Misuse of DNA in Homicide Cases Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Misuse of DNA in Homicide Cases - Dissertation Example Law enforcers and the justice system had a breakthrough when DNA profiling was discovered and applied in law enforcement. This method was deemed more effective than other methods in terms of accuracy and efficiency. This is because it was difficult to disprove DNA, evidence since it places an individual in the scene of the crime. Fingerprints were equally effective, but they are easier to be corrupted and offenders have become knowledgeable with time, for example, they do not leave fingerprints behind in crime scenes. DNA, however, is hard to be corrupted, and it is difficult for and individual to conceal it, since DNA is present in tissues and fluids in the body of a person. Krude (2004) shows how DNA has changed the society and science since mitochondria DNA can be obtained from bones and teeth of an individual. Hypothesis Like any other breakthrough, there have been controversies, which have been raised regarding the misuse of DNA especially in homicide case, despite the fact that DNA of an individual is unique and could not match with others; individuals and law enforcement have misused the technology. Data Source and Method of Collection The data collected through holding surveys, which involved doing personal interviews on DNA specialist. Data was also collected through extensive research on existing literature discussing the subject. Variables We had two defendant variables, defensive and retaliatory violence. Defensive violence was measured through identifying two scenarios that involved Method of Analysis In the analysis process, statistical information including graphs and figures were employed and were cross referenced with the information in the literature on DNA in law enforcement. Major findings DNA Sequencing The data collected by Culliford (1994), DNA refers to the genetic instructions vital for the function and development of all living organisms. DNA is unique in each personage with the exclusion of monozygotic twins. DNA profiling, however, i s the practice commonly employed by forensic scientists to make out the identity of individuals using their DNA profiles. I believe that these profiles are number sets that are encrypted to reflect an individual’s genetic makeup. This identification method is commonly employed in criminal investigations and paternity tests. This is effective since 99.9% of sequences in human DNA are dissimilar with the exception of monozygotic twins. It is crucial for one to understand the concept of DNA technologies in order to have a better insight on the use of DNA in criminology. History of DNA Profiling According to The technique of DNA, profiling was initially reported in 1984 at the University of Leister. This was through sir Alec Jefferys, a British geneticist who developed a method of DNA fingerprinting and profiling. It is evident that the scientist made this crucial discovery while observing the image of a DNA in an x-ray film. This image showed evidence of some similarities and di stinctions in DNA. He used samples of DNA from the different family members of his staff. This enabled him to determine a scope through which DNA fingerprinting could be used to identify individuals using this method. Despite the method being discovered in 1984, it was made commercially available three years later. In the article,

Passion and Success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Passion and Success - Essay Example My personal passion is for my skills as a leader. Being in charge and leading a group of people, is when I come alive, and become inflamed with passion for what I am doing. One of my first-hand experiences as to what success can happen when passion paves the road was when I started the International Business Club at school a year ago. Here my leadership passion was envisioned in a club, which I would get to lead. At first, my progress with the club was going along slowly, and I was finding many problems and roadblocks on my path to success. I had piles of paperwork I had to do as leader of the club, and all throughout the first semester, my attendance numbers were low and unstable. Also, I have to work by myself to plan many of the club's activities and events. But my dream and passion kept me going, and I had hope that the club would improve. Eventually, things did start to improve. The numbers in the club grew, and the officers and members started working together in harmony. All t he events and activities I had planned turned out to be a huge success, showing that with hard work and passion you truly can go a long way.

The Environmentally Sustainable Transport

The Environmentally Sustainable Transport Sustainable transport or green transport refers to any means of transport with low impact on the environment, and includes non-motorized transport, like walking and cycling, transit oriented development, green vehicles, car sharing, and building or protecting urban transport systems that are fuel-efficient, space-saving and promote healthy lifestyles. Sustainable transport systems make a positive contribution to the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the communities they serve. Transport systems exist to provide social and economic connections, and people quickly take up the opportunities offered by increased mobility. The advantages of increased mobility need to be weighed against the environmental, social and economic costs that transport systems pose. Transport systems have significant impacts on the environment, accounting between 20% and 25% of world energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from transport are increasing at a faster rate than any other energy using sector. Road transport is also a major contributor to local air pollution and smog. The social costs of transport include road crashes, air pollution, physical inactivity, time taken away from the family while commuting and vulnerability to fuel price increases. Many of these negative impacts fall disproportionately on those social groups who are also least likely to own and drive cars. Traffic congestion imposes economic costs by wasting peoples time and by slowing the delivery of goods and services. Traditional transport planning aims to improve mobility, especially for vehicles, and may fail to adequately consider wider impacts. But the real purpose of transport is access to work, education, goods and services, friends and family and there are proven techniques to improve access while simultaneously reducing environmental and social impacts, and managing traffic congestion. Communities which are successfully improving the sustainability of their transport networks are doing so as part of a wider program of creating more vibrant, livable, sustainable cities. Definition: The term sustainable transport came into use as a logical follow-on from sustainable development, and is used to describe modes of transport, and systems of transport planning, which are consistent with wider concerns of sustainability. There are many definitions of the sustainable transport, and of the related terms sustainable transportation and sustainable mobility. One such definition, from the European Union Council of Ministers of Transport, defines a sustainable transportation system as one that: Allows the basic access and development needs of individuals, companies and society to be met safely and in a manner consistent with human and ecosystem health, and promotes equity within and between successive generations. Is Affordable, operates fairly and efficiently, offers a choice of transport mode, and supports a competitive economy, as well as balanced regional development. Limits emissions and waste within the planets ability to absorb them, uses renewable resources at or below their rates of generation, and uses non-renewable resources at or below the rates of development of renewable substitutes, while minimizing the impact on the use of land and the generation of noise. Sustainability extends beyond just the operating efficiency and emissions. A Life-cycle assessment involves production and post-use considerations. A cradle-to-cradle design is more important than a focus on a single factor such as energy efficiency. History: Most of the tools and concepts of sustainable transport were developed before the phrase was coined. Walking, the first mode of transport is also the most sustainable. Public transport dates back at least as far as the invention of the public bus by Blasà © Pascal in 1662. The first passenger tram began operation in 1807 and the first passenger rail service in 1825. Pedal bicycles date from the 1860s. These were the only personal transport choices available to most people in Western countries prior to World War II, and remain the only options for most people in the developing world. Freight was moved by human power, animal power or rail. The post-war years brought increased wealth and a demand for much greater mobility for people and goods. The number of road vehicles in Britain increased fivefold between 1950 and 1979, with similar trends in other Western nations. Most affluent countries and cities invested heavily in bigger and better-designed roads and motorways, which were considered essential to underpin growth and prosperity. Transport planning became a branch of civil engineering and sought to design sufficient road capacity to provide for the projected level of traffic growth at acceptable levels of traffic congestion a technique called predict and provide. Public investment in transit, walking and cycling declined dramatically in the United States, Great Britain and Australasia, although this did not occur to the same extent in Canada or mainland Europe. Concerns about the sustainability of this approach became widespread during the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis. The high cost and limited availability of fuel led to a resurgence of interest in alternatives to single occupancy vehicle travel. Transport innovations dating from this period include high-occupancy vehicle lanes, citywide carpool systems and transportation demand management. Singapore implemented congestion pricing in the late 1970s, and Curitiba began implementing its Bus Rapid Transit system in the early 1980s. Relatively low and stable oil prices during the 1980s and 1990s led to significant increases in vehicle travel from 1980-2000, both directly because people chose to travel by car more often and for greater distances, and indirectly because cities developed tracts of suburban housing, distant from shops and from workplaces, now referred to as urban sprawl. Trends in freight logistics, including a movement from rail and coastal shipping to road freight and a requirement for just in time deliveries, meant that freight traffic grew faster than general vehicle traffic. At the same time, the academic foundations of the predict and provide approach to transport were being questioned, notably by Peter Newman in a set of comparative studies of cities and their transport systems dating from the mid-1980s. The British Governments White Paper on Transport marked a change in direction for transport planning in the UK. In the introduction to the White Paper, Prime Minister Tony Blair stated that We recognize that we cannot simply build our way out of the problems we face. It would be environmentally irresponsible and would not work. A companion document to the White Paper called Smarter Choices researched the potential to scale up the small and scattered sustainable transport initiatives then occurring across Britain, and concluded that the comprehensive application of these techniques could reduce peak period car travel in urban areas by over 20%. A similar study by the United States Federal Highway Administration, was also released in 2004 and also concluded that a more proactive approach to transportation demand was an important component of overall national transport strategy. Environmentally sustainable transport: Transport systems are major emitters of greenhouse gases, responsible for 23% of world energy-related GHG emissions in 2004, with about three quarters coming from road vehicles. Currently 95% of transport energy comes from petroleum. Energy is consumed in the manufacture as well as the use of vehicles, and is embodied in transport infrastructure including roads, bridges and railways. New York City has an astonishing 5,900 buses with over 2.69 million riders every weekday (NYC Statistics). Lansing on the other has 90 percent of their people riding in personal vehicles. One bus of people is six times more efficient than a car with one person in it. (Weiner, Edward). Taking public transit saves an average household over $6,000 on automobile expenses per year (Victoria Transport Planning Institute). The Michigan Avenue Corridor can adopt this bus use idea very easily, and by doing so they also help lower the unemployment rate. U.S. fleet of light trucks and vehicles account for a little more than one-fifth of the total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions (National Research Council). By placing more bus stops along the Corridor and by offering a wide variety of riding plans, we can change the rising health problems that come from use of trucks, cars and vans. Traffic crashes continue to be one of the largest causes of deaths and disabilities for people aged 1-44 years (Comm ittee on Toxicological and Performance Aspects of Oxygenated Motor Vehicle Fuels, National Research Council). Public transportations are 170 times safer than riding in a vehicle (Driver Safety). Its reported in New York for every 10,000 commuters who leave their cars at home and commute on an existing public transportation service for one year, end up saving around 2.7 million gallons of gasoline (American Public Transportation Association). The continued use of buses as transportation in New York City has proven to help out in every standing aspect. If Lansing could establish a more rigid bus attitude and help to develop more situations where people could ride a bus instead of drive their own car, the changes would be enormous. The Michigan Avenue Corridor is the perfect place to apply this plan and help to cut back on the individual use of vehicles. When trying to fix urban transportation problems there are many possible solutions, but the biggest of which is Improving public tran sportation (Asmaa Ait Boubkr, Gaboune Brahim, and Avel-Li Blasco Esteve). New York City is giving us the numbers and the example, its now necessary to implement these views into the Michigan Avenue Corridor. The environmental impacts of transport can be reduced by improving the walking and cycling environment in cities, and by enhancing the role of public transport, especially electric rail. Green vehicles are intended to have less environmental impact than equivalent standard vehicles, although when the environmental impact of a vehicle is assessed over the whole of its life cycle this may not be the case. Electric vehicle technology has the potential to reduce transport CO2 emissions, depending on the embodied energy of the vehicle and the source of the electricity. Hybrid vehicles, which use an internal combustion engine combined with an electric engine to achieve better fuel efficiency than a regular combustion engine, are already common. Natural gas is also used as a transport fuel. Biofuels are a less common, and less promising, technology; Brazil met 17% of its transport fuel needs from bioethanol in 2007, but the OECD has warned that the success of biofuels in Brazil is due to specific local circumstances; internationally, biofuels are forecast to have little or no impact on greenhouse emissions, at significantly higher cost than energy efficiency measures. In practice there is a sliding scale of green transport depending on the sustainability of the option. Green vehicles are more fuel-efficient, but only in comparison with standard vehicles, and they still contribute to traffic congestion and road crashes. Well-patronized public transport networks based on traditional diesel buses use less fuel per passenger than private vehicles, and are generally safer and use less road space than private vehicles. Green public transport vehicles including electric trains, trams and electric buses combine the advantages of green vehicles with those of sustainable transport choices. Other transport choices with very low environmental impact are cycling and other human-powered vehicles, and animal powered transport. The most common green transport choice, with the least environmental impact is walking.

What Caused The Downfall of Sparta? :: Ancient Greece Greek History

What Caused The Downfall of Sparta? Hypothesis: Sparta collapsed because they did not allow the helots to fight in battle The Beginning of Sparta In about 100 BCE, the Dorians invaded Greece from the North. During the Dark Ages, the Dorians made their way south, capturing the inhabitants of the lands they passed through as helots. At the beginning of the Dark Ages, it is thought that there were many Dorian settlements in Laconia, each with their own helot population. At some time during the Dark Ages, Sparta overtook these fellow Dorian settlements and their helot populations, as well as control of the whole of Laconia. The Spartans kept the helots as a huge, strong slave race and, although they did not enslave their fellow Dorians, the other Dorians were made perioci, meaning "those who live round about". The perioci were needed to be the craftsmen, tradesmen and manufacturers for the Spartans, who were trained as full time soldiers. At the end of the Dark Ages, there was nothing exceptional about Sparta (except her control of the helot population) but from about the middle of the 6th Century BCE, Sparta gradually turned away from the rest of Greece. They no longer welcomed visitors, cut their trade ties, stopped building ships and when the rest of Greece began using coins instead of iron spits, Sparta continued to use the spits. Sparta still had poetry and music, but instead of listening to new poems and songs, they learned only the compositions of the past, and new poets and musicians were not welcomed. Sparta still produced pottery and metal work for every-day use, but it was of poorer quality than the work of other cities. Spartans no longer participated in athletic festivals in other parts of Greece and the whole city became secretive and withdrawn, refusing to communicate with the rest of Greece. Education The Spartans were raised and educated to be perfectly obedient and obey the state without question. Spartan education had no interest with literature, intellectual or academic activities and did Spartans were not taught subjects like mathematics, science or geography. Even as babies, Spartiates were treated harshly - they were made to eat whatever food they were given, left alone, left alone in the dark, and it is probable that no attention was paid to babies when they cried. A Spartan Boy's education as a soldier began when the boy was about 7 or 8 years old. What Caused The Downfall of Sparta? :: Ancient Greece Greek History What Caused The Downfall of Sparta? Hypothesis: Sparta collapsed because they did not allow the helots to fight in battle The Beginning of Sparta In about 100 BCE, the Dorians invaded Greece from the North. During the Dark Ages, the Dorians made their way south, capturing the inhabitants of the lands they passed through as helots. At the beginning of the Dark Ages, it is thought that there were many Dorian settlements in Laconia, each with their own helot population. At some time during the Dark Ages, Sparta overtook these fellow Dorian settlements and their helot populations, as well as control of the whole of Laconia. The Spartans kept the helots as a huge, strong slave race and, although they did not enslave their fellow Dorians, the other Dorians were made perioci, meaning "those who live round about". The perioci were needed to be the craftsmen, tradesmen and manufacturers for the Spartans, who were trained as full time soldiers. At the end of the Dark Ages, there was nothing exceptional about Sparta (except her control of the helot population) but from about the middle of the 6th Century BCE, Sparta gradually turned away from the rest of Greece. They no longer welcomed visitors, cut their trade ties, stopped building ships and when the rest of Greece began using coins instead of iron spits, Sparta continued to use the spits. Sparta still had poetry and music, but instead of listening to new poems and songs, they learned only the compositions of the past, and new poets and musicians were not welcomed. Sparta still produced pottery and metal work for every-day use, but it was of poorer quality than the work of other cities. Spartans no longer participated in athletic festivals in other parts of Greece and the whole city became secretive and withdrawn, refusing to communicate with the rest of Greece. Education The Spartans were raised and educated to be perfectly obedient and obey the state without question. Spartan education had no interest with literature, intellectual or academic activities and did Spartans were not taught subjects like mathematics, science or geography. Even as babies, Spartiates were treated harshly - they were made to eat whatever food they were given, left alone, left alone in the dark, and it is probable that no attention was paid to babies when they cried. A Spartan Boy's education as a soldier began when the boy was about 7 or 8 years old.

A pocket guide celtic wales

The CeltsThe Celts are normally associated with Ireland ; nevertheless they did non arise from the island state, nor were they confined to that individual country. The first people to hold the same cultural traits originated in Northern Italy around 400 BC. These people finally created an imperium that spanned across Europe. Harmonizing to archeologists, the Celts originally migrated from Asia Minor into Western Europe, sometime during the Bronze Age, and so began to distribute across the continent. Most people lived in small towns which were all linked together by a larger cardinal town which acted as a topographic point for meeting and to carry oning concern. Along the normally traveled roads, there were both shrines and bastioned metropoliss erected for travellers. The Celts were a non-literate society that passed-on their civilization and history through unwritten tradition. The lone written record of the Celts can be found on coins or written records from ancient writers ; nevertheless these records are frequently inaccurate due to the fact that they were frequently written when the Celts came into cultural competition with the Greeks and Romans, where they were frequently branded as savages. The world is that the Celts physical characteristics, frock, and civilised manner of life were frequently admired. Women by and large stood taller that most Roman citizens, and upon making the proper age, immature adult females would get down have oning their hair in intricate plaits and would have on intricately embroidered frocks, frequently plaid in form. This plaid form was found in both adult females and work forces ‘s vesture along with gold and Ag watchbands and rings which were worn by the wealthy. The Gaelic work forces would frequently sp ike their hair and turn out their face funguss ; in some folks so would even tattoo their weaponries and even their face with bluish ink. The Celtic society was a hierarchy based system which was divided into three groups: The Warrior Aristocracy, the Intellectual Class made up of poets, legal experts and the Druids, and so everyone else ; nevertheless these three groups were farther divided into sub-groups. The society was based on affinity and what tribe the individual belonged to. One ‘s ethnicity was chiefly derived from a larger group called a Tuath, but finally one ‘s kin or Cenedl. Much like the packs of today, disputes between persons would ensue in a difference between the kins that the persons belonged to. It was the occupation of the legal expert, known as Brithem, to intercede these differences between kins. Within Celtic society adult females held a high function. Often adult females would really take part in conflict as warriors and some even held places of power within the kins. Even though most constructs of the Gaelic people are that of ferocious warriors, batting with painted faces, half bare, and ready to take on any enemy that crossed their way, this was non needfully the instance. The Celts were a really superstitious and spiritual society, which is frequently incorporated with the images of Druids. This image of Merlin projecting charming enchantments and turning his friends into cunning animate beings is the â€Å" Disney † version of Gaelic civilization. This image ignores the true bloodiness of the Celtic civilization which included human forfeit by fire or boiling the victim alive. Until Rome became a Christian imperium, the Celtic imperium in Gaul practiced the tradition of nailing the caputs of their conquered enemies to their doors. There are two theories on the beginning of the Celtic faith ( known as Druidism ) . One theory is that the faith spread as the Celts migrated west across Europe, conveying their faith with them. The other theory is that the faith really began in the British Isles, where Druids were trained in their faith and so be sent back into Europe to distribute Druidism. This faith was nature based, which is known today as â€Å" Earth Spirituality † . It is thought that there were three different categories of Druids ; the differences believe to be that of their degree of preparation and different maps. There of class was the Druid, so the Bard and so the Ovate. These Druids did non merely map as spiritual leaders, but they besides held places as Judgess, and it is besides believed that there are ArchDruids who had control over huge countries, really similar to Christianity ‘s Archbishops. Another of import portion of Celtic life was the festivals held throughout their 13 month lunar calendar. Because of the uneven figure of months, they would frequently add yearss as the terminal of the twelvemonth as â€Å" clip between times † . During their twelvemonth they had a sum of four festivals tied to their agricultural rhythms. The first of their festivals took topographic point on what is now October 31st to November 1st. This festival known as Samhain and celebrates the terminal of the crop, the beginning of a new Gaelic twelvemonth and a jubilation of the dead. During this vacation it was believed that the infinite between the human universe and the spirit word thinned ; so work forces would run with torches around their houses to guard off evil liquors. The following festival was held on February 1st to the 2nd, which is now the modern twenty-four hours Groundhog Day. This festival is known as Imbolc. It is simple and merely celebrates the beginning of spring fo r the Celts. The 3rd jubilation of the twelvemonth was held from April 30th to May 1st and was known as Beltane. This festival celebrates birthrate and is now known as May Day. The celebrations normally included kids running about a pole with ruddy and white thread and picking flowers. Finally, a elephantine balefire is lit to observe the return of the Sun to the land. The concluding jubilation of the Gaelic twelvemonth was known as Lughnasadh and took topographic point July 31st to August 1st and celebrated the beginning of the crop. Besides the festivals that dealt with the agricultural twelvemonth, the Celts besides had four jubilations for the equinoxes and the solstices. The first jubilation was known as Alban Arthuan, which translates to Light of Arthur, and was the festival of the winter solstice. This festival, much like other winter solstice jubilations everyplace, celebrated the return of the Sun after the shortest twenty-four hours of the twelvemonth. The following jubilation was known as Alban Eiler, which translates to Light of the Earth, and celebrated the youthful equinox. Not merely did the Celts observe the balance of twenty-four hours and dark but they besides believed that it was the balance between their universe and the spirit universe, therefore believing that this twenty-four hours had the most possible for thaumaturgy. The 3rd jubilation was known as Alban Heruin and was the jubilation of summer solstice. The Celts observed this vacation by playing games and holding field daies. The concluding jubilation is known as Alban Elued, translated to Light of the Water, is the jubilation of the Autumn Equinox, and like the youthful equinox , it was believed to be a clip where thaumaturgy was possible. One can evidently state that farming played a big function in the lives of the Gaelic people. The Celts of the Iron Age Britain chiefly farmed in settled communities, where the people would be given to their farms and farm animal. Archaeological grounds shows that there were besides pastoral husbandmans, but non about every bit many as settled farms. In both Southern and Eastern Britain, big subdivisions of land were used for farming. Here they grew harvests such as maize, herbs, roots and wheat. The Celts grew different types of wheat such as oats, rye, barley and millet ( Evidence of their dependance on grain can be found on ancient Gaelic British coins with the word picture of antediluvian grain on them ) and like the grain silos of today ; famers in Celtic Britain used belowground cavities to hive away grain and other excess harvests. These cavities were normally lined with wood and recent archeological digs have revealed that it was common for husbandmans to go forth offerings t o the Gods at the underside of these cavities, assumedly to guarantee a successful crop. The Celts of Britain besides had a system of forming land for farming which could be traced back to the Bronze Age. This organisation is seen chiefly in the layout of fencings on a big graduated table. Gaelic Britain was one of the larger agricultural communities and is where the first regular rectangular farm Fieldss were introduced. Later in the Iron Age ( about 100 B.C. ) woods and woodland countries began to be cleared to be used as farming area. Not merely were the Celts one of the first civilizations to clear forest for agriculture, but they were one of the first civilizations to successfully use the Fe plough. Crop cultivation was non the lone signifier of subsistence know in Celtic Britain ; Pastoral agriculture was the other common agricultural system of the Celts ( besides the most of import ) , normally practiced in portion with harvest cultivation. In Gaelic civilization the more cowss a adult male owned, the wealthier he was. The nonextant Celtic Shorthorn was the cowss of pick for the Celts, utilizing them both for their milk and butchering some for their beef, which was the chief meat eaten of the clip. This system in which cowss represented wealth, a alone act came into pattern known as Cattle foraies, which is the act of stealing another adult male ‘s cowss. Often these foraies would move as turn outing evidences for immature Celtic warriors looking to turn out themselves. The Celts besides raised sheep ; non for meat but to maintain alive to utilize their wool, and one time the sheep had become old they would be butchered for mouton. Another animate being the ancient Celts of Britain domesticated was the hog. It was smaller than a modern twenty-four hours domesticated hog and was a cross between a wild Sus scrofa and a Tamworth hog. They raised these animate beings purely for the intent of supplying jambon, sausage and bacon. In the Gaelic civilization there were three chief groups that all shared the same civilization ; The Celts of Britain, the Celts of Ireland and the Celts of Gaul. Even though they were 100s of stat mis apart they all shared the same cultural traits. Even though Romans looked at the Celts as savages, they truly had a simple society rooted faith.Bibliographyâ€Å" Celtic Europe. † Www.watson.org. Web. 30 Nov. 2009..â€Å" CELTIC HISTORY ; BRIEFLY†¦ † Joelle ‘s Sacred Grove Entrance. Web. 01 Dec. 2009..â€Å" Gaelic Mythology and Celtic Religion. † Heart o ‘ Scotland – Scots Art, Books, Music, History. Web. 20 Nov. 2009..â€Å" The Celts. † Ibiblio.org – people. Web. 01 Dec. 2009..â€Å" The Celts. † Washington State University – Pullman, Washington. Web. 29 Nov. 2009..Ellis, Peter B. The Celts, A History. New York: Carroll & A ; Graf, 1998? Print.â€Å" Farming in Celtic Britain – The Celts. † The Ce lts and Romans – Synergistic History Resources. Web. 07 Nov. 2009..Green, Miranda, and Ray Howell. A Pocket Guide Celtic Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales and The Western Mail, 2000. Print.James, Simon. The World of The Celts. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. , 1993. Print.â€Å" Triskelle – Irish history: Gaelic Social Structure. † Triskelle – Spending Time In Ireland – Irish History, Music, Lyrics and Tourism. Web. 01 Dec. 2009..

What Is Geography

What is Geography Week 2 Geographic Thought and History I have always thought that geography was the study of land, how it was formed and where it will be in years to come. I have realized that there is more to geography than this. A literal translation of geography would be â€Å"to describe or write about the Earth† (â€Å"What is Geography: 2012). The first person to use the word â€Å"geography† was  Eratosthenes, who was an ancient Greek. Geography has been called â€Å"the world discipline† and â€Å"the bridge between the human and the  physical science†(Sullivan 2000).There is human geography, physical geography, Marxist geography and also feminist geography. Human geography is a branch of the social sciences that studies the world, its people, communities, and cultures and has an emphasis on relations of space and place. Human geography differs from physical geography mainly in that it has a greater focus on studying human activities and is m ore open to qualitative research methodologies (â€Å"What is Geography â€Å" 2012).Physical geography is that branch of  natural science which deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like heatmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and  geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or  built environment, the domain of  human geography (â€Å"What is Geography â€Å" 2012). This is the geography that most people think of. There is also is a type of  critical geography  that uses the theories and philosophy of  Marxism  to examine the  spatial relations of  human geography.In Marxist geography, the relations that geography has traditionally analyze such as natural environment and spatial relations are reviewed as outcomes of the mode of material production (â€Å"What is Geography â€Å" 2012). As I mentioned previously there is also feminist geography which is an approach in  human geography  which applies the theories, methods and critiques of  feminism  to the study of the human environment, society and geographical space (What is Geography† 2012).What I find most interesting is the discipline of cartography, which is the mapping of the world. I find it interesting on how they could design a map in the ancient era and actually use it for exploration. Maps started out as two dimensional charts to what we use now, Google earth. In the late 20th century, advances in electronic technology have led to further revolution in cartography.Specifically  computer  devices such as computer screens, plotters, printers, scanners (remote and document) and analytic stereo plotters along with visualization, image processing, spatial analysis and database software, have democratized and greatly expanded the making of maps, particularly with their ability to produce maps that show slightly different features, without engraving a new printing plate (Sullivan 2000).Websites such as Google Earth use Google Earth whi ch is simply based on 3D maps, with the capability to show 3D buildings and structures (such as bridges), which consist of users' submissions using  SketchUp, a  3D modeling  program software. The technology that is used is pretty amazing even to the point that these types of features are used in the military to pinpoint certain targets. Works CitedDepartment of Geography and Environmental Resources, â€Å"What is Geography. † Last modified 2012. Accessed October 3, 2012. National Geographic, â€Å"What is Geography. † Last modified 2012. Accessed October 4, 2012. http://education. nationalgeographic. com/education/media/what- Sullivan, Dan (2000). â€Å"Mapmaking and its History†. Rutgers University. Retrieved 10/3/2012 from http://www. math. rutgers. edu/~cherlin/History/Papers2000/sullivan. html.