History of Cartography - East to Modern Flashcards
How did cartography develop separately from East to West
- Cartography moved forward in East, notably China, while it moved backwards in the West
When and what event put China on western maps?
- 13th century
- Marco Polo’s voyage to China
- Development of East and West began to merge
Shang Dynasty
- 1st concrete evidence of map in 200BC
- Probably goes back further than that
5th Century China
- Divided into 8 territories
- Each had a governor, tax purposes
- Mandatory inventory of soil types, growth potential, water ways, transportation
11th Century China
- Well developed topographic series
- Reference grid, etc.
- Grid so well designed it served for 100’s of years
When was evidence of 1st printed map?
- 1155CE
- Predates western printing by 300 years
Pei Hsiu
- 224 - 271 CE
- defined mapping principles based on a scale and a grid to determine measurements of distance, direction , area, and height
Chu Ssu-Pen
- 1273 - 1337 CE
- Established Chinese mapping traditions that lasted well into 19th century
Map of China and Track of Yu
- 1137
- Carved in stone
- 1m square
- Rectangular grid with scale of 100 Li (Chinese miles) per division
- Shows cities and rivers
- Grid and scale 100’s of years before Europeans
What role did Jesuits play in East meets West cartography?
- Jesuits (researchers/scientists of church) set up residence in China
- Facilitated knowledge exchange between Europe and China
- Brought Chinese map knowledge to Europe
When did independent cartographic development end and East and West merge?
16th century
- Distinctions between cartographies ended
What was the significance in East meets West cartography in 13th century?
- Released shackles from church
- Became more about money and trade
Portolan Charts
- Emerged after East met West
- Navigational compass rose
- Parchment (sheep skin, still using local materials)
- Oriented to magnetic N
- Colour coded
- Accompanying the Rutter, sailing directions
Why did cartography break from the church in the 13th century?
- Emergence of trade revival
- Rise in merchant class wanting more coastlines and routes
Where were some of the 1st cartographic power houses located?
Portugal and Spain
- Catalanian Mapping
Carte Pisane (Pisa Map)
- 14th century
- Oldest surviving marine chart
- Drawn on parchment
- 1st map with scale
- Network of Rhumb lines (constant bearing) from 2 central points
Routier Maps
- Rhumb lines of constant bearing for sailing using compass headings
- Rutter maps
- Begin to have N arrow for magnetic N
Catalan Atlas
- 1375
- Chart of the Mediterranean
- Stylized versions of major cities with flags
- 1st Compass rose
Renaissance
- French for ‘rebirth’
- 1400-1527 was beginning of age of discovery
- New spirit and attitude towards knowledge and understanding
- Revival in art and architecture
- Developments in technology
- Growth in exploration and discovery
- Dramatic developments in Cartography
When did the Turkish Empire expand west and what did it bring back to Europe?
- 14th Century
- Scientists fleeing ahead of Turkish brought Ptolemy’s Geographica retranslated to Latin
Reemergence of Geographica
- 1405
- Brought back to Europe by fleeing scientists
- Translated from Latin to Greek, to Arabic back to Latin
- Became new base of knowledge
- Still more advanced than Dark Ages Europe even after 1000 years
Magellan
1st circumnavigation of globe
Why did explorers set out to map coastline?
- To find a western spice route
- Trade
Columbus
‘Discovered’ ‘New World’ in 1492
- Inhabited 10,000’s of years before ‘discovery’
- ‘New World’ was heavily impacted by Europeans
Cabot
‘Discovered’ New Found Land in 1497
- Vikings there first, First Nations inhabited for 1000’s years before
Casco de Gama
1st to round Cape of Good Hope, India
- 1498
Henry the Navigator
- Job was to find stuff
- Funded by Prince of Portugal
- Control and Power, imposing culture on what was ‘found’
Mercator
- The Graticule
- Triangulation
- Accurate Navigation
- Imprisoned for Heresy for 7 months
- Projection still used today
- His friend made 1st Atlas
What is the Atlas named for?
- Greek Titan/God
Ortelius
- Made 1st Atlas
When did the printing press and engraving techniques revolutionize map making?
1450
- Before the 15th century all maps were hand drawn or hand copied
What diminished the power of Catalonian (Spain and Portugal) mapping?
- The growing power of Holland and dutch explorers
What are 3 major cartographic houses in Europe that are still there?
- Mercator
- Blaue
- Hondius
When did deliberately misleading and hoax maps become prevalent?
15th century
Splendid mapping
- Embellishment of unknown areas
- Cartouches
- Cartography as art
- Masterpieces
- Globes
- Many job opportunities for cartographers in 15th-16th century
- May have been art, but still a power object
Cartouche
Ornate designs to enclose title, author, map scale
When (approximately) was the invention of the graticule and map projections? (more when they became accepted and prevalent)
Mercator 1579
Canton World Map
- 1502
- Secret Portuguese map
- Stolen and smuggled to Italy
- Give rival countries more info for military, power and control
- Earliest nautical chart to show certain places at their latitudes
Why were maps stolen?
- To gain power and control
- Military or trade advantages
Zeno Brothers (Antonio and Nicolo)
- Venetian merchants 1380
- Sailing chart of the Northern voyages
- Printed in 1558
- Shows Greenland, Iceland, Norway and some made up Western Atlantic islands
- But, technology (marine chronometer) didn’t exist to get that accuracy
- Hoax!!!
Vinland Map
- Believed to be from 1440
- But actually from 1965 with inks produced after 1920
- Featured remarkably accurate rendition of Greenland and Vinland, the land Lief Ericsson discovered
- Would have been 1st document referring to Norse discoveries in NA
Fra Mauro’s World Map
- 1459
- 2m diameter
- Last circular mappa mundi
- Very accurate despite circular distortions
- Made by the Venetian monk Fra Mauro for the King of Portugal
- 1st mention of Japan (Zipangu)
- Increased knowledge from trade and connection of East to West
- More islamic than Ptolematic
Ulm edition of Ptolemy 1486, world map
- Ptolemy overestimated East-West extent of old world by 55 degrees
- Error accepted by Columbus and used to justify West route to Far East
- 1st map to show meridians and parallels
- Can be called 1st scientific map
Map by Juan de la Cosa, 1500
- 1st printed to show ‘New World’ in the west
- Authored by Spanish mariner who sailed with Columbus in 1492-1493
Emergence of the great Atlases
- 16th century: Saxton, England, Ortelius, Mercator
- 17th century: Hondius Atlas Major
- 17th century: Blaeu’s Grand Atlas
What was the advent of Geodesy?
- French Academy of Science
- Focus on precision in navigation, geodesy
Who debated/proved that the earth is not a perfect sphere?
- Newton found Earth is an oblate spheroid that bulges in center
- Debated with Cassini Brothers
What was the 1st country to survey the entire country?
- France
- Took ~50 years in 18th century
- Scale of 1:86,400
Who invented the Chronometer and what is the significance?
- John ‘Longitude’ Harrison
- Made spring based clock that works at sea to measure longitude precisely
- Had to make 3 b/c gov’t didn’t want to give out prize and kept increasing precision to make it more difficult
Introduction of Standard Metric
- French Academy
- 1791
- 1m defined as 1/10,000,000 part of the arc distance from the equator to the pole
- Slowly became world standard
When was the rise of Thematic Mapping?
- 19th century with development of statistics
- Parallels division of science into sub-disciplines and social sciences (earth, behavioural, life sciences)
- Social sciences need thematic maps to communicate findings
- Classic example, Minard
- before most maps were topographic
Early thematic maps and 2 examples
- 1 variable
- 1701, Edmond Halley’s isogonic chart chowing variation of compass
- 1837, Harness’s map of passenger movements around Dublin to help locate railway
When was the foundation for modern cartography laid, and when did it develop and advance?
- Foundation: 18th century
- Developed: 19th Century
- Advanced: 20th Century
- Challenged: end of 20th Century
- Further Opportunities and Challenges: 21st Century
When did cartography 1st reach professional status? Heydays of cartography? Glory days of cartography?
- Professional: 15th century
- Heydays: 17th century onwards
- Glory Days: War times
What was a major technological revolution in late 15th century?
- Beginning of mechanical revolution
- Application of optics and mechanics
- Printing revolutionized map reproduction
What was a major technological revolution in the 19th century?
- Photo-chemical lithography/photography
- Data capture
- Advances production, reproduction, printing
What are famous examples of Minard’s thematic maps?
- Flow maps (Napoleonic)
- Pie charts on maps
TN Hibbens and Co. Map of Victoria 1872
- Has colours
- North not at top but North arrow does point North
D R Harris map of City of Victoria 1884
- Cartouches (map junk)
- Insets
- Revised and corrected from the ‘best authorities’ (who are they?, Kind of a cop out)
TN Hibbens and Co. Map of Victoria 1890
- Thick blue coast outline
- Cross hatch detail to give impression of relief
What new map-publishing houses emerged in the 20th century?
- Bartholomew, UK
- Justus Perthes, Germany
- Rand McNally, USA
What was the major division in cartography in 20th Century?
- Topographic
- Thematic
- Friendly and collaborative split
What are some points on the development of cartography in the 20th century?
- Impact of aerial photography and remote sensing
- Discovery of magnetic N
- Emergence of new publishing houses
- Division of cartography into 2 sub-fields
How does Rand McNally combat plagiarism of their work?
- Put fake streets and/or names on maps
- Protects them in court for copyright battles
- Purposeful mistakes that only they could make and indicate if someone has copied their work
What was a major electronic revolution in the 20th century and how did it influence cartography?
- The web
- Altered map design, distribution, and access
- Duplicate all analog processes electronically
21st Century professional organizations
- Canadian Cartographic Association, CCA
- NACIS
- CIG
- International Cartographic Association, ICA
Cartography in 21st century
- More electronic
- Web based, interactive
- Democratization (but allows for terrible maps with bad science and design by inexperienced people)
- Professional organizations
Contemporary cartographic paradigm shift
- Representation to Visualization
Representation Paradigm
- Map is the end product
- Database - Analysis - Results - Map
Visualization Paradigm
- Map is a stage in the process, only part of what is happening
- Database - Map - Analysis - Map - Result - Map - Analysis - Map - Result…..
What are some contemporary areas of interest?
- Exploratory spatial data analysis
- Visualization
- Multimedia
- Geospatial data infrastructure
- Web cartography (interactive, non-static)
- Community mapping
- Democratization (Google Earth, etc.)
- Power and Maps
Where is mapping going from here (current)?
- Mapping cyberspace (internet)
- Mapping beyond Earth for non-spherical worlds (lines of lat and long won’t be the same)
