Introduction to Geography: People, Places, and Environment - Hardcover

Bergman, Edward F.; Renwick, William H.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 013907452X ISBN 13: 9780139074523

Publisher: Pearson, 1998

Synopsis

Designed as an Introduction to Geography text for non-majors, this text first explores the physical environment, and then moves on to present the most up-to-date dynamic approach to human and cultural geography available today. Throughout, the authors carefully emphasize the many connections between humans and their cultural and physical environments.

About this title

From the Back Cover

This book's cover is an aerial photo of a market in the Xochimilco district of Mexico City. This mosaic of brightly colored parasols hides a bustling market that offers fresh fruits arid vegetables, a selection of handmade local products, plus small household items of both local and foreign manufacture. Mexico boasts a vigorous international economy, with exports growing at a rate of 18 percent every year. Nevertheless, economic inequality is growing, and in some areas average earnings are as little as a quarter of the national average. Mexico's participation in the global economy exemplifies the global connections and farces that trigger constant and dynamic change everywhere on Earth. The study of these forces is one of modern geography's central missions.

This book develops the idea that modern geography explores and explains the forces behind today's world. The book organizes its coverage around several main themes and ideas:

Exploring the forces at work behind constantly evolving maps.

In today's interconnected world, what happens at places depends more and more on what happens among places. Therefore, we can understand maps of economic or cultural activity only if we understand the activities and movements that create them.

Understanding contemporary issues bar applying geographic concepts.

What you read in your geography text and learn in your geography classroom will help you understand current events and form your own well-informed ideas about issues. Each chapter in this book uses the geographic concepts under discussion to help you understand current affairs.

Highlighting important spatial relationships with a rich and diverse cartographic program.

This book features many different types of maps and cartograms, as well as graphs, charts, and carefully chosen photographs. All are designed to clarify and illustrate the concepts under discussion. The book features contributions to the field made by new techniques in Geographic Information Science.

Exploring the relationships between humans and their environment.

Earth's physical environment sets the stage upon which humans act out their lives. The theme of human-environmental interaction is woven throughout the book.

About the Author

Carl T. Dahlman earned degrees in sociology, music, and urban affairs before receiving his Ph.D. in geography from the University of Kentucky in 2001. He is an Associate Professor of Geography at Miami University where his teaching focuses on political geography, migration and mobility, and globalization. His current research includes the role of European integration in the geopolitics of Southeastern Europe. He enjoys photography and hunting for fossils with his son.

William H. Renwick earned a B.A. from Rhode Island College in 1973 and a Ph.D. in geography from Clark University in 1979. He has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Rutgers University, and is currently Associate Professor of Geography at Miami University. A physical geographer with interests in geomorphology and environmental issues, his research focuses on impacts of land-use change on rivers and lakes, particularly in agricultural landscapes in the Midwest. When time permits, he studies these environments from the seat of a wooden canoe.

Edward F. Bergman was born in Wisconsin and received a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington. He taught at the City University of New York and widely in Europe, South America and South Africa. Now retired as a professor emeritus, he still travels and occasionally lectures and advises museums on the writing of labels for exhibits.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pearson
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 013907452X
• ISBN 13: 9780139074523
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 553