Historical Understanding in Geography

Althoughmanygeographershaveusedhistoricalapproachesinthestudyofhumanactivity,thehistoricalapproachassuchisnotoftenviewedasafundamentalmodeofgeographicalunderstanding.Originallypublishedin1982,thisworkputsforwardacaseforhistoricalgeographyconceivedofbothasafieldinitsownrightandasthefoundationofarevitalizedtraditional,empiricalhumangeography.Thecruxofthecaserestsonthepropositionthathistoricalenquiryisanindependentformofunderstandingnotbaseduponorrelatedtotheapproachesofthenaturalorsocialsciences.Inrecognisinghistoryasanindependentformofknowledgeoneisabletolookathistoricalgeographyfromanotherperspective.Thehistoricalapproachultimatelymakesacontributiontoanunderstandingofthepresentbyelucidatingthegeographicalramificationsofhistoricalchange.