As part of
this year’s RGS-IBG Annual Conference, I was invited to take part in a panel
discussion entitled “Geography, geographers and the new cartography”. Along
with Chris Perkins from Manchester University and Janet Speake and David
Chester from Liverpool Hope University we discussed with an audience of about
25 participants what this meant. Panel members were each given 10 minutes and I
reused some elements of my Presidential Address to restate that cartography was
not dead, nor was there necessarily a ‘new’ cartography, but that its
importance was greater than ever. The discussion was free flowing and we did
not all agree on everything, but there was a general consensus that whilst
Cartography as a distinct academic discipline may well be dead in the UK, there
was still a huge need for it to underpin the huge amount of maps appearing
everywhere, not just on the web. Quite a few people in the audience made maps
but had never had any cartographic training and recognised that this was a
hindrance to producing good quality consistent output.
Cartography on the web
Remember what I said about the 'silly season' last month? Well it duly arrived. You will almost certainly have seen this map before and you have
to wonder whether the designer of the canal map of Berkhamsted had received any
cartographic training. I wondered at first if perhaps they hadn’t been paid or
there had been a dispute and they decided to get their own back, but the design
of this particular map went viral and has generated a huge amount of publicity,
so I guess that in the end it has proved to be very successful.
There are
lots of examples of both good and bad cartography and whilst it’s great to
showcase the good, we also sometimes need to pick out the bad and explain why
it went so wrong and what could be done to make it better. Ken Field’s
Cartonerd blogspot, http://cartonerd.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-reason-for-cartography.html pointed out an example of where a
little professional advice was needed and it is indeed heartening to see that
the producer of the original didn’t take exception but took the comments on
board and came up with a better looking product, although as Ken quite rightly
pointed out a simple graph might have done a better job of getting the message
across. Whilst maps (not infographics) will often do a great job of
highlighting trends or patterns that aren’t apparent in the simple data,
sometimes just because data has a geo dimension doesn’t mean that you have to
map it.
You know
when you write something down as a note to yourself and you mean to go back to
it later? Well I did that with one of my bookmarks for this month’s bulletin
and then forgot which particular item I was highlighting, http://one-europe.info/tag/europe. There are quite a few nice maps on
this particular site and a few ‘infographics’ as well, which you will know is
not one of my favourite neologisms. Thinking about it, I think it was the
Social Atlas of Europe that I meant to pick out as worthy of mention. Using
cartograms, which can make things look as though they are about to explode,
this Atlas explores a number of different social factors and is described as “a
must-read for those seeking to understand Europe, to look at European countries
in all their complexity and diversity, and to make sense of what unites and
divides Europeans”.
Okay,
so the original article was published back in March, but I only became aware of
it in August, “Why Geography Is The Best
Subject To Study At University… Ever”. Well, we all knew that didn’t we?! Sure,
Geographers are often given stick by other graduates and it has been
disparagingly described as a ‘colouring in degree’, but Geography graduates
remain amongst the most employable and the article itself goes on to give you
ten (good?) reasons as to why Geography is the best subject, finishing with “Because everyone loves colouring in”. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/24/why-geography-best-subject-study-university_n_5020334.html
There was
a really broad selection on offer in August and my first ‘pick’ is the map of
the Apollo 11 landing superimposed onto a football pitch (or should that be 'soccer' pitch?). Apollo 11 touched down on a landscape literally alien to us, we had no idea of how big things were, distances we
were told were very deceptive due to the lack of atmospheric refraction. So how
did we know how far the astronauts strayed from the Eagle, well the answer is
pretty clear when you add in a standard frame of reference: not very far.
Having said that it I had been in the same situation I wouldn’t have strayed
far from the only thing that was going to keep me alive and get me home safely!
A second
sporting example is the many dimensions of a baseball field, which perhaps
highlights one of the minor pitfalls of the previous map. There are maximum and
minimum limits for a football pitch and they are all the same basic shape, but
Neil Armstrong might have walked a bit further if he was at the Etihad (the
largest Premier League pitch) than at Upton Park (the smallest). Baseball
pitches, however, are all the same in the infield, but the outfields vary quite
considerably both in size and shape with the home team often having a distinct
advantage in the field because they know how their stadium plays and what sort
of ricochets you’re going to get.
Having
been to Bangkok
and used a ‘Nancy Chandler’ in anger I can testify to how useful it is as a
guide to getting round a chaotic city. Having enjoyed the experience of being picked
up by a taxi driver only to be told twenty yards later, and I paraphrase, “you
get out now, I not know where it is”, I will never be rude about London cabbies again. The
map is both eye-catching and informative and is still one of the best for navigating
your way around a frenetic Asian city. It’s simple, accurate and very easy to
follow, perhaps I should have given the taxi driver a copy.
Remember what I said about the 'silly season' last month? Well it duly arrived. You will almost certainly have seen this map before and you have
to wonder whether the designer of the canal map of Berkhamsted had received any
cartographic training. I wondered at first if perhaps they hadn’t been paid or
there had been a dispute and they decided to get their own back, but the design
of this particular map went viral and has generated a huge amount of publicity,
so I guess that in the end it has proved to be very successful.There are
lots of examples of both good and bad cartography and whilst it’s great to
showcase the good, we also sometimes need to pick out the bad and explain why
it went so wrong and what could be done to make it better. Ken Field’s
Cartonerd blogspot, http://cartonerd.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-reason-for-cartography.html pointed out an example of where a
little professional advice was needed and it is indeed heartening to see that
the producer of the original didn’t take exception but took the comments on
board and came up with a better looking product, although as Ken quite rightly
pointed out a simple graph might have done a better job of getting the message
across. Whilst maps (not infographics) will often do a great job of
highlighting trends or patterns that aren’t apparent in the simple data,
sometimes just because data has a geo dimension doesn’t mean that you have to
map it.You know
when you write something down as a note to yourself and you mean to go back to
it later? Well I did that with one of my bookmarks for this month’s bulletin
and then forgot which particular item I was highlighting, http://one-europe.info/tag/europe. There are quite a few nice maps on
this particular site and a few ‘infographics’ as well, which you will know is
not one of my favourite neologisms. Thinking about it, I think it was the
Social Atlas of Europe that I meant to pick out as worthy of mention. Using
cartograms, which can make things look as though they are about to explode,
this Atlas explores a number of different social factors and is described as “a
must-read for those seeking to understand Europe, to look at European countries
in all their complexity and diversity, and to make sense of what unites and
divides Europeans”.Okay,
so the original article was published back in March, but I only became aware of
it in August, “Why Geography Is The Best
Subject To Study At University… Ever”. Well, we all knew that didn’t we?! Sure,
Geographers are often given stick by other graduates and it has been
disparagingly described as a ‘colouring in degree’, but Geography graduates
remain amongst the most employable and the article itself goes on to give you
ten (good?) reasons as to why Geography is the best subject, finishing with “Because everyone loves colouring in”. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/24/why-geography-best-subject-study-university_n_5020334.html
I also
came across this really clear and well-balanced article this month. It very
clearly points out the huge technological advances that we have made in map
making and the way in which we use maps to orientate ourselves and find our way
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-08/15/mapping-the-world-again. It also points out clearly, however,
that despite the advent of ubiquitous digital cartography on a whole range of
very portable devices, there is still a huge demand and need for the
traditional paper map. The two examples cited that particularly struck home
with me were that of the military aviation user, "Whilst
reliance on digital mapping and projected HUD information is significant, all
military pilots will ensure that they are proficient at reversionary navigation
methods, i.e., using a map and stopwatch in the event that the GPS or digital
map solution is lost."; and the rally driver, According to M-Sport, "Technology has a place in motorsport -- but
for the core skills of navigating it will be a long time before it is possible
to trust GPS technology to replace an Ordnance Survey map and a road
book."
ICA Map Carte
There was
a really broad selection on offer in August and my first ‘pick’ is the map of
the Apollo 11 landing superimposed onto a football pitch (or should that be 'soccer' pitch?). Apollo 11 touched down on a landscape literally alien to us, we had no idea of how big things were, distances we
were told were very deceptive due to the lack of atmospheric refraction. So how
did we know how far the astronauts strayed from the Eagle, well the answer is
pretty clear when you add in a standard frame of reference: not very far.
Having said that it I had been in the same situation I wouldn’t have strayed
far from the only thing that was going to keep me alive and get me home safely!A second
sporting example is the many dimensions of a baseball field, which perhaps
highlights one of the minor pitfalls of the previous map. There are maximum and
minimum limits for a football pitch and they are all the same basic shape, but
Neil Armstrong might have walked a bit further if he was at the Etihad (the
largest Premier League pitch) than at Upton Park (the smallest). Baseball
pitches, however, are all the same in the infield, but the outfields vary quite
considerably both in size and shape with the home team often having a distinct
advantage in the field because they know how their stadium plays and what sort
of ricochets you’re going to get.Having
been to Bangkok
and used a ‘Nancy Chandler’ in anger I can testify to how useful it is as a
guide to getting round a chaotic city. Having enjoyed the experience of being picked
up by a taxi driver only to be told twenty yards later, and I paraphrase, “you
get out now, I not know where it is”, I will never be rude about London cabbies again. The
map is both eye-catching and informative and is still one of the best for navigating
your way around a frenetic Asian city. It’s simple, accurate and very easy to
follow, perhaps I should have given the taxi driver a copy.
One thing
that is very difficult to represent well is fuzzy boundaries. Cartographers
love the certainty of a river to divide two countries or the watershed of
different drainage basins, but some divisions are not so easily mapped as they
are far more transient and movable. Mapping Africa
without its borders is a really clever and illuminating concept and as the website
notes, “The hand-drawn approach is endearing and lends itself well to this
uncertainty.”
And
finally
This has
absolutely nothing to do with maps, but it was one of those real laugh out loud
moments and uncannily accurate in capturing the British. Probably of great help
to our overseas members, this should finally give you some important clues as
to what we Brits really mean. My personal favourite:
No 21
“Each to their own” – Translation: You’re wrong but never mind.
Pete Jones MBE FBCart.S CGeog
3rd September 2014
E-mail: peter.jones991@mod.uk
Twitter: @geomapnut
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