i've decided to being all of you on my long and ardous journey of my geog essay. and im very glad to say that, all is not lost! with motivation popping out at the most random of places and most random of times (think toilet bowls and one am), i can only say it's my great big Friend up there doing something. so, this is the revised first half, enjoy:) and comments are very welcome :):)
“Till Death Do Us Part”
The very last line in the marriage vow is by far the most important, yet hardest to comprehend, and it was many years ago that the Human and Physical components of our surroundings had uttered this vow and forgone their single statuses to come under the large umbrella of Geography.
Currently, debate is rife about separating its long lasting union, speculation that they were never meant to be. They are worlds apart, with Human Geography likened to Art and Physical Geography likened to Science. Michael Naish, in his book contribution, outlines the developing views of the scope of school Geography in the United Kingdom during the late 1960s, where the whole syllabus underwent a ‘conceptual revolution’ to include more systematic and scientific teaching methods. The dominating element of this revolution was the attempt to explain phenomena through a more scientific approach, which involved posing and testing of hypotheses or construction of conceptual models to fit reality. This heavily undermined the Art aspect of Geography as the Science component took over as head of the household with its mighty influence on both the Human and Physical parties.
To further exasperate the situation, ‘it is often argued that Geography has not a distinct subject matter compared to other sciences but a distinctive point of view from which study is conducted’, hence touting the ‘marriage’ as illegitimate. As described by Joan Nunes, the superfluous nature of geographic content has made it difficult to define what is regarded within its scope, causing much discrepancy. The broad category of Geography is most effectively captured by William Hughes:
“mere names of places...are not geography... know by heart a whole gazetteer full of them would not, in itself, constitute anyone a geographer. Geography has higher aims than this: it seeks to classify phenomena (alike of the natural and of the political world, in so far as it treats of the latter), to compare, to generalize, to ascend from effects to causes, and, in doing so, to trace out the great laws of nature and to mark their influences upon man. This is 'a description of the world'—that is Geography. In a word Geography is a Science—a thing not of mere names but of argument and reason, of cause and effect.” -William Hughes,1863