Introduction

Abstract

Geography in America has become more robust, more recognized, more marketable, more unified, and more diversified since the first publication of Geography in America (Gaile and Willmott 1989a). American geographers have built on geography’s traditional strengths, while simultaneously embracing valuable new ideas and evaluating important new perspectives that have challenged the established theory and knowledge base of the discipline (National Research Council 1997). The robustness of American geography is well illustrated within the chapters in this book. Across the discipline from Geographic Information Science to the regional geography of Africa, American geographers have been able to respond constructively to new challenges and criticism, including the clear need to understand and evaluate the causes and effects of the events of September 11, 2001. American geography at the dawn of the twenty-first century can be characterized by its unity amidst diversity. While our traditional focus on place—and on spatial relationships within and among places—continues to provide unity, a growing variety of research problems, methods, subfields, and epistemologies is increasing our diversity. While we well recognize the difficulty in defining “geography” satisfactorily (Gaile and Willmott 1989b), we also are persuaded that an understanding of our shared perspectives, principles, and goals holds the greatest promise for effectively integrating diversity into our discipline. For this reason, we offer a synopsis of the nature and practice of geography, which draws from earlier work and especially from the above-mentioned National Research Council (NRC) report. Several years ago, Gilbert White asked us personally to define “geography,” and we give a slightly revised version of that definition and characterization here. We continue to believe that geography “is not bounded,” but now feel that a meaningful definition and characterization of the nature and practice of geography is both possible and useful. Geography is the study and science of environmental and societal dynamics and society–environment interactions as they occur in and are conditioned by the real world. Geographic investigations into these are influenced by the character of specific places, as well as by spatial relationships among places and processes at work over a hierarchy of geographic scales.