Customer Reviews

Geography For Dummies

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are wanting a book to tell you WHERE things are, then buy an atlas or just use Google Earth. If you are wanting a text to explain WHY things are, then this may be your book.

I teach a Geography course at a Christian private school, and last year, selected this as our textbook. Unlike "normal" texts employed at most schools (both Christian and secular), which tend to be loaded with some sort of agenda - this one simply brings the facts forward in plain, understandable language. I have not regretted my choice. Not only does it cut through the useless crud, it also addresses almost every topic required for the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) requirements. (I did a line-by-line comparison to justify my choice of text)

It is well organized into 4 main sections and a 5th which is filled with helpful lists. It clearly explains the six essential elements of Geography: 1) The world in spatial terms, 2) Places and regions, 3) Physical systems, 4) Human systems, 5) Environment and society, and 6) Uses of geography.

I have been very pleased with this book... it is even reasonably entertaining to read. I highly recommend it IF you want to learn about the science of Geography. If you just want to know where things are located... you should choose a more appropriate tool.

This was an interesting book about a subject I had not thought about in a long time. It did a good job of covering the different subfields of Geography, and explaining the different regions of the world. It was easy to understand the whole way through.
A couple minor irritants came up for me as a Canadian reader. The distances were only ever stated in miles. Most non-fiction books will include the metric in brackets afterward, but this book didn't. I had to mentally convert the measurements from feet to meters and miles to kilometers every time, which was a little annoying.
I enjoyed the ten geographic myths at the end. It was nice to see the Bermuda Triangle get debunked, along with other widespread silly ideas.
Overall, I found Geography for Dummies to be an inspiring book, and it made me want to read more about Geography in the future.

I bought this book because I wanted to know where things are in the world. Everytime I read a book that talks about countries or places, I know "in general" where those are but not really, and some not at all. This book taught me that and so much more. It's well written, easy to understand and very entertaining. What once was a boring topic to me is now a fascination. It's money well spent........buy it!

I bought this book as a reference guide for 7th graders. It is well versed in the technical aspects of physical geography and yet has very little on cultural or human elements. I was a little disappointed that there was not more on individual places and people. A good techy reference but not a star in our classroom!
'The Idiots Guide to Geography' (I hate the name, because it just gets the students into the name calling attitude.) is more what I needed with more on the culture and history and people. Thanks!

I thought this book was going to break down what was where in the world for me. Instead, this book covers topics of geopraphy such as maps, climate, population and culture. Perhaps the fault is mine, as I did not read the online description beforehand.