Unit-1 Geography as a Discipline
TOPIC-1
- Geography as an Integrated Discipline,
- Physical Geography and Natural Sciences,
- Geography and Social Sciences.
Revision Notes:———
Geography should be studied as an independent subject as it helps us to gather knowledge about the physical environment of the Earth, human activities and their interactive relationships.
As a student of geography, we should be curious to know about all the phenomena which vary over space. Through the study of geography, we get to know about the diverse lands and people. We also need to understand the changes that have taken place over time.
Geography equips us to appreciate diversity and investigate into the causes responsible for creating such variations over time and space. We develop skills to understand the globe converted into maps and have a visual sense of the Earth’s surface.
We need to understand as to ‘What is geography?’. In very simple words, it can be said that geography is the description of the Earth. The term ‘geography’ was first coined by Eratosthenes, a Greek scholar(276-194 BC). The word has been derived from two roots of Greek language geo (Earth) and graphos (description). Put together , they mean description of the Earth.
Geography is different from other sciences in its subject matter and methodology but at the same time, it is closely related to other disciplines. Geography derives its data base from all the natural and social sciences and attempts their synthesis.
Geography as a discipline is concerned with three sets of questions
l Some questions are concerned with the identification of the patterns of natural and cultural features over the
surface of Earth. These are the questions about ‘what’?
l The second type of questions are concerned with the distribution of the natural and human/cultural features over the surface of the Earth. These are the questions about ‘where’?
l The third type of question is related to the explanation or the casual relationships between features and the processes and phenomena.
