As I start on my learning curve, asking this fundamental question seems to be a good starting point. However the question is not as straightforward as it seems. Indeed if I was able to answer the question with a definitive answer, then presumably I can close this blog. Job done!
But I cannot give a definitive answer. I can I suppose begin by reaching into the far recesses of my mind to those days of Geography classes at the Inverness Royal Academy in the mid 60s. I remember learning about glacial features - especially relevant in Scotland. I seem to remember terminal moraines which were not apparently fatal headaches. I remember oxbow lakes. My favourite part of the Geography course was using graph paper to trace the heights of a line drawn through an Ordnance Survey map thus bringing into true perspective the altitudes shown there. For some reason the map we were given for this purpose was always of Clackmannanshire! From Alva over the Campsie Fells if my recollection is correct.
But where can I go to learn what Geography is? Let's try our own AGI website -
'Geographic Information - Information about objects or phenomena that are associated with a location relative to the surface of the Earth'.
Hmmm. A start I guess. So it's all about location?
What has the Chief Executive of the Geographical Association got to say? -
"Successful study of geography brings a rounded understanding to events and processes, and to the way the world works. The subject has the power and potential to educate, through developing with people a way of thinking that keeps the world whole and connected: the physical and the human, the social and the economic, the near and the distant, the familiar and the strange. Geography helps us contemplate our place in the world."
Okay, I'm not sure I understand the first bit, but 'place' I understand.
Let's try the website of the Royal Geographical Society -
'Geography is the study of the earth’s landscapes, peoples, places and environments. It is, quite simply, about the world in which we live. '
There's that word 'place' again.
So I have a general understanding about Geography being about the location of something and about the landscape surrounding that something. So far so good.
But this answer now raises so many other questions for me. Particularly relating to the impact of Geography on the efficiency of our life and on our knowledge base. But that is for another day and that is where I fear that the jargon may get in the way.
For now, as a layman, I am happy to have made a start.
But I cannot give a definitive answer. I can I suppose begin by reaching into the far recesses of my mind to those days of Geography classes at the Inverness Royal Academy in the mid 60s. I remember learning about glacial features - especially relevant in Scotland. I seem to remember terminal moraines which were not apparently fatal headaches. I remember oxbow lakes. My favourite part of the Geography course was using graph paper to trace the heights of a line drawn through an Ordnance Survey map thus bringing into true perspective the altitudes shown there. For some reason the map we were given for this purpose was always of Clackmannanshire! From Alva over the Campsie Fells if my recollection is correct.
But where can I go to learn what Geography is? Let's try our own AGI website -
'Geographic Information - Information about objects or phenomena that are associated with a location relative to the surface of the Earth'.
Hmmm. A start I guess. So it's all about location?
What has the Chief Executive of the Geographical Association got to say? -
"Successful study of geography brings a rounded understanding to events and processes, and to the way the world works. The subject has the power and potential to educate, through developing with people a way of thinking that keeps the world whole and connected: the physical and the human, the social and the economic, the near and the distant, the familiar and the strange. Geography helps us contemplate our place in the world."
Okay, I'm not sure I understand the first bit, but 'place' I understand.
Let's try the website of the Royal Geographical Society -
'Geography is the study of the earth’s landscapes, peoples, places and environments. It is, quite simply, about the world in which we live. '
There's that word 'place' again.
So I have a general understanding about Geography being about the location of something and about the landscape surrounding that something. So far so good.
But this answer now raises so many other questions for me. Particularly relating to the impact of Geography on the efficiency of our life and on our knowledge base. But that is for another day and that is where I fear that the jargon may get in the way.
For now, as a layman, I am happy to have made a start.
