The BCS
AGM was held at the RAF Club in London
on 17th November and we reflected on another successful year for the
Society. The Restless Earth schools' programme is proving to be as popular as
ever, the Annual Symposium at Marwell ran jointly with IMIA was a great
success, the BCS Awards were rejuvenated and proved to be a highlight of the
Gala Dinner and our membership continues to grow, topping 700 at the end of the
month. We are also in very good health financially and in response to a
question at the AGM the Council will be looking at the reserves that we hold
and will be determining ways of investing and using our assets to further
develop the Society. We are aware that the BCS website needs updating and we
will be offering online access to the Cartographic Journal in 2015, but if you
have any specific proposals for how BCS funds could be employed then please get
in touch.
The AGM
was followed by a talk by BBC weather presenter Helen Willetts, who spoke about
the ‘Changing Face of the Weather Map’. It was an excellent talk during which
Helen covered a far greater timespan that I had anticipated, from ancient times
right up to the modern day. It was a really entertaining and informative talk,
sparked many questions from the audience and finally solved the mystery for me
of the seven legged spider. Helen confessed afterwards that she hadn’t spoken
in public for nearly eight years, but you couldn’t tell and she also confided
to me that she had thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
Cartography
in the News
You know
you’re in trouble when the reigning monarch says that maps have been overtaken
by satnavs, although if you read the article the headline is a bit misleading
and that’s not what she actually said. What she actually said to one of the
pupils who was finding co-ordinates on a map is that ‘Nowadays you probably
have a satnav or something’. Yes, Ma'am, that something is a map. On the same
page in the paper was a report on proposed changes to the driving test
including 'asking candidates to follow directions on a satnav, as an alternative
to following road signs'. I’m sorry but isn’t that just plain daft? I never
navigate simply by following road signs, if I did getting from my home in
Woking to say Leeds could be a bit of a challenge if I was relying solely on
road signs as there aren’t too many in Woking that tell you where Leeds is.
Edmund King president of the AA chimed in with 'Some still navigate with signs
and maps'; useful concept ‘some’ just imprecise enough not to be able to
disagree with it too vehemently.
Cartography
on the Web
Just to
remind us all that paper maps and satnavs are not necessarily mutually
exclusive, a web article from HEMA maps, ‘down under’, shows how the two can be
used successfully together. Rob Boegheim, the company’s managing director
always starts his planning process with a paper map as he argues that its scope
is still the best way to get the big picture when planning a trip. The progression
from planning at home to discovering somewhere out in the bush, instantly
transforms the basic paper map from planning tool into cheap insurance. Though
the likelihood of technological failure is rare in most cases, a paper map is
always an essential low cost backup that will pay dividends when called upon on
the expedition.
Apparently
brains and cauliflowers are similar in size and shape but if you have ever
wondered what a map of your brain would look like, then we now have the answer.
Nico Lambert’s rendering can be found at the link.
One of the
guest speakers from our 50th Anniversary year, Jack Dangermond, has
recently been quoted as saying that he wants top executives to think more like
cartographers. Growth of GIS beyond its original boundaries is now making
people realise the benefits to analysis and decision making if the geospatial
element is fully considered. What is broadly termed as ‘location strategy’ is
now a large factor in business allowing those who employ it to gain the
competitive advantage.
I have
been showcasing the ICA Map Carte webpage for the whole year (see below) and a
new article by ICA President Georg Gartner, looks at cartography in the 21st
century. One of his key points echoes the thoughts of HEMA maps in that there
are significant differences in the way we use paper and digital outputs. Using
a paper map gives you the broader picture so that you quickly develop a sense
of place and can navigate an area comfortably relatively quickly, whereas the
convenience of a small screen makes you concentrate on directions without
developing that same sense of your surroundings.
The BCS
Better Mapping seminars offered the concept that as well as literacy and
numeracy, there was a third important skill of ‘graphicacy’, ie. the ability to
read and understand graphical images, particularly maps. This point is taken up
by Kenneth D. Madsen an assistant professor of geography at The Ohio State
University at Newark.
Whilst not advocating that we all learn by rote the locations of world
countries and their capitals, he does argue that just as use of a calculator
does not diminish the need to know basic maths and just as knowing the alphabet
is a prerequisite for reading, so it is that knowledge of where to find places
is useful for a greater understanding of geographic processes.
We have
been bombarded over the years with news that cartography is a dying profession
and there aren’t any cartographers any more, yet here we are still going very
string. Well, now it would appear that GIS professionals are under threat. I
subscribe to GISCafe and a recent article talked about a new breed of
Geographer or is it Geospatial practitioner, geospatial developer or location
specialist. The author Joseph Berry argues that in getting GIS more widely
accepted and used amongst a non-specialist community, “We need individuals, who understand the challenges faced by the wider
‘non-GIS’ community. Who can bridge the divide, and communicate spatial
solutions to a new set of problems, targeted at a new diverse group of users.”
I think we call them cartographers don’t we?
ICA Map Carte
My first choice this
month is really easy, Roy’s
map of the Hounslow Heath baseline. Easy because his was the predecessor of the
organisation that I now work for. Tracing its history back to 1747, Military
Survey (as it was once known) mapped the UK
and Ireland
to a phenomenal degree given the technology at their disposal. You can still
see the ends of the baseline marked by two upturned cannons, one in Ordnance
Close and one at Heathrow airport, although the vast majority of people
probably don’t know what they signify.
Another place on my
bucket list is the Vatican,
if only to see The Gallery of Maps, a 120m long gallery beautifully decorated
with more than 40 works of art. Dating from the 1580s, their vibrant colours
and remarkable detail are from an age when maps where starting to assume an
important role in scientific discovery. Celebrating the central importance of Italy before it was a unified country, they were
commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII, who wanted the Vatican to be a part of the
scientific and cartographic revolution of the day.
My final choice this
month is not necessarily the most obvious as it is neither beautiful nor
particularly eye-catching. The Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum Visitor Map is
very powerful, presenting as the web site describes it 'a poignant and eerily
clinical blend…a cold soulless landscape', something which perhaps a photograph
could also invoke but something that this map achieves with stunning
simplicity.
These and all the other
maps that have been chosen throughout the year can be found at http://mapdesign.icaci.org/category/mapcarte/.
And Finally
Well,
following last month’s toilet humour picture, for which I got no printable
suggestions about what unconventional toilet paper could be, I am really
struggling for something to finish this month’s offering. So what I will say is
that December’s offering will come out on or about Christmas Eve and will contain
exciting news about next year’s Symposium, so think of the next couple of weeks
as a kind of BCS Advent Calendar, but without the chocolate.
Pete Jones MBE FBCart.S CGeog
8th December 2014
E-mail: peter.jones991@mod.uk
Twitter: @geomapnut
