Four Traditions of Geography
Four Tradition of Geography
The Four Traditions of Geography has many different assumptions and aspects of geography; aspects ranging from basic mapping and geometry, to the impact on nature of humans and the processes of the earth itself. Geographers can study and explain their research by selecting a certain tradition that leads to many different fields of geography. “There are four traditions whose identification provides an alternative to the competing monistic definitions that have been a geographer’s lot” (Pattison 1964). “The following discussion treats the traditions in this order: (1) a spatial tradition, (2) an area studies tradition, (3) a man-land tradition and (4) an earth science tradition” (Pattison 1964). Pattison is exploring all the categories of geography and he is explaining how these different traditions can uncover the meanings of different studies of geography. “Going further one can uncover the meanings of “systematic geography,” “regional geography,” “urban geography,” “industrial geography,” etc.” (Pattison 1964). Spatial tradition is an area of concentration that relies on geometry and movement. It also is the study of mapping as seen in the ancient Greece recordings of such, and it also deals with the GIS system. GIS is any system that captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that are linked to a location. It explores the central place theory and how it is used in geography. Central place theory is the geography theory that seeks to explain the number, size and location of human settlements in an urban system. Area Studies, just like the spatial tradition it has roots from many, many years ago. The Greek philosopher, Strabo, wrote an encyclopedia about geographical knowledge. “He is Strabo, celebrated for his Geography which is a massive production addressed to the statesmen of Augustan Rome and intended to sum up and regularize knowledge not of the location of places and associated cartographic facts, as in
The Four Traditions of Geography has many different assumptions and aspects of geography; aspects ranging from basic mapping and geometry, to the impact on nature of humans and the processes of the earth itself. Geographers can study and explain their research by selecting a certain tradition that leads to many different fields of geography. “There are four traditions whose identification provides an alternative to the competing monistic definitions that have been a geographer’s lot” (Pattison 1964). “The following discussion treats the traditions in this order: (1) a spatial tradition, (2) an area studies tradition, (3) a man-land tradition and (4) an earth science tradition” (Pattison 1964). Pattison is exploring all the categories of geography and he is explaining how these different traditions can uncover the meanings of different studies of geography. “Going further one can uncover the meanings of “systematic geography,” “regional geography,” “urban geography,” “industrial geography,” etc.” (Pattison 1964). Spatial tradition is an area of concentration that relies on geometry and movement. It also is the study of mapping as seen in the ancient Greece recordings of such, and it also deals with the GIS system. GIS is any system that captures, stores, analyzes, manages, and presents data that are linked to a location. It explores the central place theory and how it is used in geography. Central place theory is the geography theory that seeks to explain the number, size and location of human settlements in an urban system. Area Studies, just like the spatial tradition it has roots from many, many years ago. The Greek philosopher, Strabo, wrote an encyclopedia about geographical knowledge. “He is Strabo, celebrated for his Geography which is a massive production addressed to the statesmen of Augustan Rome and intended to sum up and regularize knowledge not of the location of places and associated cartographic facts, as in