Ellsworth Huntington | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1876-09-16)September 16, 1876 |
| Died | October 17, 1947(1947-10-17) (aged 71) |
| Alma mater | Beloit College[1] Harvard University Yale University[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geography Climatology Human Ecology |
| Institutions | Yale University |
Ellsworth Huntington (September 16, 1876 – October 17, 1947) was a professor ofgeography atYale University during the early 20th century, known for his studies onenvironmental determinism/climatic determinism,economic growth, andeconomic geography. He served as president of theEcological Society of America in 1917, theAssociation of American Geographers in 1923 and president of the board of directors of theAmerican Eugenics Society from 1934 to 1938.[2]
He taught atEuphrates College,Turkey (1897–1901); accompanied thePumpelly (1903) and Barrett (1905–1906) expeditions tocentral Asia; and wrote of his Asian experiences inExplorations in Turkestan (1905) andThe Pulse of Asia (1907). He taught geography at Yale (1907–1915) and from 1917 was a research associate there, devoting his time chiefly toclimatic andanthropogeographic studies. He was the 1916 recipient of the Elisha Kent Kane Gold Medal from theGeographical Society of Philadelphia.
In 1909, Huntington led the Yale Expedition toPalestine. It was his mission to determine "step by step the process by which geologic structure, topographic form, and the present and past nature of the climate have shaped man's progress, moulded his history; and thus played an incalculable part in the development of a system of thought which could scarcely have arisen under any other physical circumstances."[3]
During theProgressive Era, Huntington expressed concern about immigration and the race mixing. He claimed that liberal immigration policy would lead to the "highest racial values" being "irrevocably swamped by those of lower calibre."[4]
He was on the original standing committee of theFoundation for the Study of Cycles from 1941.
