Geography: the meaning of the word. Earth science and its history

Geography is one of the most interesting and fascinating sciences. After all, it is directly connected with travel and adventure. But what is the meaning of the term "geography"? The meaning of the word is very interesting. And we will try to explain it in our article.

Earth Science

One of the oldest sciences in the world is geography. The meaning of the word will be considered a little later, and now we will get acquainted with the history of this discipline. It is known that the foundations of modern geography were laid even in the time of the ancient Greeks. Their investigations were generalized and systematized by the ancient Greek scholar Ptolemy in the first century of our era. It was in Greece that geography developed by leaps and bounds. In parallel, the study of the Earth was also of interest in ancient Egypt. Already in the 3rd millennium BC the first marine expeditions were carried out in the water areas of the Red and Mediterranean Seas. Individual elements of geographical descriptions can also be found in the ancient books of India - "Vedas" or "Mahabharata."

How in the following centuries did geography develop? The importance of this science especially increased in the 16th century, in the so-called era of the Great Geographical Discoveries. Columbus and Magellan, James Cook and Amerigo Vespucci brought from their voyages many new facts and facts about our planet that needed to be studied and systematized in detail. Geography in its modern academic form was laid in the first half of the XIX century by Alexander Humboldt and Karl Ritter. To date, mankind has conquered the moon, plans to land on Mars in the very near future. However, there are still a lot of unexplored places on the Earth - "white spots", on which the human foot has not set foot. Therefore, geographers in the 21st century will have something to occupy on this planet.

Geography: the meaning of the word, the origin of the term

When did the term "geography" come about? Who invented it and secured it for this science? Let's try to explain the meaning of the word "geography". This term of the feminine gender comes from two ancient Greek words: "geo" (earth) and "grapho" (I write, I describe). That is, it can be translated into Russian as follows: "land description".

The term "geography" was invented and introduced into science by the ancient Greek philosopher and scholar Eratosthenes. It happened around the 3rd century BC. How and when is the term "geography" used today? The meaning of the word in our day can be viewed in two aspects. It can be used:

1. As a science, combining many smaller disciplines. They study the Earth, the features of nature, the localization of its population, minerals, and so on.
2. As the area of distribution of the territory of a phenomenon or process. For example, oil reserves or the level of general literacy of people.

What does science study geography?

According to the universal definition, geography is a science that studies the so-called geographic envelope of the Earth. The latter, in turn, includes four sections: litho-, atmo-, hydro- and biosphere. But that is not all. Sometimes they are added to the technosphere, that is, everything that is created by the hands of a person on the planet.

The main object of research in science can be called natural laws and patterns of distribution and interaction of various components of the geographical envelope (soils, rocks, vegetation, waters, etc.). Modern science is divided into three large blocks: physical, social and economic geography. The first studies nature, the second - the population and living conditions of people, the third - features and patterns of economic development of territories and countries.

The meaning of the word "historical geography". Features of scientific discipline

As mentioned above, geography is a complex science. It includes many different disciplines. One of them is precisely historical geography. What is she studying?

Historical geography is a special section that attempts to explain various historical processes and events through geographic knowledge. In other words, this science studies history through space. And a special place in it is given precisely to geographical (territorial) factors.

Finally

One of the oldest sciences on Earth is geography. The meaning of this term is very interesting. The word was invented in ancient Greece. And you can translate it into Russian as a "land description". The term was introduced in the third century BC by the ancient Greek scientist Eratosthenes. By the way, it was he who first measured the parameters of our planet. And he did it accurately, not having at hand modern instruments and technologies.