structural:summarization
Early 20th century

In 1902, geodesy was suggested as a discipline supporting technical geography. In 1908, geography professor George D. Hubbard included technical geography alongside regional geography, physical geography, and general research as courses that should be taught at in U.S. university geography departments. Hubbard specifies that technical geography refers to topics such as "mathematical or astronomical geography," as well as cartography. A 1910 publication in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society (now the Geographical Review) introduced the concept of "scientific geography" and discussed employing the scientific method to geographic concepts. This publication proposed how a field of scientific geography could be organized, and specified that "Phytogeography," "Zoogeography," and "Anthropogeography" could be areas where scientific principles could be applied. While this publication did not use the term technical geography in its description, several later publications explicitly link scientific and technical geography. By 1917, technical geography was included among courses taught at some British schools, alongside mathematics, chemistry, and other natural sciences. As techniques and concepts in technical geography advanced, geographers began to lament the lack of understanding and use of more advanced geographic concepts in society and law. Specifically, this became an issue during the 1930s Michigan-Wisconsin Boundary Case in the Supreme Court of the United States, where the border was not defined with specific technical geographic concepts. During the 1940s, Oregon State University began focusing on technical geography as part of an applied geography program.