Human Geography, History of

Premodern Geographies

Generally, premodern geographies were empirical and inductive in nature, often consisting of encyclopedic compilations of place descriptions, a tradition that lasted well into the 19th century. Geography was a practical science intertwined with geodesy, astronomy, surveying, exploration, trade, and military conquest.

The roots of human geography extend at least as far as classical Greece in the 6th century BC, if not before. Classical Greece, from which Western culture ostensibly arose (but with numerous connections to older cultures such as that of the Egyptians), marked the first systematic attempts to describe the shape of the Earth and map the known world, the ecumene. For example, Thales (611–547 BC), who lived in Miletus, theorized that the earth floated on water and successfully predicted an eclipse on May 28, 585 BC. Anaximander (610–546 BC) constructed what may be the first map of the world (since lost), invented the gnomon (similar to the sundial), and argued the Earth and all bodies were spherical. Herodotus (485–425 BC) was a historian who coupled history with geography in his famous studies of the Nile River, including its seasonal flooding and soil deposition along its delta. During the Athenian golden age, Aristotle (384–322 BC), a student of Plato and a scientist and philosopher in his own right, theorized a geocentric astronomical system that held sway until the 17th century. He also advocated an early form of climatic determinism based on three belts of temperature and their ability to sustain civilization: that to the south of Greece was too hot, that to the north too cold, leaving Greece alone ideal for civilization. Such a view reflects the close relationship between geography and cosmography that existed until the Enlightenment. At the famous library of Alexandria, center of the classical world's intellectual life but since destroyed, Eratosthenes (276–194 BC) coined the term geography and estimated the circumference of the Earth remarkably accurately. Later, Hipparchus (190–120 BC) theorized a grid of the world consisting of latitude and longitude lines.

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