Abstract
DR. S. W. WOOLDBIDGE, who has been appointed to succeed Prof. Taylor, was trained as a geologist. He took as his special field the minor structures and glacial history of the London Basin, to which much of his published work relates. The climatic implications of glaciation drew him to a study of meteorology under the stimulating guidance of Sir Napier Shaw, and, thus equipped, it was natural that he should be invited to lecture on the physical basis of geography to the newly formed Honours School of Geography at King's College and the London School of Economics. Dr. Wooldridge's attention was thus turned to human geography, concerning which its critics said that its conclusions were either trivial or fallacious. To test this view, he examined the archæological and historical material relating to the entry phase of the Anglo-Saxon settlement in the light of his geomorphological researches, and was able to demonstrate, inter alia, the important influence of the loam terrains. His published papers on this theme strengthen the view that the weakness of human geography has arisen rather from the insufficient refinement of the analysis of physical conditions than from the unimportance of the geographical factor. At Birkbeck College Dr. Wooldridge will find a considerable body of postgraduate students, many of whom are at work on geographical aspects of regional and national planning. The importance of a close scrutiny of the terrain in this connexion needs no emphasis.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
University Chair of Geography: Birkbeck College: Prof. S. W. Wooldridge. Nature 153, 706 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/153706c0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/153706c0