“地理”是“文科”还是“理科”？各位刚刚经历高考的同学可能会毫不犹豫的回答：“文科！”实际上，这个问题只答对了一半，因为地理既可以是“文科”也可以是“理科”。当然，“文科”和“理科”并不是准确的描述，我们可以将其描述为social science 和 Natural Science， 即社会科学和自然科学。这个例子我们就很容易看懂其区别了： Physical Geography 和 Human Geography。前者属于自然科学，因为在学习的过程中，主要是靠实验来验证理论和法则；而后者主要是研究地表的人文情况，例如城市发展，经济，地域文化等，属于社会科学。所以，如果你喜欢“地理”这个学科，可以通过两个简单的问题判断是社会科学还是自然科学：那就是看看这个项目是学习“人”还是“搞研究”，是与人打交道，还是要纠缠于数字之中。这样能够更好的帮助你做出正确的决定。如果你想深入学习地理这门学科的话，不妨看看这片文章：

http://www.colorado.edu/geography/giw/hartshorne-r/1939_ng/1939_ng_ch11.html

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#EducationUSA Talking Majors# Geography Major 

Will students who study Geography receive a B.A. or B.S.? The students who have just experienced the GAOKAO may answer “B.A” right away! In fact, this answer is only partially correct and geography can be a social science or natural science. We can generally see the difference between physical geography and human geography. Purely physical geography is akin to natural science with an emphasis on theory, laws and experimental evidence. Within human geography are more conventional systematic elements, such as cultural, economics and urban studies. When choosing a college program, ask if the program is more about humankind or research, the people or the numbers. That will help you make the right decision. If you need further information about geography, we strongly recommend reading this article carefully: 

http://www.colorado.edu/geography/giw/hartshorne-r/1939_ng/1939_ng_ch11.html

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