Theory and Decision Library40- Spatial Statistics and Models

In the last decade, geographers significantly -augmented their methodologi­ cal base by developing quantitative techniques which are specifically directed towards analysis of explicitly spatial problems.



The quantitative revolution in geography has passed. The spirited debates of the past decades have, in one sense, been resolved by the inclusion of quantitative techniques into the typical geographer's set of methodological tools. A new decade is upon us. Throughout the quantitative revolution, geographers ransacked related disciplines and mathematics in order to find tools which might be applicable to problems of a spatial nature. The early success of Berry and Marble's Spatial Analysis and Garrison and Marble's volumes on Quantitative Geog­ raphy is testimony to their accomplished search. New developments often depend heavily on borrowed ideas. It is only after these developments have been established that the necessary groundwork for true innovation ob­ tains. In the last decade, geographers significantly -augmented their methodologi­ cal base by developing quantitative techniques which are specifically directed towards analysis of explicitly spatial problems. It should be pointed out, however, that the explicit incorporation of space into quantitative techniques has not been the sole domain of geographers. Mathematicians, geologists, meteorologists, economists, and regional scientists have shared the geo­ grapher's interest in the spatial component of their analytical tools.