UNIT I GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE This unit deals with • Geography as an integrating discipline; as a science of spatial attributes • Branches of geography; importance of physical geography 2021-22 CHAPTER GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE ou have studied geography as one of the of the earth’s surface. The understanding and components of your Social Science course the skills obtained in modern scientific Yupto the secondary stage. You are techniques such as GIS and computer already aware of some of the phenomena of cartography equip you to meaningfully geographical nature in the world and its contribute to the national endeavour for different parts. Now, you will study ‘Geography’ development. as an independent subject and learn about the Now the next question which you may like physical environment of the earth, human to ask is — What is geography? You know that activities and their interactive relationships. earth is our home. It is also the home of many Therefore, a pertinent question you can ask at other creatures, big and small, which live on this stage is — Why should we study the earth and sustain. The earth’s surface is geography? We live on the surface of the earth. not uniform. It has variations in its physical Our lives are affected by our surroundings in features. There are mountains, hills, valleys, many ways. We depend on the resources to plains, plateaus, oceans, lakes, deserts and sustain ourselves in the surrounding areas. wilderness. There are variations in its social Primitive societies subsisted on ‘natural means and cultural features too. There are villages, of subsistence’, i.e. edible plants and animals. cities, roads, railways, ports, markets and With the passage of time, we developed many other elements created by human beings technologies and started producing our food across the entire period of their cultural using natural resources such as land, soil and development. water. We adjusted our food habits and This variation provides a clue to the clothing according to the prevailing weather understanding of the relationship between the conditions. There are variations in the natural physical environment and social/cultural resource base, technological development, features. The physical environment has adaptation with and modification of physical provided the stage, on which human societies environment, social organisations and cultural enacted the drama of their creative skills with development. As a student of geography, you the tools and techniques which they invented should be curious to know about all the and evolved in the process of their cultural phenomena which vary over space. You learn development. Now, you should be able to about the diverse lands and people. You attempt the answer of the question posed should also be interested in understanding the earlier as to “What is geography”? In very changes which have taken place over time. simple words, it can be said that geography Geography equips you to appreciate diversity is the description of the earth. The term and investigate into the causes responsible for geography was first coined by Eratosthenese, creating such variations over time and space. a Greek scholar (276-194 BC.). The word has You will develop skills to understand the globe been derived from two roots from Greek converted into maps and have a visual sense language geo (earth) and graphos (description). 2021-22 GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE 3 Put together, they mean description of the earth. changing earth and untiring and ever-active The earth has always been seen as the abode human beings. Primitive human societies were of human beings and thus, scholars defined directly dependent on their immediate geography as, “the description of the earth as environment. Geography, thus, is concerned the abode of human beings”. You are aware of with the study of Nature and Human the fact that reality is always multifaceted and interactions as an integrated whole. ‘Human’ the ‘earth’ is also multi-dimensional, that is is an integral part of ‘nature’ and ‘nature’ has why many disciplines from natural sciences the imprints of ‘human’. ‘Nature’ has influenced such as geology, pedology, oceanography, different aspects of human life. Its imprints can botany, zoology and meteorology and a be noticed on food, clothing, shelter and number of sister disciplines in social sciences occupation. Human beings have come to terms such as economics, history, sociology, political with nature through adaptation and science, anthropology, etc. study different modification. As you already know, the present aspects of the earth’s surface. Geography is society has passed the stage of primitive different from other sciences in its subject societies, which were directly dependent on matter and methodology but at the same time, their immediate physical environment for it is closely related to other disciplines. sustenance. Present societies have modified Geography derives its data base from all the their natural environment by inventing and natural and social sciences and attempts their using technology and thus, have expanded the synthesis. horizon of their operation by appropriating and We have noted that there exist variations utilising the resources provided by nature. With over the surface of the earth in its physical as the gradual development of technology, human well as cultural environment. A number of beings were able to loosen the shackles of their phenomena are similar and many are dissimilar. physical environment. Technology helped in It was, therefore, logical to perceive geography reducing the harshness of labour, increased as the study of areal differentiation. Thus, labour efficiency and provided leisure to geography was perceived to study all those human beings to attend to the higher needs of phenomena which vary over space. life. It also increased the scale of production Geographers do not study only the variations and the mobility of labour. in the phenomena over the earth’s surface The interaction between the physical (space) but also study the associations with environment and human beings has been very the other factors which cause these variations. succinctly described by a poet in the following For example, cropping patterns differ from dialogue between ‘human’ and ‘nature’ (God). region to region but this variation in cropping You created the soil, I created the cup, you pattern, as a phenomenon, is related to created night, I created the lamp. You created variations in soils, climates, demands in the wilderness, hilly terrains and deserts; I market, capacity of the farmer to invest and created flower beds and gardens. Human technological inputs available to her/him. beings have claimed their contribution using Thus, the concern of geography is to find out natural resources. With the help of technology, the causal relationship between any two human beings moved from the stage of phenomena or between more than one necessity to a stage of freedom. They have put phenomenon. their imprints everywhere and created new A geographer explains the phenomena in possibilities in collaboration with nature. Thus, a frame of cause and effect relationship, as it we now find humanised nature and does not only help in interpretation but also naturalised human beings and geography foresees the phenomena in future. studies this interactive relationship. The space The geographical phenomena, both the got organised with the help of the means of physical and human, are not static but highly transportation and communication network. dynamic. They change over time as a result of The links (routes) and nodes (settlements of all the interactive processes between ever types and hierarchies) integrated the space and 2021-22 4 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY gradually, it got organised. As a social science The present world is being perceived as a global discipline, geography studies the ‘spatial village. The distances have been reduced by organisation’ and ‘spatial integration’. better means of transportation increasing Geography as a discipline is concerned with accessibility. The audio-visual media and three sets of questions: information technology have enriched the data (i) Some questions are related to the base. Technology has provided better chances identification of the patterns of natural of monitoring natural phenomena as well as and cultural features as found over the the economic and social parameters. surface of the earth. These are the Geography as an integrating discipline has questions about what? interface with numerous natural and social (ii) Some questions are related to the sciences. All the sciences, whether natural or distribution of the natural and human/ social, have one basic objective, of cultural features over the surface of the understanding the reality. Geography earth. These are the questions about attempts to comprehend the associations of where? phenomena as related in sections of reality. Taken together, both these questions take Figure 1.1 shows the relationship of geography care of distributional and locational aspects of with other sciences. Every discipline, concerned the natural and cultural features. These with scientific knowledge is linked with questions provided inventorised information of geography as many of their elements vary over what features and where located. It was a very space. Geography helps in understanding the popular approach during the colonial period. reality in totality in its spatial perspective. These two questions did not make geography Geography, thus, not only takes note of the a scientific discipline till the third question was differences in the phenomena from place to added. place but integrates them holistically which (iii) The third question is related to the may be different at other places. A geographer explanation or the causal relationships is required to have a broad understanding of between features and the processes and all the related fields, to be able to logically phenomena. This aspect of geography integrate them. This integration can be is related to the question, why? understood with some examples. Geography Geography as a discipline is related to influences historical events.