ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book investigates the geography of the ocean-space from the bottom upward, considering the succession of ontological steps that come together as the body of knowledge that we have about the earth's ocean. It shows that geographers engage critically with traditional geographical concerns such as mobility, governance, and cartography in novel ways that fully comprehend the specific mobilities, spatialities, and materialities of the ocean. Human geographers have, overall, an ambiguous relationship with the ocean. By considering cartographical representations alongside cultural and technological settings, the book offers a comprehensive study of the geography of the ocean-space. The ocean-space emerged as a space that, while also having a history, has an established human geography. Since the ocean-space is deeply concerned with the materialities and spatialities, the book concerns the World Ocean, rather than any specific ocean, such as the Indian Ocean or the Arctic Ocean.
