Geography Awareness Month
Where are you on this floating orb we call Earth? Can you find your location on a globe, paper map, or GPS? To accomplish this task, you must use Geography. A more detailed definition of the word and science is available on World Atlas . The first map was etched into a clay tablet in 600 B.C.: Imago Mundi , the Babylonian Map of the World. The initial mention of “geography” appeared in a book titled Geographic by Eratosthenes of Cyrene in the 3rd Century B.C. This wise man is credited with calculating the circumference of the Earth and inventing the latitude/longitude system. One of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greece, Thales of Miletus, created the foundation for the scientific study of geography by developing many mathematical and astronomical rules. The Romans used geography in the expansion of their great empire. They built 50,000 miles of roads, canals, aqueducts, tunnels, and mines and went on numerous military expeditions. The whole Roman Empire (Middle East...