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Scientific Geography Series
The Scientific Geography Series is a series of small books that each focus on a specific geographic concept from a scientific framework.[1] Background and influencesGeographer Grant Ian Thrall edited the series, and the books were written by prominent geographers such as Arthur Getis and A. Stewart Fotheringham.[2] The term "Scientific geography" dates back at least to a 1910 publication titled "Scientific Geography: The Relation of Its Content to Its Subdivisions" in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society (now the Geographical Review).[3] The Scientific Geography Series editor defined the term as involving:
The series was originally published between 1985 and 1988 and sold for $6.50 per issue.[2] It is intended for use as textbooks or as sources for researchers, and the books can be taken individually or used together to learn concepts in geography.[4][5][6] The first books in the series are introductory and focus on human geography, while later ones are more advanced and focus on scientific or quantitative geography.[1] The series is described as providing "a broad view of developments in academic geography--at least of the more quantitative aspects of its human geography wing."[6] The Scientific Geography Series was immediately compared to the Concepts and Techniques in Modern Geography (CATMOG) series in a review, where the reviewer called them "Super-CATMOGs," and stated that British users might believe the series was an American attempt at profiting from the publication model set forth by the CATMOGs.[7] The review noted that while CATMOGs were focused on techniques, the Scientific Geography Series was more focused on "theories and models."[7] Multiple reviews noted that the Scientific Geography Series was clearly aimed at American Undergraduate students.[7][8][5] Despite the similarities to CATMOG, the reviewer noted that the books published at the time of review were a useful contribution to educational material.[7] While used extensively, these physical copies became difficult to find and use in the classroom.[9] To remedy this, the West Virginia University Regional Research Institute made digital copies of the series available for free as part of their "Web Book of Regional Science" series.[9] List of Publications
CriticismCritics of the series have noted that while the series editor claimed coverage of science in geography was limited, there were many prominent publications on the topic.[2] The coverage of some topics is described as being a bit inadequate.[2] As they were small, one reviewer noted that the project was flawed due to the texts being neither cutting-edge research nor full textbooks.[8] One reviewer noted that the series was very similar in format to the British CATMOGs, but instead targeting American undergraduate students, using American examples, and American academics.[7] The implication was that a large-scale American publishing company was taking the British CATMOG idea, and profiting from it.[7] The cost of the Scientific Geography Series was noted to be more expensive than the CATMOGs.[7][8] The term "scientific geography" is described by an author as an "unfortunate term that, I hope, will not gain widespread currency."[2] This is part of a broader problem of organizing geography, with many competing terms that are sometimes used as direct synonyms or in conjuncture with each other within the literature, such as technical geography.[12][13] See alsoReferences
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