Exploring the shifting ways in which geographers have studied nature, this book emphasizes the relationships and differences between human geography, physical geography and resource and hazards geography. The first to consider the topic of nature in modern geography as a whole, this distinctive text looks at all the major meanings of 'nature', from the human body and psyche through to the non-human world, and develops the argument that student readers should abandon the idea of knowing what nature is in favour of a close scrutiny of what agendas lie behind competing conceptions of it. It deals with, amongst others, the following areas: - the idea of nature - the 'nature' of geography - de-naturalisation and re-naturalisation - after-nature. As everything from global warming to GM foods becomes headline news, the use and abuse of nature is on the agenda as never before. Synthesizing a wealth of diverse and complex information, this text makes the significant theories, debates and information on nature accessible to students of geography, environmental studies, sociology, and cultural studies.
'Whether scholar or student, this book is an important read for those interested in nature and breadth of our disipline extending across human and physical geography'. - Annals of the Association of American Geographers
"His book will help students and colleagues to place themselves within the scope of geographical research about nature" Joe Smith, Cultural Geographies