In the history of geography, the quantitative revolution (QR or Quantitative Revolution) was one of the four major turning-points of modern geography -- the other three being environmental determinism, regional geography and critical geography). The quantitative revolution occurred during the 1950s and 1960s and marked a rapid change in the method behind geographical research, from regional geography into a spatial science. The main claim for the quantitative revolution is that it led to a shift from a descriptive (idiographic) geography to an empirical law-making (nomothetic) geography.
(Note: The quantitative revolution had occurred earlier in economics and psychology and contemporaneously in political science and other social sciences and to a lesser extent in history.)
Read more about Quantitative Revolution: Synopsis and Background, The 1950s Crisis in Geography, The Revolution, Post-revolution Geography, Additional Reading
Famous quotes containing the word revolution:
“History in the making is a very uncertain thing. It might be better to wait till the South American republic has got through with its twenty-fifth revolution before reading much about it. When it is over, some one whose business it is, will be sure to give you in a digested form all that it concerns you to know, and save you trouble, confusion, and time. If you will follow this plan, you will be surprised to find how new and fresh your interest in what you read will become.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)