Carl Sauer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Carl Sauer - Essay Example French regional geography is an example of how the various political, cultural, military, historical and economic upheavals of the country are etched on the landscape. Sauer says (Northern Mists) the hundred years war lost ports and ravaged country sides and Napoleon’s wars left bitter memories. Culture and landscape altered after the French revolution. Through colonies, use of tobacco spread and immigration continued unabated. â€Å"Place is crucial to human geographers, therefore, because it is the individuals’ learning context, the arena in which they learn to be humans and then act as such,† Rawling (1996, p.65). Agriculture did not originate in Europe and did not improve much. â€Å"Fields were plowed and planted principally in order to raise grain, which supplied the starch and a good deal of the protein in the diet of the people† Sauer (1981, p. 31). Most grown foods came from colonies. â€Å"Dairying is the foundation of north European husbandry †¦ Fresh and sour milk, curds, butter and cheese provided, together with grain a cheap and sufficiently balanced basic diet,† (ibid, p. 36). There existed a good balance between climate, man, livestock and vegetation. Drwin’s determinism was an immense contribution to cultural geography. Environmental determinism, or Climatic Determinism, indicates physical environment determines culture.