HISTORY OF GEOMORPHOLOGY 1: EARLY PERIOD (UP TO 1669)

This article deals with the history of geomorphology from the distant past to the periods of the Age of Enlightenment in Europe. Geomorphology, whose origin is as old as the history of mankind, has been transformed into a very significant or dramatic transformation and change. In this study, developments and changes occurring in the early stages of geomorphology were evaluated by dividing into different time periods. The first ideas about how the earth was shaped were in Egypt, China and Mesopotamia. In later periods, scientific thought was born in the ancient Greek world, which entered into interaction with the mentioned civilizations. In the beginning, the discussions which started with cosmology, astronomy, and the shape and location of the globe have been expanded and the subject of Geomorphology has been taken into consideration. In the early days there is no specialization in any subject among thinkers. Because, according to the perspective of the period, the thinker has to produce ideas on every subject. Therefore, views on landforms were included in both Geography and Cosmology books. However, even though an individual specialization did not arise in these early times, it was seen that subject-based books were written. In this period; Ancient Greek philosophers systematized, generalized and produced knowledge without relying on actual observations. But what we call science in the modern sense; with new methods (experiment, observation, and measurement) emerged in the Islamic world unused by previous philosophers. As a result, the first scientific ideas about geomorphology were born in the Islamic world and spread all over the world during the Middle Ages. Geomorphology, which showed a slow development between the 12th and 16th centuries, became an independent discipline in the 19th century