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HISTORY of GEOGRAPHY

The ancient Greeks were the first to record the information in a thorough & organized manner. Geography, therefore, begins with the writings of the ancient Greeks.

Homer(9th C B.C.) - “First Geographer”; wrote the Odyssey - a geographical description of various places
in the Mediterranean (its main purpose was an adventure story)

Anaximander (611-547 B.C.) -constructed first map of the known world

Pythagoras (c. 580-500 B.C.) - was the first to realize the Earth was a sphere

Herodotus (c. 484-425 B.C.) - described how rivers build deltas, noted thattemperature changes are related
to wind direction changes; said the world was a sphere & constructed a map showing the Mediterranean
& adjacent countries, the Iberian peninsula, northAfrica, Nile River, Arabia, Black Sea, Caspian Sea,
Asia Minor, & parts of India

Hecataeus (4th C B.C.) - wrote Description of the Earth - first book whose purpose was a description of theEarth & it also included a map

Eratosthenes (c. 276-192 B.C.) - “Father of Geography”; coined the term geography, measured the circum-
ference of the Earth (estimated it to be 40,000 km (24,840mi) while in actuality it is 40,032 km
(24,860 mi), less than 0.1% error), described the different climate zones, constructed a map of the known
world including Europe, India & Libya

Strabo (64B.C.-20 A.D.) - wrote the 17 volume book Geography (a compilation of all the Greek
geographical knowledge)

Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus) - in ca. 150 A.D. produced the first world atlas, amap having lines of
latitude & longitude, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to China, Denmark to Ethiopia

Middle Ages (5th - 15th C) - geography & all other sciences fell into disuse. However,during this time, the Muslims preserved the early Greek writings. The Norsemen traveled to Iceland, Greenland, Labrador & Newfoundland. The Chinese sent explorers to India during the 7th C., Marco...