中国近代地理学是中西方学术共同作用的结果，葛德石是中国近代地理学史上一位不可忽视的西方学者。他在中国的主要活动包括：通过在上海沪江大学创建地质地理系，为中国培养一定的地学人才；他进行了广泛而深入的中国地理考察，并纠正许多中国地理文本上的错误；他的中国地理研究与著述深化了中国地理的认识，并传播了中国地理知识。与此同时，葛德石与中国地理学界的广泛交往，进一步推动了中国地理学的近代化与国际化，而葛德石在中国的活动在一定程度上也反映了中国近代地理学的发展轨迹。

Chinese modern geography is the production of the interactions between West and China. George B. Cressey is a non-negligible western geographer in Chinese modern geography, who established Geology and Geography Department in Shanghai College, and trained some Chinese geologists and geographers; whose abroad and in-depth fieldworks corrected many errors in Chinese geographic texts; whose Chinese geographic research and works sharpened the understanding of Chinese geography, and promulgated Chinese geographic knowledge. At the same time, Cressey's frequent and extensive intercourses with Chinese geographic scholars promoted more modernization and internationalization of Chinese geography. Moreover, Cressey's activities, to some extent, also reflected the track of Chinese modern geography.