Running Time: 29 minutes

In this program Alec Murphy presents an historical narrative of the principles that form the foundation of geography. These include the three laws of geology, the importance of scale and the origins of the two great branches of geography: physical and human.

Running Time: 29 minutes

Alec Murphy focuses on the history of portraying the Earth and the earliest maps of ancient Greece, the 21st century computer-based GIS, Geographical Information Systems. The program includes a visit to the U.S. Geological Survey, the institution that has served as America's center for mapmaking for the past 150 years.

Running Time: 29 minutes

Landforms range in size from the continents themselves to the river valleys that most cities have developed around. In this program Alec Murphy categorizes and defines the major landforms found on the planet, including vast mountain ranges and narrow canyons.

Running Time: 29 minutes

Our planet is ever-changing. Earth's landforms are constantly being created and destroyed on timescales ranging from days to tens of millions of years. In this program Alec Murphy walks you through the forces shaping and destroying the planet's many landforms.

Running Time: 29 minutes

Geography has found that Earth is organized into a sequence of spheres: the inner core, the crust or lithosphere, a soil layer, known as the pedosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere and biosphere. Alec Murphy shows how they are all interconnected in one dynamic system.

Running Time: 29 minutes

Regions are one of the most important tools used in geographical thinking. In this program Alec Murphy shows how the planet is divided into physiographic regions, each with internal dynamic processes. Then he defines the three types of regions: formal, functional, and colloquial.

Running Time: 29 minutes

One of the great debates in geography has been: 'How much does place or physical geography determine human development - cultural and economic?' Using historical examples and present-day case histories, Alec Murphy guides you through both sides of the argument known as environmental determinism. Featured are leading geographical thinkers.

Running Time: 29 minutes

Human beings have become a geographical force. In the 21st century human beings each year bring more change to the surface of the planet than all the natural forces combined. In this final program Alec Murphy presents an intriguing history of how this came to be and what the future holds for the planet and the 7 billion people living on its surface.