Ebook: Geography: Discipline, Profession and Subject since 1870: An International Survey

Gary S. Dunbar "Pro-fesh-yon-al-i-zay-shun . . . pro-fesh-yon-al-i-ZAY-shunl . . . I do not think I like that word . . . I am quite certain I do not like that wordl," said A. F. Martin of Oxford University in 1980 when I mentioned to him that I was making a study of the professionalization of geography in Europe and North America from about 1870 to 1930. I should not have been surprised by his reply, because Mr. Martin, a highly regarded lecturer, tutor, and university man, was in some ways a typical example of his generation of British geographers, in that he did not have an advanced degree and his publication record was meager. Except for a single remarkable essay (Martin 1951), he was not well known in the field of geography, at least not outside the United Kingdom. Was he, then, a professional geographer? Yes, indeed, because he was a full-time scholar in a distinguished university, even though he lacked the sort of credentials that have been demanded of subsequent generations of scholars, at Oxford and elsewhere. I certainly do not mean to denigrate Martin or his ilk; I am simply using this anecdote to launch a book on the emergence of modern geography.

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This book is a comprehensive treatment of the professionalization and institutionalization of the academic discipline of geography in Europe and North America, with emphasis on the 20th century and the last quarter of the 19th. It consists of entirely new essays written by some of the world's leading experts in the history of geography. No other book has ever attempted coverage of this sort. Although it is aimed at geographers, both professionals and neophytes, the book could enlighten readers from other fields, especially practitioners of the social and earth sciences, as well as historians of science and education. The chapters are rather brief, but they provide a firm foundation for further discussion of the issues that they raise, and it is hoped that they will be followed by lengthier writings, perhaps even book-length studies, of the subject by the present authors or others.