Editing William Morris Davis (section)

=== Contributions to physical geography and scientific racism ===
Davis was elected to the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1884 and the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1899.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-09 |title=William Morris Davis |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/william-morris-davis |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=William%20M.%20Davis;smode=advanced;f1-date=1899 |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> He was a founder of the [[Association of American Geographers]] in 1904, elected to the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] that same year, and heavily involved with the [[National Geographic Society]] in its early years, writing a number of articles for the magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=William M. Davis |url=https://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20000612.html |access-date=2024-02-07 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> Davis retired from Harvard in 1911. He served as president of the [[Geological Society of America]] in 1911.<ref>Fairchild, Herman LeRoy, 1932, The Geological Society of America 1888-1930, a Chapter in Earth Science History: New York, The Geological Society of America, 232 p.</ref><ref>Eckel, Edwin, 1982, GSA Memoir 155, The Geological Society of America — Life History of a Learned Society: Boulder, Colorado, Geological Society of America Memoir 155, 168 p., {{ISBN|0-8137-1155-X}}.</ref> He was awarded the [[Patron's Medal]] of the [[Royal Geographical Society]] in 1919.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/C5962519-882A-4C67-803D-0037308C756D/0/GoldMedallists18322011.pdf| title=List of Past Gold Medal Winners|publisher= Royal Geographical Society|access-date = 24 August 2015}}</ref>

His textbook, ''Elementary Physical Geography'' (1902), includes a chapter entitled "The Distribution of Plants, Animals, and Man," in which Davis details how the physical geography of landscapes influences "the progress of man from the savage toward the civilized state." Davis concludes that "the leading nations of [the European] race are the most advanced peoples in the world" and "few nations among [black, brown, and red] races have made important advances towards civilization."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001272700|title=Elementary physical geography|last=Davis|first=William Morris|date=1902|publisher=Ginn|location=Boston}}</ref> This textbook chapter exemplifies how Davis promulgated theories of [[scientific racism]], and was likely influenced by mentor and colleague [[Nathaniel Shaler]], who published similar views on the subject. Davis borrowed from Darwinian biological concepts and applied these to physical landscapes and climates in a type of Social Darwinistic thought termed "environmental determinism". His work influenced geographer and writer [[Ellsworth Huntington|Elsworth Huntington]], a student of Davis at Harvard, who attempted to explain differences in human culture by climate and geography, for example comparing communities of British descent in Canada and the Bahamas and suggesting that Anglo Bahamians are slower because of climate and proximity to black people.<ref name=":1" />