The Dictionary of Human Geography

network) ofThe Dictionary of Human Geographycontinues to be a crucial resource for anyone
who wants to engage with the continued development of the field. It is not the last word – and
neither pretends nor wishes to be – but rather an invitation to recover those words that came
before, to reflect on their practical consequences, and to contribute to future ‘geo-graphings’.
This makes it all the more salutary to return to Echard’s original list and realize that virtually all
of the fields he identified as bearing on geography have their counterparts within the contem-
porary discipline. The single exception is the figure of the Herald, but if this is taken to imply not
the skill of heraldry but rather a harbinger of what is to come, then human geography’s interest
in prediction and forecasting returns us to the footsteps of our seventeenth-century forebear.
Be that as it may, none of us is prepared to forecast the scope and contents of the next edition of
The Dictionary of Human Geography,which is why working on the project continues to be such a
wonderfully creative process.

Derek Gregory

Ron Johnston

Geraldine Pratt

Michael J. Watts

Sarah Whatmore

Gregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_1_FM Final Proof page 9 2.4.2009 6:41pm

PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION

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