Applied Geography

First mentioned in the late 1800s, applied geography is a relatively recent discipline that has enjoyed controversy, acclaim, and change in its short life. Beginning as a merger of natural sciences and social sciences, applied geography has faced critics from both sides of science; however, it has also been hailed by both as having the ability to help humanity.

The term first appeared during a time when educational programs at the high school and college level were reevaluating the curriculum being taught then. Until this time, the discipline [Page 101]of geography had included only the natural sciences, such as geology and meteorology. John Scott Keltie (1890) was influential in suggesting that it is possible for the gap between natural and social sciences to be bridged through ...