This book charts the developments in the discipline of geography from the 1950s to the 1980s, examining how geography now connects with urban, regional and national planning, and impacts on areas such as medicine, transport, agricultural development and electoral reform. The book also discusses how technical and theoretical advancements have generated a renewed sense of philosophic reflection - a concern closely linked with the critical examination and development of social theory.

Part 1: The Geographic Explosion 1. What on Earth is Geography? 2. The Old Roots of Geographic Curiosity 3. The (R) Evolution in Geography 4. Geography as a Child of Its Technological Time 5. What the Computer Did Part 2: A Concern for Theory 6. Theory in Geography: A Matter of Some Gravity 7. There is nothing so Applied as Good Theory 8. Bieng Close to Things and People 9. Towns as Central Spaces 10. Spatial Dynamics and Self-Organizing Geographic Systems 11. Distance and the Geographer's Headache Part 3: Two Perspectives: The Small and the Big 12. Human Contacts in Space and Time 13. Macro-Geography: Centres and Peripheries Part 4: Three Double-Edged Swords 14. Geography and the Military 15. Managing Geographic Research 16. The Beltway Bandits Part 5: The Geo-Graphic Revolution 17. The Explosion of Cartography 18. Not to Remote Sensing Part 6: Teaching and Helping 19. Geography and Medicine: An Old Partnership 20. Mental Maps and Geographic Prisons 21. Children as Geographers 22. Playing Games Seriously 23. The Geographer and Third World Development Part 7: Thinking About What We Think 24. Geography Modulo The Ideology 25. Languages and Frameworks: Where the Structure Comes From 26. Geographic Reflection: Renewing an Old Tradition Part 8: Geography in the Future 27. International Geography: Strengthening the Fabric 28. Surfing to Tomorrow on Time's Breaking Wave