Geography for dummies.

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting Grounded: The Geographic Basics
	Chapter 1 Geography: The Why of Where and Why You Should Care
		Geography: Making Sense of it All
			From ancient roots . . .
			. . . To modern discipline
		Exposing Misconceptions: More Than Maps and Trivia
		The Geographic Advantage
			What is the capital city of Indonesia?
			Why is Jakarta the capital of Indonesia?
		Getting to the Essentials
			Where things are in the world: The world in spatial terms
			What locations are like: Places and regions
			Why things are the way they are: Physical systems
			Giving that human touch: Human systems
			Interacting with the world around us: Environment and society
			Putting geography to use: Uses of geography
	Chapter 2 Thinking Like a Geographer
		Changing the Way You Think — Geographically
		Case Study #1: Where Something is Located
			A fraction of its former self
			Where lions hang out
			What gives with grasslands?
			Extinction made easy
			Fewer lions? So what?
			Summing up
		Case Study #2: Where Something Should be Located
			Summing up
			Looking ahead
	Chapter 3 Lining Up Locations
		Welcome to Gridville
		Feeling Kind of Square
		Telling Someone Where to Go
			Relative location
			Absolute location
			The best location to use
		The Global Grid: Hip, Hip, Hipparchus!
			Avoiding gridlock
			The naming game
		Getting Lined Up
			Latitude
			Longitude
			Graticule
			Minutes and seconds that don’t tick away
	Chapter 4 Truthiness in Mapping
		Seeing the Light: Map Projections
		Realizing Exactly How Flat Maps Lie
			Singapore, please. And step on it!
			Wading through lies in search of the truth
		Isn’t there a truthful map anywhere?
			The one and only honest map: The globe!
			Honesty is the best policy, except . . .
			Telling the truth, but telling it skewed
		Different Strokes for Different Folks: A World of Projections
			All in the (map) family
			Five noteworthy liars
		Mapping a Cartographic Controversy!
	Chapter 5 Telling a Spatial Story
		Why We Need Tal(l) Dogs
		Taking It to Scale
			Going the distance
			Comparing Earth at different scales
		Showing the Ups and Downs: Topography
			Spot heights
			Contour lines
			Shading or Color
		Using Symbols to Tell the Story
			Point symbols
			Line symbols
			Area symbols
		New Ways of Seeing: How Technology has Changed How we Make and Use Maps
		Geographic Information Systems
			Global Positioning Systems
			Remote sensing
		Making Maps Yourself!
Part 2 Let’s Get Physical: Land, Water, and Air
	Chapter 6 Shape-shifting Earth
		Starting at the Bottom: Inside Earth
		Moving Continents: Big Pieces of a Big Puzzle
			Where have you gone, Gondwanaland?
			Alfred Wegener, mover and shaker
			Puzzle solved!
		Getting Down to Theory
		Making Mountains Out of Molehills
			Folding the crust
			Whose “fault” is it?
			Plate tectonics: A four-letter word!
		Experiencing Earthquakes: Shake, Rattle and Roll!
			Splitsville in California
			People at risk
			How earthquakes kill and maim
			A matter of magnitude
		Subducting Plates: Volcano Makers
			“The Ring of Fire”
			Subduction: Another four-letter word?
		Categorizing Tectonic Processes
	Chapter 7 A Nip and a Tuck: Giving Earth a Facelift
		Getting Carried Away
			Weathering Earth
			Wasting away
		Changing the Landscape
			Staying grounded: Gravity transfer
			Going with the flow: Water
			The chill factor: Glaciers
			Making a deposit: Wind
	Chapter 8 Making a Splash on Earth
		Taking the Plunge: Global Water Supply
			Those ice caps are really cool!
			Getting out: Oceans, seas, gulfs, and bays
			Coming inland: Lakes
		Shaping Our World: Oceans
			Going where the action is: The continental shelves
			Claiming ocean ownership
			Getting a rise out of oceans
		Getting Fresh with Water
			The stages of the water cycle
			Run-off: Going with the flow
			Infiltration: Out of sight, not out of mind
			Good to the very last drop
	Chapter 9 Warming Up and Chilling Out: Why Climates Happen
		Getting a Grip on Climate
		Playing the Angles
			Making hot and cold
			Making rain and snow
		Tilt-a-World: The Reasons for the Seasons
			Special lines of latitude
			Defining the seasons
			Special lines of latitude revisited
		Hot or Cold? Adjust Your Altitude
			Warming the atmosphere
			Weighty matter
			Seeing (and feeling) is believing
			The lapse rate
			Windward slope, leeward slope
		Gaining Heat, Losing Heat
			Afternoon versus evening
			Summer versus winter
		Oh, How the Wind Blows
		Going with the Flow: Ocean Currents
			Warm currents, cold currents
			Going against the norm: El Niño and La Niña
		Living Under Pressure
			Pressure belts
			Monsoons
	Chapter 10 Connecting Climates and Vegetation
		Giving Class to Climates
		Mixing Sun and Rain: Humid Tropical Climates
			Tropical rainforest
			Tropical monsoon
			Savanna (tropical wet and dry)
		Going to Extremes: Dry Climates
			Desert
			Semi-desert (steppe)
		Enjoying the In-between: Humid Mesothermal Climates
			Humid subtropical
			Mediterranean
			Marine west coast
		Cooling Off: Humid Microthermal Climates
			Humid continental
			Subarctic
		Dropping Below Freezing: Polar Climates
			Tundra
			Ice cap
Part 3 Peopling the Planet
	Chapter 11 Nobody Here But A Few Billion Friends
		Going by the Numbers
			Opportunity for livelihood
			Urban growth
		Going Ballistic: Population Growth
		Checking Behind the Curve: Population Change
			Dealing with births and deaths: Natural increase
			Increasing for a reason: The demographic transition model
			Making connections
		Considering “Overpopulation”
			Neo-Malthusians
			Cornucopians
	Chapter 12 Shift Happens: Migration
		Populating the Planet
			Bridging the oceans
			Voyaging afar
			Making colonial connections
			Forcing involuntary migration
		Choosing to Migrate
			Coming to America
			Migrating at home
			Relocating within America
		Giving a Good Impression
			Playing the mental game
			Getting an image adjustment
			Putting your best image forward
	Chapter 13 Culture: The Way We Live
		Being Different Thousands of Times Over
			Counting cultural diversity
			Isolating people
			Adapting to new surroundings
		Spreading the Word on Culture
			Relocating one’s culture
			Coming down with culture
			Doing what the big boys do
		Calling a Halt: Barrier Effects
			Getting physical
			Socializing effects
		Getting Religion: How It Moves and Grows
			Putting diffusion to work
			Getting effects into action
			Creating local character
		Getting in a Word about Language
			Diffusing languages
			Checking the physical effects
			Playing the landscape naming game
		Creating a Single Global Culture
			Promoting cultural divergence
			Promoting cultural convergence
	Chapter 14 Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
		Drawing and Re-Drawing the Boundaries of the World
		Typecasting Boundary Lines
			Ethnic boundaries
			Natural (physical) boundaries
			Geometric boundaries
		Living with the Consequences
			Ethnic intrigues
			Positional disputes
			Functional disputes
			Resource disputes
			Land-locked states
			Questions of size and shape
		Drawing Electoral District Boundaries
			Gerrymandering: Rigging the outcome
			Meeting the letter and spirit of the law
Part 4 Putting the Planet to Use
	Chapter 15 Takin’ Care of Business
		Categorizing Economic Activity
			Primary activities
			Secondary activities
			Tertiary activities
			Quaternary activities
			Activity distribution around the world
		Putting Economic Systems into Place
			Subsistence economies
			Commercial economies
		Understanding Location Factors
			Proximity to raw material(s)
			Proximity to market(s)
			Cost of labor
			Accessibility
			Cost of land/rent
			Taxes
			Climate
	Chapter 16 Earth’s Resources: Always Hungry for More
		Defining Resources and Assessing Their Importance
			The central role of culture
			Culture change, resource change
			Resources and power
			Resources and wealth
		Differing Life Spans: Which Resources Are Here Today or Gone Tomorrow
			Non-renewable resources
			Renewable resources
			Perennial resources
		Trading-off Resources: The Consequences of Resource Use
	Chapter 17 Downtown to the ‘Burbs: Urban Geography
		Studying the Urban Scene
		Getting a Global Perspective
		Getting Started: Urban Hearths
		Finding Sites for Cities
			Confluence
			Protected harbor
			Head of navigation
			Defensive sites
		Getting Big: Urban Growth
			Rural-to-urban migration
			Changing means of transportation
			Automobile ownership
			Low-cost fuel
			Home mortgage deductibility
		Looking Inside the City
			The central business district (CBD)
			Residential areas
		Leaving Downtown, Living Downtown
			Moving out of downtown
			Moving back downtown
		Facing up to Environmental Issues
	Chapter 18 Only One Home: Impacts on the Environment
		Grasping the Basics — Environmentally Speaking
		Contributing Factors: Pollution on the Move
			Making an impact
			Spreading the mess
			Focusing on food chains
		Going Global: Environmental Issues Affecting Us All
			Deforestation
			Biodiversity loss
			Soil degradation
			Ocean acidification
			Overfishing
			Acid precipitation
			Climate change
		Taking on the Challenges of Tomorrow
Part 5 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 19 Ten Organizations for Geography in Action
		American Association of Geographers (AAG)
		American Geographical Society (AGS)
		National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
		National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE)
		National Geographic Society (NGS)
		National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
		Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
		Royal Geographical Society (RGS)
		United States Census Bureau
		United States Geological Survey (USGS)
	Chapter 20 Ten Interesting Career Paths for Geographers
		Area Specialist
		Educator
		Environmental Manager
		GIS Technician
		Health Services Planner
		Location Analyst
		Market Analyst
		Remote Sensing Analyst
		Transportation Planner
		Urban Planner
	Chapter 21 Ten Things You Can Forget
		The Bermuda Triangle
		Cold Canadian Air
		“Coming Out of Nowhere”
		“The Continent”
		The Democratic Republic of . . .
		The Flat Earth Society
		Land of the Midnight Sun
		“The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly on the Plain”
		The Seven Seas
		Tropical Paradise
	Chapter 22 Ten Great Places for Online Geography
		Any County/Local GIS Department
		Geocaching
		Geoguessr
		Geoinquiries
		Google Earth
		Google Lit Trips
		Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
		World Bank Open Data
		World Factbook
		Your State’s Geographic Alliance
Index
EULA