Carl Ritter was a German geographer born in 1779 who is considered one of the founders of modern geography along with Alexander von Humboldt. Over the course of his life, Ritter published 19 volumes consisting of over 20,000 pages of his major work "Die Erdkunde", intended as a complete geography of the world. In this work, Ritter treated geographical features as organs in the human body and described how the features of a place affected the history of its inhabitants. He emphasized empirical, observational, and comparative methods and is seen as pioneering the fields of environmental determinism and human-environment relationships in geography.

1. Carl Ritter
• German geographer
Carl Ritter is commonly
associated with
Alexander von
Humboldt as one of the
founders of modern
geography.

2. Carl Ritter
• Ritter was born on
August 7, 1779, in
Quedlinburg, Germany
(then Prussia), ten years
after von Humboldt.

3. Contribution of Carl Ritter
• In 1804, at the age of
25, Ritter's first
geographical writings,
about the geography of
Europe, were published.
• In 1811 he published a
two-volume textbook
about the geography of
Europe.

4. Carl Ritter
• In 1817, he published the
first volume of his major
work, Die Erdkunde, or
Earth Science (the literal
German translation for
the word "geography.")
Intended to be a
complete geography of
the world,
• Ritter published 19
volumes, consisting of
over 20,000 pages, over
the course of his life.

5. Carl Ritter
• Karl Ritter treated the
various geographical
features of the world
like organs in the
human body-
• The geographic
features of a place
affected the history of
its inhabitants.

6. Carl Ritter
• Ritter often included
theology in his writings
for he described that
the earth displayed
evidence of God's plan.

7. Carl Ritter
• Ritter stated that
“historical diversity is a
result of geographical
diversity” that paved
the way for
“environmental
determinism

8. Carl Ritter
 Ritter emphasized on
empirical,
observational &
comparative methods.
 In his writings
scientific methods such
as analysis & synthesis
and generalizations are
visible.

9. Carl Ritter
• Ritter’s geography, seeking
new epistemological
foundations, aimed to set
out universal geographical
laws, and to do this there
was no hesitation in calling
on the theories of Antiquity,
such a Neo- Platonism’s
theory of Forms (Gestalt),
taken up in particular by
Schelling (1775-1854) ,
1974.

10. Carl Ritter
• Maps were to back up
the demonstration, and
Ritter, anxious to "show
the world" to students,
following the
recommendations of
Pestalozzi, contributed
to the development of
school atlases and wall
maps in the teaching of
German geography.

11. Carl Ritter
• Added descriptive
approach
• Man – environmental
relatioship

12. Carl Ritter
• General Comparative
Geography as sound
foundations for the
study and teaching of
physical and historical
sciences
• Comparative approach

13. Carl Ritter
• "geography was a kind of
physiology and comparative
anatomy of the earth:
rivers, mountains, glaciers,
etc., were so many distinct
organs, each with its own
appropriate functions; and,
as his physical frame is the
basis of the man,
determinative to a large
extent of his life, so the
structure of each country is
a leading element in the
historic progress of the
nation."

14. Carl Ritter
• In total, Ritter intended to write an all-encompassing
geography spanning the entire globe. His work was to
consist of three parts:
• 1. The solid form or the continents –continents and
human activities
• 2. The fluid form or the elements- Part two was to
deal with the fluid forms; by this was meant water,
air, and fire. These elements correspond
approximately to the studies of Hydrography,
Meteorology, Climatology, as well as Volcanology. This
part, too, was to be examined within the framework
of the whole system.

15. Carl Ritter
• 3. The bodies of the
three realms of nature -
The final part of the
proposed work was to
be dedicated to the
interrelationships of
organic life with
geography and history

16. Carl Ritter
• We Thank Ritter for his
contribution in
Geography

17. Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844 –
August 9, 1904)

18. Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844 –
August 9, 1904)
• Friedrich Ratzel (1844-
1904). He is also known
as the pioneer of
human geography as
his book
Anthropogeography is
pioneer in this regard
that depicts the human
relationship with
nature