization; a pyramid of knowledge and ideas accumulated by humanity; a monument to the people who died exploring the oceans and deserts, so you can doze in your chair while flying over the Atlantic or the Sahara. Living a century on Earth and not becoming familiar with geography is the same as visiting Egypt without seeing the pyramids, or visiting Moscow without looking at the Kremlin.
Geography is very much a science for children. In the era of computers and space flights it is perceived as a fairy tale. But without fairy tales there is no childhood.”
Geography tells about the childhood of mankind, about how people discovered the Earth. This story is contained not only in the presentation of the history of travel and geographical research, but also in those left over from the past geographical names (Strait of Magellan, Drake Strait, Tasmania Island, Barents Sea, Bering Strait, Cape Chelyuskin, Laptev Sea, Chersky Ridge, etc.. ). Getting to know the Earth, geographical discoveries are made anew by each generation.
Educated man must have a holistic understanding of the Earth, of his country. The love of geography will fill your life with such interesting and multifaceted activities as tourism - a source of personal geographical discoveries, a stimulator of ecological thinking and a selfless, non-covetous attitude towards the world. Few will become professional geographers, but everyone will have extensive geographic practice. These are all kinds of forced travel, and trips for recreation and entertainment, to satisfy curiosity.
Have a nice trip!
Geography is one of the ancient sciences in the world. Even primitive people studied their terrain, drawing the first primitive maps on the walls of their caves. Of course modern science Geography poses completely different tasks. Which ones exactly? What is she studying? And what definition can be given to this science?
Defining Geography: Main Issues and Difficulties
If physics teaches “how”, history explains “when” and “why”, then geography tells “where”. Of course, this is a very simplified view of this subject.
Geography is a very old science. The term itself has ancient Greek roots and is literally translated as “land description”. And its foundation was laid precisely in antiquity. The first geographer is called Claudius Ptolemy, who in the second century published a book with an ambiguous title: “Geography”. The work consisted of eight volumes.
Among other scientists who made a significant contribution to the development of geography as a science, it is worth highlighting Gerhard Mercator, Alexander Humboldt, Karl Ritter, Walter Christaller, Vladimir Vernadsky,
A precise and uniform definition of geography still remains sufficient challenging task. According to one of several interpretations, it is a system of sciences that studies various aspects functioning and structure of geography There is another definition of geography, according to which this science studies the patterns of distribution of any phenomenon across the earth's surface. But Professor V.P. Budanov wrote that although the content of geography is very difficult to determine, its object, without any doubt, is the surface of the entire globe.
Geography as the science of the geographical envelope of the Earth
Nevertheless, the main object of study is the geographical shell of the Earth. Domestic science gives following definition this term. is a holistic and continuous shell of planet Earth, which consists of five structural parts:
- lithosphere;
- hydrosphere;
- atmosphere;
- biosphere;
- anthroposphere.
Moreover, they are all in close and constant interaction, exchanging matter, energy and information.
The geographic envelope has its own parameters (thickness is approximately 25-27 kilometers), and also has certain patterns. Among these are integrity (unity of components and structures), rhythm (periodic repetition of natural phenomena), latitudinal zonation, altitudinal zone.
Structure of geographical science
The distinction between natural and bold lines passed along the “body” of the once uniform geographical science, scattering its individual disciplines into completely different planes scientific research. Thus, some physiographic branches are more closely related to physics or chemistry than to population or economics.
Geography of the Earth is divided into two large disciplines.
- Physical.
- Social and economic.
The first group includes hydrography, climatology, geomorphology, glaciology, soil geography and others. It is not difficult to guess that they are studying natural objects. The second group includes population, urban studies (the science of cities), regional studies and others.
Connections with other sciences
How closely is geography related to other sciences? What place does it occupy in the system of scientific disciplines?
Geography has the most close ties with such sciences as mathematics, history, physics and chemistry, economics, biology and psychology. Like any other discipline, it is also genetically related to philosophy and logic.
It is worth noting that some of these interscientific connections were so strong that they gave rise to entirely new so-called cross-cutting disciplines. These include the following:
- cartography (geography + geometry);
- toponymy (geography + linguistics);
- historical geography (geography + history);
- soil science (geography + chemistry).
The main geographical problems at the present stage of scientific development
Strange as it may sound, one of the most important geographical problems is the definition of geography as a science. Moreover, methodologists and theorists are so keen on solving this problem that the question has already arisen: does such a science exist at all?
In the 21st century, the role of the predictive function of geographical science has increased. By using huge amount Using analytical and factual data, various geomodels are built (climatic, geopolitical, environmental, etc.).
The main task of geography in modern stage- not only be aware of the deep connections between natural phenomena and social processes, but also learn to predict them. One of the most important branches of science today is geourbanism. The world's urban population is growing every year. Largest cities planets are facing new problems and challenges that require immediate and constructive solutions.
WHAT DOES GEOGRAPHY STUDY?
Since ancient times, man has felt the need for geographical, that is, land-descriptive knowledge. Familiarity with one's own country has always been considered imperative from a purely practical point of view, while knowledge of other countries has been largely dictated by curiosity. But geography as a science for a long time could not rise above the primitive stage of simple data collection. This initial period continued until the obtained data began to be compared with each other and until appropriate conclusions began to be drawn from this comparison. When this happened, geography became a true science. But then the question arose about its own method and its place among other previously established sciences. For many generations, people have been attracted to one side or another of geography. The basic concepts of the new science changed accordingly.
Geography is the science of the distribution of objects and phenomena on the surface of the Earth.
The first to use the concept of “geography” (a compound word in which “Ge” means Earth, and “grapho” - description) was the ancient Greek scientist Eratosthenes. He lived in III V. BC But people had defined the range of geographical issues long before that. The history of geographical knowledge is the chronicle of human efforts to obtain as much scientific and practical information as possible about their environment and the distribution of people around the globe: scientific - in an attempt to explain observed phenomena with a reasonable degree of reliability (through testing and verification), and practical - in order to use them to make life easier for people in various natural conditions, in order to be able to modify unfavorable environmental conditions or even establish control over them.
Curiosity. It all started with him. Nothing prevents us from assuming that among the very first questions that primitive man asked himself were those related to the properties of his natural environment. Like many other animals, primitive man identified certain areas of the earth's surface as the territory necessary for his life. And like many other animals, he was constantly tormented by a vague premonition that, perhaps, in some other places the grass was even greener. Curiosity pushed him to search, giving rise to the desire to find out what was behind the nearest ridge of hills that limited his horizon. But the world that he discovered was imprinted in his consciousness only narrowly and one-sidedly. Therefore, over a long period of history, people discovered and described many different worlds. Apparently, a person's ability to observe and generalize the results of observation is limitless. But along with the improvement of this ability in a person’s consciousness, the picture of the world he creates also changes, which, however, does not prevent all possible worlds from remaining in reality very different from their descriptions.
The human world includes everything that, being on the surface of the Earth, he can perceive and know with the help of his senses. Earth is a medium-sized planet orbiting a medium-sized cosmic “nuclear reactor” that we call the Sun. If you imagine the Sun to be the size of an orange, then the Earth at the same scale would look like the head of a pin, about a foot away from it. However, this pinhead is large enough to use gravity to hold a thin film of gases called the atmosphere near its surface. In addition, the Earth is located at such a distance from the Sun that in the lower, surface layers of the atmosphere provides a temperature that allows water to be in a liquid state.
The shape of the Earth is close to spherical, but more precisely it is a geoid, a unique figure - a ball “flattened” at the poles.
The “face” of the Earth is a sphere, the depth and height of which from the day’s surface are determined by the degree of human penetration into it. All sciences and all types of art are born of the observations and perceptions of people within this sphere, which personified the entire human world until the beginning of the Space Age. But this is a very complex world: in it phenomena develop that are caused by physical and chemical processes, there are plants and animals - the result of biological processes; Man himself lives here, exposed to the influence of his natural environment and at the same time serving as the cause of changes occurring in it that arise in connection with economic, social and political events. All these phenomena and events exist in a complex combination and relationships with each other, forming what is calledgeographical envelope.
The geographic shell is a set of four interconnected and interpenetrating shells: the hydrosphere, atmosphere, lithosphere and biosphere.
The main feature of the geographical shell is that life exists in it, humanity arose and is developing.
Therefore, the interaction of Man and Nature is the most important subject of geographical study. Here I would like to quote the words of B.B. Rodoman: “The existence of geography does not need to be justified by the needs of science and practice. Geography is an established cultural phenomenon; famous landmark of civilization; a pyramid of knowledge and ideas accumulated by humanity; a monument to the people who died exploring the oceans and deserts, so you can doze in your chair while flying over the Atlantic or the Sahara. Living a century on Earth and not becoming familiar with geography is the same as visiting Egypt without seeing the pyramids, or visiting Moscow without looking at the Kremlin.
Geography is very much a science for children. In the era of computers and space flights, it is perceived as a fairy tale. But without fairy tales there is no childhood.”
Geography tells about the childhood of mankind, about how people discovered the Earth. This story is contained not only in the history of travel and geographical exploration, but also in the geographical names left over from the past (Strait of Magellan, Drake Strait, Tasmania Island, Barents Sea, Bering Strait, Cape Chelyuskin, Laptev Sea, Chersky Ridge, etc.. ). Getting to know the Earth, geographical discoveries are made anew by each generation.
An educated person must have a holistic understanding of the Earth and his country. The love of geography will fill your life with such interesting and multifaceted activities as tourism - a source of personal geographical discoveries, a stimulator of environmental thinking and a selfless, non-covetous attitude towards the world. Few will become professional geographers, but everyone will have extensive geographic practice. These are all kinds of forced travel, and trips for recreation and entertainment, to satisfy curiosity.
Have a nice trip!
Did you like geography at school? Or did you sit through class, thinking about something else and counting the minutes until the bell rang for recess? Perhaps you are facing difficulties in teaching discipline to your children? To love geography, first you need to understand what is it for? and to what benefits does it have? for all humanity and for each person individually. This is exactly what I will talk about now.
Why is geography needed?
Geography- Very interesting and educational science, which consists of many aspects. Thanks to her, it is formed idea of the planet where we live. Oh her internal structure, formation and movement. About what phenomena occur in the world around us, why and how this happens, how they interact with each other.
What does geography study:
- Structure of the Earth, her shell, place in solar system .
- degree network , which allows you to find any country or city on the world map.
- Parts of the world,countries, cities, mountain ranges, seas and oceans.
- Animals and plants who live on our planet.
- Population, peculiarities economic development .
- Climate, natural conditions , the relationship of natural phenomena.
Who needs geography
Geography- this is not only a general school subject that introduces us to general ideas about the Earth and its inhabitants. She also necessary in many professions.
All professions related to agriculture : soil scientist, soil scientist, florist, gardener, landscape designer. Highly specialized professions: geologist, hydrologist, surveyor, agronomist, forester, pilot. Among modern professions geography will be useful: journalists, specialists in the field international relations, archaeologists, logistics specialists, tour operators, translators, tour guides. And this is not the entire list of areas of activity in which the knowledge of such a science as geography plays important role.
Travel lovers
Not only when choosing a profession is it worth thinking about studying geography. You may be a programmer or an accountant, for example, but in free time love to travel.
You need to choose a country, having previously studied its location, climate, ecology, culture, and economy. If you are a fan of hiking, climbing mountains, then knowledge about the earth’s surfaces, flora and fauna, natural phenomena will be vitally needed. Geography is the world around us!
