The Geographical Tradition

The Geographical Tradition presents the history of an essentially contested tradition. By examining a series of key episodes in geography's history since 1400, Livingstone argues that the messy contingencies of history are to be preferred to the manufactured idealizations of the standard chronicles. Throughout, the development of geographical thought and practice is portrayed against the background of the broader social and intellectual contexts of the times. Among the topics investigated are geography during the Age of Reconnaissance, the Scientific Revolution and The Englightenment; subsequently geography's relationships with Darwinism, imperialism, regionalism, and quantification are elaborated.

Preface. 1. Should the History of Geography be X-Rated? Telling Geography's Story. 2. Of Myths and Maps: Geography in the Age of Reconnaissance. 3. Revolution, Celestial and Terrestrial: Geography nad the Scientific Revolution. 4. Naturalists and Navigators: Geography in the Enlightenment. 5. Of Design and Dining Clubs: Pre-Darwinian Geography. 6. The Geographical Experiment: Evolution and the Founding of a Discipline. 7. A 'Sternly Practical' Pursuit: Geography, Race and Empire. 8. The Regionalising Ritual: Geography, Place and Particularity. 9. Statistics Don't Bleed: Quantification and its Detractors. 10. The Geographical Tradition: A Conversational Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.