ABSTRACT
Geography stands as an independent field of inquiry by virtue of its concern with the place-to-place variation of the earth's surface and its human societies and the causes and consequences of this variation. It is unique as to point of view, of which the map is an effective mirror. Although geography's organizing principle is spatial, as that of history is chronological, the manner in which a contemporary landscape has evolved cannot be understood without the perspective of time. Most geographical work transcends the boundaries of the social sciences, drawing on the ideas, field techniques, and observations of natural science. It considers the whole wherever possible in terms of mapped distributions and the interrelationship of physical phenomena, cultural attitudes, and economic activities. Scholarly geography is placing more emphasis on problems, concepts, ideas, and techniques today than ever before. Yet the world of scholarship still properly looks to geography for information about places and will doubtless continue to do so.
