Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
undergraduate studies continue in these new units, and students
wishing to study geography will easily fi nd degree schemes that fi t
their aspirations.
Geography's core concepts
How important, then, is geography? Hopefully, its fundamental
importance is now clear and the next question is 'Where are its
core concepts?'
Geography has always been involved in the analysis of
space
and this provides the fi rst core concept. Geographical space
comprises location, or where we are on the Earth's surface
in relation to geographical coordinates; distances measured
in a variety of ways; and directions that complete the
interrelationships of different locations on the Earth's surface.
A key corollary of the focus on geographical space has been the
ways in which the Earth's surface is depicted. Maps, cartography,
and, most recently, satellite images, qualifi ed by scale and forms
of representation, are the working tools for much geographical
analysis.
For the cartographer or surveyor, space is an absolute and the
science is that of depicting it with the correct detail. Geographers
have struggled with the basic problem of depicting a spherical
Earth on a fl at piece of paper and the development of map
projections summarizes that process. That particular outcome is
one of compromises; one opts for true distance or true area but
both together are not attainable. The seminal map projection
of Mercator in the 16th century, in which the points of the
compass always maintained true direction, set the benchmark.
Human geographers have found that space is often more usefully
represented in relative terms. For someone wishing to visit a shop,
for example, 20 miles is a major obstacle to walk but of much less
signifi cance if he or she has access to a car. Distances are mediated
by accessibility and that can be contributed to by type of terrain
