Ellsworth Huntington

Ellsworth Huntington ( born September 16, 1876 in Galesburg, Illinois, † October 17, 1947 in New Haven, Connecticut) was an American geographer and economist.

Life and work

He taught from 1897 to 1901 on the Euphrates College in Harput (near Elazig, Eastern Turkey ), took part in the expeditions of Raphael Pumpelly (1903) and Barrett ( 1905-1906 ) in Central Asia, and wrote his experiences in Asian Explorations in Turkestan (1905 ) and The Pulse of Asia (1907 ) down. He taught from 1907 to 1915 geography at Yale University, and since 1917 he was research associate there, he devoted himself particularly climatic and anthropo-geographical studies.

Huntington was known for his studies on climatic determinism, economic growth and economic geography. He was President of the Board of Directors of the American Eugenics Society, the American Society for eugenics.

His works include The Climatic Factor (1914), Civilization and Climate (1915, rev. Ed. 1924), and, with SS Visher, Climatic Changes ( 1922). He also wrote Principles of Human Geography (with SW Cushing, 5th ed 1940) and Main Springs of Civilization (1945 ). He is regarded as well-known representative climate deterministic thinking that wants simplistic to explain social consequences, especially due to climate change.

In circles feared anthropologists, his works are The Character of Races. As Influenced by Physical Environment, Natural Selection and Historical Development (1924 ) and the former Climate and Civilization.