Is geography a science?


Globe and kids

Daniel Edelson, National Geographic’s Vice President of Education, says,

"The question of whether geography is a science or not ends up being a question of how one defines the term 'geography.' It is certainly true that much of geography falls outside the U.S. K-12 science curriculum. For example, the study of cultures, of political and diplomatic relationships, and even the study of trade are not sciences as we define science in U.S. schools. We teach that content in a section of the curriculum we call 'social studies.'

"The important thing to recognize is that whether the focus of geography is people and social processes or the natural world and environmental processes, it can be scientific. So, the most important thing I have to say to people who dispute that geography is a science is that geography is scientific because geographers engage in the systematic study of phenomena and they use rigorous standards for evaluating evidence for claims.

That said, there are branches of geography that are humanistic or artistic, rather than scientific, and they deserve their place in the arts and humanities curricula, in the same way that the scientific aspects belong in the natural and social science curricula."

 

Also see

Geography Awareness Week: Boy do we need it

Mini Geo-quiz: See how you do

Mapping data to change minds: A lesson from 1854