It is used in both geography and in vernacular speech. Complex systems can be examined from several scales, or levels of detail or generalization. The important thing about scale is the different levels of information are conveyed in different scales. Depending on the scale of one s questioning, the conclusions one reaches may vary. An example of that is viewing something on the global scale such as the migration of humans through time, versus the expansion and suburbanization of an individual city or movement of people within the neighborhood structure of that city.
Maps are geographers' most important tools.
In fact it is said that if something can t be mapped it is not geography. Maps make up the basic mental images held by geographers who strive to make them more and more accurate. Maps have driven the science for thousands of years. The use of cartography distinguishes geography from other disciplines. Geographers are constantly relying on maps to communicate their concepts and search for solutions to problems.