Scientific Geography Series

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The Scientific Geography Series is a series of small books that each focus on a specific geographic concept from a scientific framework. [1]

Contents

Background and influences

Geographer Grant Ian Thrall edited the series, and the books were written by prominent geographers such as Arthur Getis and A. Stewart Fotheringham. [2] The term "Scientific geography" dates back at least to a 1910 publication titled "Scientific Geography: The Relation of Its Content to Its Subdivisions" in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society (now the Geographical Review ). [3] The Scientific Geography Series editor defined the term as involving:

"the precise definition of variables and theoretical relationships that can be shown to be logically consistent. The theories are judged on the clarity of specification of their hypotheses and on their ability to be verified through statistical empirical analysis."

— Grant Ian Thrall, [2] [4]

The series was originally published between 1985 and 1988 and sold for $6.50 per issue. [2] It is intended for use as textbooks or as sources for researchers, and the books can be taken individually or used together to learn concepts in geography. [4] [5] [6] The first books in the series are introductory and focus on human geography, while later ones are more advanced and focus on scientific or quantitative geography. [1] The series is described as providing "a broad view of developments in academic geography--at least of the more quantitative aspects of its human geography wing." [6]

The Scientific Geography Series was immediately compared to the Concepts and Techniques in Modern Geography (CATMOG) series in a review, where the reviewer called them "Super-CATMOGs," and stated that British users might believe the series was an American attempt at profiting from the publication model set forth by the CATMOGs. [7] The review noted that while CATMOGs were focused on techniques, the Scientific Geography Series was more focused on "theories and models." [7] Multiple reviews noted that the Scientific Geography Series was clearly aimed at American Undergraduate students. [7] [8] [5] Despite the similarities to CATMOG, the reviewer noted that the books published at the time of review were a useful contribution to educational material. [7]

While used extensively, these physical copies became difficult to find and use in the classroom. [9] To remedy this, the West Virginia University Regional Research Institute made digital copies of the series available for free as part of their "Web Book of Regional Science" series. [9]

List of Publications

Number in seriesTitleAuthorOriginal publication dateISBNRef
1 Central place theory Leslie J. King1985 ISBN   0803923244 [2] [7] [5] [4]
2Gravity and Spatial Interaction ModelsKingsley E. Haynes and A. Stewart Fotheringham 1985 ISBN   0803923260 [2] [7]
3Industrial LocationMichael J. Webber1985 ISBN   0803925468 [2] [7] [5]
4Regional Population Projection ModelsAndrei Rogers1985 ISBN   0803923740 [8]
5Spatial Transportation ModelingChristian Werner1985 ISBN   080392738X [8]
6Regional Input-Output Analysis Geoffrey J. D. Hewings 1985 ISBN   0803927401 [8]
7Human Migration William A. V. Clark 1986 ISBN   0803924879 [8]
8 Point Pattern Analysis Barry N. Boots and Arthur Getis 1988 ISBN   0803925883 [10]
9Spatial AutocorrelationJohn Odland1988 ISBN   0803926510 [6] [11]
10Spatial DiffusionRichard Morrill, Gary L. Gaile, and Grant Ian Thrall1988 ISBN   0803928521 [6] [10]

Criticism

Critics of the series have noted that while the series editor claimed coverage of science in geography was limited, there were many prominent publications on the topic. [2] The coverage of some topics is described as being a bit inadequate. [2] As they were small, one reviewer noted that the project was flawed due to the texts being neither cutting-edge research nor full textbooks. [8]

One reviewer noted that the series was very similar in format to the British CATMOGs, but instead targeting American undergraduate students, using American examples, and American academics. [7] The implication was that a large-scale American publishing company was taking the British CATMOG idea, and profiting from it. [7] The cost of the Scientific Geography Series was noted to be more expensive than the CATMOGs. [7] [8]

The term "scientific geography" is described by an author as an "unfortunate term that, I hope, will not gain widespread currency." [2] This is part of a broader problem of organizing geography, with many competing terms that are sometimes used as direct synonyms or in conjuncture with each other within the literature, such as technical geography. [12] [13]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Scientific Geography Series". West Virginia University Regional Research Institute. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gatrell, A C; Bracken, I J (1985). "Reviews: Central Place Theory, Gravity and Spatial Interaction Models, Industrial Location, Scientific Geography Series, Computer-Assisted Cartography: Principles and Prospects". Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. 12 (4): 493–496. Bibcode:1985EnPlB..12..493G. doi:10.1068/b120493. S2CID   131269013.
  3. ↑ Tower, Walter S. (1910). "Scientific Geography: The Relation of Its Content to Its Subdivisions". Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. 42 (11): 801–825. doi:10.2307/199630. JSTOR   199630 . Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 King, Leslie J. (1985). "Central Place Theory". 1985. Morgantown, WV: Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Healey, Michael (1986). "Book reviews: Scientific geography series, Central Place Theory, Gravity and Interaction models, Industrial Location". Applied Geography. 6: 275–277. doi:10.1016/0143-6228(86)90009-3.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Tiedemann, C. E. (1988). Review by Choice Review. Scientific geography series. Sage Publications. ISBN   978-0-8039-2652-3 . Retrieved 25 November 2023.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Wrigley, N (1985). "Review: Central Place Theory, Gravity and Spatial Interaction Models, Industrial Location, Scientific Geography Series". Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. 17 (10): 1415–1428. doi:10.1068/a171415.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Johnston, R J (1987). "Review: Regional Population Projection Models, Spatial Transportation Modeling, Regional Input—Output Analysis, Human Migration". Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space. 19 (3): 426–427. doi:10.1068/a190419.
  9. 1 2 "Web Book of Regional Science". West Virginia University Regional Research Institute. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  10. 1 2 Gatrell, A. C. (1989). "Book reviews: Scientific geography series, Point pattern (Scientific Geography Series, Vol. 8), Spatial diffusion (Scientific Geography Series, Vol. 10)". Applied Geography. 9 (2): 140. doi:10.1016/0143-6228(89)90059-3.
  11. ↑ Cox, Nicholas J. (1989). "Teaching and learning spatial autocorrelation: a review". Journal of Geography in Higher Education. 13 (2): 185–190. doi:10.1080/03098268908709084.
  12. ↑ Tambassi, Timothy (2021). The Philosophy of Geo-Ontologies (2 ed.). Springer. ISBN   978-3-030-78144-6.
  13. ↑ Bamford, C. G; Robinson, H. (1986). Scientific and Technical Geography of the European Economic Community. Prentice Hall Press. ISBN   0582988845.
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