Mapping
The cartography (from the Greek χάρτης, chartēs = map and γραφειν, graphein = writing) is the applied science that is responsible for gathering, carry out and analyze measurements and data of regions of the Earth, to graphically represent them with different linear dimensions on a reduced scale. By extension, cartography is also called a set of territorial documents referring to a specific field of study. The International Cartographic Association defines cartography as the discipline related to the conception, production, dissemination and study of maps.
Basics
Since the Earth is spherical, or rather geoid, which is a derivation of the term "spherical", it must use a system of projections to go from the sphere to the plane. The problem is even greater, because in reality the shape of the Earth is not exactly spherical, its shape is more flattened at the poles than at the equatorial zone. This figure is called a geoid.
In addition to representing the contours of things, surfaces and angles, it also deals with representing the information that appears on the map, depending on what is considered relevant and what is not. This usually depends on what you want to represent on the map and on the scale.
Currently these cartographic representations can be made with computer programs called GIS, in which you have a georeference from a tree and its location, to an entire city including its buildings, streets, squares, bridges, jurisdictions, etc.
Mapping in the Web 2.0 era has spread to the Internet, fostering the emergence of user-created content. This term implies that there are maps created in the traditional way - through contributions from several individual cartographers - or with information contributed by the public. At present, there are numerous portals that allow you to view and consult maps from around the world.
History
The oldest known map is a controversial issue, because the definition of map is not unequivocal and because various materials were used to create maps. There is a mural painting, which may represent the ancient city of Çatalhöyük, in Anatolia (previously known as Huyuk or Çatal Hüyük), dated to the 7th millennium BC. Other known maps of the ancient world include the Minoan civilization: the "Admiral's House" is a wall painting dated to 1600 BC. C., in which a coastal community can be seen in oblique perspective. There is also an engraved map of the Holy Babylonian City of Nippur, from the Kassite period, (XIV century BCE - 12th century BC)
Maps were created in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, such as Anaximander's in the VI century BCE. C.. or the world map of Claudius Ptolemy, which is a map of the world known (Ecumene) by Western society in the II d. In the 8th century century, Arab scholars translated the works of Greek geographers into Arabic.
In ancient China, geocodes date back to the 5th century. The oldest Chinese maps are from the State of Qin and date to the IV century, during the Warring States. In the book Xin Yi Xiang Fa Yao, published in 1092 by the Chinese scientist Su Song, there is an astronomical chart with a cylindrical projection similar to the current one and, apparently, invented separately, to the Mercator projection. Although this method of calculation appears to have existed in China even before this publication, and scientifically the greatest significance of the Su Song Astronomical Charts, is that they represent the oldest known extant printed maps.
Early signs of Indian cartography include legendary paintings; maps of locations described in Hindu epics such as the Rāmāyana. Hindu cartographic traditions also mapped the location of the North Star, as well as other constellations.
World map is the general term used to describe the European maps of the Medieval World. Approximately 1,100 world maps survived from the Middle Ages. Of these, 900 are manuscript illustrations and the rest exist as independent documents (Woodward, P. 286).
The Arab geographer, Muhammad al-Idrisi, produced his map, the Tabula Rogeriana, in 1154, incorporating known Africa, the Indian Ocean and the known Far East, compiling information from traders and Arab explorers and that inherited from classical geographers to create the most accurate map of the world in his time and for the next three centuries.
In the Age of Discovery, from the 15th century to the XVII, European cartographers copied old maps (some dating back many centuries) and drew their own maps based on the observations of explorers albeit with new techniques. The invention of the compass, the telescope and the development of surveying gave them greater accuracy. In 1492, Martin Behaim, a German cartographer, made the first globe, the Erdapfel.
Johannes Werner studied and perfected map projection systems, developing the cordiform projection. In 1507, Martin Waldseemüller produced a world globe and a large wall map of the world distributed on 12 sheets (Universalis Cosmographia), being the first map to apply the name "America" to the lands recently discovered by the Europeans and the first to present this continent separated from Asia. The Portuguese cartographer, Diego Ribero, was the author of the first known planisphere with a graduated terrestrial equator (1527). The Italian cartographer Bautista Agnese produced at least 71 handwritten atlases of marine charts.
Because of the difficulties inherent in cartography, mapmakers frequently copied material from earlier works without mentioning the original cartographer. For example, one of the most famous early maps of North America, commonly known as the "Beaver Map," published in 1715 by Herman Moll, is an exact reproduction of a 1698 work by Nicolás De Fer. De Fer had in turn copied the printed images into books by Louis Hennepin, published in 1697, and François Du Creux, in 1664. By the 1700s, map makers began to give credit to the original author by printing the phrase “According to [ the original cartographer].”
Pre-Columbian Cartography
In Mexico, cartography has its own characteristics. Although it is part of the context of Western cartographic thought, its origin is found in the forms of expression used by the ancient inhabitants of Mesoamerica to represent geographic knowledge.
A reading of these mentions has allowed scholars to know that, indeed, the Mesoamerican indigenous people made maps with great technical skill and professionalism, and that they were relatively common in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
Most surviving indigenous maps date from the 16th century, after the arrival of Europeans, and are influenced by their cartography. In fact, as we have already commented, the references we have to the maps made by the Mexican natives are descriptions made by the Spaniards, that is, external considerations, made from the European point of view.
We can't know for sure what pre-Columbian maps looked like, we can't even be sure how the natives understood the maps.
From all these factors (among others), scholars have managed to identify four categories of Mesoamerican maps, depending on their function and representation:
- Maps that narrate historical events.
- Maps that represent properties, city plans, and possibly itineraries.
- cosmographic maps.
- celestial maps, showing the stars and constellations.
Technological changes
The flat cards
They are the ones that are built assuming that the Earth's surface is flat, with which the course and distance are consistent with it. They were widely used in the Mediterranean until the beginning of the 18th century.
Changes in map production run parallel to changes in technology. The biggest leap occurred from the Middle Ages when instruments such as the quadrant and the compass were invented, which allow measuring the angles with respect to the pole star and the Sun. These instruments allowed the determination of latitude to finally capture it on maps.
On so-called flat charts, the observed latitudes and magnetic directions are plotted directly on the map, with a constant scale, as if the Earth were flat.
Later evolution
In cartography, technology has continually changed to meet the demands of new generations of map makers and map readers. The first maps were drawn manually with pens on parchment; therefore, they varied in quality and their distribution was very limited. The introduction of magnetic devices, such as the compass, allowed the creation of maps of different scales that were more accurate and easier to store and manipulate.
Advances in mechanical devices such as the printing press, dial, and vernier, used to enable the mass production of maps and the ability to make more accurate reproductions of data. Optical technology, such as the telescope, the sextant, and other devices, made it possible to more accurately examine the Earth and increased the ability of map makers and navigators to find their latitude by measuring angles to the North Star at night or at noon.
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20th century
Advances in electronic technology in the 20th century led to another revolution in cartography. The availability of advances in computing, of hardware, together with its peripherals, for example monitors, plotters, printers, scanners (remote and document) and analytical stereo plotters, together with computer programs for visualization, image processing, spatial analysis, and database management have contributed to what has been called neogeography, popularizing its knowledge and expanding map making.
The spatial capacity to locate variables on existing maps, together with the creation of new map management applications, have enabled the emergence of new industries to explore these potentials. The use of current techniques such as satellite photography, has facilitated, in recent times, the development of cartographic maps more precisely. This has immediate consequences for the other sciences and studies that depend on cartography for their development. In addition, we can currently develop 3D maps using software designed for this, which takes the visualization of these maps a step further.
Most commercial-grade maps today are made using software, which is grouped into three main types:
- Computer assisted design (DAO).
- Geographic Information System (GIS).
- Specialized illustration software.
Spatial information can be stored in a database, from which it can be extracted on demand. These tools are increasingly leading to dynamic maps and interactive maps, which can be digitally manipulated.
Types of maps
General and thematic cartography
According to basic maps, the field of cartography can be divided or separated into two general categories: General Cartography and Thematic Cartography. General Cartography implies those maps that are built for a general audience and thus contain a variety of features. General maps display many references and location systems are often produced in series. For example, the 1:24,000 scale topographic maps from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a standard compared to 1:50,000 scale Canadian maps. The UK government produces the classic "Ordnance Survey" 1:63,360 (1 inch per mile) maps of the entire UK along with a range of larger, very small scale maps mapped to high detail.
Thematic Mapping involves mapping specific geographic themes, geared toward specific audiences. A couple of examples might be the dot map showing corn production in Indiana or a shaded area map of Ohio counties, divided into number classes. As the volume of geographic data has evolved enormously over the past century, thematic mapping has become increasingly useful and necessary for interpreting spatial, cultural, and social data. For example, social networks are mapped georeferentially, they are also made maps that show distance between people (in number of ties or steps that separate them). The time line can also be considered a map or chart. From its use in navigation, techniques have been perfected that are recovered to guide web browsing. In sociology and communication, the cartographer's job is also cited as a strategy to stay on course in a fluid world.
The orienteering sport map combines general and thematic cartography, designed for a very specific user community. The most prominent thematic element is shaded, this indicates degrees of difficulty of the route due to the vegetation. The vegetation itself is not identified, being classified simply by the difficulty ("struggle") it presents.
Characteristics of geometrization
Geometrization crossed a large part of the visual culture of modern sciences, affecting the images themselves and also the ways of seeing. Man created methods, which made phenomena that could not be known, except through the sense of touch, taste or smell, now could be visualized, that rationalization of the look rested on the productions of the modern classics, and the maps of modernity were not alien to that gaze, representing isomorphisms and proportionality, inventing a new geometry of geographic representations. This proportionality is what seeks to define the geographical miniature. The French philosopher Gastón Bachelard argued that miniatures are objects lacking in real psychological objectivity, and that miniaturizing the world implied owning it.
Topographic and topological
The topographic map is mainly about the topographic description of a place (provincial area, region, a country or the world), including (especially in the Century XX) the use of isolines to demonstrate the altimetry (hypsometry) or bathymetry of the relief. Land relief on cartography can be shown in a variety of ways. Colors, symbols, and different types of strokes are used on these maps for different types of landscapes and reliefs such as mountains, valleys, plains, lakes, depressions, and many more features. In addition, different types of signs that refer to man-made constructions are also usually added, such as: transportation routes, energy production areas or different types of crops.
The topological map is a very general type of map or plan. Often neglects scale and detail in the interest of clarity of related information. The Caracas Metro map is an example. However, the map used preserves little of reality. It varies the scale constantly and precipitously, and the directions of the casual contours. The only important features of the map are the easy location of stations and crossings along tracks and whether a station or crossing is north or south of the Río Guaire. They satisfy all the typical desires that a passenger requires to be informed, satisfying the cartographic purpose.
The power of cartography
Cartography determines the power of each state. The location, the sizes and the way in which each State is represented, gives it a power that, although not explicit, can be induced in each of its representations.
Mercator
This is one of the most important cartographic representations of the earth's surface, and was very important for navigation in the 15th century, helped, thanks to the axes provided by the meridians and parallels, to enable the ships to follow their routes more easily.
But we can also observe that in the center of this representation is the European continent. This representation gave this continent greater power, compared to others. Not only because of the real size of its territories, which look bigger than they really are, but also the position in which it is represented (the center).
"For this reason, cartography is presented as a mechanism that overcomes distances, an instrument that serves the monarch to deal with space and time, and that, therefore, had to be produced the most reliable way possible."