Some Thoughts on Nomenclature

Abstract

OUR planet the earth is studied in many ways, some of which correspond roughly to the main divisions of universal science, for example, mechanics, physics and chemistry. Such specialized branches of the universal sciences are appropriately indicated by the prefix 'geo', giving the words 'geomechanics', 'geophysics' and 'geochemistry'. These are modelled on the old word 'geometry', which itself has long since lost its special association with the earth, to become the name of the universal science of the measurement and properties of space. Hence the need for another word ('geodesy') relating to the measurement of the 'figure' of the earth, which must be the basis of geography, the mapping of the earth. The meaning of geography has gradually become elaborated to include much more than graphical representation, and besides physical geography, which shades off into geophysics, covers studies that merge into economics, sociology and general biology.