History of geographical thought related for undergraduate and graduate student.

1. The beginning of classical
Geography
Kanhaiya Sapkota
Central Department of Geography
Tribhuvan University
Kirtipur, Kathmandu

2. Introduction
The Greeks were pioneers in many branches of knowledge. Describing the change of
geographical knowledge in different stages may face some problems. To avoid the problems
some approaches have been risen to describe Geographical knowledge. The basis of
their knowledge was the observation, measurement, generalization process,
philosophy, and comprehensiveness of mind was able to make tremendous
advancements in the knowledge of Geography. Their period is known as the ‘Golden
age of Greece’. Greek philosophers and scientists were also interested in learning
about the spatial nature of humans and the physical features found on the Earth.

3. THE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT AND THOUGHT
• Development is the process of developing or being developed. Development is an event constituting a new stage in a
changing situation. Through hard work and long-term efforts, geography reaches the present condition.
• Factors of Development
• Observation of the people
• Encouragement (social, political, financial)
• Travelling
• Trade and Commerce
• Exploration.
• In geography, thoughts are the agglomeration of the earth's physical, cultural, and biological aspects and values
and beliefs of different objectives. An explanation is the methodological description of these thoughts.

4. GREEK AGE
(800 BC – 150 BC)
Ancient Greek Age
(800 BC - 500 BC)
Late Greek Age
(500 Bc – 300 BC)
Greek-Roman Age
(300 BC – 150 AD)

5. THE GEOGRAPHICAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE GREEKS
Greeks discovered that the earth is round.
Greeks first drew the map of the ocean.
Eratosthenes first measure the circumference of the earth.
Greeks invented the pole star.
Greeks created Geography as the subject.
Greeks invented latitude, longitude, and projection of the earth.

6. THE ANCIENT CLASSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Geography as a field of learning in the western world had its beginning of ancient Greece.
It is clear that much attention was given to geographical study in ancient China, and
Chinese explorers did as much to “discover” Europe as the Europeans did to reach the
“Far East". But Chinese scholarship did not form a major part of the stream of western
thought.
The Greeks like all innovative people were great borrowers from much older civilizations.
Many of the basic procedures of scholarship still in use were first developed by the
Greeks.

7. THE ROOTS OF GREEK SCHOLARSHIP
 The Greeks were indebted to the world’s earliest scholars in many ways. Egypt has been called the cradle of
science because of the very early development of the methods of observation, measurement and generalization
in that country. Their contribution:
 Developed ways to measure land areas.
 North-south line
 The art of writing
 (a + b)2= (a2 + 2ab + b2)
 Both the Egyptian and Sumerians believed that there were 360 days in a year.
 The Sumerians divided the year into twelve months. They also divided the circle of the zodiac into 360 parts.
 The Babylonians and Assyrians developed the ideas- a body of concepts that we call Astrology.
 The Phoenicians, too, developed the world’s first phonetic alphabet.

8. GREEK GEOGRAPHY
The Greeks were pioneers in many branches of knowledge. Their period is known as the
“Golden Age of Greece”. Between the 5th and 3rd century B.C., the Greek colonies were
established in different parts of the Mediterranean sea and Euxine (Euxine was a town
of ancient Caria. Its site is located near Kepez, Ortaca, Asiatic Turkey).
Euxine became the main center of geographical inquiry.
The early expedition of Hanno (Hanno the Navigator – Wikipedia).
The establishment of the famous library Museum at Alexandria (Alexandria is the
second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean
coast. Founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great).

9. LOCATION OF GREECE
The location of Greece, situated on both sides of the Aegean
Sea, was also conducive to geographical study. The great
diversity in its topography and physical features provided great
impetus to the growth and development of geography such as:
 Hilly and undulating country
 Rivers are mainly torrents
 Numerous straits
 Limestone topography of the mainland
These phenomena, the Greek scholars tried to study and
explain.

10. Greek scholar’s contributions to
Geography

11. HOMER
• The earth is a place of circular form, surrounded on all sides by an ocean river. The
sky (Vault of Heaven), which he conceived as a solid concave surface, rested on
tall pillars.
• The sun rose out from the ocean stream and again sank in the same way. Stars are
also bathing every day in the Ocean like the sun.
• He described the name ‘Europe’ as applied to the shore of the Aegean Sea towards
the setting sun and ‘Asia’ was applied to the shore towards the rising sun.
• Winds are coming from four directions
1. Bores: North wind, Strong and cool with clear skies;
2. Euras: East wind, warm and gentle;
3. Notus: south wind, in the form of an advanced storm;
4. Zephyrus: West wind, dreaded, Balmy with gale force

12. ANAXIMANDER
Cosmology
• Anaximander explains how the four elements of ancient physics (air, earth, water, and
fire) are formed, and how Earth and terrestrial beings are formed through their
interactions.
• The Earth floats very still in the center of the infinite, not supported by anything.
• Stars are closer to Earth and then Moon and Then Sun. From this model, he gave an
explanation of the eclipse.
Meteorology
• Anaximander attributed some meteorological phenomena, such as thunder and
lightning.
• Rain is a product of the humidity pumped up from Earth by the sun.
Cartography
• Anaximander prepared a world map to scale. In scale. In this map, Greek has been
shown in the center of the world and surrounded by the Ocean river.
Geometry
• Gnomon (The gnomon is the triangular blade in this sundial) is a pole set vertically
above a flat surface in which the varying position of the sun could be measured by the
length and direction of the shadow cast by the vertical pole. pole. With the help of
Gnomon, noon could be established by noting when the shadow was the shortest; …..

13. HIPPARCHUS
• He discovered the precession of the equinoxes.
• He made the star catalog, which listed 850 stars.
• Divided the circle into 360 degrees based on Assyrian arithmetic.
• Equator as a great circle that divided the earth into two equal parts.
• ‘Astrolabe’ The instrument helps to determine Latitude and Longitude.
• The conversion of the three-dimensional sphere to a two-dimensional plane.
• Orthographic and Stereographic, these projections are designed by him.
• Orbit and Motion of the sun and moon
• Distance of the Sun and Moon from the Earth.

14. HERODOTUS
• He gave a description of the existing tribes and their
lifestyle.
• The meridian was drawn on the world map.
• Divided the Land mass of the earth into three
continents:
• Asia, Europe, and Libya (Africa).
• Divided Libya (Africa) into three latitudinal zones.
• Mediterranean coast from Atlas mountain to the
delta of Nile.
• Area of Wild beasts (South)
• True Sahara Desert
Ancient map based on Herodotus

15. ERATOSTHENES
• Described and mapped the
known world and divided the
Earth into five climatic zones:
two freezing zones around
the pole, two temperate
zones, and an equatorial
zone.
• Placed grids of overlapping
lines over the surface of the
earth.

16. • He wrote three books on Geography.
• The first book was something of an introduction and gave a review of his predecessors, recognizing
their contributions that he compiled in the library.
• Second Book “A text on Mathematical Geography”. Here he described the discover of the
circumference of the earth.
• Third book “The Geography” contains political geography.
• Calculated the Sun's diameter about 27 times that of the Earth.
• Founder of ‘Leap Year’
• Measured the Circumference of the Earth.

17. PLATO
(C. 427 BC – 347 BC)
• Plato is one of the greatest Greek philosophers. He was a student of Socrates.
• His concept now are taught in universities worldwide.
In Astronomical Geography:
• Explanation of the solar system as a system (circle shape).
• Explanation Size, and shape of the sun, moon, and earth (round, circular)
• Concept of revolution of sun, moon, and planets (in a circular way)
• Concept about the position of the earth (at the center of the solar system).
In mathematical geography:
• Analyzing physical science in a mathematical way.
Concept of deduction
Books:
Pheadu.
Philebus.
Timaeus.
Republica ( Studied worldwide till now).

18. PYTHAGORAS(C. 570 BC – 495 BC)
• Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher who made a great many
contributions to the history of mathematics, science, astronomy,
and music theory. He is perhaps best known for his contribution
to mathematics however the famed Pythagoras theorem.
Contributions:
• In Mathematical Geography:
• Concept of area measurement.
• Existence of size of every matter (expressed numerically).
• Concept about earth size.
• Concept of the existence of planets

19. • Concepts about the movements of heavenly bodies (circular way).
• Concept of the position of the earth (center of the solar system).
• Concept of revolution of the Sun and moon (round the earth).
In 529 BC, he migrated to Italy due to oppression in his own country. Later on, the activities:
Established an organization (Pythagorean).
Concept of anti-earth.
Concept of the source of energy.

20. DEMOCRITUS
• Democritus was a scholar of the Greek Golden
Age who was born in approximately 460 BC,
twenty years after the Battle of Salamis, in the
city of Abdera. Democritus is considered by some
to be the father of science because he and his
mentor Leucippus were both materialists.
Contribution:
• Explanation of solar system by molecule theory.
• Produce a world map.

21. PHILOLAUS (500 BC – 440 BC)
• Philolaus was a Greek Pythagorean and Presocratic philosopher. He argued that at the foundation
of everything is the part played by the limiting and limitless, which combine together in a harmony.
He is also credited with originating the theory that the earth was not the center of the universe.
Contribution:
• Concept of anti-earth.
• Identified the central fire.
• Systematized the number theory of Pythagoras.
• Stressed the importance of numerical groupings and the divine properties of numbers.
• Conceived number ‘one’ as ‘the first principle of all things.

22. HERACLIDES(388 BC – 315 BC)
Heraclides Ponticus (Ancient Greek) also known as Herakleides and Heraklides of Pontus, was a Greek
philosopher and astronomer who lived and died at Heraclea Pontica, now Karadeniz Eregli, Turkey. He is
best remembered for proposing that the earth rotates on its axis, from west to east, once every 24 hours.
He is also frequently hailed as the originator of the heliocentric theory, although this is doubted.
Contribution:
• Rotation of earth on its own axis.
• Revolution of the moon around the earth. (no doubt.
• Concept of the solar system as pure.
• Irregular revolution of Mercury and Venus.
• Revolution of Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn around the earth.

23. ARISTARCHUS (310 BC – 230BC)
Aristarchus of Samos was an ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician who presented the first
known model that placed the Sun at the center of the known universe with the Earth revolving around
it.
Contribution:
• Attempted to measure the distance between the moon and the sun.
• Used geometry to solve a scientific problem.
• Discovered the sun clock and measuring instrument.
• Rotation and revolution of Planets (round the sun).
• Proposed heliocentric model of the solar system.

24. Thales of Miletus
 Thales was a pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher and mathematician from Miletus in Asia Minor and one of the
Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regard him as the first philosopher in the Greek
tradition.
 Aristotle reported Thales’ hypothesis that the originating principle of nature and the nature of matter was a
single material substance: water.
 Thales attempted to explain natural phenomena without reference to mythology.
 In mathematics, Thales used geometry to calculate the heights of pyramids and the distance of ships from
the shore. He is the first known individual to use deductive reasoning applied to geometry.
 Thales explained them by hypothesizing that the Earth floats on water and those earthquakes occur when
the Earth is rocked by waves.
 Thales predicted the solar eclipse of May 28, 585 BC.

25. Socrates
 Socratic Method
His most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic Method or
method of “elenchus” (the Socratic method of eliciting truth by question and answer, especially as used to refute an argument).
 Philosophical beliefs
He was a teleologist who held that God arranges everything for the best.
 Socratic paradoxes
 No one desires evil.
 No one errs or does wrong willingly or knowingly.
 Virtue-all-virtue-is knowledge.
 Virtue is sufficient for happiness.
 Knowledge
“What I do not know, I do not think I know”, often paraphrased as “I know that I know nothing.”
 Virtue
Socrates stressed that “the unexamined life is not worth living and ethical virtue is the only thing that matters.”

26. Anaximenes of Miletus
• Anaximenes and the Arche
Anaximenes asserted that air was the primary substance from which all other things are made.
Anaximenes was the first to associate the quality pairs hot/dry and cold/wet with the density of a single material and add a
quantitative dimension to the Milesian monistic system.
• The origin of the Cosmos
Anaximenes used his theory to devise a scheme that explains the origins and nature of the earth and the surrounding celestial
bodies. Air felted to create the flat disk of the earth, which he said was table-like and behaved like a leaf floating on air.
Anaximenes likens the motion of the sun and the other celestial bodies around the earth to the way that a cap may be turned
around the head.
• Other phenomena
Earthquakes, he asserted, were the result either of lack of moisture, which causes the earth to break apart because of how
parched it is, or of the superabundance of water, which also causes cracks in the earth. In either case, the earth becomes
weakened by its cracks, so hills collapse and cause earthquakes.
Lightning is similarly caused by the violent separation of clouds by the wind, creating a bright, fire-like flash.
Rainbows, on the other hand, are formed when densely compressed air is touched by the rays of the sun.