Week 1 Introduction

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Week 1 - Introduction

• Scope of the course
• Everything about the map, no limit on topics
• Will involve interactive maps that are on the
  Internet
  
• Will involve explaining how maps are made
• Will NOT involve the actual creation of maps with
  standard mapmaking or GIS software
  
• Will require some Internet search
• Will expect to have group participation and
  discussions.
  

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Week 1 - Introduction

• Outcomes of the course
• Students are expected to learn a lot more about
  the map
  
• Develop critical thinking about the structures of
  the map, its truthfulness in presenting
  information, and accuracy issues
  
• Appreciate the map as an artform
• Understand the historic paths of the evolution of
  the map
  
• Learn how the map affects and is affected by
  society, culture, religion, and technology
  
• Explore the discipline of Geographic Information
  Systems
  
• Develop personal points of view on how maps
  influence an individual in ones place in society
  
  

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Week 1 - Introduction

• The Map as an iconic model
• Encarta defines a model as a copy of an object,
  especially one made on a smaller scale than the
  original or as something that is copied or used
  as the basis for a related idea, process, or
  system
• Both these definitions would apply to the map
• One of Encartas definition of an icon as a
  recognizable symbol a picture or symbol that is
  universally recognized to be representative of
  something. Another Encarta definition is that of
  a sign a word or sign that stands for something
  else
• Geographers have taken these two words, iconic
  and model, together to refer to a map which is
  made up of symbols or pictures to represent (at a
  smaller scale) the original earth and its
  environment ( or parts of it)

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Week 1 - Introduction

• The Map as an iconic model (continued)
• Generalization means that some real world
  information will not be represented on the map
  
• Simply put, there is not enough space on the map
  to should all real world details, e.g., you may
  expect to see city blocks on a street map, but do
  not expect to see the details of the gutters
  along sidewalks or storm drain openings
• As such, the general public should be aware that
  there are limitations on maps, especially on maps
  that are created for general public use
  
• There are, however, very specialized maps that
  will show sidewalk gutters and storm drains, but
  these are not street maps. They are likely to be
  maps made for and used by city planners, road
  construction engineers, or other specialized
  professions.
• As a model, maps are expected to be rather
  generalized compared to all the details found in
  the real world
  

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Week 1 - Introduction

• The Map as a language
• Music has often been labeled as a universal
  language there are rules that govern the
  language of music
  
• Many geographers consider that the map is a
  language. The map has all the elements of a
  language, e.g. symbols, logic, grammar (rules
  that define certain usage of symbols)
• When a person reads a paragraph or a chapter in a
  book, the words and sentences from that paragraph
  or chapter communicate ideas, facts, or
  information to that reader
• When a map reader reads, studies, or looks at a
  map, the graphics, symbols, lettering, and color
  schemes on the map communicates geographic ideas,
  facts, and information to the map reader
• Therefore, the analogy of reading text to reading
  a map is very similar.

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Week 1 - Introduction

• The Map as a language (continued)
• However, the language of maps is a bit more
  complicated than being just a language as we know
  of a language in a regular sense
  
• A specific word in a text generally have a very
  specific meaning that every reader understands.
  
• Symbols on a map, however, may not be universally
  understood or interpreted the same way by
  different individuals, e.g. a red star on a map
  may represent the capital of a nation, but the
  same red star on a different map can represent
  something else, such as the site of a horrific
  accident
• Therefore, there are variations in the use of
  symbols. This is why for each map there needs to
  be a map legend to explain the meaning of all the
  symbols that a mapmaker (or cartographer) uses

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Week 1 - Introduction

• Historical views and conceptions of the map
• Initially, when the humans first conceive the
  map, it was to record places around their
  immediate surrounding areas
  
• Based on their limited ability to travel
  extensively, early humans lived in small areas
  that represent the known world to them. This
  known world in geographic term is called
  ecumene.
• The earliest maps were made to depict the ecumene
  of each human community.
  
• These maps normally include icons of water
  sources, animals (for hunting), and safe shelters

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This is one of the oldest extant maps (dated
about 700-500 B.C.) and now kept in the British
Museum. The map is carved on clayey tablet. The
inner circle represents the world surrounded by a
ring of bitter waters. Babylon sits in the
center and smaller circles along the edge
represent other cities or countries.
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Week 1 - Introduction

• Historical views and conceptions of the map
  (continued)
  
• As humans begin to gather in communities, maps
  then depict houses, walls that surround a
  community, and in some cases, bridges that were
  built.
• As humans travel and learn about greater amounts
  of areas, their ecumene grew. Maps then started
  to take on the function of helping humans find
  places, i.e. to go from point A to point B.
• Early Greek thinkers and philosophers carefully
  observed heaven and earth and had great
  conceptions about the world they lived in.
  Ptolemy, generally known as the Father of
  Geography, made reasonably accurate maps of the
  land from Europe to East Asia.

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Map of a local ecumene showing a castle, river,
bridge, and surrounding hills.
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Week 1 - Introduction

• Historical views and conceptions of the map
  (continued)
  
• But when religion began to set in, maps also
  became expressions of religious beliefs in
  addition to its practical function of finding
  places.
• Religious maps would include figures of Jesus,
  placing Jerusalem in the center of the world, and
  paradise on the top of the map.
  
• Religious maps were not very scientifically
  constructed and are generally very crude. The
  Church did not accept science and insisted on
  religious view points. Moreover, it overshadowed
  the works of Ptolemy, which were then lost.
• During Medieval times, which lasted over a
  millennium, religious maps did not cover a large
  area, only the world that were known to the
  Western and Arab worlds (the land area around the
  Mediterranean Sea).

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These T O Maps are religious maps. The T
represents the Nile and the Don Rivers and the
Mediterranean Sea that separates Europe, Asia,
and Africa. The three continents were divided
among the three sons of Noah. The Ebstorf Map
(right) depicts Jesus face on top, His hands on
both edges, and His feet at the bottom.
Jerusalem is located at the center of the world.
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Mappa Mundi (Map of the World) is another typical
T O religious map showing Paradise is top with
the faces of Adam and Eve and the four rivers
flowing from it. Above the map (or world) is
Christ blessing, holding the orb of the world,
and flanked by two angels. Notice that the Red
Sea is colored red, a very common convention in
Medieval maps.
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This is a section of a map called the Peutinger
Table it is a long and narrow map with multiple
panels that show the way for worshippers to
travel from Rome to Jerusalem.
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Week 1 - Introduction

• Historical views and conceptions of the map
  (continued)
  
• The Arabs and Persians had a geographic
  advantage. Being situated in the area of the
  Middle East, their overland exploration had
  established contacts with people from China and
  India
• The Arabs and Persians began trading with peoples
  from East and South Asia. In turn, they sell
  products such as silk and spice to the Romans and
  other peoples in Europe.
• Thus, Arabs and Persians made their living as
  middlemen in this trading enterprise.
  
• But trading and their extensive travels resulted
  in learning more about the world, especially in
  gaining geographic knowledge beyond their own
  ecumene.
• The Chinese and the Arabs were not influenced by
  Western religions and therefore were in a better
  position to integrate science and observations in
  their maps.

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Week 1 - Introduction

• Historical views and conceptions of the map
  (continued)
  
• As a result, Chinese maps and Islamic maps were
  more accurate than European maps during Medieval
  times.
  
• The Chinese had discovered the use of the
  South-pointing carriage (the compass)
  reportedly around 1000 BC, but Chinese historic
  records clearly put it no later than the 3rd
  century A.D., about the time when Europe began
  the Medieval Ages.
• Chinese maps were made with the help of the
  compass.
  
• Paper-making was also invented in China around
  the 1st century A.D. Maps were recorded as stone
  carvings and on paper very early on.
  
• Science and civilization in China were far more
  advanced than those in contemporary Europe.

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Yu Chi Thu (Map of the Tracks of Yu), 1137 A.D.
Yu was the Chinese hydraulic engineer who was
commissioned by the emperor to solve flooding
problems and insure Chinese citizens safety. He
traveled all over China in studying flooding
hazards and made a very detailed map of major
rivers and their tributaries. The use of a
rectangular grid system as a map scale helped Yu
in keeping spatial records. The detail and
accuracy of this map is superior to the
contemporary T O maps of Europe.
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Replica of Chinas South-pointing carriage
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World map by Arab geographer, Al-Idrisi, c. 1154
AD
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Week 1 - Introduction

• Historical views and conceptions of the map
  (continued)
  
• The travels of Marco Polo along the Silk Road
  represented one of the most significant cultural
  exchanges in history.
  
• Although the diffusion of East Asian cultures and
  technology were sketchy, but the use of compass
  in making maps by Mediterranean sailors was
  evident in the late 13th century.
• From the 13th to the 15th centuries, science and
  mapmaking in Europe began to take shape. The
  Renaissance witnessed the revival of science,
  literature, and art. Arab cartographers had kept
  alive the works of Ptolemy and the Medieval Ages
  came to an end.
• Overnight, European cartography took on
  scientific methods as evidenced by the appearance
  of Portolan Charts, a style of sea charts
  developed by Mediterranean sailors that were made
  very accurately with the help of the compass.

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Carte Pisane, c. 1290, is the oldest surviving
Portolan Chart used by Mediterranean sailors.
Notice the accuracy of the coastline compared to
the T O maps. Portolans (or rhumb lines),
Italian word for directions, can be seen here
methodically constructed to be used as guides to
sailors to find directions. Coastal ports are
well depicted, as sailors are more interested in
them than inland details. This map was drawn on
animal skin (neck of animal on right).
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Week 1 - Introduction

• Historical views and conceptions of the map
  (continued)
  
• The report of Marco Polos description of China
  and the riches of the Yuan Dynasty court
  fascinated Europeans and later inspired
  Christopher Columbus.
• Since the time of Alexander the Great (336 323
  B.C.), Europeans knew of the land route to Persia
  and India, but there was no knowledge of the sea
  route.
• The overall geographic knowledge in Medieval
  Europe was very limited. People thought that the
  world was flat. All the seas were thought to be
  landlocked.
• Maps were not created in large numbers
  (paper-making and printing were not known to
  Europeans). Whatever maps that were created were
  used only by sailors or guarded as treasures by
  emperors.
• Maps were also kept in harbors for sailors to
  copy.
  
• Whatever geographic information about places
  gathered by sailors was propagated by the process
  of hand copying, including map mistakes.

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Week 1 - Introduction

• Historical views and conceptions of the map
  (continued)
  
• Only a few people thought that the world was
  round, including German globe-maker, Martin
  Beheim whose 1492 globe is now the oldest
  surviving globe. The Americas are absent from
  this globe
• Christopher Columbus, who also thought that the
  world is round, set out to sail to India to
  search for spice by sailing west from Spain
  believing that he could reach India in a westerly
  route if the world is indeed round.
• When he reached one of the islands in the Bahamas
  (believed to be San Salvador), he thought that he
  had reached India. Thus, the Caribbean Islands
  are now referred to as the West Indies.

The Beheim Globe of 1492