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Introduces a series of articles derived from a March 2002 session of the Association of American Geographers on the geographical work of David Lowenthal. Session's focus on the development of geographical interest in landscape and environmental perception; Areas of scholarship in which Lowenthal worked; Scholarly foundation of Lowenthal's work.

This paper examines the nature of the French discipline of geography through the research and writings of the eighteenth century geographer, d'Anville, the geographers on the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt (1798–1801), and those involved in the exploration of Algeria (1839–42), and illuminates a major paradigm shift which transformed geography from a science barely recognizable to modern geographers into a social science with many of the dimensions of the modern discipline. In the eighteenth century, French geographers were primarily concerned with locational determination and representation: locating and mapping towns, major natural or human-made features, and provincial and national borders. By the early nineteenth century, there is evidence that geographers were beginning to broaden their interests to include problems that were not strictly locational. In this period of transition, instead of radically reforming their approach, French geographers clung to their traditional methodologies and stretched them to solve nonlocational problems. By the mid-nineteenth century, they had substantially refocused their attention on the general nature of the terrain, description of major landscape features, ’man’ as a being interacting with the environment to produce race and culture, the movement of populations, hegemonic boundaries and territoriality, the history of exploration, and commercial geography. Geography retained an anachronistic and increasingly peculiar concern with the determination of location. This paper represents the first step in an attempt to explore geography's ambiguous role in the intellectual revolution that took place between 1750–1850 and which gave birth to the modern social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I summarize the status and trends in physical geography over the first 100 years of the Annals of the Association of American Geographers. Drawing on the original papers and recent literature that reviews biogeography, climatology, and geomorphology, I describe the change in the focus of physical geographers over the last century and anticipate future developments in physical geography. Physical geographers have always responded to changes in methodologies and to broader developments in earth and environmental sciences. Their work currently explores environmental systems developing process-based understanding. Recent methodological and conceptual developments include the adoption of approaches from complexity science to understand dynamic and nonlinear behaviors of environmental systems. There is also a growing move toward the challenge of addressing coupled human and natural systems in an integrated and holistic manner. This is not only a challenge for physical geography but also for geography as a whole, reflecting the capacity of the discipline to analyze and understand complex behaviors and dynamics using a diversity of quantitative and qualitative methods; methodologies that span social, economic, behavioral, and biophysical systems; and an ability to link basic and applied research to use geographic expertise to address contemporary environmental issues of importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Histories of American geography have tended to concentrate on geographic thought and on the men who have been seen as major figures in research. In contrast, I examine the careers of women geographers and of professional practices in American geography in the 20th century. My approach reflects thinking in feminist studies and the social studies of science, which acknowledge the existence of multiple histories and the importance of paying attention to contexts. Before 1950, values linking prestige and masculinity resulted in the exclusion of women geographers from university professorships though they found opportunities in teacher education and outside academia. In the post-World War II era, even as higher education expanded rapidly, women's representation in the profession declined substantially, influenced by the social climate that promoted women's domesticity and priorities for recruiting men. Academic practices and the consciousness of the few women graduate students reflected this gendered culture. Whether women geographers have valued particular aspects of their work and created distinctive knowledge pose questions for further exploration. A brief look at the practices and meanings of field education over the century suggests that such experience has been important to women, even when attempts have been made to exclude their participation. There are also indications that women geographers disproportionately bring social concerns to the discipline. The paper calls for reflection on the implications of our histories for the profession's future, especially for graduate education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the views of geographer R. Cole Harris in response to the criticism of his paper "The Simplification of Europe Overseas," published in the December 1977 issue of the journal "Annals of the Association of American Geographers." He says that his critics may find his analysis premature, and may think that he has ignored some power relationships, particularly those affecting labor. But, his paper is a foray, not nearly a final word. Also, he is convinced that his foray is supported by the current literature and that it is timely.

This paper looks at Carl Sauer's undergraduate and pre-Berkeley experiences in relation to his more mature views of geography. A biographical approach is used to illustrate the link between milieu and intellectual development. It is argued that Sauer's undergraduate days in Warrenton. Missouri were decidedly significant in shaping his worldview and that his later writings are better understood in light of his childhood and adolescent experiences. The conclusion points to the need to re-evaluate the repeatedly cited influence of Alfled Kroeber and Robert Lowie on Sauer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a first-person narrative of a geographer in the United States. Final requirements for his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1936-37; Role of M. L. Wilson in the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture in the author becoming a federal employee; Papers on cultural-agricultural islands; Involvement with the subsistence homestead projects; Back-to-the-land movement in the 1930s; Farm population and rural life studies.

The article presents the views of geographer Robert D. Mitchell in response to the paper "The Simplification of Europe Overseas," published in the December 1977 issue of the journal "Annals of the Association of American Geographers." He argues that the presence or absence of labor exploitive institutions, especially slavery and indentured servitude, produced fundamentally different colonial societies and patterns of social relations. Power and authority within the family were often based on legal control over land and indirectly over labor.

Comments on an article by the author, Michael Solot, discussing the geographer, Carl Sauer's geography. Consideration of Solot's paper as an amalgam of pseudohistory and confused analysis; Discussion of the philosophy and problems in human geography.

The article presents the views of geographer Adrian Pollock in response to the paper "The Simplification of Europe Overseas," published in the December 1977 issue of the journal "Annals of the Association of American Geographers." He appreciates that the article author presented an insightful account of the effects of new land on the immigrant societies of French Canada, Dutch South Africa, and English New England. However, he thinks that for New England the analysis is premature. This is so because, as yet, there is lack of proper knowledge of the early colonists' background and experience adequate enough to enable one to judge whether colonial conditions or inherent attitudes, practices, and institutions were the most important in determining the nature of colonial society.

The article presents individuals who have offered their assistance in reviewing papers submitted to the periodical "Annals of the Association of American Geographers" from July 1, 2004-June 30, 2005.

The article presents information about the commentary "The Past Third-Century of the Annals." This commentary was published in the December 1978 issue of the journal "Annals of the Association of American Geographers." It pertained only to American geographers and higher institutions; geographers from outside the United States were not pleased with their exclusion from the listing. Some questioned the procedure to include only articles, technical communications and maps in the tabulation and to exclude commentaries, notes, review articles, memorials, abstracts of papers read at annual meetings, as well as the Annals Special California supplement.