The Dictionary of Human Geography

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1997). Academic subjects are reordering, with

inter- and trans-disciplinarity not merely

becoming fashionable but seen as prerequis-

ites to tackle more complex environmental

and societal issues (see especially the concept

and consequences of hybridity – Whatmore,

2002a). In this climate, it would seem obvious

that:

... widening the existing divide would be a

tragic mistake that would weaken the dis-

cipline at a time when ... society needs a

synthetic, coherent view of how humanity

uses and abuses the physical environment

... (Abler, Marcus and Olson, 1992,

p. 397)

Gregory (2005c), in perhaps the most com-

prehensive evaluation of the recent scope and

history of physical geography, provides a wel-

ter of optimistic scenarios for its engagement

to this task (see figure 3).

The recent identification of sustainability

science (Kates, Clark, Corell et al., 2001) is a

clear example of physical geography being

used to identify and coordinate trans-

discplinary agendas that respond to large-

scale, complex and hybrid environment–

society–development issues. The growing abil-

ity ofgisto move from the realms of a research

technology to practical application, particu-

larly when used in tandem with a vastly

increased information flow from a variety of

remote platforms spanning observations of the

human and biophysical world, would also

seem to make the case for the renewed pros-

pering of physical geography a compelling

one. Nonetheless, there are warning signals,

for while Gregory reiterates one of those crit-

ical attributes defining physical geography,

whose purpose:

. .. is to understand how the Earth’s phys-
ical environment is the basis for and is
affected by human activity. (Gregory,
2005, p. xxvii)
It is this emphasis that over a long period, has
so divided and, paradoxically, often down-
graded the subject outside particular ‘applied’
studies. Expectations are raised, to be disap-
pointed in the follow-through. Crucially, the
new millennium is a time when physical geog-
raphy conducted on the margins of, or away
from, the geographical arena is very strong. A
new scientific network devoted to Earth
systems science has developed, which claims
the same human–environment agenda, and
that may be better placed to take advantage
of wider intellectual and analytical advances,
and to fulfil societal needs (Pitman, 2005).
The natural claims of physical geography to
privilege as an environmental discipline thus
need to show an added value that transcends
that derived from the collected expertise of
others. It is, for example, quite possible to
view physical (and environmental) geog-
raphy) as smaller components in a very
broad, holistic science–environment frame-
work that claims much of the same intellec-
tual heritage and rationale as geography itself
(see figure 4).
Once more, then, the hunt is on for a dis-
tinctive way forward, and for a more robust
means of integrating physical geography into
geography and science as a whole. njc

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physical geography 3: The five overlapping sub-disciplines of physical geography in the context of multidisci-
plinary and problem-orientated themes(Gregory, 2005c, fig. 2, p. 83)
Gregory / The Dictionary of Human Geography 9781405132879_4_P Final Proof page 537 1.4.2009 3:20pm
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY