From ancient times to the end of 18, it is a period of paleogeography, mainly descriptive records of geographical knowledge, and most of these records are fragmentary, lacking theoretical system, and there is no division of disciplines within geography. Geography in all countries has basically developed under the conditions of closed countries.
In the early days, China and ancient Greece made the most remarkable achievements. China's works, such as Shanggong, Guanyuan, Shanhaijing, Zhu and so on. , are the earliest geographical historical materials in the world. Geographical explorers such as Columbus, Da Gama and Magellan emerged in the later European geographical discoveries, and their discoveries greatly promoted the development of geography.
/kloc-from the beginning of the 9th century to the 1950s, it was a period of modern geography. The formation of modern geography is marked by the publication of two books, Humboldt's Universe and Ritter's General Theory of Earth Science.
Modern geography is the product of the industrial revolution, and it has matured with the development of industrial society. During this period, various theories were divided and there were many schools. Almost all geography disciplines appeared and established in this period, so it is also a period of vigorous development of departmental geography.
Humboldt laid the foundation of physical geography and plant geography. Later, German Richthofen and French Dematon made important contributions to the development of physical geography. Davis in the United States and punk in Germany founded the erosion cycle theory and the parallel retreat theory of hillside respectively, which marked the establishment of geomorphology. Warhan's Handbook of Climatology, Voikov's Global Climate and Russian Climate, and Ke Ben's World Climate Classification laid the foundation of climatology. Wallace in Britain laid the foundation for dividing the world fauna into zoogeography. Dokuchaev's soil zone theory laid the foundation of soil geography. Ritter and German Latzel founded human geography and so on. Among them, human geographers expressed a deep-rooted desire: to understand the complexity and subtlety of human experience, so as to pay more attention to quality rather than quantity, adjectives rather than nouns, psychology rather than economics in practice. If idealized, the human geographer should be like alexander humboldt, who holds a lot of facts-that is, nouns. But he must also love, feel and seek the meaning of nature, just like his brother wilhelm humboldt. "What does this mean? What do you mean? " This problem must be hidden in the consciousness of human geographer forever, so that he can become a moralist and a philosopher at the same time.
From the 1960s to the present, it is a period of modern geography. Modern geography is the product of modern scientific and technological revolution and develops with the progress of science and technology. Its symbol is the birth of quantitative geographical methods, theoretical geography and the emergence of computer graphics, geographic information systems, satellites and other applications. Modern geography emphasizes the unity, theorization, quantification, behaviorism and ecology of geography.
Methodological disciplines and technical disciplines in geography-geographical quantitative methods, cartography, etc. -will take the lead in achieving greater development; Comprehensive branches and applied branches such as comprehensive physical geography, urban geography, tourism geography, medical geography, behavioral geography, resource geography and population geography will develop rapidly; The trend of geography research on humanities will be strengthened, and the proportion of human geography in geography will increase. From ancient times to the end of 18. Geography in this period was the product of the farming and animal husbandry society before the industrial revolution, and it has the following characteristics:
① Descriptive records of geographical knowledge. Most of the early records were fragmentary, and many geography works appeared in the middle and late period, but most of them lacked theoretical system.
(2) There is no discipline differentiation within geography. Early scholars were encyclopedic, and geography was mixed with other disciplines. Later, after the Renaissance, the division between natural science and humanities mainly appeared in Europe, but the division within geography was not obvious. It was not until the19th century that there was a clear division in geography, and it was in the period of modern geography.
(3) Geography in all countries is basically developed under the condition of closed countries, and its content is diversified.
Several ancient civilizations in the world have accumulated valuable geographical knowledge, forming the geography of ancient Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome, ancient India, ancient Arabia and ancient China. In the early period, it was most famous for the achievements of ancient China and ancient Greece and Rome. China has Shanggong, Guanyuan and Shan Hai Jing, while ancient Greece and Rome have the works of Eratosthenes, Strappo and Ptolemy. In the middle period, Europe entered the Middle Ages, and geography once declined. China's geography has made gratifying progress and achievements, such as Pei Xiu's Drawing Principles of Yugong Area Map and Liuti Map, Li Daoyuan's Notes on Water Classics, Xuanzang's Records of the Western Regions of Datang, and Li Jifu's Atlas of Yuanhe County. Arab geography rose in this period, such as the important contributions of Masudi and Idrisi. In the later period, geography in China and Europe was the most successful. In China, there are Zheng He's seven voyages to the Western Seas, Guang Tu by Luo Hongxian, Travel Notes by Xu Xiake, Diseases of Counties and Countries in the World by Gu, Zhi Zhi and Reading Records of Historical Records by Gu Zuyu, etc. In Europe, geographical explorers such as C. Columbus and V. da Gamaliel emerged in the great geographical discovery, which greatly promoted the development of geography, and books and maps such as Atlas by G. Mercator and General Geography by B. Varenius appeared. (See Geographical History of China) Medieval Europe was a dark age of economic and cultural decline. The small monarchy, which is a combination of politics and religion and closed to the outside world, has greatly narrowed people's geographical vision. The rulers tried to make geography a slave to Christianity, which was counterproductive to geographical thought. Not only did it fail to inherit the excellent tradition of ancient Greece and Rome in geography, but it also used religious superstition and astrology to explain all geographical phenomena. For example, Cosmas, a businessman in the 6th century, wrote The Terrain of the Christian World, which replaced the spherical theory with the horizon theory. The book takes the sacred ark of Moses as the shape of the earth, and regards the earth as a flat rectangle, which is twice as long as the north and the south, surrounded by the sea, and there is land outside, which is heaven.
After the twelfth century, due to the Crusades, Europeans' geographical horizons were broadened; With the establishment of a feudal centralized state, the church established universities and translated classical works of ancient Greece and Rome from Arabic; Coupled with the introduction of the compass from China, commercial navigation developed, which made some changes in European geographical works and map drawing.
Since the 7th century, Islam has unified scattered Arab tribes and ruled Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa and Iberian Peninsula, and Baghdad has become the academic center of the Islamic world. Years of sports, pilgrimage to Mecca and commercial navigation activities have made the Islamic world a hub for exchanges between the East and the West, and many great Muslim travelers have emerged, such as masudi. Decimal system and compass were introduced to Europe from China through Indian and Arab world during this period.
The achievements of ancient Arabic geography can not be ignored. For example, in 19921year, Barchi collected the climate observation data of Arab travelers and compiled the first world climate atlas; Later, Makdisi put forward a plan to divide the world into 14 climatic zones. 1 1 At the beginning of the century, Avicenna observed the mountainous areas in Central Asia, and put forward the unified process of fold uplift movement and erosion cutting topography of mountains.
During this period, China has made great achievements in local chronicles, evolutionary geography, foreign geography, physical geography and maps. For example, Fa Xian's Biography of Fa Xian and Xuanzang's Records of the Western Regions of Datang are still important documents for studying the history and geography of Central Asia and India. Li Daoyuan's Notes on Water Classics is still an important work to study the evolution of water resources and water environment in China. Shen Kuo's Meng Qian Bi Tan put forward the erosion, transportation and accumulation of rivers, and used it to explain the reasons for the formation of the North China Plain, which was four centuries earlier than similar views in the West.
From15th century to18th century, two important geographical events occurred in modern times, namely, China's Zheng He's seven voyages to the West and the great geographical discoveries in the West. Although Zheng He's voyage to the West was more than half a century earlier than Columbus's geographical discovery, and his fleet size and navigation technology were far better than Columbus's, its social significance and influence on geography were far less than Columbus's geographical discovery.
The mutual travel and exploration between ethnic groups has existed since ancient times. However, travel and exploration are not the same thing as geographical discovery. It was from the great social event of geographical discovery that Columbus was the discoverer of the New World.
The great discovery of geography has brought great influence to geography. During the great geographical discovery, the compass was successfully used for long-distance navigation, and the longitude measurement was accurate. The improvement of this technology and the accumulation of data led to the innovation of cartography.
/kloc-at the beginning of the 6th century, Yapian drew a map of the center of the earth, and his disciple Mercator drew a map of the world with isometric cylindrical projection suitable for navigation in 1569, becoming the first person to draw the whole earth's surface on a plane. In China, the world map compiled by Italian missionary Matteo Ricci changed the old ideas of "a round place" and "China lives in the whole world" adopted by China scholars.
In addition, through the geographical exploration and discovery from the end of 15 to the end of 18, some geographical works with high academic value appeared. M's cosmology, published in 1544, is considered as an early masterpiece of geographical discovery. General Geography by Valenius divides the field of geography into two parts: monograph and general theory for the first time. The former describes regional characteristics, while the latter reveals global laws.
After the germination of capitalism appeared in China in the late Ming Dynasty, field investigation and theoretical exploration were also carried out in the same period. For example, Xu Xiake's travels are discussed in many aspects. However, China's ancient geography works are mostly descriptive records, lacking research on the overall law of the earth's surface, which is one of the reasons why modern China's geography is backward.
From11920s to11920s, the "Renaissance" appeared in western Europe, and art and science flourished, thus enabling scholars to summarize some laws of nature and human activities. The geographical investigation and discovery at that time provided philosophers and scientists with rich concrete materials about nature, human beings and their relationships. At the same time, the new geographical materialism has had an inestimable impact on the development of geography. /kloc-climate determinism put forward by Montesquieu, a French philosopher in the 0/7th century, and dualism put forward by I Kant, a German philosopher in the 0/8th century, all became the methodological basis of modern geography.
In short, from 15 to18th century, geography was in a period of transition from ancient times to modern times. It took western geography more than three centuries to complete the preparation of technological innovation, the accumulation of data and the establishment of the philosophical foundation of geographical materialism, which created the premise for the establishment of modern geography in Europe and America. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, China also began to explore the overall surface law. However, due to the lack of innovation in technical means and insufficient accumulation of scientific data, especially the rulers still advocate the theory of destiny, the new geography cannot rise. 1Early 9th century to 1950s. The formation of modern geography is marked by the publication of Humboldt's Universe and Ritter's General Theory of Earth Science. Modern geography is the product of industrial revolution, and it has matured with the development of industrial society. Its characteristics are as follows:
It originated in Germany, and then spread from Europe to the whole world, forming a modern geography with national characteristics. Among them, in addition to Germany, there are France, Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union and so on. (See the geographical history of Germany, France, Britain, America and the Soviet Union).
(2) This is a period of numerous theories and schools. Influential theories include: environmental determinism represented by American E.C. semple and E.Huntington, possibility theory represented by French P. Vidal-brandeis and J. Bruner, ecological regulation theory represented by American H.H. Barros, and British P.M. Ross.
(3) This is a period of great geographical differentiation. Humboldt laid the foundation for physical geography and plant geography, and later German von Richthofen and French Ma Dong made important contributions to the development of physical geography. W.M. Davis of the United States and W. Punk of Germany respectively established the theory of erosion cycle and the theory of slope parallel retreat, which marked the establishment of geomorphology. The Handbook of Climatology by Austrian von Hann, Global Climate and Russian Climate by Russian Voyeikov and World Climate Classification by German Ke Ben laid the foundation of climatology. The division of the world's fauna by British A.R. Wallace laid the foundation of animal geography; Dokuchaev's theory of soil zonality laid the foundation of soil geography. Ritter and F. Ratzer of Germany founded human geography; Latzer's theory of national organism, heartland theory's theory of national self-determination in Britain and Mackinder and I Bowman's theory of American national self-determination laid the foundation of political geography, and so on.
From the end of 19 to the beginning of the 20th century, many universities in western developed countries set up geography departments, making geography a professional field. With the further development of geography, various branches have been divided. After the independent development of meteorology, oceanography and soil science, some geographers emphasized the direction of region or landscape, while others promoted the humanistic movement, which made the humanities branch of geography flourish. After 1930s, geography gradually turned to participate in economic work, and western applied geography and Soviet architectural geography came into being.
The development of modern geography has made many achievements, forming three traditions and three schools: ecological tradition and environmental school, descriptive tradition and regional school, comprehensive tradition and landscape school.
The development of modern geography has made many great achievements. For example, Murray of the United States put forward the first atmospheric circulation model in the mid-Kloc-0/9th century, and published the first modern oceanographic work, Marine Physical Geography. Russian Dokuchaev put forward the theory of soil zonation and natural zone in the late19th century. Davis put forward the theory of erosion cycle at the end of 19. From the early 20th century to 1930s, Ke Ben put forward climate classification and continental climate model: Mackinder of Britain put forward the geopolitical theory of "heartland theory" in 1904 and 19 19 respectively; Herbert Sen of Britain completed the natural division of the world; Christalle of Germany put forward the central theory in 1930s. Budko of the Soviet Union published "Thermal Balance of the Earth's Surface" in 1956. From the 1960s to the present. Modern geography is the product of modern scientific and technological revolution and develops with the progress of science and technology. Its symbol is the birth of geographic quantitative method and theoretical geography, as well as the emergence of computer graphics and geographic information system. The characteristics of modern geography are:
(1) It originated in the United States with the most developed economy and science. It first influenced Britain and Northern Europe, and then spread to Western Europe, the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Japan, China and even the whole world. The representative figures and schools are: Washington University School headed by W L Garrison and E L ullman in the United States, Cambridge University School headed by R J Jolly and P hagt in the United Kingdom, and Lund University School headed by T Herstrand in Sweden.
② Emphasize the unity of geography. The vigorous development of departmental geography in modern geography period, on the one hand, promoted the in-depth study of various branches of geography, on the other hand, ignored the unity of geography and weakened the comprehensive characteristics of geography, which made the further study of departmental geography encounter great difficulties. Since the 1960s, facing a series of problems such as global population explosion, resource crisis, environmental pollution, urbanization and regional development, it is not a subject that any department geography can undertake alone. The development of geography itself and the need of practice require it to strengthen integration and give full play to the inherent comprehensive characteristics of geography.
③ Theory and quantification. In order to strengthen the comprehensive characteristics of geographical research and build a unified geography, it is necessary to explore the relationship and laws between various natural geographical phenomena and human geographical phenomena, as well as the general laws they follow, so theoretical geography came into being. Since the 1950s, the rise of comprehensive scientific methodology such as system theory, cybernetics and information theory, as well as the application of computer and remote sensing technology, have led to the innovation of geographical research methods. By combining field investigation with the investigation and interpretation of aerial photos and satellite photos, the transformation from simple type induction to theoretical derivation, from general experiments and analysis to simulation experiments and analysis models, and from manual drawing to automatic drawing has been realized. As a result, geography has developed from qualitative to quantitative, and there have been quantitative methods and geographic information.
④ behaviorism and ecologicalization. The appearance of behavioral science in 1960s and its subsequent great development have influenced all aspects of society, economy, science and culture, and geography is no exception. Different people (such as decision makers, workers, consumers, etc.). ) have different reactions to the phenomena on the earth's surface, so it is an important task of geography to study the laws of these reactions and behaviors, make geographical decision-making and prediction more in line with the actual situation, and thus make geographical research behavioral, and germinate and induce geographical and behavioral geographical research. Ecological geography appeared in the United States in the 1920s.
In the mid-1930s, after British scholars put forward the concept of ecosystem and studied it, the study of physical geography gradually formed an ecological trend. After the introduction of methodology such as system theory into geography in 1960s, the study of natural ecosystem became a hot spot in physical geography, thus forming new research fields such as physical geography, landscape ecology and disease ecology. Since then, ecological research has entered the field of human geography, and urban ecosystem, regional economic system, agricultural regional structure, cultural ecology (see cultural geography) and other research fields have emerged one after another. Unified geography also deeply studies the relationship and transformation between natural ecosystem and social ecosystem. (See History of Geographical Development) Physical geography is a discipline that studies the characteristics and structure of geographical environment and the formation and evolution of regional differentiation laws. It is one of the two basic disciplines of geography. Its research object is the natural geographical environment of the earth's surface, including troposphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and upper lithosphere. The affiliated branches are divided into two groups according to the research characteristics:
One group is comprehensive, including comprehensive physical geography, paleogeography and so on.
One group is sectoral, including geomorphology, climatology, hydrogeology, soil geography, biogeography, and some emerging marginal disciplines, such as chemical geography and medical geography, as well as disciplines that study different natural elements, such as glaciology and geocryology.
Human geography is a subject that studies the spatial structure and changes of various social and economic activities on the earth's surface and their relationship with geographical environment. It is one of the two basic disciplines of geography. According to the research object, it can be divided into social and cultural geography, economic geography, political geography and urban geography.
Social geography is human geography in a narrow sense, including ethnic geography, population geography, settlement geography, social geography, cultural geography and so on.
Economic geography includes agricultural geography, industrial geography, commercial geography, traffic geography and newly formed tourism geography.
Political geography includes political geography and military geography in a narrow sense.
Urban geography is a part of urban settlement geography and belongs to social and cultural geography. After nearly 20 years of development, its research object and content have gone beyond the scope of settlement and social culture and become an independent branch of human geography.
Historical geography is a young branch of geography, and it is a subject that studies the natural geography and human geography environment and their changing laws in the historical period of mankind.
Regional geography is a discipline that studies the formation, structure, characteristics and evolution of a certain geographical environment on the earth's surface, as well as the law of regional differentiation, and is an important part of geography. Modern regional geography emphasizes the unity of physical geography and human geography, and pays attention to the regional synthesis and spatial connection of regional physical geography and human geography.
Cartography is a subject that studies the theory, method and technology of compiling and applying maps, and it is a subject that comprehensively expresses the knowledge of physical geography and human geography in a certain area in the form of maps. It is a technical discipline in geography, which is closely related to all branches of geography and has been playing an important role in promoting the development and practical application of geography.
Theoretical geography is a discipline that studies the general laws followed by various geographical phenomena on the basis of unity. Its research contents mainly include spatial structure theory, human-land relationship theory and location theory.
Applied geography is a subject that uses the theories, principles and methods of geography to solve practical social, economic and environmental problems. In fact, many branches of geography are developed for application, such as medical geography and military geography. Because many important problems, such as desertification, environmental protection, land use and so on, can not be solved and studied by a single discipline, and geography is especially suitable for this kind of applied research because it is a comprehensive interdisciplinary subject.
Others include quantitative geography, toponymy, local chronicles and so on.
In a word, geography in 2 1 century will be an amphibious science based on theorization and quantification, and its theory and application will be further integrated, ecological and socialized. Introduction to geography, physical geography, geomorphology, dynamic geomorphology, structural geomorphology, climate geomorphology, applied geomorphology, plant geography, animal geography, glaciology, geocryology, paleogeography, hydrogeology, soil geography, chemical geography, comprehensive physical geography, human geography, economic geography, agricultural geography, industrial geography, commercial geography, traffic geography, tourism geography and population geography. Settlement geography, rural geography, urban geography, social geography, cultural geography, historical geography, medical geography, political geography, military geography, cartography, toponymy, theoretical geography, regional geography, applied geography and disaster geography.
Basic science related to physical geography: physics, mathematics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, archaeology, geology, etc. Especially geology and paleontology are the most important.
Basic disciplines related to human geography: economy, politics, history, etc.