Geography unbound : French geographic science from Cassini to Humboldt
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Geography unbound : French geographic science from Cassini to Humboldt
University of Chicago Press, 1999
- : cloth
- : pbk
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 367-432) and index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
: cloth ISBN 9780226300467
Description
At the end of the 18th century, French geographers faced a crisis. Though they had previously been ranked among the most highly regarded scientists in Europe, they suddenly found themselves directionless and disrespected because they were unable to adapt their descriptive focus easily to the new emphasis on theory and explanation sweeping through other disciplines. Anne Godlewska examines this crisis, the often conservative reactions of geographers to it, and the work of researchers at the margins of the field who helped chart its future course. She tells her story partly through the lives and careers of individuals, from the deposed cabinet geographer Cassini IV to Volney, von Humboldt, and Letronne (innovators in human, physical, and historical geography), and partly through the institutions with which they were associated such as the Encyclopedie and the Jesuit and military colleges. The book presents a portrait of a crucial period in the development of modern geography, whose unstable disciplinary status is still very much an issue at the end of the 20th century.
Table of Contents
List of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction Part One: Geography's Crisis One: The Nature of Eighteenth-Century Geography: Cartographic and Textual Description Two: Geography's Loss of Direction and Status Part Two: Reaction and Continuity Three: Universal Description Four: The Powerful Mapping Metaphor Five: Handmaiden to Power Part Three: Innovation on the Margins Six: Explaining the Social Realm Seven: Innovation in Natural Geography Eight: Tough-Minded Historical Geography Conclusion Notes References Index Godlewska/Geography Unbound-contents 1
- Volume
-
: pbk ISBN 9780226300474
Description
At the end of the 18th century, French geographers faced a crisis. Though they had previously been ranked among the most highly regarded scientists in Europe, they suddenly found themselves directionless and disrespected because they were unable to adapt their descriptive focus easily to the new emphasis on theory and explanation sweeping through other disciplines. Anne Godlewska examines this crisis, the often conservative reactions of geographers to it, and the work of researchers at the margins of the field who helped chart its future course. She tells her story partly through the lives and careers of individuals, from the deposed cabinet geographer Cassini IV to Volney, von Humboldt, and Letronne (innovators in human, physical, and historical geography), and partly through the institutions with which they were associated such as the Encyclopedie and the Jesuit and military colleges. The book presents a portrait of a crucial period in the development of modern geography, whose unstable disciplinary status is still very much an issue at the end of the 20th century.
Table of Contents
- Part 1 Geography's crisis: the nature of 18th-century geography - cartographic and textual description
- geography's loss of direction and status. Part 2 Reaction and continuity: universal description
- the powerful mapping metaphor
- handmaiden to power. Part 3 Innovation on the margins: explaining the social realm
- innovation in natural geography
- tough-minded historical geography.
by "Nielsen BookData"