Richard Hartshorne


Hartshorne, Richard

 

Born Dec. 12, 1899, in Kittanning, Pa. American geographer.

Hartshorne has taught at various American universities. He was a professor at the University of Minnesota from 1924 to 1940 and at the University of Wisconsin from 1940 to 1970.

A supporter of the chorological concepts of A. Hettner, Hartshorne believes that geography should be limited to the study of the areal differentiation of the earth’s surface. Viewing geography as a purely descriptive science, with no specific subject matter, he regards the fundamental task of geography to be simply the study of the characteristics and unique features of particular places. Such a view is at variance with current notions of the aims of geographic science. Hartshorne’s principal works are The Nature of Geography (1939) and Perspective on the Nature of Geography (1959).