考察地理学近年来的发展,可以见到许多前所未有的可喜现象:地理学的科学地位得到社会的广泛承认与重视;地理学的研究领域日益开阔,研究成果的社会影响及社会效果越来越显著;

The core of geography is the concept of viewing the environment as a whole in which many factors, such as inorganism, organism, nature and culture et al., depend on each other and interplay, It is regarded as a comprehensive and integrated system. The main task of geographical research is to irradiate the mechanism, structure and function of the system; and to understand the transportation and changing processes of matter, energy and information in the system.Although it has had a great development, contemporary geography would not keep pace with the time which is confronting with the fourth industrial revolution unless it is equipped with modern sciences and technologies. Today the objective situation is in favour of geographical advancement: (1) many important social problems, such as environmental pollution, population problem, the shortages of natural resources and energy, ecological equilibrium et al., promote and urge geography development. It has become a strong and solid social basis for geographical advancement; (2) modern sciences and technologies are supporting and supplying new theories, new methods and new technics to geographical research. It is possible to improve geographical method and catch up the contemporary requirements.In order to realize modernization of geography, we should use dissipated structure theory, systematic approach, information theory and cybernetics et al. into geographical research, and then build gradually a new epistemology and methodology for geography itself, meanwhile, we should pay intention to develop applied geography and technical geography. Finally it is the most important that we should raise old knowledge structure of georaphers to a contemporary scientific level.