Becoming A Geographer

Peter Gould a prominent awardwinning geographer who admits to having a lowthreshold for boredom offers a collection of essays that reflect his eclecticresearch ... » 

Peter Gould a prominent awardwinning geographer who admits to having a lowthreshold for boredom offers a collection of essays that reflect his eclecticresearch and provocative thinking. The topics range widely and include thediffusion of AIDS mental maps development themes in Africa postmodernismand the practices of teaching and writing. Becoming a Geographer expands onGoulds influential ideas and contributions to the field.Gould values the kind of independent thought and scholarship now often frownedupon by university administrators. He has written eighteen books and more thanone hundred and sixty articles during his fortyyear career in research andhigher education is lifetime sabbatical much of it spent teaching atPenn State.A witty graceful engaging writer Gould situates geography in a wider socialcontext. In this book he brings a fresh perspective to developments in thefield including the quantitative and mathematical revolution in geography inthe 1960s and 70s. He writes with directness and clarity about the use andmisuse of mathematics in illuminating social and geographical reality.His thoughts are especially valuable for what geography offers the world oflearning and its capacity to help resolve urgent problems of the day. «