Edmund William Gilbert was a British social geographer. He was Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

, from 1953 to 1967.
and Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford

Hertford College, Oxford

Hertford College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is located in Catte Street, directly opposite the main entrance of the original Bodleian Library. As of 2006, the college had a financial endowment of £52m. There are 612 students , plus various visiting...

. He defined geography

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

 in terms of the recognition of the characters of region

Region

Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...

s

In the 1920s, while at Reading University, he studied the American West. He was much influenced by Halford Mackinder, to the point of being thought an uncritical admirer.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he worked on the Naval Intelligence Handbooks

Naval Intelligence Handbooks

The British Naval Intelligence Division Geographical Handbook Series was produced between 1941 and 1946. At 31 titles, encompassing 58 volumes, this is the largest single body of geographical writing ever published. The books were written to provide information for the Allied war effort. They...

, producing, with Robert Beckinsale and S. da Sá, the Spain and Portugal volumes.

Works

• The Exploration of Western America, 1800-1850: An Historical Geography (1933)
• Brighton Old Ocean's Bauble (1953)
• The University Town in England and West Germany (1961)
• British Pioneers in Geography (1972)