The word "geography" from the ancient Greek language is translated as "description of the earth." This science, as is commonly believed, originated in ancient times. Previously, she performed slightly different tasks than now. What questions does modern geography answer? What does she do and what problems does she solve? Let's try to figure it out.
Geography yesterday
The natural phenomena familiar to us, phenomena (such as rain, wind or an earthquake) were very puzzling to ancient people. They could not explain their origin, and therefore were afraid. Later, people invented gods for themselves, who, they believed, were responsible for all these phenomena.
It is believed that the ancient Greek scientist Eratosthenes “invented” the science of geography in the third century BC. Antique geography has achieved a lot. In particular, numerous maps were compiled, coordinates of points were determined, assumptions were made regarding the shape of the Earth and its internal structure, the first attempts were made to measure the parameters of our planet. The next leap in the development of geography took place already in the Renaissance.
Eratosthenes, Herodotus, Claudius Ptolemy, Gerhard Mercator, Karl Ritter, Alexander Humboldt, Mikhail Lomonosov, Vladimir Vernadsky - all these names are written in golden letters in the history of geographical science.
What questions does modern geography answer? And what is its specificity as a science? This will be discussed later.
Geography today
Modern geography is the science of the distribution of natural as well as socio-economic phenomena in space. She studies the relationship between nature and man, and advises on how best to society to use the resources of our planet.
The development of modern geography takes place in close collaboration with other disciplines: physics, economics, chemistry, history, psychology and so on. And today it itself has turned into a complex and ramified system of sciences and applied industries.
In general, modern geography is usually divided into two large sections:
- Physical geography (studies natural processes and phenomena).
- Socio-economic geography (studies the population and economic activities of mankind).
What does modern geography do?
Geography, like any other science, moves forward and develops. Nevertheless, she retained the results of the achievements of scientists of past eras. In particular, the principle of the study of processes from the point of view of cause-effect relationships, laid down by Ritter and Humboldt, is also traced in modern geographical studies.
What questions does modern geography answer? If earlier she was looking for answers mainly to the question “where?”, Today she is more interested in the problems “why?” and "how?"
Today, two main trends in the development of geographical science can be distinguished. The first is the greening of all her research. The second is that geography in a modern post-industrial society is becoming more and more practical. Its separate industry, the so-called strategic geography, is gaining popularity. She is studying the properties of the geographical environment, as well as predicting their impact on society.
In modern theoretical geography, the most heated discussions cause the following problems:
- the problem of a single object of study;
- the problem of the unity of geographical science;
- the problem of the philosophical foundations of geography;
- the practicality of science and others.
Geographical science, in fact, has existed for about two and a half thousand years. But only today many scientists have a question: is it worth highlighting this science in general? Does geography have a right to exist in modern realities? This issue remains debatable.
Increasingly, among modern geographers, such terms as “landscape”, “geosystem”, “geopolitics”, “strategy”, etc. are heard.
Finally…
The role of geography in the modern world is quite large. Indeed, in the 21st century, she considers the Earth not just as the third planet from the Sun, but as a house, a haven for seven billion people. And it is geography today that is more than any other science engaged in the problem of optimizing relations in the "man - nature" system.
What questions does modern geography answer? Today, she is looking for answers not only to her traditional question “where?”. She is also trying to explain why. and “in what way?” mankind teaches to rationally use the gifts of nature.