who put the foundation of modern geographical thought

If we had to pick the thinkers more responsible than any other forplanting the intellectual roots of modern conservative thought, Ibelieve we would select Edmund Burke and Russell Kirk. 1992: Give a comparative assessment of the works of Humboldt and Ritter leading to the foundation of modern geographical thought. "Biography of Alexander von Humboldt." Yet at the same time, research into this modern era insists upon a more generous incorporation of significant contributions to environmental appraisal Only in this central location among the Earth’s land areas that a world-conquering civilisation could arise. Ritter observed that these were those fundamental facts of geography for which science could not offer any explanation. The stations were established in 1835 and von Humboldt was able to use the data to develop the principle of continentality, that the interiors of continents have more extreme climates due to a lack of moderating influence from the ocean. This he used in the title of his major work, and in defining it observed – ‘Erdkunde should strive to embrace the most complete and the most cosmical view of the Earth, to sum up and organise into a beautiful unit, all that we know of the globe’, and to show the ‘connection of this unified whole with man and his creator’. His purpose was to find the coherence of forces in a whole, and these ultimately to indicate the purpose of the whole. Between 1832 and 1838, Ritter completed six more volumes, and between 1838 and 1859, 11 more volumes were completed. Once von Humboldt died, "no individual scholar could hope any longer to master the world's knowledge about the earth." is remembered for his teaching methods and for asking thought-provoking questions. He studied the working of nature in order to understand the purpose behind its orders. Carl Ritter was also known as one of the founders of modern geographical thought. In the ensuing years her work attracted the attention of a multitude of … Famous People Who Studied Geography and Renowned Geographers, Biography of James Hutton, Founder of Modern Geology, Biography of Frederic Edwin Church, American Landscape Painter, Teaching Students Who Have a Naturalist Intelligence, Biography of W.E.B. Even thoughmorality is the subject matter of ethics, it is most often usedinterchangeably with ‘ethics’. This was followed by a trip to the Andes and a climb of Mt. He is widely respected as one of the founders of modern geography. Geography maintained the connection between his earlier field of studies and his ultimate interests. 38. In this article we will discuss about the contribution of Carl Ritter to the development of modern geography. The exclusion of any part would be not only arbitrary, but would destroy the coherence and unity of the whole; all the features of an area in their interconnection form a naturally unified complex, whether or not that is to be considered as a unit whole or merely a part of the one natural whole of the world. Each continent was subdivided by its orography into highland core, surrounded by terrace lands, drained by major rivers and peripheral coastal low lands. In this article we will discuss about the contribution of Alexander Von Humboldt towards the development of modern geography. Once he was old enough, Alexander began to study at the Freiberg Academy of Mines under the famous geologist A.G. Werner. Land effects the inhabitants and the inhabitants the land’. He also developed the first isotherm map, containing lines of equal average temperatures. His philosophy seeks to understand the whole rather than the parts and suggests that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, i.e., it has emergent properties not predictable from knowledge of the constituent parts. The concept of regional individuality, a development from the ideas of Zeune and Forster, combined with the concept of a ganzheit or whole derived from Kant, became one of the motifs of the Erdkunde. The scientific stance of Ritter was teleological. Ritter introduced many stimulating ideas in geography. However, later classicists hav… history. The task of the geographer is to get away from mere description to the law of the thing described; to reach not a mere enumeration of facts and figures, but the connection of place with place, and the laws which bind together local and general phenomena of the Earth’s surface. By using the ancient names for the countries He prophesied about, the Lord made possible the use of scripture to interpret scripture. Select three theorists whose work had major contributions to the foundation of psychology. (2) The second included the distribution and movements of water, sea and atmosphere: the bases of human life. Modern thought is … Foundation of Modern Geography: French School of Thought. Carl Ritter is believed to have stated that he was teaching a new scientific geography ‘in contrast to the traditional lifeless summary of facts about countries and cities, mingled with all sorts of scientific incongruities’. We might call them the four pillars of modern conservatism: The first pillar of conservatism is liberty, or freedom. He opined that if he could bring together all the facts and relationships observed in areas, these would make it possible to state such laws. Plagiarism Prevention 5. The pair were persuaded to visit Washington, D.C. by an American counselor and they did so. Prohibited Content 3. Before uploading and sharing your knowledge on this site, please read the following pages: 1. Development of Modern Geographic Thought Further to what has been explained in the chapter 6.14.1.1 about main stages of development of geography, a more detailed focus gives a closer view of the several contexts that have been, and still are, influential in the modern geographic thought. The forms of the organism repeat themselves in every different combination. His scientific geography was based on the concept of terrestrial or spatial unity (Raumbegriff). During his expeditions in the Americas and Europe, he recorded and reported on magnetic declination. While on the west coast of South America, von Humboldt measured and discovered the Peruvian Current, which, over the objections of von Humboldt himself, is also known as the Humboldt Current. Ritter emphasised on the relative values of wet and dry boundaries, such as rivers or mountains, which he conceived of as a means towards the real purpose of geography the understanding of the content of areas. Rationalism - Rationalism - Epistemological rationalism in modern philosophies: The first modern rationalist was Descartes, an original mathematician whose ambition was to introduce into philosophy the rigour and clearness that delighted him in mathematics. Alexander von Humboldt's travels, experiments, and knowledge transformed western science in the nineteenth century. Hence the Erdkunde carried the sub-title – âAll gemeine vergleichende geographie (general comparative geography).â All geography that went beyond mere description was comparative and the scheme of a general comparative geography would give in broad outline the system of an Erdkunde. Every Area or Domain of Thought Must Be Thought-Through to Be Learned. Ritter was born in Quedlinburg in 1779. Disclaimer 8. The function of the scientific geographer was to perceive these features, not separately, but in their interrelation so that he could thereby reproduce intellectually the unified whole that was Nature. Describe how each of the theories and ideas you noted contributed to and shaped the field of modern … Among them were Minoru Senda, Masahiko Yamano and Tetsuya Hisatake. The continued use of continents as major regional entities not only for the teaching of geography, but also for the formulation of concepts has retarded the progress of geographical scholarship. Rosenberg, Matt. Ritter came into close contact with many eminent scholars of the day, of whom the most significant were the anatomist Sommering, the geologist Ebel, and the leader of educational reform Pestalozzi. The plans of God, which give purpose and meaning, could only be discovered by taking into account all facts and relationships in the world as objectively as possible’. Vidal de Lablache is known as the founder of human geography. Asia, said Ritter, represents the sunrise where the early civilisation of man flourished. Yet the 19 volumes of the Erdkunde, he actually completed covered Africa and part of Asia. Ritter’s initial geographical works included two volumes on Europe which appeared in 1804 and 1807. Report a Violation 10. Ritter’s meeting with Von Humboldt in 1807 was significant in many ways because Humboldt clearly demonstrated to him the importance of Earth conditions to humankind which had a profound impact on the scholarship of Ritter. As von Humboldt got older, he decided to write everything known about the earth. The basic foundations of American conservatism can be boiled down to four fundamental concepts. To him geography had a right to be considered a sharply defined science of kindred dignity with the others. The task imposed upon geography is to reach the connection which exists between parts; or, in other words, to get at the relation between places and what fills and occupies them’. The pace of technological innovation began to quicken. Salzamann was enthusiastic about these new suggestions and founded his school at Schnepfenthal in the Thuringerwald to experiment with them. Ritter’s influence in the development of the methodology of geography during the middle of the nineteenth century was of much greater importance. He appeared to have given up many of his positions which he had held, such as his engagement with the Prussian Military School and his association with the scientific commission on geography and history. Through a wide range of media — print, digital, broadcast, and film — we seek to raise awareness about cutting-edge discoveries in ways that are clear and thought-provoking. Great minds shape the thinking of successive historical periods. In 1827, he returned to Berlin where he obtained a steady income by becoming the King of Prussia's advisor. Von Humboldt met George Forester, Captain James Cook's scientific illustrator from his second voyage, and they hiked around Europe. The first volume, a general overview of the universe, sold out in two months and was promptly translated into many languages. He felt that the geographic studies must proceed from observation to observation, not from opinion to hypothesis, or pre-conceived notion to observation. First, an investigation of Hegel's geographical thought contributes to our understanding of modern geographical thought's messy and contested trajectory. Search the world's most comprehensive index of full-text books. Ritter’s purpose always led from the individual facts towards a ‘whole’ of all phenomena, rather than to trace the inner relation of phenomena to a last ’cause’. For this reason, his concept of relation of geography to other sciences was lost sight of for nearly a century. In the Italian Renaissance, Machiavelli’s The Prince critically assessed the politics of the day, and laid the foundation for modern critical political thought. Ritter was born in Quedlinburg in 1779. If we had to pick the thinkers more responsible than any other forplanting the intellectual roots of modern conservative thought, Ibelieve we would select Edmund Burke and Russell Kirk. The influential work of classicist Frank Snowden (1970;1983), who emphasized the lack of anti-black prejudice in the ancientworld, led many scholars of race to conclude that racism did not existin that epoch. In the Italian Renaissance, Machiavelli’s The Prince critically assessed the politics of the day, and laid the foundation for modern critical political thought. This dealt with Africa and volume II on Asia appeared in 1818. The modern period of geography began toward the end of the 18th cent. "Biography of Alexander von Humboldt." geographical skills and interests. He learnt Latin and Greek and read widely in geography and history. At an early age, Ritter was able to observe the close relationship between humankind and his environment. Thenceforth two principal methods of approach to geography can be distinguished: the systematic, following Humboldt, and the regional, following Ritter. Sylvia Plath was one of the most dynamic and admired poets of the 20th century. The United States has a complex government system. According to his theoretical statements, his divisions were made in terms of relief (in particular he divided the upper, middle and lower portions of stream basins), but in practice he also recognised other factors, as in his separation of the Sahara and in its sub-divisions in terms of climate and vegetation, etc. It is presumed that the interest in the systematic studies that developed in young Ritter just have stemmed from the influence of Humboldt’s writings. Carl Ritter received his early training in a school in Schnepfenthal near Gotha, where the teaching was based on the principles of Rousseau and Pestalozzi. His ambition to produce a regional geography led him to consider regions of relatively large size. He refused to assume that government functioned as those in power said it did. They didn't make it to the top due to a wall-like cliff but they did climb to over 18,000 feet in elevation. Ritter emphasised that the enormous multiplicity of observations must be organised according to the chorological principle which should be considered both in a horizontal and a vertical sense. Particularly in Italy, the political demands of the time gave new importance to technology, and a new profession emerged, that of civil and military engineer. The Germans, Humboldt and Ritter, are considered the fathers of modern geography, the first on the line of physical geography and the second on the human aspects. Ritter’s significance as a scientist lies in his thorough and critical study of sources and his ability to systematise extensive material. This purpose must be found most particularly in humankind (highest of Earth creatures), the only one who could conceive of an organisation of the whole. The central principle of geography is the relation of all the phenomena and forms of nature to the human race, examined and organised within the framework of the unique geographical association of land and man on the Earth’s surface. He realised the magnitude of the work he had begun. ‘It was reserve for our time, to see the comparative geography cultivated in masterly fashion, in its widest compass, indeed in its reflex on human history, on the relation of the form of the Earth to the direction of the characteristics of peoples and the progress of civilization’. 1991: Explain the major contribution by Arab geographers of the early medieval period in the development of geographic thought. He set out to doubt everything in the hope of arriving in the end at something indubitable. Ritter also strengthened the horizontal concept of unity of particular areas, as individual wholes, and emphasised on the individuality of the continents which at times he referred to as ‘organs’. He attempted to formulate generalisations concerning the continents or Erdteile; and their population. Content Filtration 6. Nature in every corner of the Earth is a reflection of the whole. Von Humboldt sailed to Paris in 1804 and wrote thirty volumes about his field studies. 1993: No question. The areas of the Earth surface are to be studied in terms of the particular character resulting from the phenomena, interrelated to each other and to the Earth, which fill the areas. In 1810, Ritter prepared a more complete systematic geography of the world, a ‘Handbuch der Physischen Geographie, but it was never published probably because of the criticism offered by Von Buch. 38. From 1827 to 1828, Alexander von Humboldt gave public lectures in Berlin. Ritter and Humboldt are frequently referred to us the founders of modern geography. (Geoffrey J. Martin, and Preston E. James. His major geographic units were the continents or Erdteile, and he applied the traditional definition for the continents as the major regions. Ritter’s concept of the unity of nature simply reflected his teleological standpoint and he saw the unity as an evidence of God’s divine plan. Socrates (470/469–399 B.C.E.) He stayed in France for 23 years and met with many other intellectuals on a regular basis. The individual area had its own particular determined value. The geographer traces ‘causation’ and ‘interdependence’ of the spatially distributed phenomena, and the relations of everyone to the country which supplies its condition of being. The greater part of the country is mountainous. Generally, latter half of nineteenth century is considered as a period of modern geography. SUBTEST I: WORLD HISTORY; WORLD GEOGRAPHY 114-3 0003 Modern World History (SMR 1.3) Candidates trace and analyze the major developments in the modern world from the late 18th century through the present. Undoubtedly, Ritter gave to geography its systematic frame which remained valid for the successive periods of modern geography. ThoughtCo. His father, who was an army officer, died when he was nine years old so he and his older brother Wilhelm were raised by their cold and distant mother. Most of Ritter’s earlier works point towards his zeal in the systematic studies. Matt Rosenberg is an award-winning geographer and the author of "The Handy Geography Answer Book" and "The Geography Bee Complete Preparation Handbook.". The classical period in the development of modern geography came to an end with the death of both Humboldt and Ritter in 1859. This concept makes geography much more human kind-oriented. In 1792, at the age of 22, von Humboldt began a job as a government mines inspector in Franconia, Prussia. From the richly varied landscapes of the region of hills and low mountains, to which Ritter was exposed by his teacher, he derived the idea of unity of nature which became a basic theme of his geographical scholarship. with the works of Alexander von Humboldt and Karl Ritter. Causal relationships had to be sought by the comparative method that had proved so successful in other sciences, particularly anatomy. This courseware module is part of Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' OER Initiative . After them and up to the present, new UNESCO – EOLSS SAMPLE CHAPTERS Account Disable 11. Ritter’s teleological standpoint with regard to the major regions of the world was subject to criticism as his contemporaries felt that religion could not provide explanations of natural phenomena, especially in the arrangement of the major regions (i.e. In the southwest is Tibet, which China annexed in 1950. Therefore, these are the divisions of a second order arrived at deductively. It was at the University of Gottingen that Ritter published the first volume of the Erdkunde in 1817. The lectures were so popular that new assembly halls had to be found due to the demand. Von Humboldt was later invited to Russia by the tsar and after exploring the nation and describing discoveries such as permafrost, he recommended that Russia establish weather observatories across the country. Alexander von Humboldt's travels, experiments, and knowledge transformed western science in the nineteenth century. At the start of the 20th century, historian and philosopher Martin Grabmann was the first scholar to work out the outlines of the ongoing development of thought in scholasticism and to see in Thomas Aquinas a response and development of thought rather than a single, coherently emerged and organic whole. In the process, the study of the history of geographical thought should continue to strengthen its central position within the subject as a whole. It may be noted that for Humboldt and Ritter, it was axiomatic that the terrestrial unity included organic and inorganic, human as well as non- human, material and immaterial. He exerted great influence beyond the range of his immediate students as he was a geographer in the true sense of the term, whereas Humboldt’s influence was on the non- geographers. He seems to have laid the foundation of the holistic tradition in the nineteenth-century geography. the continents), he saw an evidence of God’s plan. At the age of seventeen he entered the University of Helle, where he worked with Professor Niemeyer. continents). A Bible Study by Jack Kelley Many of the nations we hear about in today's news existed in ancient times but under different names. It must use the objective (empirical) method, calling attention to the main types of formation of nature, by investigating the relationship grounded in nature itself; this method leads to a ‘natural system’. In reaction to those who had specialised in systematic studies and never reached the actual formulations of interrelated factors in areas, Ritter urged them first to study the areas filled with interrelated phenomena. Ritter was among the first to show that the theory of a continuous network of mountains was opposed by the records of observed facts and that, likewise, there was no general correspondence (as often assumed) between the crestlines of the mountains and the divisions of the drainage basin. He is widely respected as one of the founders of modern geography. Uploader Agreement, Contribution of Carl Ritter to Modern Geography, Dichotomy Between General Geography and Regional Geography, Dichotomy Between Physical Geography and Human Geography, Contribution of Alexander Von Humboldt towards Modern Geography, The Best Essay on Renewable Energy | Energy Management, International Tourism in India: Introduction, History, Trends, Opportunities and Future, Forestry: Definition, Branches, Costs, Programme and Conclusion | Geography, Contribution of Russia to World Geography (In Hindi), French Scholars and their Contribution to Geography in Hindi. My library The following is a capsule summary of the top 25 events in the History of Christianity, events which shaped the Church itself, Christian civilization, and the modern world. However, his concept was somewhat akin to that of Zeune though much broader and logically more consistent. Explain their theories and be sure to paraphrase (put in your own words) each theory or idea and cite your sources. He refused to assume that government functioned as those in power said it did. Alexander von Humboldt was offered a position in the Mexican cabinet but he refused. Ritter seemed to have rejected Gattener’s and Hommeyer’s idea of pure Geography (reine geographie). Terms of Service 7. It works its way into a system of thought by thinking-through: the purpose or goal of the system In the same volume, Humboldt referred to Ritter’s work as the reflection of a part of the plan of Varenius, which in the earlier period of scientific development had not been accomplished. ‘Areal phenomena are so interrelated as to give rise to the uniqueness of areas as individual units.’ Ritter, therefore, insisted that a real synthesis and description must precede the world-wide analysis of particular sets of features and phenomena. All Possible Worlds: A History of Geographical Ideas., page 131). 1994: Examine critically the concepts of ‘determinism; and possibilism. It is in the Erdkunde that Ritter provides the above explanatory definition of geography and makes his geography humankind-oriented or anthropocentric. Vidal was a strong opponent of the environmental deterministic approach. This lesson deals with the French School of Thought and its major contributors. Candidates: a. Copyright 9. Carl Ritter exercised a much more direct influence on the development and growth of geography in Germany than did Humboldt. These are some of the most well-known of all Greek philosophers. He sought to construct ‘a law of the arrangement’ of the parts of each continent to the whole; and particularly endeavoured to show how these conditions have determined the development of the peoples of the different continents at different periods of history. By using the ancient names for the countries He prophesied about, the Lord made possible the use of scripture to interpret scripture.