Ragnar HULT and the emergence of geography in Finland, 1880-1900

Auteur :
RIKKINEN, K.

Description :
This paper examines the emergence of geography in Finland in terms of a diffusion process comprising two phases, the coming of new ideas to Finland and their spread within Finnish institutions. In addition to ideas reaching the country from outside, attention is also paid to national trends instigated by the Finnish academic community itself. Since one crucial element in this process was the work of Ragnar Hult (1857-1899), the events concerned are examined here against the background of his life, employing an extensive body of original sources. Hult's actions were greatly influenced by his journeys abroad for study and research purposes, leading to the establishment of two guiding principles for his work : that geography should be regarded as an independent science, and that it should take into account both man and nature, but with the main focus on the latter, i.e. physical geography. This implied that it should be freed from its traditional connection with history and included among the natural sciences. Appendix : bibliography of Ragnar Hult.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Fennia (Helsinki. 1889), issn : 0015-0010, 1988, vol. 166, n°. 1, p. 3-192, Références bibliographiques : 7 p.

Date :
1988

Editeur :
Pays édition : Finlande, Helsinki, Societas Geographica Fenniae