Empiricism and Geographical Thought
From Francis Bacon to Alexander von Humbolt

The age of Francis Bacon marked the beginning of a long period when empirical science was seen as the key to progress in extending man's control over nature.

Margarita Bowen (Author)

9780521105590, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 March 2009

368 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.54 kg

The age of Francis Bacon marked the beginning of a long period when empirical science was seen as the key to progress in extending man's control over nature. Recently, however, a breakdown of confidence in the outcome of worldwide industrialism and a growing concern over threats to the earth's ecosystems have brought mounting criticism of specialized, exploitative science. Demands for conservation and social responsibility are leading to a reappraisal of the whole philosophy of science that has been dominant for three centuries, and many observers see this as a new scientific revolution, comparable in significance with that of the seventeenth century.

1. Foundations of modern empiricism
2. Science and geography: the seventeenth-century encounter
3. Geography in decline: the age of Newton
4. Eighteenth-century empiricism: Locke, Berkley and Hume
5. On the margins of science: eighteenth-century geography texts
6. Science and philosophy: enlightenment conflicts in Europe
7. Geography revived: the age of Humboldt
8. Epilogue: the way ahead.

Subject Areas: Human geography [RGC]