Chapter 2 What is "geography"

Before traveling, tourists should always know their travel route and destination. Similarly, when opening a book, readers should also understand their own reading methods and reading purposes.As far as this work is concerned, the concept of "geography" is a necessary premise. What is "geography"?I happen to have a 1912 edition of "The Concise Oxford Dictionary" on hand, and there is an explanation on page 344: Geography is the science that studies the earth's topography, structure, natural features, natural and political regions, climate, products and population.

Although this work is titled "Geography", I did not expect to be as comprehensive as a geography textbook.Landforms, natural features, distribution of natural and political regions, these are not the focus of this work.How do human beings forage for food, build houses, rest and entertain for the survival of themselves and their families? How do human beings transform themselves to adapt to the environment, or transform the environment to satisfy themselves, in order to obtain the comfort, satisfaction and happiness commensurate with their own limited capabilities? These are the core issues discussed in this work.

As the saying goes, "A dragon has nine sons, but the sons are different", which is very reasonable.There are hundreds of millions of human beings living on our earth, and they can be said to be of various shapes and forms. Two billion people! Even if they seem so insignificant and pitiful when they are stuffed into a giant container, it is still a huge number.There are also a myriad of economic, social and cultural traits that are contained within the mass of beings.In my opinion, it is these human characteristics that deserve the most attention.A mountain is nothing more than a mountain before it is seen and set foot by human beings, before it is occupied, developed and plundered by generations of hungry humans.

The eternal Atlantic Ocean is deep, vast, bitter, salty and humid. However, the crossing by humans in the early 13th century turned it into a bridge, a bridge connecting the New World of America and the Old World of Europe, a bridge connecting the East and the West. trade lanes. For thousands of years, in order to dedicate its rich products to the vast plains of Russia, it waited quietly for a long time before the first person who came here to cultivate and sow without fear of hardships, but, in this land If it was not the Slavs who plowed the first furrow, but the Germans or the Franks, then the land would have a different look.

Earthquakes are frequent in the Japanese islands, but the people living on the islands, whether they are native Japanese or the extinct Tasmanians, cannot change this situation.Of course, if the people living on these islands were Tasmanians, the 60 million people here would probably face starvation.As for the British Isles, if the rulers were not warlike Nordics, but Neapolitans or Berbers from North Africa, they would turn the country into the center of an empire on which the sun never sets, governing sixty percent of the world's population. One-third, the territory under its jurisdiction is 150 times larger than its homeland, which will never be possible.

In short, I am more concerned with geography's humanistic significance than its trade issues --- it has been given too much connotation by this era completely intoxicated by mass production. Experience has taught me that, however much you may boast of the importance of import and export trade, coal and oil production, and bank deposits, the reader cannot remember these figures from page to page; He will check the relevant reference books by himself (however, many statistical manuals provide contradictory data). This is above all a geography book about human beings; The second is a geography book about the natural environment and historical background of human beings from the bottom up;

If space permits, I will also cover other aspects.