Physical Geography: Making Sense of Planet Earth

In program one, Alec Murphy presents an historical narrative of the principles that form the foundation of geography, including the three laws of geology, the importance of scale and the origins of the two great branches of geography: physical and human.

In program two, Alec Murphy focuses on the history of portraying the Earth and the earliest maps of ancient Greece, the 21st century computer-based GIS, Geographical Information Systems, as well as a visit to the U.S. Geological Survey, the institution that has served as America's center for mapmaking for the past 150 years.

In program three, Alec Murphy categorizes and defines the major landforms found on the planet's continents, including mountain ranges, river valleys, plateaus, basins, mesa, buttes and narrow canyons.

In program four, Alec Murphy walks viewers through the forces shaping and destroying the planet's many landforms, including water erosion, wind erosion, glaciers, continental drift, plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanic activity.

In program five, Alec Murphy shows how Earth's many spheres - the inner core, the crust or lithosphere, a soil layer, known as the pedosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere and biosphere - are all interconnected in one dynamic system.

Regions are one of the most important tools used in geographical thinking, and in program six, Alec Murphy shows how the planet is divided into physiographic or geomorphic regions, each with internal dynamic processes and then defines the three types of regions: formal, functional, and colloquial.

In program seven, Alex Murphy, using historical examples and present-day case histories, guides viewers through both sides of the argument known as environmental determinism as he program seeks answers to the one of the great debates in geography: 'How much does place or physical geography determine human development - cultural and economic?'

In program eight, Alex Murphy examines the Paleolithic Age, the Neolithic Age, Ancient Civilizations and the Modern Age to show how human beings have become a geographical force transforming the landscape and what the future holds for the planet and the 7 billion people living on its surface.