Dr. Geoffrey Martin, geography professor emeritus and a prominent historian of American geography, will discuss “On the History of the Book — American Geography and Geographers: Toward Geographical Science” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 21, 2016, at the Library of Congress. This special event, which is free and open to the public, will focus on Martin’s most recent major work, and will include a display of related rare maps and atlases from the collections of the library’s Geography and Map Division. Opening remarks will be delivered by Ralph Ehrenberg, Chief of the Geography and Map Division, and Douglas Richardson, Executive Director of the Association of American Geographers (AAG). Ronald Abler, immediate past president of the International Geographical Union, cited Martin’s book as “unparalleled in the scope and depth of its research and in its meticulous exposition of the evolution of geography in the United States through the 1970s.”
The late Harm de Blij characterized Martin’s book as “a monumental and magisterial work, exhaustively researched and documented, judiciously presented and extremely important as evidence of the foundation from which the discipline arose and evolved. Like Hartshorne’s Nature of Geography many decades ago, this will become a milestone in the record of the field, and it will engender productive debate for decades to come.”
The official AAG archivist for nearly 30 years, Martin received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of London (London School of Economics). He is the author of The Mark Jefferson Paris Peace Conference Diary, as well as other books on Mark S. W. Jefferson, Ellsworth Huntington and Isaiah Bowman. Martin and P.E. James co-wrote All Possible Worlds: A History of Geographical Ideas . Martin and James also produced The Association of American Geographers: The First Seventy-Five Years, 1904-1979. He has been the recipient of numerous national and international honors, including East German Visiting Scientist, visiting scientist to Cambridge University, visiting scholar at Yale University and National Science Foundation grant recipient in 1984, 1989 and 2010. Professional awards include both AAG’s Honors and the J.K. Wright Award. In addition, Martin has presented at more than 30 major universities in the U.S., U.K., Denmark, the former East Germany, India, Japan, Serbia and Sweden.
Martin’s talk will be held in the Library of Congress’ Geography and Map Division on Floor B of the Madison Building at 101 Independence Ave. SE in Washington, D.C. The most convenient way to reach the Library of Congress is via public transportation, specifically the subway. The closest Metro station is Capitol South (Blue/Orange/Silver Line), which is located across the street from the Madison Building. Please allow adequate time to pass through the security checkpoint at the Library’s Independence Avenue entrance in time to be seated for the start of the event. The rare maps display will be available for viewing prior to and after the presentation.
