论现代地理学对象、内容、结构和基本方法

本文从地理学对象及其性质的讨论出发,详细阐述了地理学内容、结构和它的基本方法。

ON MODERN GEOGRAPHY: ITS OBJECTS, CONTENTS, STRUCTURE AND METHODOLOGY

The object of geography is geographical things, which are defined on the earth surf ace, mutually connecting, being some kinds of structure.Geographical things are products of regionization and landscaping of ordinary things, therefore they have region-environment duality which concretes geographical things as region's, environment and places. Geographical things have characteristics of multi-deciplines, multifactors, midscope and concrete. The duality and above characteristics determined the hierachical structure of geography. The outer layer is regional geography, engineering geography and other applied branches. The middle layer is models of geography such as science of mountain, city etc. They all concerned with some respects of abstractive geographical things. The core is theoratical geography in narrow sense, including regional science, environmental geography, geosystem theory, geographical process theory. Topology which concerns geographical knowledge is not the contents of geography. Modern geographers must break through the traditional topological path. We should develop geographical theory in a similar way of physics, i.e., developing hypothesis and concepts from experences, then mathematicalizing the concepts and using them to express hypothesis, then deducing results from hypothesis, and translating them to geographical contents, processing and systematic theory of geography supply essential analyzing means. On the other hand, geographers should learn from geology in application, enhancing geographic project and engineering geography.About geosystem, it includes 3 geographical types, environment-ecological system, spacial system and regional system; on the other hand, geographical can be processed into steady system, dynamic system, control system and macro system (or/and huge system) . With a view of statistics, geosystem include 3 Series, they are global system, area system and local system.