Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T18:09:41.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Useful Geography in Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 August 2020

Sophie Brockmann
Affiliation:
De Montfort University, Leicester
Get access

Summary

Chapter 4 shows that tensions about the applicability of knowledge were never more pronounced than when it came to geographical information. The Gazeta newspaper used its networks of knowledge to attempt to create a new ‘Description of Guatemala’ that would not just counter erroneous claims about the Americas peddled by some European philosophers, but also critically examined existing sources and formats of geographical knowledge. They rejected geography as a universal science that related places across the globe to each other, and instead prioritised information from current statistics as well as local historical archives. Individual reformers also contributed even more practical geographies that reported their own experience of travel. Geography and chorography was considered useful only in so far as it would help to increase trade and prosperity. It followed that securing transport connections through road and harbour works that would allow for an exploitation of natural wealth was the most important application of such knowledge. Reformers attempted to rewrite the geography of the Audiencia’s trade routes, and thought of their projects as integrating specific places more firmly into the geography of the region.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Science of Useful Nature in Central America
Landscapes, Networks and Practical Enlightenment, 1784–1838
, pp. 120 - 155
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Useful Geography in Practice
  • Sophie Brockmann, De Montfort University, Leicester
  • Book: The Science of Useful Nature in Central America
  • Online publication: 27 August 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108367615.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Useful Geography in Practice
  • Sophie Brockmann, De Montfort University, Leicester
  • Book: The Science of Useful Nature in Central America
  • Online publication: 27 August 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108367615.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Useful Geography in Practice
  • Sophie Brockmann, De Montfort University, Leicester
  • Book: The Science of Useful Nature in Central America
  • Online publication: 27 August 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108367615.005
Available formats
×