"Geography is all around us" Question: Give your definition of Geography and explain how you came to this definition?

Essay by garybreenCollege, UndergraduateB, May 2004

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When first looking at this question anyone would be forgiven for thinking that it would be quite easy to define geography based on our second level education but after researching geography I found that this was far from the truth.

When I went in search of a precise definition, I realised that there were many contrasting views on geography but the one view that reoccurred was that no individual was 100% positive that their definition was correct. "The concept and scope of geography have undergone considerable change, and it is highly unlikely that any definition would satisfy everyone", (Monkhouse, ). This difficulty in finding a clear definition is emphasised by the Oxford Dictionary of Geography which states "The discipline of geography has many interpretations"( ), and Brewer concurs with thie assessment commenting that "Geography is a subject which defies concise definition", (1973).

Having noted these quotes I believe that it is the sheer vastness of geography that makes it so hard to quantify.

Cohen said "there is no problem in this world that is exclusively geographical; but there are few that are not in some way geographical", ( ). I believe this statement says a lot about geography and I whole-heartedly agree with it. If almost all the worlds' problems are in some way geographical, then the vastness of it is clear to be seen. You may think I am spending too long on this, what seems to

be a trivial point, but I believe it is very important that when asked to define something, one must understand the size or difficulty of the job on hand.

A quote which really made me believe in the vastness of geography came from the renowned physicist, Albert Einstein; he said "as a young man my fondest dream was to become a...