Discovering Physical Geography 2e
Rating: 
Alan F Arbogast. 2011. Discovering Physical Geography. 2e. Wiley. ISBN 978 0 470 52852 5.
It’s a matter of concern that when environmental courses are reviewed (or geographical ones for that matter), the physical side often loses out. Why does this happen? Locally or globally, the trend is apparent. Perhaps more teachers train in the social sides of the subject; perhaps it’s due to the re-designing of university faculties where physical geography gets hived off into science. Whatever the reason, it’s a loss and one that most students would be happy to see reversed. Therefore any text offering to bring the physical world back to education is worth looking at.
This text is aimed at college beginners so suitable for senior school and first year students. The aim is to outline the key elements of the subject and show how they interest. The usual opening chapter setting out the parameters of study is followed by the basic geographer’s tool – maps; in this case grids, map projections and digital mapping. Our nest three chapters cover what might loosely be termed as global energy systems. Chapter three takes the sun-earth-moon system describing the impacts of their relative positions, followed by the energy flowing from this system and the distribution of the resulting thermal energies on the Earth. Since this last chapter deals with air temperatures and the layers of the atmosphere, the next chapter leads the reader into a study of the results of uneven thermal levels – global energy flows, air pressures and winds (along with a study of ocean circulation). Chapters 7 and 8 are linked by atmospheric moisture with the former looking at the theory and the latter the practice of precipitation.A final look at global climate is the study of past climates, climate classification and some examination of potential future climates under global warming. From this point, there is a change. Pl;ant geography comes next with an overview of photosynthesis (but strangely not the various cycles given the global nature of the chapter) followed by an examination of biomes and local factors (succession and zonation). Chapter 11 looks at soils, pedogenesis and classification (US model thereof). The reader should see a pattern here as we move slowly from outer space to atmosphere and biosphere. Our next stop is geological with an overview of the Earth’s structure and the basic rock types. This leads us to plate tectonics and the results of tectonism. Most of the remainder of the text returns to the surface to consider the realm of geomorphology. We start with weathering mass wasting and move on to groundwater and karst landscapes. With the problems of freshwater, understanding surface and sub-surface flow is critical. We get a far better picture of river flow in the next chapter which focusses on fluvial systems from hydraulics and channels to stream evolution. They might be in retreat but glaciers are still worth studying not just for modern examples but for the considerable challenges they posed in the past especially in North America. A special study of glaciation here shows the impact. At the other end of the thermal spectrum we get to study deserts from theory of transport to the resulting landforms. A penultimate chapter looks at coastal processes. A final chapter argues the importance of the study of physical geography to current environmental issues such as population pressure, water, salinity and conservation.
As one expects of US-based texts pedagogical devices and production values are very high. Each chapter is visually extremely appealing. Within there are a range of learning elements: chapter reviews and summaries, learning objectives, concept guides and glossaries built-in. In addition, there are links to (the publishers) web resources and a range of visual checks to aid understanding. It must be said that these are thorough and can’t be help but add to the value of the text. A couple of less usual features are also worth mentioning. Towards the end of each chapter a ‘big picture’ (literally!), links concepts to a landscape. A section of each chapter is focussed on the human impact of and by the systems described making the connection between our activities and the landscape very clear. For non-US residents the only issue is the obvious focus of examples but such a well produced book provides enough interest for this to be overlooked.
