GEOGRAPHY 



In the organized treatment of 

 all the material accumulated by 

 exploratory and descriptive geo- 

 graphy, the modern science of geo- 

 graphy fills the gap between -as- 

 tronomy and geology on the one 

 side, and the biological and kindred 

 sciences on the other ; but it is im- 

 possible to define exactly the pre- 

 cise limits of each, even when it is 

 not a science in the early stages of 

 development. The extreme physi- 

 cal aspect of geography limits it to 

 the investigation of the earth's 

 surface features ; the extreme 

 humanistic aspect limits it to 

 man's relations to these features. 

 But any regional synthesis must 

 include vegetational and other bio- 

 logical phenomena, and any dis- 

 cussion of human distributions 

 must include mathematical pro- 

 blems and representations of space 

 relations. The truth lies between 

 the two extremes. We investigate 

 and classify physical phenomena, 

 with special relation to man. Thus, 

 the importance of St. Helena had a 

 different value according as it was 

 estimated by sailors who knew only 

 of wind as motive power, or by 

 *ailors who knew also of steam. 

 Physical and Human Aspects 



Logically, therefore, modern 

 geography has three main aspects, 

 the physical base, the human note, 

 and the interaction of the two, and 

 the physical should be treated 

 first. But the physical implies the 

 mathematical ; for the object of 

 making careful observations and 

 investigations of the phenomena 

 is to describe and compare various 

 earth-forms and natural regions, 

 and its result is their permanent 

 representation in such a way as to 

 exhibit their location and their 

 space relations. At the same time 

 every precaution must be taken 

 against over-emphasising the im- 

 portance of the mathematical de- 

 termination of forms and positions, 

 or the physical determination of 

 the " structure, process, and stage" 

 of the forms thus determined. 



Briefly, the geographical pro- 

 blem is the quantitative proof of 

 the manner in which, and the de- 

 gree to which, the features and 

 phenomena of the earth's surface 

 control the distribution of all mo- 

 bile elements and organisms ; and, 

 though the work cannot go on 

 without the statistical distributions 

 of the map, any more than an epic 

 can be written without an alphabet, 

 it is the dynamical distributions 

 that are epical, and man is the 

 supreme figure. The key words, 

 therefore, are " control," " re- 

 sponse," " interaction." The con- 

 trol is mainly phj'siographical, the 

 response is ontographical, and the 

 interaction is geographical. 



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The most difficult of all the 

 problems involved, and perhaps 

 the most essential, is to determine 

 exactly what are the relations of 

 the distinctively mobile distribu- 

 tions to the more or less fixed en- 

 vironment, and to express these 

 quantitatively not only in the 

 " pictorial statistical analysis " of 

 a map, but also in other forms. 

 Already considerable progress has 

 been made in one or two directions 

 towards demonstrating, e.g. the 

 exact relation of relief to climate, 

 of climate to plant growth, and of 

 natural vegetation to agriculture. 

 For instance, we know with con- 

 siderable accuracy the gradient 

 (30 to 45) and exposure, so as to 

 get a maximum of autumn sun- 

 shine, desirable for a champagne 

 vineyard, and the relations of sun- 

 light, temperature, and humidity 

 that give Cognac a monopoly of 

 real brandy. 



Political Geography 



Similar considerations are true 

 even of political geography. Thus, 

 the exact relation of methods of 

 maintenance to the development of 

 social and political institutions is 

 no longer merely a plausible hy- 

 pothesis ; and, even though we 

 cannot state the relation as a 

 fraction, it is a truth needing no 

 statistical demonstration that, e.g. 

 in a region of winter rains, flanked 

 by snow-clad mountains that 

 guarantee abundance of irrigation 

 water in summer, there is no im- 

 perious necessity for the work of 

 one season to supply the needs of 

 two. But there are even purely 

 human phenomena about which 

 we can give statistics. For instance, 

 in regard to tropical colonisation, 

 we know the exact wet-bulb tem- 

 perature at which white men find 

 work impossible even in the 

 presence of a good current of air, 

 and we know that this is the de- 

 cisive factor. Where the climo- 

 graph (i.e. the average wet-bulb 

 reading) for half the year reaches 

 70 F., the conditions are not suit- 

 able for white men; and this 

 definite climatic boundary in- 

 cludes a great portion of northern 

 Australia. 



Similarly it is possible to give 

 definite statistics though they 

 greatly need to be extended 

 about the relation of bright sun- 

 light in dry air to the behaviour of, 

 e.g. school children in England, 

 textile operatives in New England, 

 and hostesses in Nairobi where 

 everyone lives in a state of chronic 

 irritability from overstimulation 

 by the bright light. That is to say, 

 we have taken some preliminary 

 steps towards determining the in- 

 fluence of environment even on 

 mental processes. 



GEOGRAPHY 



The development of geography 

 in modern times along such lines 

 has been astonishing, especially in 

 France and Britain ; and, as the 

 development has been in both 

 material and method, there ought 

 to have been corresponding de- 

 velopment in the standing of the 

 science, especially as both material 

 and method can be used, and are 

 used, in such a way as to be truly 

 and permanently educational. This 

 involves a habit of using books and 

 maps, a determination to test all 

 information in such a way that it 

 becomes a truth based on your 

 own first-hand knowledge, and a 

 power of outlook, which implies in- 

 vestigation, judgement, inference, 

 and interpretation. It is, however, 

 peculiarly modern in its method 

 of basing a wide " world " outlook 

 on a close contact with a small 

 " home " area ; and it is interest- 

 ing to notice how directly this 

 method may be related to the sig- 

 nificant overflow of European pop- 

 ulation into larger and less occu- 

 pied areas. Thus, from lands of 

 ancient liberty and good educa- 

 tion, e.g. Switzerland, emigration 

 is mainly of teachers and skilled 

 workmen, who are practically 

 bribed to go, and are not likely to 

 be bamboozled by lying advertise- 

 ments and unreal prospects ; but 

 from lands of poverty and ignor- 

 ance, e.g. Russia, the motive im- 

 pulse is necessity, and the emi- 

 grants are at the mercy of the 

 government and capitalists of their 

 new home. 



Geography and the Future 



As citizen, or as emigrant, one 

 must have a geographic back- 

 ground if one is to keep order in 

 the complex mass of details which 

 enter into one's daily life, and 

 that background to-day is world- 

 wide. To anyone with any vision 

 of the British Empire, Egypt may 

 be one of the vital spots on the 

 mental horizon. For the Great 

 Circle i.e. the shortest possible 

 route from Britain's most distant 

 colony, New Zealand, to her near- 

 est colony, Newfoundland, passes 

 through Cairo ; and the Suez isth- 

 mus, through which commerce 

 deviates from the mathematical 

 Great Circle, is not only the link 

 between millions of souls and acres 

 for which Britain is responsible, in 

 Asia and Africa, but also the point 

 on which the various nations of the 

 Empire can converge most easily 

 in peace or war. If one re-writes 

 Imperial problems in such geo- 

 graphical terms, one begins to 

 realize what width of vision might 

 be given to the British people if, 

 when young, they were properly 

 trained in the great Science of 

 Outlook. L. w. 



