Introduction to geography

This text written to clearly and concisely convey the nature of the field of geography, its intellectual challenges, and the logical interconnections of its parts. Even if students take no further work in geography, they will have come into contact with the richness and breadth of Geography and have new insights and understandings for their present and future roles as informed adults. This new edition provides students content and scope of the subfields of geography, emphasize its unifying themes, and provide the foundation for further work in their areas of interest. A useful textbook must be flexible enough in its organization to permit an instructor to adapt it to the time and subject matter constraints of a particular course. Although this text is designed with a one-quarter or one-semester course in mind, this text may be used in a full-year introduction to geography when employed as a point of departure for special topics and amplifications introduced by the instructor or when supplemented by additional readings and class projects.

Includes index.

Machine generated contents note: ch. 1 Introduction -- 1.1. What is Geography? -- 1.2. Evolution of the Discipline -- Subfields of Geography -- Why Geography Matters -- 1.3. Some Core Geographic Concepts -- Location, Direction, and Distance -- Size and Scale -- Physical and Cultural Attributes -- Attributes of Place Are Always Changing -- Interrelations between Places -- Place Similarity and Regions -- 1.4. Geography's Themes and Standards -- 1.5.Organization of This Book -- Key Words -- Thinking Geographically -- ch. 2 Techniques of Geographic Analysis -- 2.1. Maps as the Tools of Geography -- 2.2. Locating Points on a Sphere -- The Geographic Grid -- Land Survey Systems -- 2.3. Map Projections -- Area -- Shape -- Distance -- Direction -- 2.4. Scale -- 2.5. Types of Maps -- Topographic Maps and Terrain Representation -- Thematic Maps and Data Representation -- Map Misuse -- 2.6. Contemporary Spatial Technologies -- Remote Sensing -- The Global Positioning System.

Note continued: Geography & Public Policy: Civilian Spy Satellites -- Virtual and Interactive Maps -- 2.7. Integrating Technology: Geographic Information Systems -- Geography & Public Policy: An Invasion of Privacy? -- …