Page 10 - Chapter 1: How Geographers Look at the World

in written text. Cartographers select complicated satellite images with other pieces of information
pieces of information about an area and present gathered by geographers and other scientists. GIS
them in a more understandable form on a map. In technology is valuable to urban planners, retailers,
this way they easily can show the location, fea- and local government officials who use this tech-
tures, patterns, and relationships of people, places, nology to help them determine where to build
and things. In addition, maps allow a visual com- roads, stores, and parks.
parison between places and regions. For example, The development of computer technology has also
a geographer might compare population density transformed the process of mapmaking. Allen
maps of two counties in order to determine where Carroll, chief cartographer of the National Geo-
to build new schools. graphic Society, describes the changes in cartography
as “revolutions in mapping.” Technology has created
Interviewing
To answer a geographic question, geographers “ . . . computers that store vast archives of
often must go beyond mere observation. In many map data and render lines with super-
cases geographers want to find out how people human precision, software programs that
think or feel about certain places. They also may
want to examine the ways in which people’s turn maps into analytical tools, satellite
beliefs and attitudes have led to changes in the imagery that combines photographic
physical environment. This kind of information is beauty with cartographic precision, global
obtained by interviewing. Geographers choose a electronic networks that enable maps to
”
particular group of people for study. Instead of stream across our ever shrinking globe.
contacting everyone in that group, however, geog- Allen Carroll, National Geographic
raphers talk to a carefully chosen sample whose Atlas of the World, 1999
answers represent the whole group.

Statistics
Some of the information that geographers use is
numerical. Temperature and rainfall data point to a
region’s climate, for example. Geographers use
computers to organize this information and present
it in clear, understandable ways. They also analyze
the data to find patterns and trends. For example,
census data can be studied to learn about rates of
population growth; the age, ethnic, and gender
makeup of the population; and income levels. After
identifying these patterns and trends, geographers
use statistical tests to see whether their ideas are
valid.

Technology
Geographers often use scientific instruments in
their work. They especially depend on advanced
technological tools, such as satellites and comput-
ers. Satellites orbiting the earth carry remote sen-
sors, high-tech cameras, and radar that gather data Indonesian Surveyors These surveyors
and images related to the earth’s environment, are helping plan a road in Borneo, Indonesia.
weather, human settlement patterns, and vegeta- Human-Environment Interaction How do
tion. Geographic information systems (GIS) are geographers play a part in our everyday lives?
computer tools that process and organize data and

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