Physical Geography - About the Book

Physical Geography: A Human Perspective is an attempt to provide a first-year undergraduate textbook structured around a new and refocused physical geography.

Physical geography is being reinvented. During the 1980s and 1990s, two developments made scholars of physical geography feel increasingly uneasy about their discipline:

Ever-increasing specialization within physical geography
Physical geography’s rapid separation from human geography.

In response to these perceived dangers a surprisingly unanimous message has emerged: refocus physical geography around a core of global-scale studies that looks at the big and pressing environmental issues. This refocus would bring specialists from the disparate branches of physical geography back together and re-forge closer links with human geography.

So what does a ‘new and refocused physical geography’ look like? While various geographers have offered their particular visions of the revitalized subject, our offering starts with a definition of physical geography. We define physical geography as the study of the form and function of the human sphere. The human sphere, also known as the anthroposphere, is the zone of interaction between the ecosphere – the interacting sum of life, air, water, soil and topography – and the mental sphere (or noösphere) – the totality of the mental activity behind human impacts and the conscious human use, management and conservation of planetary resources.

While global ecologists and Earth-system scientists also study the form and function of ecosystems and the human sphere at the global scale, we contend that the individuality of physical geography lies in its relationship with human geography. In particular, we argue that physical geography may claim the human sphere as its core and that its individuality lies in an approach boasting two foci unique to geography:

The interconnectedness of environmental and human factors

The significance of local, regional and global scales.

The structure of Physical Geography: A Human Perspective tackles issues at local, regional and global scales, and has at its heart, people and environment interactions.

The challenge in reuniting geography is enormous. Physical Geography: A Human Perspective offers a small step in what we hope is a fruitful direction.

Please click here to download a more in-depth analysis of the book in Adobe PDF format.