Edmund William Gilbert (1900–1973) was a British social geographer. He was Professor of Geography at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, from 1953 to 1967. and Fellow of

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main ga ...

. He defined

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

in terms of the recognition of the characters of

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

s. In the 1920s, while at

Reading University The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

, he studied the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is census regions United States Census Bureau As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the mea ...

. He was much influenced by

Halford Mackinder Sir Halford John Mackinder (15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was a British geographer, academic and politician, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy. He was the first Principal of University Ext ...

, to the point of being thought an uncritical admirer. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he worked on the Naval Intelligence Handbooks, producing, with Robert Beckinsale and S. da Sá, the ''Spain and Portugal'' volumes. He studied at

St Peter's School, York St Peter's School is a mixed-sex education, co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school (also referred to as a Public school (United Kingdom), public school), in the English City of York, with extensive ...

.https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-41116?rskey=TCez9Q&result=121

Works

*''The Exploration of Western America, 1800-1850: An Historical Geography'' (1933) *''Brighton Old Ocean's Bauble'' (1953) *''The University Town in England and West Germany'' (1961) *''British Pioneers in Geography'' (1972)

References

*''Obituary: Edmund William Gilbert'', The Geographical Journal, Vol. 140, No. 1 (Feb., 1974), pp. 176–177

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Edmund William People educated at St Peter's School, York 1900 births 1973 deaths Fellows of Hertford College, Oxford Social geographers 20th-century British geographers