engineering

William Garrison (geographer)

William Garrison (geographer) is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand William Garrison (geographer) rather than just read about it. In short: William Louis Garrison (April 20, 1924 – February 1, 2015) was an American geographer, transportation analyst and professor at the University of California, Berkeley. While at the Department of Geography, University of Washington in the 1950s, Garrison led the "quantitative revolution" in geography, which applied computers and statistics to the study of spatial problems.

Key takeaways

William Garrison (geographer) belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect William Garrison (geographer) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of William Garrison (geographer) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

William Louis Garrison (April 20, 1924 – February 1, 2015) was an American geographer, transportation analyst and professor at the University of California, Berkeley. While at the Department of Geography, University of Washington in the 1950s, Garrison led the "quantitative revolution" in geography, which applied computers and statistics to the study of spatial problems. As such, he was one of the founders of regional science. Many of his students (dubbed the "space cadets") went on to become noted professors themselves, including: Brian Berry, Ronald Boyce, Duane Marble, Richard Morrill, John Nystuen, William Bunge, Michael Dacey, Arthur Getis, and Waldo Tobler. His transportation work focused on innovation, the deployment of modes and logistic curves, alternative vehicles and the future of the car.

Education Garrison attended the University of Washington and received his PhD from Northwestern University in 1950.

Books by Garrison Studies of Highway Development and Geographic Change (with Brian Berry, Duane Marble, John Nystuen, and Richard Morrill) Greenwood Press, New York. (1959) Tomorrow's Transportation: Changing Cities, Economies, and Lives (with Jerry Ward) ISBN 1-58053-096-6, 2000 The Transportation Experience: Policy, Planning, and Deployment (with David M. Levinson) ISBN 0-19-517250-7, 2005 The Transportation Experience: Policy, Planning, and Deployment (with David M. Levinson) (Revised, re-organized, and expanded version of 2005 volume). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199862719, 2014

Important papers Berry, B.. and Garrison, W. L. 1958: "The functional bases of the central place hierarchy". Economic Geography 34, 145 – 54.

External links William L. Garrison Award for Best Dissertation in Computational Geography (biennial award for innovative research into the computational aspects of geographic science) CUTC Award for Distinguished Contribution to University Transportation Education and Research 1998 (includes brief autobiographical sketch) Edward L. Ullman Award 1994 William L. Garrison died

References Barnes, Trevor J. "Placing ideas: genius loci, heterotopia and geography’s quantitative revolution" Progress in Human Geography 28,5 (2004) pp. 1 – 31 [1]

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with William Garrison (geographer)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what William Garrison (geographer) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to William Garrison (geographer) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about William Garrison (geographer) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of William Garrison (geographer)

In research: William Garrison (geographer) appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses William Garrison (geographer) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: William Garrison (geographer) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1924 births, 2015 deaths, 20th-century American geographers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for William Garrison (geographer) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study William Garrison (geographer) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what William Garrison (geographer) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain William Garrison (geographer) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is William Garrison (geographer) in simple terms?

Why does William Garrison (geographer) matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study William Garrison (geographer)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on William Garrison (geographer).