Geography and Technology

It is particularly appropriate that the AAG's Centennial Celebration should prompt the publication of a volume devoted to Geography and Technology. New technologies have always been important in advancing geographic understanding, but never have they been so thoroughly and rapidly transformative of the discipline as at this stage in geography's evolution. Just as new technologies have profoundly expanded both research possibilities and the knowledge base of other disciplines, such as biology, physics or medicine, so too are the revolutionary new geographic technologies developed during the past few decades extending frontiers in geographic research, education and applications. They are also creating new and resurgent roles for geography in both society and in the university. This trend is still accelerating, as the integration of geographic technologies, such as the global positioning system and geographic information systems (GPS/GIS), is creating an explosion of new "real-time, real-world" applications and research capabilities. The resultant dynamic space/time interactive research and management environments created by interactive GPS/GIS, among other technologies, places geography squarely at the forefront of advanced multidisciplinary research and modeling programs, and has created core organization management tools (geographic management systems) which will dramatically change the way governments and businesses work in the decades ahead. While these and other important geographic technologies, including remote sensing, location-based services, and many others addressed in this book, are forging new opportunities for geography and geographers, they also pose challenges. Front Matter....Pages I-XXXII Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Geography and Technology....Pages 3-16 Communications Technology and the Production of Geographical Knowledge....Pages 17-35 Federal Funding, Geographic Research, and Geographic Technologies: 1904–2004....Pages 37-62 Front Matter....Pages 63-63 The Imbrication of Geography and Technology: The Social Construction of Geographic Information Systems....Pages 65-80 Computers and Geography: From Automated Geography to Digital Earth....Pages 81-108 Remote Sensing of Selected Biophysical Variables and Urban/Suburban Phenomena....Pages 109-154 New Digital Geographies: Information, Communication, and Place....Pages 155-176 Front Matter....Pages 177-177 From Globes to GIS: The Paradoxical Role of Tools in School Geography....Pages 179-199 Fieldwork in Nonwestern Contexts: Continuity and Change....Pages 201-220 The Camera and Geographical Inquiry....Pages 221-242 Film Networks and the Place(s) of Technology....Pages 243-266 Motor Vehicles on the American Landscape....Pages 267-283 Airspaces: Air Transport, Technology, and Society....Pages 285-313 A World on Demand: Geography of the 24-Hour Global TV News....Pages 315-337 Democracy and Technology....Pages 339-361 Technologies Applied to Public Health....Pages 363-381 “Real” Bodies, “Real” Technologies....Pages 383-399 Geotechnology, the U.S. Military, and War....Pages 401-427 Front Matter....Pages 429-429 Earth Pulses in Direct Current....Pages 431-459 The Impact of Technology Upon In Situ Atmospheric Observations and Climate Science....Pages 461-490 Front Matter....Pages 429-429 Population-Environment Interactions with an Emphasis on Land-Use/Land-Cover Dynamics and the Role of Technology....Pages 491-519 Capacity Building and Geographic Information Technologies in African Development....Pages 521-546 Natural Hazards and Technology: Vulnerability, Risk, and Community Response in Hazardous Environments....Pages 547-570 Front Matter....Pages 571-571 The GIS Revolution in Science and Society....Pages 573-587 Why Technology? Narratives of Science and the Bewitchment of an Image....Pages 589-601 Back Matter....Pages 603-616

This volume celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Association of American Geographers. It recognizes the importance of technologies in the production of geographical knowledge.
The original chapters presented here examine technologies that have affected geography as a discipline. Among the technologies discussed are cartography, the camera, aerial photography, computers, and other computer-related tools. The contributors address the impact of such technologies on geography and society, disciplinary inquiries into the social/technological interfaces, high-tech as well low-tech societies, and applications of technologies to the public and private sectors.
Geography and Technology can be used as a textbook in geography courses and seminars investigating specific technologies and the impacts of technologies on society and policy. It will also be useful for those in the humanities, social, policy and engineering sciences, planning and development fields where technology questions are becoming of increased importance. Geography clearly has much to learn from other disciplines and fields about geography/technology linkages; others can likewise learn much from us.

"Geography and Technology can be used as a textbook in geography courses and seminars investigating specific technologies and the impacts of technologies on society and policy. It will also be useful for those in the humanities, social, policy and engineering sciences, planning and development fields where technology questions are becoming of increased importance. Geography clearly has much to learn from other disciplines and fields about geography/technology linkages; others can likewise learn much from geographers."--Jacket This volume celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Association of American Geographers. It recognizes the importance of technologies in the production of geographical knowledge. The original chapters presented here examine technologies that have affected geography as a discipline. Among the technologies addressed are cartography, the camera, aerial photography, computers, and other computer-related tools. (Midwest) It can be argued that geography's origins as a category of knowledge had technology as a cornerstone.