tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/cartography-11702/articles
Cartography – The Conversation
2024-02-27T16:31:31Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224125
2024-02-27T16:31:31Z
2024-02-27T16:31:31Z
Maps shape our lives – showing us not just where we are, but who we are
<p>Maps and everyday life are now so intertwined for most people that it’s difficult to imagine a world without them. Most of us use at least one map every day. Some of us use many, especially now they have become one of the dominant interfaces of our digital society, alongside the scrolling screen, camera view and search engine.</p>
<p>We are also being mapped – subtly or overtly – through the GPS and location data traces we leave, the journeys we make, and the kinds of activities that we get up to as we go about our daily business.</p>
<p>Then there are the other, more analogue ways that maps are part of our lives: childhood pirate treasure maps and atlases that reveal a world ripe for adventure; maps on railway platforms or bike docking stations; and maps on the back of flyers posted through the door.</p>
<p>Maps also have other, less practical uses too. They are proudly hung in our homes and offices, used to decorate things like coffee mugs and mouse pads, and even create <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-36783325">fashion</a>.</p>
<p>Cartography has become one of the most successful technologies we have developed for understanding the world around us. At the same time, maps have become important cultural and artistic objects that we value greatly. They can be both useful and pragmatic, beautiful and poetic, political and powerful, meaningful as well as mundane.</p>
<h2>Shaping social and cultural life</h2>
<p>Over the last ten years, culminating in my book <a href="https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/all-mapped-out">All Mapped Out</a>, my work has led me to question what maps mean for people as they go about their daily lives, and in turn how maps shape their experiences.</p>
<p>Maps have received a lot of attention from researchers and industry over the years, mostly with the aim of producing the most accurate and usable map for a given purpose, or by studying how <a href="https://iai.tv/articles/maps-are-guided-by-power-not-truth-mike-duggan-auid-2703">powerful interests are reflected on maps</a>.</p>
<p>Professional cartographers, once working with pencil and paper and now with advanced geo-spatial technologies, aim to produce ever-more detailed maps for ever-more uses, while the sub-field of critical cartography has revealed that what ends up on a map <a href="https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/723">reflects the world views of their makers</a>.</p>
<p>But it is only relatively recently that work has <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Cartographic-Humanities/Rossetto-Lo-Presti/p/book/9781032355931">begun to explore</a> what they do to shape social and cultural life.</p>
<p>Maps and what we do with them cannot be defined universally. Ideals and ideas about maps frequently clash with the reality of how and why maps are used. By bringing together my own <a href="https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/en/publications/mapping-interfaces-an-ethnography-of-everyday-digital-mapping-pra">research</a> studying map users in London, and the work of others who have researched mapping practices around the world, I want to show how uses of maps are shaped by different cultures, communities, contexts and technology.</p>
<p>One way of exploring this is by looking at the impact that GPS technology has had on mapping our movements. Today, millions of people use this technology to reveal their exercise routines, which in turn supports an <a href="https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/location-analytics-market-size-worth--49-12-billion-globally-by-2030-at-13-93-cagr-verified-market-research-301877524.html">industry worth billions</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iWaZEXBbQL0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>But self-tracking is not just about maps and measurement. These maps become meaningful as objects inscribed with personal cartography. It feels good to see where we have been; it’s a sign that we have achieved something.</p>
<p>Some people have taken this further by using fitness-tracking devices as tools for artworks, wielding the GPS functions to inscribe pictures and words on the map through their movement across the land. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/24/technology/gps-art-strava-running.html">GPS art</a>, as it has come to be known, is growing in popularity as people realise self-tracking’s potential outside purely mapping exercise for personal goals.</p>
<p>It began long before the proliferation of the smartphone and fitness-tracking apps, when in 2000 the artist <a href="http://www.gpsdrawing.com/">Jeremy Wood</a> set to work recording and mapping his movements using a handheld GPS device. This included tracing his daily travel and even recording his <a href="http://www.gpsdrawing.com/gallery/experiments/lawn/mowing.html">lawn-mowing routes through the seasons</a>. This reveals how a popular mapping technology – GPS – has many impacts beyond those it was intended for.</p>
<h2>Mapping Contexts</h2>
<p>In my work there are several overlapping themes that chart how maps have become tied to culture and society. I want to do more than identify <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/12/12-maps-that-changed-the-world/282666/">maps that have changed the world</a>, or lay out the history of <a href="https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/108697">maps and society</a>. Instead, I want to show that all maps have the potential to change the world and shape society. It’s just a matter of where you look and whose world you are interested in.</p>
<p>With my book I hope to inspire another look at maps, first through the lens of navigation, perhaps the activity mostly strongly associated with maps, then through movement and how maps shape our perception of it.</p>
<p>I also look at the power and politics of maps that reveal whose interests are served by particular maps, and investigate the cultures of map-making today. With easy-to-use digital mapping tools now available online, alongside the proliferation of advanced mapping technologies now used by professionals, the power of map-making and the cultures that develop around maps are more diverse than ever.</p>
<p>That maps and map-makers are always changing makes studying what we do with maps an exciting area for development. It means that our understanding of maps must evolve with how they continue to shape society. </p>
<p>So it’s high time for a rethink. There remains a prevailing view that maps are neutral and objective, once paper and now digital, accurate and functional, despite the now well-used line that <a href="https://theconversation.com/drafts/223404/edit">maps are arguments made about the world</a>. Why is this? And how do we move beyond it?</p>
<p>My hope is to create a conversation – one that so far is only being had in a small corner of map studies – encouraging people to think beyond the assumptions society has about maps and how we use them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Duggan receives funding from the British Academy and Leverhulme Trust, the EPSRC and King's College London. He is affiliated with the Livingmaps Network </span></em></p>
Cartography has become one of the most successful technologies for understanding the world around us. But like the world itself, maps and map-making are constantly evolving.
Mike Duggan, Lecturer in Digital Culture, Socety and Economy, King's College London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/179069
2022-03-21T12:13:04Z
2022-03-21T12:13:04Z
Maps show – and hide – key information about Ukraine war
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452890/original/file-20220317-13-hh77h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1533%2C463%2C1682%2C1451&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Maps contain useful information, but that means leaving out other information that is also useful.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Russia-Ukraine-Invasion/3aff5f26d9704dd7be89fc2c174c6b4b/photo">Associated Press</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“All maps are lies,” my colleague, <a href="https://geography.richmond.edu/faculty/dsalisbu/">geographer David Salisbury</a>, says.</p>
<p>He’s right. All maps are inherently incomplete, focusing on certain subjects and areas to the exclusion of others. These are crucial aspects of rhetoric, the field I study. Every map distorts the world, whether it’s of a local area or the whole Earth. No map can do otherwise, except a map exactly as large as the territory it depicts – though as the author Jorge Luis Borges famously pointed out, <a href="https://genius.com/Jorge-luis-borges-on-exactitude-in-science-annotated">that map would be useless</a>.</p>
<p>But maps’ lies can be productive. Maps can simplify the world and make it more easily comprehensible.</p>
<p>Geographers often speak in terms of what they call the “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1151014">silences</a>” of maps – what’s missing and unseen, hidden in the margins. Those silences are just as meaningful as what’s on the page. It’s important to ask what has been left out.</p>
<p>That’s certainly true when looking at maps depicting aspects of Russia’s war on Ukraine. News organizations around the world have published many maps of the crisis, but their standard views are not the only way maps can help people understand what is happening in Ukraine.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452887/original/file-20220317-13-tpsvmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A map of Ukraine with arrows showing Russian forces' advances" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452887/original/file-20220317-13-tpsvmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452887/original/file-20220317-13-tpsvmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452887/original/file-20220317-13-tpsvmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452887/original/file-20220317-13-tpsvmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452887/original/file-20220317-13-tpsvmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452887/original/file-20220317-13-tpsvmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452887/original/file-20220317-13-tpsvmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maps like this one from The Washington Post can signal an inevitability of Russian advancement and make a chaotic conflict seem orderly and organized.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/02/ukraine-russia-war-timeline-photos-videos-maps/#feb-26">Washington Post</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Surrounded</h2>
<p>Most typical news maps show Ukraine as an encircled and embattled nation.</p>
<p>Even without other markings, Ukraine appears small, with <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60506682">Russia looming over it</a> from the north and east. Once <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/03/15/the-war-in-ukraine-explained-in-maps">annotated with arrows</a> showing the general directions of invasion forces, icons showing specific attacks, and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/24/europe/ukraine-visual-explainer-maps/index.html">dots highlighting Ukrainian nuclear plants and other strategic targets</a>, these maps can signal an inevitability of Russian advancement. They also tend to exaggerate the idea that it’s a coordinated, controlled assault – when, of course, war is famously chaotic.</p>
<p>These maps don’t show the topography of Ukraine or its road network. They mostly show political borders crossed by lines and arrows representing the movements of Russian soldiers, part of the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/ukraine-russia-military-comparison-1.6365115">second-most-powerful military</a> in the world.</p>
<p>Ukraine appears on these maps as a puzzle piece amid the rest of the puzzle of Europe, a shape at the center surrounded by small pieces of surrounding nations. It could be an open container waiting to be filled with chaos, or one that is spilling chaos into the rest of Europe.</p>
<p>These maps do not often show the location or strength of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-weapons-get-to-ukraine-and-whats-needed-to-protect-vulnerable-supply-chains-179285">Ukrainian resistance</a>. Nor do they depict the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukrainian-refugees-are-welcomed-with-open-arms-not-so-with-people-fleeing-other-war-torn-countries-178491">complex flow of refugees</a> fleeing the fighting, which is usually either simplified or left out altogether.</p>
<p>The everyday experiences of civilians on the ground in this war remain elusive in these maps. The maps appear to be authoritative and absolute, but the reality is much messier and uncertain.</p>
<p>This is not a critique of mapmakers who are depicting the war on Ukraine. Their work has often been productive and insightful, helpfully simplifying an incredibly complicated situation into one or two clear statements. They use a familiar mapping style, one that came into its own during World War II. Maps in the media were portrayed as documents that could help everyday citizens connect with the war. President Franklin Roosevelt even asked Americans to “<a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/fireside-chat-6">look at your map</a>” as he spoke over the radio about fighting in Europe and the Pacific. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453102/original/file-20220318-10592-16vu46x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black-and-white map of the world with key locations marked, such as Berlin and Japan." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453102/original/file-20220318-10592-16vu46x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453102/original/file-20220318-10592-16vu46x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453102/original/file-20220318-10592-16vu46x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453102/original/file-20220318-10592-16vu46x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453102/original/file-20220318-10592-16vu46x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453102/original/file-20220318-10592-16vu46x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453102/original/file-20220318-10592-16vu46x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Newspapers in the U.S. printed this map for readers to refer to when listening to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the radio.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.incendiarytraces.org/articles/2015/9/10/imagining-global-war-popular-cartography-during-world-war-ii">Los Angeles Times, Feb. 23, 1942.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://scholarship.richmond.edu/rhetoric-faculty-publications/16/">news maps</a> of that time projected the anxiety and vulnerability of strategic areas for the United States and their allies. They signaled directly that U.S. involvement was necessary. As the Cold War emerged, and maps shifted their anxiety toward the Soviet Union, the simplicity and directness of many maps sought to sound the alarm about Soviet encroachment into the heart of Europe, and communist threats in Asia and Africa.</p>
<p>The maps of the war in Ukraine are often more sophisticated and sometimes interactive, but they still carry the alarm of inevitable Russian advancement and project the familiar concept of the battle between East and West.</p>
<h2>Multiple perspectives</h2>
<p>There are, of course, other ways to map this war. Some global news outlets are presenting a series of maps, rather than just one. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/24/mapping-russian-attacks-across-ukraine-interactive">Al Jazeera</a>, <a href="https://graphics.reuters.com/UKRAINE-CRISIS/zdpxokdxzvx/">Reuters’ graphics division</a> and the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4351d5b0-0888-4b47-9368-6bc4dfbccbf5">Financial Times</a> offer prime examples of putting a series of maps into conversation with one another and creating a kind of narrative of the war – for example, putting maps of NATO members alongside maps of oil and gas resources, while still portraying the essential military advancements.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452889/original/file-20220317-23-uwe70q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two maps showing various aspects of Ukraine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452889/original/file-20220317-23-uwe70q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452889/original/file-20220317-23-uwe70q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452889/original/file-20220317-23-uwe70q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452889/original/file-20220317-23-uwe70q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452889/original/file-20220317-23-uwe70q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452889/original/file-20220317-23-uwe70q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452889/original/file-20220317-23-uwe70q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Showing more than one map can help people understand different aspects of the issues at hand.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/24/mapping-russian-attacks-across-ukraine-interactive">Al Jazeera</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Specific approaches</h2>
<p>Groups other than news outlets are showing additional ways to use maps. The Centre for Information Resilience, a U.K. nonprofit seeking to expose human rights abuses, is using <a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2022/02/27/follow-the-russia-ukraine-monitor-map/">crowdsourcing technologies to populate maps</a> of Russia’s war on Ukraine with civilian casualties, incidents of gunfire and explosions, and evidence of damage to infrastructure. That method gives readers themselves a chance to choose where and what they want to see of the invasion.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="576" src="https://maphub.net/embed/176607?panel=1&panel_closed=1" frameborder="0" scrolling="yes" class="iframe-class"></iframe>
<figure><figcaption><span class="caption">Maps like this “Russia-Ukraine Monitor Map” from the Centre for Information Resilience offer alternative and interactive ways to understand the war.</span></figcaption></figure>
<p>The <a href="https://liveuamap.com">Live Universal Awareness Map</a> is an independent journalism site that draws on news stories and social media from all over the world and connects them to an interactive online map. Its Ukraine map shows where reported incidents occur, with colored icons showing who is reportedly involved at each location. The icons represent many types of events, including speeches and rallies, refugees and hostage situations, and even computer hacking.</p>
<p>These alternatives to the more standard news maps of war also have their benefits and drawbacks. Maps like the Live Universal Awareness Map rely on crowdsourced data that might be tricky to verify. But more importantly, they point out that mapmaking is a political and cultural effort that creates compelling and useful stories – even if not necessarily unvarnished truth. A critical eye and a sense of context can go a long way toward keeping the lies of maps productive.</p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Barney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Geographers often talk about the ‘silences’ of maps – what’s missing and unseen. Those silences can be as meaningful as what’s shown.
Timothy Barney, Associate Professor of Rhetoric & Communication Studies, University of Richmond
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/177069
2022-03-02T19:07:23Z
2022-03-02T19:07:23Z
A tale of subterfuge, rivalry, Napoleon and snakes: how the NSW State Library came to own the map of Abel Tasman’s voyages
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447446/original/file-20220221-25-1d630v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C0%2C9940%2C7694&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Library New South Wales</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year, tens of thousands of New South Wales State Library patrons walk past a stunning mosaic replica of the Tasman Map on the floor of the Mitchell library vestibule. The original Tasman map, <a href="https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/stories/tasman-map/conserving-tasman-map">recently restored</a>, charts the two voyages of the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642 and 1644.</p>
<p>The map is perhaps the Mitchell Library’s greatest treasure, though we know little about the time, place, or artist responsible for it. </p>
<p>Yet as we discuss in a new paper, its acquisition by the Mitchell library is a story of subterfuge, intrigue, personal animosities and state-versus-commonwealth rivalries.</p>
<p>The Tasman Map was probably made in the mid- to late-1600s in Batavia (now known as Jakarta), home of the Dutch East India Company, on Japanese paper. </p>
<p>It was most likely compiled by <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Tasman_s_kaart_van_zijn_Australische_ont.html?id=-eepzQEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">a team of draftsmen</a> from a range of charts from Tasman’s two voyages. One of the artists was almost certainly Isaack Gilsemans, draftsman on the voyage. </p>
<p>Mystery shrouds the map’s whereabouts from the 17th century until 1843, when Amsterdam mapmaker Jacob Swart <a href="https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/22391/kaart-van-de-reizen-van-abel-jansz-tasman-gedaan-in-1642-en-van-keulen">described and reproduced it</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447454/original/file-20220221-20-1dam5x2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447454/original/file-20220221-20-1dam5x2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447454/original/file-20220221-20-1dam5x2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447454/original/file-20220221-20-1dam5x2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447454/original/file-20220221-20-1dam5x2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447454/original/file-20220221-20-1dam5x2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447454/original/file-20220221-20-1dam5x2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447454/original/file-20220221-20-1dam5x2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jacob Swart’s reproduction of the Tasman Map, c.1860.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1891 the original 17th century map was <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=LZBJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA67&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q=tasman&f=false">listed for sale</a> by Frederick Muller & Co. An interested group headed by historian George Collingridge tried unsuccessfully to persuade the NSW government to purchase it. </p>
<p>Instead, the map was purchased by Prince Roland Bonaparte, great-nephew of Napoleon, and an anthropologist with a great interest in Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-early-australian-settlers-drew-maps-to-erase-indigenous-people-and-push-ideas-of-colonial-superiority-161097">How early Australian settlers drew maps to erase Indigenous people and push ideas of colonial superiority</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The princely promise</h2>
<p>In March 1899, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Vere_Barclay">Henry Vere Barclay</a> – a failed pastoralist, explorer and raconteur – gave a talk at the Imperial Institute in London where he announced Prince Roland had promised the Tasman map would be bequeathed to the Australian Commonwealth Government. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447455/original/file-20220221-14-rlskx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Newspaper reads: Tasman's map of Australia to be given to the Australian Commonwealth." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447455/original/file-20220221-14-rlskx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447455/original/file-20220221-14-rlskx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=869&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447455/original/file-20220221-14-rlskx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=869&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447455/original/file-20220221-14-rlskx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=869&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447455/original/file-20220221-14-rlskx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1092&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447455/original/file-20220221-14-rlskx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1092&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447455/original/file-20220221-14-rlskx4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1092&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">News of the map, reported in the Argus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within days, headlines declaring Prince Roland’s intended gift of the map to the Commonwealth of Australia had appeared in <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/search/advanced/category/newspapers?keyword=tasman%20map&l-decade=189&l-artType=newspapers&l-year=1899&l-month=3">at least 44</a> Australian and New Zealand newspapers. </p>
<p>The prince’s intention to bequeath the map was confirmed in 1904 by James Park Thomson, president of the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland. </p>
<p>After viewing the map in Paris, Thomson wrote in his memoir, Round the World, of how the prince believed the map would be “of the greatest interest and use to the Commonwealth.” </p>
<p>Also reported by Thomson was how the prince wanted to hand the map to the Commonwealth government in person – but he was terrified of snakes and disliked rabbits which “seemed to overrun the place”. </p>
<p>Murmurings about the Tasman map fell silent for two decades and only emerged again after the prince’s death in 1924.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/putting-australia-on-the-map-29816">Putting 'Australia' on the map </a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A clandestine operation</h2>
<p>In 1926, anthropologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daisy_Bates_(author)">Daisy Bates</a> read Thomson’s book, noting the reference to Prince Roland’s intended bequest. </p>
<p>Knowing the prince had recently died, she wrote to an acquaintance, William Ifould, asking him to enquire of the prince’s estate and the status of the map. </p>
<p>As chief librarian of the NSW Public Library, Ifould immediately began a clandestine operation to bring the Tasman Map to Australia. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447459/original/file-20220221-19-16v0olm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447459/original/file-20220221-19-16v0olm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447459/original/file-20220221-19-16v0olm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447459/original/file-20220221-19-16v0olm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447459/original/file-20220221-19-16v0olm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447459/original/file-20220221-19-16v0olm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447459/original/file-20220221-19-16v0olm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447459/original/file-20220221-19-16v0olm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Mitchell Library photographed in 1923.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Library New South Wales</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is clear from his earliest communications, when he warned his agent not to let the map come to the attention of Prime Minister Stanley Bruce, that Ifould was consumed by a singular goal: to acquire the map for NSW before anyone from the Commonwealth government remembered the prince’s promise. </p>
<p>Ifould’s chief personal nemesis was Kenneth Binns, librarian of the Commonwealth National Library, but Ifould also held an abiding antipathy for the Commonwealth itself. </p>
<p>In the earliest days of the scramble for the map, the Commonwealth Library’s collection was yet to have a permanent home, with the national capital of Canberra still in the early planning stages. Binns was based in Melbourne, then the seat of the national parliament, and this played into a rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne.</p>
<p>The Tasman Map was in the possession of Princess Marie Bonaparte, who was aware of her father’s desire to bestow it upon the Australian nation. Her husband Prince George wanted to travel to Australia and present the map himself. </p>
<p>This created concern for Ifould and the Mitchell Library, who were worried they might accidentally present it to the prime minister instead of the Mitchell Library. </p>
<p>Princess Marie clearly considered the map belonged to the Australian Commonwealth. </p>
<p>Ifould and his conspirators – including a succession of British ambassadors and NSW agents-general – ignored this. As one agent-general advised the NSW premier: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>it is probable that she does not mean to say the Map will go to the Commonwealth Government, and that the use of the words ‘Government of Australia’ has no particular significance.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In May 1932 came the breakthrough Ifould had been waiting for: Prince George postponed his trip again, and Princess Marie agreed to hand the map to the Paris-based Australian Trade Commissioner. </p>
<p>Ifould’s seven-year clandestine operation, came to fruition when the map, now known as the Bonaparte-Tasman Map, arrived in Australia to <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17003798">great fanfare</a> in September 1933.</p>
<h2>A global map; a local rivalry</h2>
<p>Absent from any version of the story over the past 90 years is admission of knowledge of Prince Roland’s wish, expressed multiple times, for the map to go to the Commonwealth. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447457/original/file-20220221-25-192j46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447457/original/file-20220221-25-192j46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447457/original/file-20220221-25-192j46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447457/original/file-20220221-25-192j46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447457/original/file-20220221-25-192j46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447457/original/file-20220221-25-192j46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447457/original/file-20220221-25-192j46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447457/original/file-20220221-25-192j46l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The mosaic reproduction of the Tasman Map, photographed in 1934.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Library of New South Wales</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The role of Barclay’s 1899 anecdote, and its publication around the country, was eradicated. This allowed the map falling into the Mitchell’s hands to be characterised as a happy coincidence, and not the result of scheming and subterfuge.</p>
<p>The Tasman Map, as it is commonly viewed today, is a mosaic reproduction by Italian artisans, of a Dutch map, on Japanese paper, depicting Antipodean coastlines, representing east Asian dominance, donated by a French aristocrat, intended for the Australian Commonwealth, but wrested by a state institution obsessed with inter-library rivalry. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This research will be discussed at the NSW State Library’s <a href="https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/mapping-pacific-conference-2">Mapping the Pacific conference</a> on March 3 2022.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lynette Russell receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonie Stevens is employed as a Research Fellow on the Australian Research Council-funded Global Encounters Laureate project.. </span></em></p>
The Tasman map, dating from the 1600s, was promised to the Commonwealth – but NSW got it instead. Here’s how it happened.
Lynette Russell, ARC Laureate Fellow, Monash University, and Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Monash University
Leonie Stevens, Research Fellow, Monash University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/172106
2021-11-29T16:48:37Z
2021-11-29T16:48:37Z
What maps made by 20th century suffragists can teach us about holding leaders to account on climate change
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434445/original/file-20211129-19-11sily9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1024%2C768&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The women's suffrage movement was one of the most successful political movements in history.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://picryl.com/media/suffragists-protest-woodrow-wilsons-opposition-to-woman-suffrage-october-1916">Picryl</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’m a geographer who’s produced <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/sep/01/atlas-of-the-invisible-using-data-reveal-climate-crisis">many maps</a> depicting human effects on the environment – and <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-eye-catching-graphics-are-vital-for-getting-to-grips-with-climate-change-165983">demanded</a> we create more of them. A question I am increasingly asked is: how do you not feel powerless in the face of such depressing data? </p>
<p>With climate anxiety now affecting young people’s <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02582-8">mental health</a>, and widespread doubt about whether limiting global warming to <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-says-earth-will-reach-temperature-rise-of-about-1-5-in-around-a-decade-but-limiting-any-global-warming-is-what-matters-most-165397#">1.5°C</a> is possible, it can be tricky to answer. What I’ve found is that we can use a surprisingly commonplace tool to communicate danger and to bring about positive change: the map.</p>
<p>Throughout history, it has generally been society’s elites who have used maps to exploit, not help, the planet and its people. They’ve used them to <a href="https://collections.leventhalmap.org/search/commonwealth:4m90fc35x">pinpoint oil reserves</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Conference">carve up continents</a> and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/powells-photos/4/">justify wars</a>. But maps can also be used to empower and defend those who face seemingly insurmountable obstacles. </p>
<p>Over a century ago, the women’s suffrage movement developed one of the largest ever <a href="https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=geoggeolfacpub">map-based campaigns</a>, spanning decades and continents, as part of its drive to give women the vote. We need to use their principles if we are to persuade leaders not just to deliver but to improve upon the promises made at the recent UN climate conference <a href="https://theconversation.com/glasgow-climate-pact-where-do-all-the-words-and-numbers-we-heard-at-cop26-leave-us-171704">COP26</a>. </p>
<h2>What the Suffragists did</h2>
<p>Suffragists used maps <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbcmil.scrp4005301/?st=text">to celebrate</a> jurisdictions across the world that had given women the vote – and to shame those that had not. They reasoned that the action of some policymakers would highlight the inaction of others, betraying the most misogynist politicians and their supporters. </p>
<p>American suffrage maps with the headline “<a href="https://www.visitthecapitol.gov/exhibitions/artifact/map-votes-women-success-map-proves-it-ca-1914">Votes for Women a Success</a>” showed the US states that had granted women the right to vote. To challenge those with backward views, some versions of the map were also adorned with provocative statements such as “How long will the republic of the United States lag behind the monarchy of Canada?”</p>
<p>In 1930s Europe, where France was still withholding votes for women, suffrage campaigns <a href="https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/ark:/73873/pf0000940475/v0001.simple.selectedTab=record">published maps</a> showing the country’s outdated approach to democracy in contrast to its neighbours such as Belgium, under the banner “French women can’t vote! French women want to vote!”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A map showing states where women had been granted the vote" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434420/original/file-20211129-17-syy0h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434420/original/file-20211129-17-syy0h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434420/original/file-20211129-17-syy0h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434420/original/file-20211129-17-syy0h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=833&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434420/original/file-20211129-17-syy0h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434420/original/file-20211129-17-syy0h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434420/original/file-20211129-17-syy0h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1047&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maps provide a powerful tool for demonstrating inequality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vculibraries/24941542555">VCULibraries/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Suffrage maps were plastered on walls, hung across streets, paraded on sandwich boards, printed in newspapers and even used to <a href="https://www.archives.gov/files/legislative/resources/education/womens-petitions-to-congress/primary-source-sheets.pdf">petition</a> the US Congress.</p>
<p>Geographer <a href="https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-arts-and-sciences/geography/about-us/directory/christina-dando.php">Christina E. Dando</a> has pointed out how American suffragists’ work was not just focused on creating maps, but changing them. For example, the map below was submitted by the Nevada Women’s Civic League to the US <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Committee_on_the_Judiciary">judiciary committee</a>, which was resisting granting women the right to vote nationwide. As the catalogue entry for the map <a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/169820371">tells us</a>, “this petition shows that women were not just lobbying Congress in general, but strategically pressuring committees to act”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="dddd" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434423/original/file-20211129-59855-ng7ejp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434423/original/file-20211129-59855-ng7ejp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=717&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434423/original/file-20211129-59855-ng7ejp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=717&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434423/original/file-20211129-59855-ng7ejp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=717&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434423/original/file-20211129-59855-ng7ejp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434423/original/file-20211129-59855-ng7ejp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434423/original/file-20211129-59855-ng7ejp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Maps were central to political lobbying.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/169820371">National Archives Catalog</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the US, the <a href="https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/19th-amendment#:%7E:text=Passed%20by%20Congress%20June%204,decades%20of%20agitation%20and%20protest.">19th amendment</a> guaranteeing all women the right to vote <a href="https://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/19th-amendment">was ratified</a> in August 1920. But the fight for equal access to the ballot box was far from over. </p>
<p>Racist voter suppression policies were enacted in many states against women of colour, who were themselves <a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/149268727">creating maps</a> to campaign against the horrors of lynching. It was only after the <a href="https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/legislative-milestones/voting-rights-act-1965">Voting Rights Act</a> was passed nearly 50 years later, on August 6 1965, that such policies were outlawed. Even today, maps <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/voting-rights/alabamas-new-electoral-lines-are-racially-gerrymandered-heres-why">remain a weapon</a> in the continuing fight to achieve fair racial representation in some US states.</p>
<h2>Modern maps</h2>
<p>In the past, creating maps to counter the status quo – or indeed creating pretty much any map at all – would have required significant design expertise, a lot of manual effort and the financial means to print and promote it. </p>
<p>Today, these challenges can be overcome more easily. The majority of sites and social media platforms are free, do not conform to national borders, and are out of government reach. That means that images that hold those in power to account can spread more freely. So it’s time to use maps to challenge the greatest social and political crisis of our time: the destruction of our planet’s environment.</p>
<p>Take a look at this map of nitrogen dioxide – a gas released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels – from a hot July day across Europe in 2019 (click to make it bigger). High levels <a href="https://www.lung.org/clean-air/outdoors/what-makes-air-unhealthy/nitrogen-dioxide">can damage</a> health, create <a href="https://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what-acid-rain">acid rain</a> and contribute to the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24234471/">greenhouse effect</a>. Although the map shows gas moving around, it’s clearly concentrated in certain areas. There’s a big cloud caused by shipping in Marseille and spots marking industrial plants around Dusseldorf.</p>
<p><strong>Map of nitrogen dioxide concentration</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434417/original/file-20211129-17-11869dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="AAA" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434417/original/file-20211129-17-11869dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434417/original/file-20211129-17-11869dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434417/original/file-20211129-17-11869dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434417/original/file-20211129-17-11869dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434417/original/file-20211129-17-11869dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434417/original/file-20211129-17-11869dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434417/original/file-20211129-17-11869dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">High nitrogen dioxide concentration is shown in yellow and red colours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.atlasoftheinvisible.com/">Atlas Of The Invisible</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rather than view this as purely an image of scientific interest, we should see it as a call to action. Living beneath the swirls of nitrogen dioxide are policymakers who can design tougher legislation, such as introducing <a href="https://theconversation.com/londons-ultra-low-emission-zone-will-it-make-the-city-healthier-114942">low emission zones</a>, to erase the yellow marks from this map.</p>
<p>The battle for women’s equality is clearly not over, but the idea that at least half the adult population should be legally deprived of a vote is now unconscionable in all but the most extreme jurisdictions. Maps created for women, by women, helped make this so. Now, let’s unleash the political power of maps to ensure that a failure to act on the environment becomes unconscionable too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172106/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Cheshire receives funding from the ESRC. </span></em></p>
Women’s rights activists used maps to highlight which regions hadn’t given women the vote: we can use the same tactics to push climate action.
James Cheshire, Professor of Geographic Information and Cartography, UCL
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/161097
2021-05-26T20:10:10Z
2021-05-26T20:10:10Z
How early Australian settlers drew maps to erase Indigenous people and push ideas of colonial superiority
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402798/original/file-20210526-21-1oebc2q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=82%2C112%2C4910%2C3308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-231258061">National Library of Australia: 31258061</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The new Netflix series Shadow and Bone opens with cartographer Alina Starkov crammed into the back of a rumbling wagon, sketching a war-torn landscape. A flashback to her childhood in an orphanage shows her looking at a map of a conflict zone. </p>
<p>A guardian tells her, “keep a pencil in your hand, or else someone will put a rifle in it instead”. The cartographers of this fictional world are crucial to the military, just as they are in the real world. But there is also a sense that cartographers played a peaceful role in the army.</p>
<p>In reality, the role of surveyors and cartographers throughout history was often far from peaceful. It was their initial explorations that paved the way for destructive waves of colonising armies and civilians.</p>
<p>At each stage of mapping an area, clues are preserved about the priorities and prejudices of the person wielding the pencil, and those instructing them. Today, researchers can spot these clues and draw out the contextual history of the time.</p>
<h2>Exploring the land</h2>
<p>Maps made it easier for the government back home to imagine the territory of a new colony, to claim to “know” and thus own it. Therefore, surveying expeditions into unknown lands were prioritised.</p>
<p>Some expeditions were huge, such as Lewis and Clark’s crossing of the United States. Others were small, such as <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meehan-james-2443">James Meehan’s</a> treks around the Derwent River in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) between October 1803 and March 1804.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402265/original/file-20210524-23-1eyk8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Page of handwritten text" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402265/original/file-20210524-23-1eyk8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402265/original/file-20210524-23-1eyk8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402265/original/file-20210524-23-1eyk8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402265/original/file-20210524-23-1eyk8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402265/original/file-20210524-23-1eyk8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402265/original/file-20210524-23-1eyk8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402265/original/file-20210524-23-1eyk8n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A page from Meehan’s journal of his explorations around Pittwater (near today’s Hobart Airport).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tasmanian Archives: LSD355/1/1</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meehan kept a daily log of measurements and happenings as he explored. Like many, he occasionally included sketches, probably trying to ward off boredom during the long evenings at camp.</p>
<p>We know through journal records that Meehan met some palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) people along the different routes, once firing on a group when he felt threatened.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/thirteen-years-after-sorry-too-many-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-children-are-still-being-removed-from-their-homes-159360">Thirteen years after 'Sorry', too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are still being removed from their homes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Focused on sought-after utilities</h2>
<p>Meehan’s observations were then produced for their first external audience - the colonial government. It’s here we start to see the colony’s priorities. </p>
<p>Many of the map labels highlight the quality of the land in terms of potential for expansion and European-style agriculture. Meehan’s map of the Hobart area emphasises whether the land encountered was hilly or flat, covered with vegetation, or cleared pasture.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402264/original/file-20210524-23-74aw61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="rough looking map showing Derwent River and surrounding terrain" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402264/original/file-20210524-23-74aw61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402264/original/file-20210524-23-74aw61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402264/original/file-20210524-23-74aw61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402264/original/file-20210524-23-74aw61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402264/original/file-20210524-23-74aw61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402264/original/file-20210524-23-74aw61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402264/original/file-20210524-23-74aw61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Plan of the Settlement at the River Derwent. Map by James Meehan, 1804.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tasmanian Archives: AF396/1/206</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the time Meehan drafted his “Plan of the Settlement at the River Derwent”, pictured above, the Europeans had moved from their initial camp at Risdon Cove to today’s site of Hobart. The Risdon settlement was <a href="https://gsp.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/200409420.pdf">considered a failure</a> as the fresh water ran out and soldiers threatened mutiny, so Meehan omitted any reference to it beyond a small name label.</p>
<p>More importantly, he excluded any reference to any Indigenous people, despite having encountered them on more than one occasion. </p>
<p>Meehan was playing his part in cultivating the narrative of Van Diemen’s Land as a successful colony on an “empty” island that had been (supposedly) waiting for the Europeans to arrive. This was the same as the <a href="https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/australian-history/mabo-native-title/"><em>terra nullius</em></a> narrative perpetuated by the British government regarding the mainland.</p>
<h2>Propaganda in map form</h2>
<p>Sometimes the map would be destined for wider circulation and would be refined with simple decorative features such as a key, north arrow, coloured inks and detailed illustrations of ships or gardens. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402286/original/file-20210524-21-1hmm3ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402286/original/file-20210524-21-1hmm3ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402286/original/file-20210524-21-1hmm3ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=213&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402286/original/file-20210524-21-1hmm3ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=213&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402286/original/file-20210524-21-1hmm3ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=213&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402286/original/file-20210524-21-1hmm3ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402286/original/file-20210524-21-1hmm3ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402286/original/file-20210524-21-1hmm3ya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=268&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Route from the US city of Albany to the Fort Osswego (New York State), c.1750s. Note the ship in the harbour, and the list of distances in the bottom right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Library of Congress Geography and Map Division: ar108000z</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within these more attractive maps, hidden clues became even more nuanced.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402780/original/file-20210526-17-8i8ito.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of land grants in Van Diemen's Land" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402780/original/file-20210526-17-8i8ito.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402780/original/file-20210526-17-8i8ito.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402780/original/file-20210526-17-8i8ito.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402780/original/file-20210526-17-8i8ito.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=659&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402780/original/file-20210526-17-8i8ito.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402780/original/file-20210526-17-8i8ito.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402780/original/file-20210526-17-8i8ito.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This well-worn map of an area in central Tasmania shows updated landholder names and a conversation between members of the Survey Office about the map’s origins (bottom left).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tasmanian Archives: AF396/1/951</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Aspirational elements were introduced, giving the viewer a sense of what the cartographer, landholder or government perceived as a desirable landscape. Phrases such as “unexplored country” would be used, or an area of blank space sparked the imagination with some promise of undiscovered wealth.</p>
<p>Both sketch maps and their more refined siblings were used by the ruling powers as working maps to track their increasing expansion over the land. By reading the scribbled annotations carefully, stories of changing land ownership, population growth and acts of violence become apparent.</p>
<h2>Republishing and distribution</h2>
<p>Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, geographers, engravers and others combined data from maps and reports to print single sheets and atlases they could sell at a range of prices.</p>
<p>These maps transported the reading public to remote locations and made them sound educated at the dinner table. Accuracy was not required for this, so mistakes were copied from one chart to another, and outdated information often circulated for decades.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402299/original/file-20210524-13-6eqlwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of Van Diemen's Land/Tasmania. Macquarie Harbour on the west coast is enormous." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402299/original/file-20210524-13-6eqlwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402299/original/file-20210524-13-6eqlwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402299/original/file-20210524-13-6eqlwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402299/original/file-20210524-13-6eqlwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=744&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402299/original/file-20210524-13-6eqlwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=935&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402299/original/file-20210524-13-6eqlwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=935&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402299/original/file-20210524-13-6eqlwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=935&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Macquarie Harbour on the west coast on this map of Van Diemen’s Land is shown about three times the size of the real harbour. Where this error originated is unknown, but it is found on at least one other map of the same time, suggesting it was based on a dodgy report of the colony. Map by Sidney Hall, 1828.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Libraries Tasmania: 746063</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, explorers’ maps and reports sometimes included references to First Nations peoples or their significant sites. Abel Tasman observed the presence of palawa people in southern Tasmania. A century later, explorers in America named “<a href="https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/s/r23w20">native guides</a>” in recognition of their invaluable assistance during cross-country expeditions.</p>
<p>But by the end of the 18th century, changing attitudes towards First Nations peoples started to see references to them disappear from maps of European colonies around the globe.</p>
<p>In 1804, Meehan omitted all mention of Tasmania’s palawa people from his Derwent River map. This is a reflection of emerging ideas of colonial superiority. The Europeans were increasingly reluctant to admit to needing help from Indigenous people, or even to admit there were other people already living on the lands. </p>
<p>So the next time you find yourself in front of a historic map, make sure you ask what details have been included, which have been excluded and — most importantly — why? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-mapped-the-super-highways-the-first-australians-used-to-cross-the-ancient-land-154263">We mapped the 'super-highways' the First Australians used to cross the ancient land</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161097/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Imogen Wegman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In many cases, colonial maps would portray conquered land as having been ‘empty’ and available when settlers arrived — even if it wasn’t.
Imogen Wegman, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160342
2021-05-05T20:07:04Z
2021-05-05T20:07:04Z
A Belgian farmer moved a rock and accidentally annexed France: the weird and wonderful history of man-made borders
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398836/original/file-20210505-17-1lucd9i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C6000%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This week, a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56978344">farmer in the Belgian town of Erquelinnes</a> caused an international ruckus when he moved a stone standing in his tractor’s path. </p>
<p>This stone marked the boundary between Belgium and France. By moving it 2.29 metres, he expanded Belgium’s territory. </p>
<p>We must assume he had driven around it before — the stone was placed on this site in 1819, as part of the proceedings that established the Franco-Belgian border in 1820 after Napoleon’s defeat. </p>
<p>For the farmer, it stood in the way of his tractor. For the governments of France and Belgium, it was an active international border.</p>
<p>This story suggests a fragility to borders that contradicts their apparent solidity in an atlas or on Google Maps. Human history is, however, full of arguments about where the edges of property lie. </p>
<h2>‘Beating the bounds’</h2>
<p>Nations establish their borders through treaties. Rivers are sometimes relied on to set boundaries, but even here tensions rise when there are disputes about interpretation. Is the boundary on the river banks, the deepest part of the river, or the very centre of the flow? </p>
<p>The fact these measurements can even be calculated is remarkable. Expecting high levels of accuracy in a map is a recent development. </p>
<p>The first attempts at consistent accuracy were in 19th century military maps, such as <a href="https://maps.nls.uk/os/">Britain’s Ordnance Survey</a>.</p>
<p>Later development saw the topographical charts used by bushwalkers and mountain climbers. But only with the arrival of digital mapping did it became normal to pin-point our location on a map in everyday situations. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398806/original/file-20210505-17-hpi5p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Historic Ordnance Survey (topographical) survey map" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398806/original/file-20210505-17-hpi5p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398806/original/file-20210505-17-hpi5p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398806/original/file-20210505-17-hpi5p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398806/original/file-20210505-17-hpi5p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398806/original/file-20210505-17-hpi5p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398806/original/file-20210505-17-hpi5p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398806/original/file-20210505-17-hpi5p0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An early Ordnance Survey sheet, showing the County of Kent and part of the County of Essex. William Mudge, 1801.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Rumsey Historical Map Collection: 8534002</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The precise location of boundaries was usually part of local knowledge, kept and maintained by members of the community. For centuries a practice known as “<a href="https://daily.jstor.org/beating-the-bounds/">beating the bounds</a>” was followed in parts of Great Britain, Hungary, Germany and the United States. </p>
<p>Members of the parish or community would walk around the edge of their lands every few years, perhaps singing or performing specific actions to help the route stick in the participants’ minds. By including new generations each time, the knowledge was passed through the community and remained active. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398808/original/file-20210505-23-yk3e8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of property with corrected boundary line" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398808/original/file-20210505-23-yk3e8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398808/original/file-20210505-23-yk3e8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398808/original/file-20210505-23-yk3e8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398808/original/file-20210505-23-yk3e8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398808/original/file-20210505-23-yk3e8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1119&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398808/original/file-20210505-23-yk3e8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1119&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398808/original/file-20210505-23-yk3e8h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1119&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kemp’s property in the Tasmanian Midlands, showing the original boundary line of trees as in the incorrect location.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tasmanian Archives: AF396/1/264</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beating the bounds was a tradition of spatial knowledge that carried weight — it was accepted as evidence in cases of disputed boundaries. It was also part of a larger tradition maintaining borders through physical symbolism, whether for good or bad. </p>
<p>Britain has a long history of using enclosure (the fencing or hedging of land) as a means to excluding the poor from accessing common resources. In contrast, in colonial Australia, the first fences were built to protect essential garden crops from scavenging livestock.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-and-why-google-is-transforming-the-map-35238">How – and why – Google is transforming the map</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Sometimes the importance of the border was demonstrated with an elaborate marker. The Franco-Belgian stone was carved with a date and compass points, representing not only a boundary but also the end of Napoleon’s destructive wars. </p>
<p>Likewise, the <a href="https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/sydneys_boundary_markers">boundary markers of Sydney</a> from the same period included the name of the Governor, Richard Bourke.</p>
<h2>Manipulation … and incompetence</h2>
<p>Formality was not always required. At a local level in the Australian colonies, boundaries were often marked by painting, slashing or burning a mark into a tree. These were easy to ignore, and frustrated landholders placed public notices in the newspapers cautioning against trespassing. People constantly took timber from private properties, or grazed their livestock without hesitation wherever was convenient to them. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398814/original/file-20210505-13-1mob0z8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Newspaper text: notice about trespass" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398814/original/file-20210505-13-1mob0z8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398814/original/file-20210505-13-1mob0z8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398814/original/file-20210505-13-1mob0z8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398814/original/file-20210505-13-1mob0z8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398814/original/file-20210505-13-1mob0z8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398814/original/file-20210505-13-1mob0z8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398814/original/file-20210505-13-1mob0z8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Notice cautioning against trespass, with the surveyor’s description of the property included to help readers identify the property. 25 December 1819.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hobart Town Gazette/Trove</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Landholders included descriptions of their properties — detailing landmarks and neighbouring properties — in their notices, so there could be no doubt about which land was taken.</p>
<p>But these descriptions formed a circular argument: the potential trespasser needed to know who held each property in order to establish whose property they were about to enter. How effective they were at actually preventing trespass remains unclear.</p>
<p>Rivers were an obvious boundary marker, although European settlers quickly learned how to manipulate them to suit their own needs. By quietly blocking a section of river with trees and other rubbish, they could <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/203145789/22311643">divert its route</a> to suit their own wishes. By the time the surveyor came to verify or reassess boundaries, the landholder had been using their stolen acres for several years. </p>
<p>Throughout the 19th century, Australian survey departments devoted huge resources to undoing the confusion created by manipulation and incompetence in earlier years.</p>
<h2>Markers of time</h2>
<p>When the Belgian farmer this week got fed up with going around the stone and decided to move it, he was participating in a time-honoured tradition of manipulating impermanent boundary markers. But if he was able to move it, then who is to say it had not been moved before? </p>
<p>Historic boundary markers like this one have a habit of being in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/four-corners-monument">technically the wrong place</a>, even if they are in precisely the right place to commemorate a moment in time. </p>
<p>Perhaps that is where their true significance sits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Imogen Wegman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Boundaries aren’t just treaties. They’ve been built from rivers, oral history and newspaper notices — and rocks in the way of farmers.
Imogen Wegman, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/155081
2021-02-23T13:29:06Z
2021-02-23T13:29:06Z
How Black cartographers put racism on the map of America
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385359/original/file-20210219-13-1glotvj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C2%2C1630%2C1101&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An early 20th-century NAACP map showing lynchings between 1909 and 1918. The maps were sent to politicians and newspapers in an effort to spur legislation protecting Black Americans.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/static/classroom-materials/naacp-a-century-in-the-fight-for-freedom/documents/lynching.pdf">Library of Congress</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How can maps fight racism and inequality?</p>
<p>The work of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-shootout-between-black-panthers-and-law-enforcement-50-years-ago-matters-today-153632">Black Panther Party</a>, a 1960s- and 1970s-era Black political group featured in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/feb/01/judas-and-the-black-messiah-review-electric-black-panthers-drama">new movie</a> and a <a href="https://crosscut.com/2020/02/new-documentary-gives-voice-women-seattles-black-panther-party">documentary</a>, helps illustrate how cartography – the practice of making and using maps – can illuminate injustice. </p>
<p>As these films show, the Black Panthers focused on African American empowerment and <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/black-panther-party-challenging-police-and-promoting-social-change#">community survival</a>, running a diverse array of programming that ranged from <a href="https://www.history.com/news/free-school-breakfast-black-panther-party">free school breakfasts</a> to armed self-defense. </p>
<p>Cartography is a less documented aspect of the Panthers’ activism, but the group used maps to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8306.2006.00501.x">reimagine the cities where African Americans lived and struggled</a>.</p>
<p>In 1971 the Panthers collected 15,000 signatures on a petition to create new <a href="http://www.cielodrive.com/archive/berkeley-to-vote-on-splitting-police-department-radical-groups-support-plan/">police districts in Berkeley, California</a> – districts that would be governed by local citizen commissions and require officers to live in the neighborhoods they served. The proposal made it onto the ballot but was defeated. </p>
<p>In a similar effort to make law enforcement more responsive to communities of color, the Panthers in the late 1960s also created a map proposing to divide up <a href="https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Black_Panthers">police districts</a> within San Francisco, largely along racial lines. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385155/original/file-20210218-20-108v3xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black-and-white drawing of San Francisco with designated districts around certain neighborhoods" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385155/original/file-20210218-20-108v3xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385155/original/file-20210218-20-108v3xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385155/original/file-20210218-20-108v3xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385155/original/file-20210218-20-108v3xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385155/original/file-20210218-20-108v3xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=705&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385155/original/file-20210218-20-108v3xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=705&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385155/original/file-20210218-20-108v3xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=705&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Black Panthers’ proposed police districts for the city of San Francisco, created in 1966 or 1967.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.foundsf.org/images/b/bf/Panthpol.jpg">Ccarolson/FoundSF</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Black Panthers are just one chapter in a long history of “counter-mapping” by African Americans, which our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.01.022">research in geography</a> explores. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/mar/06/counter-mapping-cartography-that-lets-the-powerless-speak">Counter-mapping</a> refers to how groups normally excluded from political decision-making deploy maps and other geographic data to communicate complex information about inequality in an easy-to-understand visual format. </p>
<h2>The power of maps</h2>
<p>Maps are <a href="https://www.acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/723">not ideologically neutral</a> location guides. Mapmakers choose what to include and exclude, and how to display information to users.</p>
<p>These decisions can have far-reaching consequences. When the Home Owners Loan Corporation in the 1930s set out to map the risk associated for banks loaning money to individuals for homes in different neighborhoods, for example, they rated minority neighborhoods as high risk and color-coded them as red. </p>
<p>The result, known as “<a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/19/498536077/interactive-redlining-map-zooms-in-on-americas-history-of-discrimination">redlining</a>,” contributed to housing discrimination for three decades, until federal law banned such maps in 1968. Redlining’s legacy is still evident in many American cities’ <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/28/redlining-was-banned-50-years-ago-its-still-hurting-minorities-today/">patterns of segregation</a>.</p>
<p>Colonial explorers charting their journeys and city planners and developers pursuing urban renewal, too, have used cartography to represent the world in ways that further their own priorities. Often, the resulting maps exclude, misrepresent or <a href="https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1036">harm minority groups</a>. Academics and government officials do this, too. </p>
<p>Counter-maps produce an alternative public understanding of the facts by highlighting the experiences of oppressed people. </p>
<p>Black people aren’t the only marginalized group to do this. <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-amazonian-forest-peoples-are-counter-mapping-their-ancestral-lands-84474">Indigenous communities</a>, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Women-and-Cartography-in-the-Progressive-Era/Dando/p/book/9780367245306">women</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-story-maps-redraw-the-world-using-peoples-real-life-experiences-98051">refugees and LGBTQ communities</a> have also redrawn maps to account for their existence and rights. </p>
<p>But Black Americans were among the earliest purveyors of counter-mapping, deploying this alternative cartography to serve a variety of needs a century ago.</p>
<h2>Black counter-mapping</h2>
<p>Mapping is part of the <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/demonic-grounds">broader Black creative tradition and political struggle</a>. </p>
<p>Over the centuries, African Americans developed “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37569-0_4">way-finding</a>” aids, including a <a href="https://theconversation.com/green-book-highlights-the-problems-of-driving-while-black-both-then-and-now-111561">Jim Crow-era travel guide</a>, to help them navigate a racially hostile landscape and created visual works that affirmed the value of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/anti.12679">Black life</a>. </p>
<p>The Black sociologist and civil rights leader <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/first-time-together-and-color-book-displays-web-du-bois-visionary-infographics-180970826/">W.E.B. Du Bois</a> produced maps for the 1900 Paris Exposition to inform international society about the gains African Americans had made in income, education and land ownership since slavery and in face of continuing racism. </p>
<p>Similarly, in 1946, Friendship Press cartographer and illustrator Louise Jefferson published a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-25/the-women-cartographers-who-mapped-art-and-science-in-the-20th-century">pictorial map</a> celebrating the contributions of African Americans – from famous writers and athletes to unnamed Black workers – in building the United States.</p>
<p>In the early 20th century, anti-lynching crusaders at the NAACP and Tuskegee Institute stirred public outcry by producing <a href="https://archive.org/details/thirtyyearsoflyn00nati">statistical reports</a> that informed <a href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3701e.ct002012/">original hand-drawn maps</a> showing the location and frequency of African Americans murdered by white lynch mobs. </p>
<p>One map, published in 1922 in the NAACP’s magazine “<a href="https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/civil-rights/crisis/0200-crisis-v23n04-w136.pdf">Crisis</a>,” placed dots on a standard map to document 3,456 lynchings over 32 years. The Southeast had the largest concentration. But the “blots of shame,” as mapmaker Madeline Allison called them, spanned the country from east to west and well into the north. </p>
<p>These visualizations, along with the underlying data, <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780742552739/African-Americans-Confront-Lynching-Strategies-of-Resistance-from-the-Civil-War-to-the-Civil-Rights-Era">were sent</a> to allied organizations like the citizen-led <a href="https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/commission-interracial-cooperation#">Commission on Interracial Cooperation</a>, to newspapers nationwide and to elected officials of all parties and regions. The activists hoped to spur Congress to pass federal anti-lynching legislation – something that remains to this day <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/us/politics/rand-paul-anti-lynching-bill-senate.html">unfinished business</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385157/original/file-20210218-14-12brl7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black-and-white image of Rustin at a desk holding a big map and smiling, with papers all over this desk" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385157/original/file-20210218-14-12brl7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385157/original/file-20210218-14-12brl7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385157/original/file-20210218-14-12brl7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385157/original/file-20210218-14-12brl7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385157/original/file-20210218-14-12brl7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385157/original/file-20210218-14-12brl7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385157/original/file-20210218-14-12brl7j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Civil rights activist Bayard Rustin organizing the 1963 March on Washington, an example of how existing maps can also be used in politically disruptive ways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/08/15/ap630824099_custom-9bf942d77b3591a797f1676f5279c69cd12f7e27-s1500-c85.jpg">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Much anti-lynching cartography was inspired by the famed activist and reporter <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/7/16/8979771/ida-b-wells-lynching-data">Ida B. Wells</a>, who in the early 1880s made some of the first tabulations of the prevalence and geographic distribution of racial terror. Her work refuted prevailing white claims that lynched Black men had sexually assaulted white women. </p>
<h2>Modern maps</h2>
<p>The precariousness of Black life – and the exclusion of Black stories from American history – remains an unresolved issue today.</p>
<p>Working alone and with white allies, Black activists and scholars continue using cartography to tell a fuller <a href="https://www.blackinappalachia.org/bristol">story about the United States</a>, to <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/chicago-folded-map-project">challenge racial segregation</a> and to <a href="https://www.racialviolencearchive.com/research.html">combat violence</a>. </p>
<p>Today, the maps they create are often digital. </p>
<p>For example, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Alabama-based legal defense group run by Bryan Stevenson, has produced a modern map of <a href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/explore">historical lynching</a>. It’s an interactive update of the anti-lynching cartography made 100 years ago – although a full reconstruction of lynching terror remains impossible because of incomplete data and the veil of silence that persists around these murders.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385153/original/file-20210218-18-139x4y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Red-tinged map of the US with a plot point in Illionois highlighted to show that there were 56 murders there between 1877 and 1950" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385153/original/file-20210218-18-139x4y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385153/original/file-20210218-18-139x4y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385153/original/file-20210218-18-139x4y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385153/original/file-20210218-18-139x4y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385153/original/file-20210218-18-139x4y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385153/original/file-20210218-18-139x4y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385153/original/file-20210218-18-139x4y4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=366&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Equal Justice Initiative’s map tells stories of people who were lynched.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/explore">Screenshot, Equal Justice Initiative</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another modern mapping project, called Mapping Police Violence, was launched by <a href="https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/how-an-orlando-data-scientist-is-helping-the-blacklivesmatter-movement-make-the-case-against-police-violence/Content?oid=2478826">data activists</a> after Michael Brown’s murder in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. <a href="https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/">It tracks</a> police use of force using a time-series animated map. Deaths and injuries flash across the screen and accumulate on the map of the United States, visually communicating the national scale and urgency of this problem.</p>
<p>Counter-mapping operates on the theory that communities and governments cannot fix problems that they do not understand. When Black counter-mapping exposes the how-and-where of racism, in accessible visual form, that information gains new power to spur social change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Derek H. Alderman receives funding from National Science Foundation and National Endowment for the Humanities. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua F.J. Inwood receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>
Mapping is one way African Americans fight for equality and help each other navigate a racially hostile landscape.
Derek H. Alderman, Professor of Geography, University of Tennessee
Joshua F.J. Inwood, Associate Professor of Geography and Senior Research Associate in the Rock Ethics Institute, Penn State
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/152036
2020-12-15T15:43:27Z
2020-12-15T15:43:27Z
How England’s complicated political geography is confusing coronavirus rules
<p>As England emerged from its second national lockdown in early December, Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, faced an onslaught of questions from MPs on both sides of the House of Commons. Each demanded clarity on what the arrangements would be for their particular constituency under the multi-layered tiers that would impose different COVID-19 restrictions on different areas. </p>
<p>They saw an ad-hoc logic behind the system outlined in the bill they were being asked to vote into law. In some cases – such as in <a href="https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/3-kent-mps-who-voted-4752955">Kent</a> – restrictions were too general. In others – such as <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/26/slough-mp-says-town-has-been-segregated-in-inconsistent-tier-system-13662628/">Slough</a> – they were too specific.</p>
<p>Johnson responded by saying future restrictions would be “as granular as possible … to reflect … the human geography of the epidemic”. In theory, a more localised tiered approach is exactly what is needed once national infection rates come under control. It rekindles the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-53220901">“whack-a-mole” strategy</a> for the flare-ups Johnson referred to earlier in the year. In reality, however, the government – like the rest of us – is looking increasingly confused by the <a href="https://geoportal.statistics.gov.uk/datasets/9c04ff58854040d09a5a7ce146ab59b4">complicated geographical units</a> used to govern and map the country. </p>
<p>It could opt for obscure statistical units that best capture local outbreaks but that few people understand, or choose from a long menu of options used by local or national government. There’s something of a pick ‘n’ mix strategy at present that betrays how the UK’s geographic units were designed by different bodies, with little coordination, for a whole range of conflicting purposes – none of which were managing a pandemic. The result is a confusion of seemingly conflicting messages across government communications.</p>
<p>This is not helped by the fact that maps based on the same data produce very different pictures of the crisis if you split up the country differently. Depending on the size of the population of the area, you can come out with an infection rate as low as 295 per 100,000 people or as high as 736 per 100,000. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Maps showing how COVID infection rates appear different depending on how you define a geographical area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375071/original/file-20201215-15-17u0rr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375071/original/file-20201215-15-17u0rr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375071/original/file-20201215-15-17u0rr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375071/original/file-20201215-15-17u0rr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375071/original/file-20201215-15-17u0rr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375071/original/file-20201215-15-17u0rr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/375071/original/file-20201215-15-17u0rr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How is the infection spreading? Depends on how you count.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For this reason, scientists tracking the spread of the virus prefer to use units that encompass roughly the same number of people, which are geographies developed for the census (so called <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/2001censusandearlier/dataandproducts/outputgeography/outputareas">“output areas”</a>). This approach has several advantages. <a href="https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map">COVID-19 hotspots</a> can be linked to other contextual data, for example, such as on the ethnic makeup or the deprivation of an area.</p>
<p>But these units are not how the country is governed. For that, England is divided into constituencies and counties and “combined authorities” – to name just a few of the different units of governance. Map COVID-19 rates across these boundaries and you will get even more different infection rates, since a constituency can include a densely packed town and a sparsely populated rural area, for example. It’s an impossible problem to solve, but it can be managed through consistent policies and geography.</p>
<p>This is important because, as we’ve seen, local councils, MPs and metro mayors want to <a href="https://theconversation.com/andy-burnhams-standoff-with-london-was-always-about-more-than-just-lockdown-money-148594">negotiate their own lockdown terms</a>. Many combined authorities (city regions) are bristling at being treated as similar even if they are experiencing significantly varying disease patterns at local levels. </p>
<p>In London, many are <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m4798">questioning the rationale</a> for treating the entire capital the same and cracks are appearing in the one-size-fits-all approach. Greenwich council, for example, entered into a heated argument with central government over its unilateral decision to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55311573">close schools</a>.</p>
<p>These disagreements show what happens when there is confusion about how data on infections should be interpreted. And when local, regional and national governments can’t agree, the public becomes confused too. That reduces compliance with the rules and ultimately allows the virus to spread more rapidly.</p>
<p>The law that England’s tiered restrictions are based upon has done little to simplify things. It previously listed the geography of <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1374/schedule/4/made">counties and unitary authorities</a>, but the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/full-list-of-local-restriction-tiers-by-area">public communication</a> included the larger and more regional geography of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combined_authority">combined authorities</a>. The most recent legal amendments that <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1533/pdfs/uksi_20201533_en.pdf">have placed</a> Greater London, and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire into Tier 3 are, in some cases, being set at a different geography again. The likes of Rochford District Council now make the list, for example, rather than being included in the broader Essex County Council as it was previously.</p>
<p>If more localised restrictions are to have a fighting chance of success, they need to do a better job of reflecting this complex and conflicting geography, even if only to give a clearer picture of how COVID-19 is spreading. The government would then be able to better communicate why particular restrictions are necessary to help control the pandemic. If people are told clearly why, and where, restrictions are being applied, they are much more likely to comply – potentially saving their own lives and the lives of others.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/152036/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Counties, local authorities, councils – how you divvy up the map changes the game significantly.
James Cheshire, Professor of Geographic Information and Cartography, UCL
Alex Singleton, Professor of Geographic Information Science, University of Liverpool
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/142451
2020-07-28T12:16:34Z
2020-07-28T12:16:34Z
Marie Tharp pioneered mapping the bottom of the ocean 6 decades ago – scientists are still learning about Earth’s last frontier
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349770/original/file-20200727-35-1udrgwj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C1198%2C883&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tharp with an undersea map at her desk. Rolled sonar profiles of the ocean floor are on the shelf behind her.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news-events/join-us-celebrating-marietharp100">Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the estate of Marie Tharp</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite all the deep-sea expeditions and samples taken from the seabed over the past 100 years, humans still know very little about the ocean’s deepest reaches. And there are good reasons to learn more. </p>
<p>Most <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/tsunamis">tsunamis</a> start with earthquakes under or near the ocean floor. The seafloor provides habitat for fish, corals and <a href="https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/hydrothermal-vent-creatures">complex communities</a> of microbes, crustaceans and other organisms. Its topography controls currents that <a href="https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/climate.html#:%7E:text=Ocean%20currents%20act%20as%20conveyer,influencing%20both%20weather%20and%20climate.&text=The%20ocean%20doesn't%20just,distribute%20heat%20around%20the%20globe.">distribute heat</a>, helping to regulate Earth’s climate.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349478/original/file-20200726-29-189de0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C4%2C2968%2C1715&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map showing geographic features of world's oceans" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349478/original/file-20200726-29-189de0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C4%2C2968%2C1715&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349478/original/file-20200726-29-189de0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349478/original/file-20200726-29-189de0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349478/original/file-20200726-29-189de0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349478/original/file-20200726-29-189de0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349478/original/file-20200726-29-189de0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349478/original/file-20200726-29-189de0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hand-painted rendition of Heezen-Tharp 1977 ‘World ocean floor’ map, by Heinrich Berann.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/g9096c.ct003148/">Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news-events/remembered-marie-tharp-pioneering-mapmaker-ocean-floor">Marie Tharp</a>, born in 1920, was a geologist and oceanographer who created maps that changed the way people imagine two-thirds of the world. Beginning in 1957, Tharp and her research partner, Bruce Heezen, began publishing the first comprehensive maps that showed the main features of the ocean bottom – mountains, valleys and trenches. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ruUF3z4AAAAJ&hl=en">As a geoscientist</a>, I believe Tharp should be as famous as Jane Goodall or Neil Armstrong. Here’s why.</p>
<h2>Traversing the Atlantic</h2>
<p>Well into the 1950s, many scientists assumed the seabed was featureless. Tharp showed that it contained rugged terrain, and that much of it was laid out in a systematic way. </p>
<p>Her images were critical to the development of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/plate-tectonics">plate tectonic theory</a> – the idea that plates, or large sections of Earth’s crust, interact to generate the planet’s seismic and volcanic activity. Earlier researchers – <a href="https://www.livescience.com/37529-continental-drift.html">particularly Alfred Wegener</a> – noticed how well the coastlines of Africa and South America fit together and proposed the continents had once been connected; Tharp identified mountains and a rift valley in the center of the Atlantic Ocean where the two continents could have been ripped apart.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349739/original/file-20200727-63428-1lb6xwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="sketch of undersea profile" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349739/original/file-20200727-63428-1lb6xwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349739/original/file-20200727-63428-1lb6xwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349739/original/file-20200727-63428-1lb6xwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349739/original/file-20200727-63428-1lb6xwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=296&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349739/original/file-20200727-63428-1lb6xwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349739/original/file-20200727-63428-1lb6xwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349739/original/file-20200727-63428-1lb6xwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tharp’s East-West profiles across the North Atlantic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1130/SPE65-p1">The Floors of the Ocean, 1959</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thanks to Tharp’s hand-drawn renditions of the ocean floor, I can imagine a walk across the Atlantic Ocean bottom from New York City to Lisbon. The journey would take me out along the continental shelf. Then downward towards the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sohm-Abyssal-Plain">Sohm Abyssal Plain</a>. I’d need to detour around underwater mountains, called <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/seamounts.html">seamounts</a>. Then I’d start a slow climb up the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mid-Atlantic-Ridge">Mid-Atlantic Ridge</a>, a submerged north-south mountain range. </p>
<p>After ascending to 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) below sea level to the ridge’s peak, I would descend several hundred feet, cross the ridge’s central rift valley and proceed up over the ridge’s eastern edge. Then back down to the ocean floor, until I began trekking up the European continental slope to Lisbon. The total walk would be about 3,800 miles (6,000 kilometers) – almost twice the length of the Appalachian Trail.</p>
<h2>Mapping the unseen</h2>
<p>Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Tharp studied English and music in college. But then in 1943 she enrolled in a University of Michigan master’s degree program designed to train women to be petroleum geologists during World War II. “Girls were needed to fill the jobs left open because the guys were off fighting,” <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/news-insights/content/marie-tharp/">Tharp later recalled</a>.</p>
<p>After working for an oil company in Oklahoma, Tharp sought a geology job at Columbia University in 1948. Women couldn’t go on research ships, but Tharp could draft, and was hired to assist male graduate students.</p>
<p>Tharp worked with Bruce Heezen, a grad student who gave her seafloor profiles to draft. These are long paper rolls that show the depth of the seafloor along a linear path, measured from a ship using sonar.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349741/original/file-20200727-15-69lzu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="sketches of undersea features based on sonar" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349741/original/file-20200727-15-69lzu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349741/original/file-20200727-15-69lzu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349741/original/file-20200727-15-69lzu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349741/original/file-20200727-15-69lzu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=967&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349741/original/file-20200727-15-69lzu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1216&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349741/original/file-20200727-15-69lzu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1216&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349741/original/file-20200727-15-69lzu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1216&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration of Marie Tharp’s mapping process. (a) shows the position of two ship tracks (A, B) moving across the surface. (b) plots depth recordings as profiles, exaggerating their height to make features easier to visualize. (c) sketches features shown on the profiles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://mirrorservice.org/sites/gutenberg.org/4/9/0/6/49069/49069-h/49069-h.htm">The Floors of the Ocean, 1959, Fig. 1</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Starting with a large blank sheet of paper, Tharp marked lines of latitude and longitude. Then she’d carefully mark where the ship had traveled. Next she’d read the depth at each location off the sonar profile, mark it on the ship’s track and create her own condensed profile, showing the depth to the ocean floor versus the distance the ship had traveled. </p>
<p>One of her important innovations was creating sketches depicting what the seafloor would look like. These views made it easier to visualize the ocean floor’s topography and create a physiographic map.</p>
<p>Tharp’s careful plotting of six east-to-west profiles across the North Atlantic revealed something no one had ever described before: a cleft in the center of the ocean, miles wide and hundreds of feet deep. Tharp suggested that it was a rift valley – a type of long trough that was known to exist on land.</p>
<p>Heezen <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/news-insights/content/marie-tharp/">called this idea “girl talk</a>” and told Tharp to recalculate and redraft. When she did, the rift valley was still there. </p>
<p>Another research assistant was plotting locations of earthquake epicenters on a map of the same size and scale. Comparing the two maps, Heezen and Tharp realized that the earthquake epicenters fell inside the rift valley. This discovery was critical to the development of plate tectonic theory: It suggested that movement was occurring in the rift valley, and that the continents might actually be drifting apart.</p>
<p>This insight was revolutionary. When Heezen, as a newly-minted Ph.D., gave a talk at Princeton in 1957 and showed the rift valley and epicenters, geology department chair <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/news-insights/content/marie-tharp/">Harry Hess replied</a>, “You have shaken the foundations of geology.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bGye6vlOpbY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Exploring mid-ocean ridges provides vast amounts of information about life on Earth.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tectonic resistance</h2>
<p>In 1959 the Geological Society of America published “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1130/SPE65-p1">The Floors of the Oceans: I. The North Atlantic</a>” by Heezen, Tharp and “Doc” Ewing, director of the Lamont Observatory, where they worked. It contained Tharp’s ocean profiles, ideas and access to Tharp’s physiographic maps. </p>
<p>Some scientists thought the work was brilliant, but most didn’t believe it. French undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau was determined to prove Tharp wrong. Sailing aboard his research vessel, the Calypso, he purposely crossed the mid-Atlantic Ridge and lowered an underwater movie camera. To Cousteau’s surprise, the film showed that a rift valley existed.</p>
<p>“There’s truth to the old cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words and that seeing is believing,” Tharp observed in a <a href="https://www.whoi.edu/news-insights/content/marie-tharp/">1999 retrospective essay</a>.</p>
<p>What could have created the rift? Princeton’s Hess proposed some ideas <a href="http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/hist_oceanogr/hess-history-of-ocean-basins.pdf">in a 1962 paper</a>. It postulated that hot magma rose from inside the Earth at the rift, expanded as it cooled and pushed two adjoining plates further apart. This idea was a key contribution to plate tectonic theory, but Hess failed to reference the critical work presented in “The Floors of the Oceans” – one of the few publications that included Tharp as a co-author. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349691/original/file-20200727-25-1kaavmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Portrait of Marie Tharp in 2001" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349691/original/file-20200727-25-1kaavmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349691/original/file-20200727-25-1kaavmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349691/original/file-20200727-25-1kaavmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349691/original/file-20200727-25-1kaavmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349691/original/file-20200727-25-1kaavmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349691/original/file-20200727-25-1kaavmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349691/original/file-20200727-25-1kaavmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marie Tharp in July 2001.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bruce Gilbert, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Still surveying</h2>
<p>Tharp continued working with Heezen to bring the ocean floor to life. Their collaboration included an <a href="https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/collex/exhibits/marie-tharp-pioneering-oceanographer/1967-indian-ocean-map/">Indian Ocean map</a>, published by National Geographic in 1967, and a 1977 <a href="https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/collex/exhibits/marie-tharp-pioneering-oceanographer/1977-world-ocean-floor-map/">World Ocean Floor map</a> that is now held at the Library of Congress. </p>
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<p>After Heezen died in 1977, Tharp continued her work until her death in 2006. In October 1978, Heezen (posthumously) and Tharp were awarded the <a href="https://physicstoday.scitation.org/do/10.1063/PT.6.6.20180730a/full/">Hubbard Medal</a>, the National Geographic Society’s highest honor, joining the ranks of explorers and discoverers such as Ernest Shackleton, Louis and Mary Leakey and Jane Goodall.</p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=science&source=inline-science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Today ships use a <a href="https://youtu.be/8ijaPa-9MDs">method called swath mapping</a>, which measures depth over a ribbon-like path rather than along a single line. The ribbons can be stitched together to create an accurate seafloor map.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349692/original/file-20200727-33-wfsk35.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349692/original/file-20200727-33-wfsk35.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/349692/original/file-20200727-33-wfsk35.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349692/original/file-20200727-33-wfsk35.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349692/original/file-20200727-33-wfsk35.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=249&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349692/original/file-20200727-33-wfsk35.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349692/original/file-20200727-33-wfsk35.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/349692/original/file-20200727-33-wfsk35.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left. Detail of Canary Islands from Marie Tharp’s physiographic map of the North Atlantic. Right. Modern swath mapping depiction of the same area. Colors indicate depth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vicki Ferrini, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But because ships move slowly, it would take one ship 200 years to completely map the seafloor. An international effort to map the entire ocean floor in detail by 2030 is under way, using multiple ships, led by the <a href="https://www.nippon-foundation.or.jp/en/">Nippon Foundation</a> and the <a href="https://www.gebco.net/">General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans</a>. </p>
<p>This information is critical to beginning to understand what the seafloor looks like on a neighborhood scale. Marie Tharp was the first person to show the rich topography of the ocean floor and its different neighborhoods.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142451/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzanne OConnell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Born on July 30, 1920, geologist and cartographer Tharp changed scientific thinking about what lay at the bottom of the ocean – not a featureless flat, but rugged and varied terrain.
Suzanne OConnell, Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, Wesleyan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/141131
2020-06-28T20:10:45Z
2020-06-28T20:10:45Z
Can I trust this map? 4 questions to ask when you see a map of the coronavirus pandemic
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342938/original/file-20200619-70371-jtv8ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5499%2C3647&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Maps have shown us how the events of this disastrous year have played out around the globe, from the Australian bushfires to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. But there are good reasons to question the maps we see. </p>
<p>Some of these reasons have been explored recently through <a href="https://theconversation.com/6-things-to-ask-yourself-before-you-share-a-bushfire-map-on-social-media-129557">maps of the bushfires</a> or those created from <a href="https://theconversation.com/satellite-imagery-is-revolutionizing-the-world-but-should-we-always-trust-what-we-see-95201">satellite images</a>. </p>
<p>Maps often inform our actions, but how do we know which ones are trustworthy? <a href="http://josis.org/index.php/josis/article/view/654">My research</a> shows that answering this question may be critically important for the world’s most urgent challenge: the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/satellite-imagery-is-revolutionizing-the-world-but-should-we-always-trust-what-we-see-95201">Satellite imagery is revolutionizing the world. But should we always trust what we see?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Why are trustworthy maps important?</h2>
<p>Maps guide decisions, including those made by governments, private companies, and individual citizens. During the pandemic, government restrictions on activities to protect public health have been strongly informed by maps. </p>
<p>Governments rely on public cooperation with the restrictions, and they have used maps to explain the situation and build trust. If people don’t trust information from the government, they may be less likely to comply with the restrictions. </p>
<p>This highlights the importance of trustworthy COVID-19 maps. Maps can be untrustworthy when they don’t show the most relevant or timely information or because they show information in a misleading way. </p>
<p>Below are a few question you should ask yourself to work out whether you should trust a map you read.</p>
<h2>What information is being mapped?</h2>
<p>The number of cases of COVID-19 is an important piece of information. But that number could just reflect how many people are being tested. If you don’t know how much testing is being done, you can misjudge the level of risk. </p>
<p>Low case numbers might mean that there isn’t much testing being done. If the percentage of positive cases (positive test rate) is high, we might be missing cases. So not accounting for the number of tests can be misleading. </p>
<p>The World Health Organization suggests that at least <a href="https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/transcripts/who-audio-emergencies-coronavirus-press-conference-full-30mar2020.pdf?sfvrsn=6b68bc4a_2">ten negative tests to one positive test</a>, a positive test rate of at most 10%, is the lowest rate of testing that is adequate. </p>
<p>In Australia, we have been at the forefront of <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/resources/total-covid-19-tests-conducted-and-results">making sure we are doing enough testing</a> and we are confident that we are identifying most of the cases. Undertesting has been a problem in <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus-testing#the-share-of-tests-that-are-positive">some other countries</a>. </p>
<h2>How is the information being mapped?</h2>
<p>It’s not just the numbers that matter. How the numbers are shown is also important so that map readers get an accurate picture of what we know. </p>
<p>The Victorian Government recently advised Melburnians to avoid travel to and from several local council areas because of high case numbers. But their publicly available map does not show this clearly. </p>
<p>Compare the government-produced map with a map of the same data mapped differently. Most people interpret light as few cases and dark as more cases. The government-produced map uses dark colours for both low and high numbers of cases.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343173/original/file-20200622-54977-x891rk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343173/original/file-20200622-54977-x891rk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343173/original/file-20200622-54977-x891rk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343173/original/file-20200622-54977-x891rk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343173/original/file-20200622-54977-x891rk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343173/original/file-20200622-54977-x891rk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343173/original/file-20200622-54977-x891rk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Active COVID-19 Cases in Victoria, 22 June 2020, ©State of Victoria 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Victorian Government Department of Health and Human Services</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><iframe id="ZNSFi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ZNSFi/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Who made this map and why did they make it?</h2>
<p>Maps can inform, misinform, and disinform, like any other information source. So it is important to pay attention to the map’s context as well as the author. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbfBrWm3CxQ">Viral maps</a> are maps that spread quickly and widely, often via social media. Viral maps cannot always be trusted, even when they come from a reputable source. Maps that are trustworthy in one context may not be in another. </p>
<p>An example from Australian news media in February shows this. Several media outlets showed a map that was tweeted by UK researchers. The tweet announced the publication of their <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.04.20020479v2.full.pdf">new paper about COVID-19</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://perma.cc/8PWT-J7BW">The media reported</a> the map showed locations to which COVID-19 had spread from Wuhan, China, the origin of the outbreak. It actually depicted airline flight routes, and was used in the tweet to illustrate how globally linked the world is. The map was from <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1476-072X-11-33">a 2012 study</a> not the 2020 study.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343229/original/file-20200622-55005-fquypp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343229/original/file-20200622-55005-fquypp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343229/original/file-20200622-55005-fquypp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343229/original/file-20200622-55005-fquypp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=983&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343229/original/file-20200622-55005-fquypp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1236&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343229/original/file-20200622-55005-fquypp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1236&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343229/original/file-20200622-55005-fquypp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1236&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Original tweeted map that went viral and was picked up by many news outlets, © WorldPopProject.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WorldPopProject, archived on the Wayback Machine</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many readers may have trusted that reporting because their justifiable anxiety about COVID-19 was reinforced by the map’s design choices. The mass of overlapping red symbols creates a powerful and alarming impression. </p>
<p>While the lines in the map indicate potential routes for virus spread, it doesn’t provide evidence that the did virus spread along all of these routes. The researchers didn’t claim that it did. But without understanding why the map was made and what it showed, several media outlets reported it inaccurately. </p>
<p>Maps on social media are especially likely to be missing important context and explanation. The airline route map was re-shared many times as in the tweet below, often without any source information, making it hard to check its trustworthiness. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1227420853828116486"}"></div></p>
<p>Limiting the damage done by COVID-19 is a very substantial challenge. Maps can help ordinary citizens to work together with governments to achieve that outcome. But they need to be made and read with care. Ask yourself what is being mapped, how it’s being mapped, who made the map and why they made it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141131/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Griffin is a Commission Co-Chair, Cognitive Issues in Geographic Information Visualization, International Cartographic Association.
</span></em></p>
Maps shape our understanding of world events like the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s how to make sure they don’t mislead you.
Amy Griffin, Senior Lecturer, Geospatial Sciences, RMIT University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/126474
2019-11-07T17:02:48Z
2019-11-07T17:02:48Z
Even the most beautiful maps can be misleading
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300690/original/file-20191107-10919-bhtn1n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=323%2C0%2C7532%2C4690&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Three very different maps, using the same deprivation data, for the same place: Hartlepool, UK. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Samuel Langton/MMU, using OS Data © Crown copyright 2019.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>From reporting <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2017/results">election results</a> to issuing <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2643743">weather forecasts</a>, maps offer a powerful, accessible and visually appealing way to convey complex information. But as a researcher focusing on data visualisation, I’m aware that even the most beautiful maps can introduce some degree of misrepresentation. </p>
<p>To see how, consider the latest statistics on deprivation released by the UK government. The government ranked 32,844 neighbourhoods, based on measures of deprivation such as income, employment, health and crime. The figures were widely reported, from <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49812519">the BBC</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/26/wealthy-incomers-changing-profile-of-londons-most-deprived-areas">The Guardian</a> and the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7507575/Essex-seaside-village-Jaywick-named-Englands-deprived-neighbourhood.html">Daily Mail</a>, reigniting long-standing debates about <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/835115/IoD2019_Statistical_Release.pdf">persistent inequality</a> in England. </p>
<p>Of course, many outlets <a href="https://imd2019.group.shef.ac.uk">used maps</a> to share these findings with the public. But using traditional boundaries can divert readers’ attention away from important information. In <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49812519">the BBC’s map</a> of deprivation across local authorities, for instance, sparsely populated rural areas dominate a disproportionately large area, while urban areas, such as London, containing millions of people, are rendered almost invisible.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1177466763312689152"}"></div></p>
<h2>Distorted data</h2>
<p>Recent <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/t6agd/">research shows</a> that people can interpret information inaccurately, when they look at maps with these shortcomings. But other techniques can be used to create a more accurate impression of the underlying data. For instance, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-8306.2004.09401004.x?casa_token=PCQuJ1wUlkoAAAAA:m8aWeOyHWcKv-iL8T1-bXlcunBnzZV2lkAz3-gYAxUtgRCihbAYOIWz8-HJFvSOO8WP4W25tLA">cartograms</a> deliberately distort geography by scaling areas according to a specific variable, such as local population. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300674/original/file-20191107-10915-u3lv73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300674/original/file-20191107-10915-u3lv73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300674/original/file-20191107-10915-u3lv73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300674/original/file-20191107-10915-u3lv73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=229&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300674/original/file-20191107-10915-u3lv73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300674/original/file-20191107-10915-u3lv73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300674/original/file-20191107-10915-u3lv73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An alternative way of visualising the world’s population, using a variant on the cartogram.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2018/09/Population-cartogram_World-2.png">Max Roser/Our World in Data.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=b686a7679cb747e9825d1d1bb6b26046">Dorling cartograms</a> take this one step further, scaling areas according to a specified variable, but also representing each area using the same shape, such as a square or a circle. Other methods achieve uniformity in both size and shape: <a href="http://gisruk.org/ProceedingsGISRUK2018/GISRUK2018_Contribution_023.pdf">hexograms</a> and <a href="https://github.com/jbaileyh/geogrid">geogrids</a> transform the original boundaries of the map into hexagons or squares of the same size, while still aiming to preserve their original arrangement.</p>
<p>Mapping neighbourhood deprivation in England represents <a href="https://theconversation.com/these-maps-show-how-tricky-it-is-to-measure-inequality-in-local-areas-across-england-109143">a significant challenge</a>, even for experts. This is because the government defines a neighbourhood as a <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/methodology/geography/ukgeographies/censusgeography">“lower super output area”</a> – each of which contains around 1,500 residents. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/these-maps-show-how-tricky-it-is-to-measure-inequality-in-local-areas-across-england-109143">These maps show how tricky it is to measure inequality in local areas across England</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Because highly deprived neighbourhoods tend to be densely populated, they are less visible on a regular map. By contrast, wealthier suburban areas – which are often less densely populated and therefore much larger – dominate the map. So there’s a risk that readers might draw inaccurate conclusions about the level of deprivation in any given area. </p>
<h2>Shaping up</h2>
<p>Using <a href="https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=b686a7679cb747e9825d1d1bb6b26046">Dorling cartograms</a> scaled by resident population, and regular hexagonal <a href="https://github.com/jbaileyh/geogrid">geogrids</a>, I’ve attempted to minimise any misrepresentation. Take the example of Blackpool, which was <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/835115/IoD2019_Statistical_Release.pdf">ranked</a> the most deprived local authority in England. Around 42% of neighbourhoods in Blackpool are in the top 10% most deprived in England (the “first decile”). Yet these neighbourhoods only make up around 29% of the city’s actual area. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300688/original/file-20191107-10940-2siwqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300688/original/file-20191107-10940-2siwqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300688/original/file-20191107-10940-2siwqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300688/original/file-20191107-10940-2siwqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300688/original/file-20191107-10940-2siwqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300688/original/file-20191107-10940-2siwqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300688/original/file-20191107-10940-2siwqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300688/original/file-20191107-10940-2siwqo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Index of multiple deprivation at lower super output area level for Blackpool, UK, using original boundaries, Dorling cartogram and geogrid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Samuel Langton/MMU, using OS Data © Crown copyright 2019.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using a Dorling cartogram scaled by resident population size, neighbourhoods in the first decile now take up 41% of the map’s area, and the larger, less deprived neighbourhoods (in light blue) have been shrunk accordingly to become less dominant. With a regular hexagonal geogrid, the map now mimics the underlying data, with neighbourhoods in the first decile of deprivation taking up 42% of the total area. </p>
<p>The variation in the shapes and sizes of Blackpool’s neighbourhoods can no longer divert attention or mislead readers, and arguably, the underlying data has been conveyed more accurately than with the original map.</p>
<h2>Mapping deprivation differently</h2>
<p>A striking difference can be seen using different types of maps to visualise deprivation in Burnley and Hartlepool, which were among England’s most deprived local authorities. Both areas are characterised by many small, densely populated neighbourhoods in the first decile (most deprived), surrounded by much larger and wealthier suburbs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300689/original/file-20191107-10940-1k6c5fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300689/original/file-20191107-10940-1k6c5fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300689/original/file-20191107-10940-1k6c5fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300689/original/file-20191107-10940-1k6c5fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300689/original/file-20191107-10940-1k6c5fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300689/original/file-20191107-10940-1k6c5fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300689/original/file-20191107-10940-1k6c5fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300689/original/file-20191107-10940-1k6c5fc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Index of multiple deprivation at lower super output area level for Burnley and Hartlepool, UK. Each city is on a different scale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Samuel Langton/MMU, using OS Data © Crown copyright 2019.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At first glance, deprivation appears understated in the map that uses the original boundaries. But with the Dorling cartogram (again scaled by population) and the hexagonal geogrids, the issue can be somewhat rectified. This comes with its own difficulties, though. </p>
<p>The geogrid in particular pushed some neighbourhoods further apart and forced some closer together than they appear on the original map. This might prove problematic in cases where the primary aim of the map is to convey distinct geographic patterns, such as the clustering of highly deprived neighbourhoods. In making the transformation, these patterns might be lost, or spurious patterns generated.</p>
<h2>Encouraging experimentation</h2>
<p>Birmingham and Manchester – ranked in the top ten most deprived local authorities – present a different challenge. With much larger populations, and many more neighbourhoods to visualise, the original map presents an overwhelming amount of information. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300659/original/file-20191107-10930-1455u73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300659/original/file-20191107-10930-1455u73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300659/original/file-20191107-10930-1455u73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300659/original/file-20191107-10930-1455u73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300659/original/file-20191107-10930-1455u73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300659/original/file-20191107-10930-1455u73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300659/original/file-20191107-10930-1455u73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300659/original/file-20191107-10930-1455u73.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Index of multiple deprivation at lower super output area level for Manchester and Birmingham, UK. Each city is on a different scale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Samuel Langton/MMU, using OS Data © Crown copyright 2019.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Once again, both the Dorling cartogram and the geogrid perform admirably, scaling down the visual impact of larger, wealthier areas (especially in the north of Birmingham) and making the maps easier to read – without skewing the geographic patterning of deprivation across each city.</p>
<p>There are no firm rules about how best to create beautiful but accurate maps. In this case, using the latest neighbourhood deprivation data in England, mapping out the original boundaries can clearly introduce some degree of misrepresentation. There’s <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/t6agd/">real value</a> in experimenting with different cartographic techniques – and media organisations and the government would do well to think outside the box when it comes to sharing the latest findings with the public.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126474/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Langton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
When mapping deprivation, using traditional boundaries can distort the data and distract readers from important information.
Samuel Langton, PhD Candidate in Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/117539
2019-07-19T08:29:42Z
2019-07-19T08:29:42Z
How geological maps made the Apollo moon landings worthwhile
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278157/original/file-20190605-40754-36zfbn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=712%2C5%2C2305%2C1323&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Geologic map of the near side of the moon by Wilhelms & McCauley in 1971.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/i703">USGS</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I still remember a cartoon in a newspaper in July 1969, just before the first Apollo moon landing. It showed the ground crew reminding the astronauts as they boarded their rocket, “Don’t forget to bring back some rock!” This was a nod to an old holiday cliché – people who went to the seaside were often asked to bring back some “rock”, <a href="http://www.laterlife.com/laterlife-seaside-rock.htm">referring to rock candy</a>. It wasn’t very funny, but it does demonstrate that, once the race against the Soviets was won, the point of it all was to find out about the moon’s geology.</p>
<p>The scientific value of landing on the moon would have been diminished without studies to establish the context of the landing sites. The primary consideration was to touch down somewhere safe, but rocks collected from these places would have conveyed much less information had effort not gone into working out the nature of, and more importantly the relationships between, the rock units from which the samples were collected. </p>
<p>This was done by making detailed geological maps, using the same principles that geologists use on Earth.</p>
<h2>Cartography vs. geological mapping</h2>
<p>Telescopic observers had already begun to draw general maps of the moon’s near side (which is <a href="https://www.open.edu/openlearn/RotatingMoon">all that can be seen from Earth</a>) in the 1600s. These were essentially exercises in cartography, documenting what the moon looks like. Soon names <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-volcanoes-on-mars-to-scarps-on-mercury-how-places-on-other-worlds-get-their-names-108362">were being marked</a> to label individual features, but this was just a convenient way to identify them. It wasn’t based on any actual understanding.</p>
<p>By contrast, geologists make maps to gain insight into the history of a region. They distinguish tracts of terrain of which the ages – and therefore possibly origin and composition – can be deduced to be different. This is usually achieved by working out what is on top of what (younger layers will generally be on top of older layers) and cross-cutting relationships (younger features can cut across older ones, but not vice versa).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278496/original/file-20190607-52758-99n8ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278496/original/file-20190607-52758-99n8ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278496/original/file-20190607-52758-99n8ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278496/original/file-20190607-52758-99n8ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278496/original/file-20190607-52758-99n8ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278496/original/file-20190607-52758-99n8ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278496/original/file-20190607-52758-99n8ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278496/original/file-20190607-52758-99n8ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hackman and Mason’s map of the moon. Arrow locates Copernicus crater.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">USGS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The first published attempt to use these principles on the moon was a 1960 study by geologists <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/gdpr-consent/?destination=%2farchive%2flocal%2f1980%2f05%2f21%2frobert-j-hackman-geologist-dies%2f506dadc5-197a-49ec-a8f1-470f0dfbe80b%2f%3f">Robert J. Hackman</a> and <a href="http://archives.datapages.com/data/bull_memorials/046/046005/pdfs/712.htm">Arnold C. Mason</a>. It was based entirely on telescopic observations, and showed the dark patches – the “maria” – lumped together as all of the same age in yellow, overlying “pre-maria” terrain, thought to be older, in brown. The youngest unit was called “post-maria rocks”, shown in green, which was interpreted to be craters and ejecta from them that were formed after the maria. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278393/original/file-20190606-98010-6rlcxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278393/original/file-20190606-98010-6rlcxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278393/original/file-20190606-98010-6rlcxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278393/original/file-20190606-98010-6rlcxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278393/original/file-20190606-98010-6rlcxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=222&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278393/original/file-20190606-98010-6rlcxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278393/original/file-20190606-98010-6rlcxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278393/original/file-20190606-98010-6rlcxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left: Shoemaker’s prototype Copernicus geologic map. Right: the same area, on the same map projection, based on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">USGS (left) and LROC (right)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With only three age categories, this map was very basic, and was soon superseded by more detailed studies. In 1961, geologist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Merle_Shoemaker">Gene Shoemaker</a> circulated a prototype geology map of the area around the crater Copernicus. Shoemaker divided the materials he could see on the surface into five age classes and further subdivided some of these according to texture – such as “smooth” versus “hummocky”. He also offered interpretations for each of his units, such as “probably chiefly crushed rock” and “probably volcanic flows”. He even included cross sections indicating what structures may lie below the surface to a depth of several kilometres.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278401/original/file-20190606-98045-15qjrwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278401/original/file-20190606-98045-15qjrwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278401/original/file-20190606-98045-15qjrwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278401/original/file-20190606-98045-15qjrwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278401/original/file-20190606-98045-15qjrwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278401/original/file-20190606-98045-15qjrwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278401/original/file-20190606-98045-15qjrwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278401/original/file-20190606-98045-15qjrwb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">H.H. Schmitt, N.J. Trask, and E.M. Shoemaker, Geologic map of the Copernicus quadrangle of the moon, published 1967.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">USGS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shoemaker collaborated with two colleagues to publish a considerably more detailed map of the same area in 1967. This was based on photographic images obtained by ground-based telescopes, supplemented by visual observations made using the 24-inch Lowell refracting telescope at Flagstaff, Arizona, to check fine details. The first-named author of this map was H.H. Schmitt, more commonly known as <a href="https://www.space.com/39009-apollo-17-astronaut-harrison-schmitt-interview.html">Jack Schmitt</a>, who as the Apollo 17 Lunar Module pilot in 1972 became the first – and to date, only – professionally qualified geologist to walk on the moon.</p>
<h2>Landing site maps</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278484/original/file-20190607-52758-6au3my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278484/original/file-20190607-52758-6au3my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278484/original/file-20190607-52758-6au3my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278484/original/file-20190607-52758-6au3my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278484/original/file-20190607-52758-6au3my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=347&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278484/original/file-20190607-52758-6au3my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278484/original/file-20190607-52758-6au3my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278484/original/file-20190607-52758-6au3my.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Part of the Apollo 11 landing site geologic map published in 1970 at a scale of 1:25,000. The stripey background is an artefact of the photographic strips used as the base map.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">USGS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Subsequent lunar maps began to use pictures obtained by spacecraft orbiting the moon ahead of Apollo 11. Maps were made of all the proposed Apollo landing sites, including some that were never visited. At first, these relied heavily on photographs taken by the five <a href="https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunarorb.html">Lunar Orbiter</a> uncrewed lunar satellites. Later Apollo landing sites were mapped with the aid of pictures taken during earlier Apollo missions. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278493/original/file-20190607-52739-c8e3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278493/original/file-20190607-52739-c8e3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/278493/original/file-20190607-52739-c8e3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278493/original/file-20190607-52739-c8e3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278493/original/file-20190607-52739-c8e3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=312&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278493/original/file-20190607-52739-c8e3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278493/original/file-20190607-52739-c8e3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/278493/original/file-20190607-52739-c8e3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Part of a pre-mission geologicial map covering the Apollo 17 landing site (David H. Scott and M. H. Carr), and published at a scale of 1:250,000. The area shown is 45km east to west.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">USGS</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the moon walkers discovered that some of the geology mapped from orbit had been misinterpreted, each unit did prove to be genuinely worth investigating so that time on the surface was better spent than by blundering around at random. For example, the <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_16/samples/">Cayley Plains where Apollo 16 landed</a> were thought to be volcanic, but turned out to be an equally interesting unit made of welded lumps of older rock fragmented by impacts.</p>
<p>Geological mapping continues today, even on bodies where there is no prospect of human visitors in the forseeable future. The United States Geological Survey, which published the Apollo maps, has since <a href="https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search">published maps</a> of at least parts of every other rocky planet and several smaller rocky or icy bodies. In Europe, an effort is underway to prepare the first detailed geological maps of the whole of Mercury in preparation for the 2025 arrival of <a href="https://theconversation.com/europe-blasts-off-to-mercury-heres-the-rocket-science-104641">BepiColombo</a> in orbit about the planet. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QrToE6W6_Pw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Some of those maps are being disseminated by the European Commission project <a href="https://planmap.eu/">Planmap</a>, which is also preparing immersive 3D virtual environments of potential landing sites on the moon and Mars for astronaut training.</p>
<p>Ultimately, we have the Apollo missions to thank for a lot of our geological knowledge about the moon. The geological maps and the rock samples they enabled astronauts to bring back to Earth have given us <a href="http://www.astronomy.com/news/2019/06/what-the-moon-rocks-told-us">invaluable information</a> about the history of the moon, even though <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-selects-teams-to-study-untouched-moon-samples">some of the haul has yet to be studied</a>, 50 years on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/117539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rothery is co-leader of the European Space Agency's Mercury Surface and Composition Working Group, and a Co-Investigator on MIXS (Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer) that is now on its way to Mercury on board the European Space Agency's Mercury orbiter BepiColombo. He has received funding from the UK Space Agency and the Science & Technology Facilities Council for work related to Mercury BepiColombo, and is currently funded by the European Commission under its Horizon 2020 programme for work on planetary geological mapping (776276 Planmap). He is author of Planet Mercury - from Pale Pink Dot to Dynamic World (Springer, 2015), Moons: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2015) and Planets: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2010). He is Educator on the Open University's free learning Badged Open Course (BOC) on Moons and its equivalent FutureLearn Moons MOOC, and chair of the Open University's level 2 course on Planetary Science and the Search for Life.</span></em></p>
We have the Apollo missions to thank for a lot of our geological knowledge about the moon.
David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences, The Open University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/118150
2019-06-04T22:19:54Z
2019-06-04T22:19:54Z
Canada’s UN submission will (eventually) draw the last lines on the map
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277696/original/file-20190603-69083-gely4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1024%2C1016&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A map showing Northern Canada and the Arctic Ocean.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://weather.gc.ca/satellite/index_e.html">Government of Canada</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In May 2019, Canada made <a href="https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/submission_can1_84_2019.html">a partial submission to the United Nations to recognize an extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles in the Arctic Ocean</a>. This means that Canada will soon have the last lines drawn on the map of Canada. </p>
<p>Canada’s submission was made to the <a href="https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/clcs_home.htm">UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS)</a> under Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).</p>
<p>There was surprisingly little fanfare over this extraordinary accomplishment in a week of maritime-related accomplishments that included Canada acceding to an <a href="http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2019/05/30/canada-ratifies-international-moratorium-on-commercial-fishing-in-the-high-arctic/">international moratorium to prevent unregulated commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean</a>. </p>
<p>As a political scientist, I want to understand the processes used, the states involved and the international organizations and law that guided this extraordinary example of global governance.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vCttmsixQpc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">This video, from Fisheries and Oceans Canada, outlines how the government measures and defines land that is hidden deep under water or ice.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shelf’s edge</h2>
<p>First, what is the continental shelf? Imagine you are standing on an ocean beach. You decide to keep walking for as long as you can feel ground beneath your feet. This ground is the seabed and subsoil, and coastal states have inherent right to explore and exploit the natural resources. </p>
<p>According to UNCLOS, this does not depend upon occupation or an express proclamation; in other words, Canada need not provide any justification. And if the coastal state can provide evidence that its continental shelf extends beyond 200 nautical miles — the outer continental shelf — Canada can explore and extract mineral and other non-living resources from the seabed and subsoil.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277655/original/file-20190603-69071-18k0ihd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277655/original/file-20190603-69071-18k0ihd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277655/original/file-20190603-69071-18k0ihd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277655/original/file-20190603-69071-18k0ihd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277655/original/file-20190603-69071-18k0ihd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277655/original/file-20190603-69071-18k0ihd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277655/original/file-20190603-69071-18k0ihd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277655/original/file-20190603-69071-18k0ihd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An illustration showing the zones as pertaining to the limits of a state’s jurisdiction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/continental_shelf_description.htm#definition">UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Canada’s partial submission to the CLCS, which includes written explanations and physical evidence, was led by branches of the federal government: <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/gac-amc/index.aspx?lang=eng">Global Affairs Canada</a>, <a href="https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/science/geology/gsc/17100">Geological Survey of Canada</a> and <a href="http://www.charts.gc.ca/index-eng.asp">the Canadian Hydrographic Service</a>. </p>
<p>There was also extensive assistance and participation by various Indigenous groups, Canada’s territorial governments, Parks Canada, the Canadian Ice Service, the Canadian Coast Guard, Defence Research and Development Canada and the Department of National Defence.</p>
<h2>Collecting information</h2>
<p>Collecting data in the Arctic is extremely difficult and costly. It is only possible to navigate the Arctic in the summer months, and even then, the perennial ice coverage and weather, wind and current conditions pose challenges. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/earthsciences/files/pdf/polar/PCSP%20Report%202017_e.pdf">Data collected</a> for Canada’s submission included bathymetric, gravimetric, seismic, areo-gravity and areo-metric information. Retrieving 800 kg of rock samples and three piston cores involves engineering and scientific feats of marvel, bravery and sheer determination. </p>
<p>Considering Canada had <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/nasa-moon-rock-1.3896290">more rock samples from the moon than from the Arctic</a>, it is a reminder of how little is known about the Arctic. Imagine, therefore, the scientific breakthroughs Canada and the world have yet to discover with this data especially now that government scientists helping with Canada’s submission are now at liberty to publish their findings in academic journals. </p>
<h2>Collaboration and geopolitics</h2>
<p>Canada’s submission was aided by collaboration with the governments of Denmark, Sweden (<a href="https://polar.se/en/about-polar-research/icebreaker-oden/">and especially its icebreaker Oden</a>), the U.S. and Germany.</p>
<p>The Arctic Ocean is surrounded by five coastal states: Canada, Russia, the U.S., Denmark (via Greenland and the Faroe Islands) and Norway. It was anticipated by all of the Arctic states that Russia, the U.S., Canada and Denmark, by virtue of their adjacent and opposite locations, could have overlapping claims.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277680/original/file-20190603-69095-1a7qxhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277680/original/file-20190603-69095-1a7qxhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/277680/original/file-20190603-69095-1a7qxhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277680/original/file-20190603-69095-1a7qxhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277680/original/file-20190603-69095-1a7qxhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277680/original/file-20190603-69095-1a7qxhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277680/original/file-20190603-69095-1a7qxhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/277680/original/file-20190603-69095-1a7qxhw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map of the Arctic Ocean, showing the surrounding countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was expected that all four would collect data from at least some of the same areas of extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. <a href="https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/commission_submissions.htm">Russia, Denmark and Canada have all made at least partial submissions to the CLCS</a> which will review the scientific evidence and provide technical feedback regarding the scientific integrity of the data provided.</p>
<p>The CLCS cannot reconcile overlapping claims. Annex 1 of the CLSC’s rules of procedure notes that “<a href="https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/commission_rules.htm">matters regarding disputes which may arise in connection with the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf rests with States</a>.” </p>
<h2>Establishing boundaries</h2>
<p>Canada, Russia, Denmark and the U.S. are expected to continue to negotiate, as they will have the final say in determining the extent of the boundaries. This means Canada has years to wait before the process is completed, and there are a few caveats to keep in mind.</p>
<p>First, given the highly technical nature of the evidence and the few number of commission members, Canada’s submission is not expected to be fully reviewed by the CLCS for many years. Canada’s Arctic submission is <a href="https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/commission_submissions.htm">currently number 84 on the CLCS’ list</a>. </p>
<p>Second, the U.S. is not a party to UNCLOS although it does treat much of it, including Article 76, as customary law (meaning the U.S. agrees to the outlined principles). The U.S. has an active <a href="https://www.state.gov/missions-and-data-u-s-extended-continental-shelf-program/">Extended Continental Shelf program</a> and the government is collecting data in anticipation of ongoing negotiations.</p>
<p>Third, there is no time crunch for the resources of the extended continental shelf given the distance, cost and difficulties to access them. Many tend to assume that resources do exist for exploitation, but it could also be that there is nothing of commercial worth available. </p>
<p>Fourth, any resources and activity within the water and airspace beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastal baseline belongs to everyone and is governed by international law.</p>
<p>Finally, there are limitations in UNCLOS on the extent of the continental shelf and <a href="https://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/texts/unclos/part6.htm">Article 82 of UNCLOS</a> provides for a system of revenue sharing by means of payments or contributions in kind with respect to the extraction of non-living resources of the continental shelf lying beyond 200 nautical miles. Given the small size of the Arctic Ocean, however, most of it is already captured within the Arctic coastal states’ exclusive economic zones.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/submission_can1_84_2019.html">Canada’s Executive Summary submission</a> is available for anyone to review. Despite the complexity of the data, the submission is very readable and excellent scholarship. This reflects the extraordinary work of Canada’s scientists and civil servants, and is an example of global governance working well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118150/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Charron receives funding from SSHRC and the Department of Defence targeted engagement program. She is also a member of DND's Defence Advisory Board and the new Canadian Defence and Security Network.</span></em></p>
In May 2019, Canada made a partial submission to the United Nations on the limits of its extended continental shelf in the Arctic.
Andrea Charron, Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, University of Manitoba
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/111472
2019-04-22T17:47:17Z
2019-04-22T17:47:17Z
Using maps as a weapon to resist extractive industries on Indigenous territories
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/269619/original/file-20190416-147483-kfekp9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Maps can be a tool in the defense of Indigenous communities against extractive industries.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.cca.qc.ca/en/issues/2/what-the-future-looked-like/32752/1954-power">Canadian Centre for Architecture; Grant Tigner, painter. Seagrams Limited, publisher. The St. Lawrence Seaway and Power Project, in The St. Lawrence Seaway: The Realization of a Mighty Dream, 1954. </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For Indigenous peoples across the Americas, urgent threats imposed by the industrial extraction of natural resources has characterized the 21st century. The expansion of industry has threatened Indigenous territories, cultures and sovereignty. These industries include: <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2325548X.2015.1050761">timber and pulp extraction</a>, <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ri_TAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=Subterranean+Struggles:+New+Dynamics+of+Mining,+Oil+and+Gas+in+Latin+America&ots=eTRrQzUUJJ&sig=AA5Rfz4MEMtYmdEYynPBQehj9ac#v=onepage&q=Subterranean%20Struggles%3A%20New%20Dynamics%20of%20Mining%2C%20Oil%20and%20Gas%20in%20Latin%20America&f=false">mining</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230368798_1">oil and gas</a> and <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Alae0xoELNMC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Power+from+the+North:+Territory,+Identity,+and+the+Culture+of+Hydroelectricity+in+Quebec&ots=tARJesDzJc&sig=r1OhUpZGlBLhih2S8yAAzxngVeU#v=onepage&q=Power%20from%20the%20North%3A%20Territory%2C%20Identity%2C%20and%20the%20Culture%20of%20Hydroelectricity%20in%20Quebec&f=false">hydroelectric development</a>. As well, the <a href="https://www.proc-int-cartogr-assoc.net/1/71/2018/">extraction of human beings</a> from their lands has real implications for the survival of communities.</p>
<p>The debate of territory is essential in these <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sknCvaxqXn8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=The+new+resource+wars:+Native+and+environmental+struggles+against+multinational+corporations&ots=29zI5o4B_5&sig=RP3c-lSC2yn0FrWtqR-rm-vB-jc#v=onepage&q=The%20new%20resource%20wars%3A%20Native%20and%20environmental%20struggles%20against%20multinational%20corporations&f=false">resource conflicts</a>. Maps — and those who make and shape them — are central to the discussion of land rights, especially when it comes to industrial resource extraction and Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>Our project, <a href="http://mappingback.org/">MappingBack</a>, envisions mapping as a weapon and tactic to resist extractive industries. We see it as an excellent way to express complex Indigenous perspectives and relationships with the land.</p>
<h2>Maps as resistance</h2>
<p>There is a long history of the use of maps and cartographic techniques by countries and governments <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.anthro.34.081804.120429">to claim ownership over Indigenous territories</a>. But since the 1990s, Indigenous communities have been deploying mapping tactics as a mode of <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/missing-murdered-native-women_us_5beb0e48e4b044bbb1a99db0">Indigenous resistance</a>, resurgence and education. These tactics use historical memory and ancestral knowledge to assert territorial rights and community visioning. </p>
<p>Indigenous communities have either led or collaborated with multiple players to launch a broad array of <a href="https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/ethnographicmapping/projects/index.php">mapping projects</a> as a way of reclaiming ownership on the multiple aspects of their territories. These projects range from low-tech <a href="https://vimeo.com/88688016">community mapping</a> approaches to the use of the <a href="https://gcrc.carleton.ca/index.html?module=module.gcrcatlas_atlases">latest online web mapping technologies</a>. </p>
<p>Some academics have criticized these cartographic practices because of the continued <a href="https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/carto.47.2.77">subordination of Indigenous spatial world-views to western technologies</a> and histories. It is time to revisit these dominant mapping representations and conventional processes so that we can present different conceptions of the world. Representing these different conceptions calls for supporting the development of <a href="https://aeon.co/videos/native-cartography-a-bold-mapmaking-project-that-challenges-western-notions-of-place">Indigenous cartographic languages</a>. </p>
<p>Indigenous peoples conceive the diverse range of Indigenous territories as spaces of living relations; they are homelands since the beginning of creation; they are the reserve lands of forced resettlement, or they are spaces of refuge away from the violence and pressures of settler societies. </p>
<h2>MappingBack: A virtual community</h2>
<p>In 2017, MappingBack organized <a href="http://mappingback.org/project/mappingback-2017-workshop/">a three-day workshop in Montréal</a> that brought together 35 participants to collectively exchange ideas about mapping in Indigenous‐extractives conflicts. The discussion at the seminar helped to form the foundation of an online Indigenous mapping platform.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267174/original/file-20190402-177178-r0mn8c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The MappingBack platform is a tool to resist the industrial extraction of natural resources on Indigenous territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://mappingback.org/home_en/resources/">MappingBack project</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The participants were members of Indigenous communities engaged with the representation of territory, cartographers interested in alternative forms of spatial expressions and researchers and practitioners with expertise on extractive industries.</p>
<p>These different players worked together to challenge and explore forms of cartographic expressions to represent multiple issues, perceptions, meanings, histories and emotions that are at stake when industrial extraction enters Indigenous territories. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267185/original/file-20190402-177163-1t0i1n0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=243&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Participants of the MappingBack workshop in Montréal, Oct. 15, 2017.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“<a href="http://mappingback.org/">Mappingback – Indigenous Cartographies of Extractive Industries,</a>” grew into an online platform from those three days: it is a virtual collective space where Indigenous communities and allies can share their experiences and expertise related to mapping resource conflicts. Communities can also access experiences, stories and mapping tactics developed by others to fight against extractive industries on their homelands.</p>
<p>In developing MappingBack, we were inspired by the <a href="https://www.guerrillacartography.org/">Guerilla Cartography</a>’s collectively produced <a href="http://www.guerrillacartography.org/">atlases</a>. They aim to create a “new paradigm for cooperative and collaborative knowledge” to have a “transformative effect on the awareness and dissemination of spatial information.” </p>
<h2>Powerful collective knowledge</h2>
<p>The MappingBack platform helps to mobilize a broad range of alternative forms of spatial expression to serve the communities for public education and advocacy in defense of their territories.</p>
<p>We divided Mappingback into two main sections. <a href="http://mappingback.org/home_en/gallery/">Mapping Gallery</a> showcases a selection of mapping examples and processes designed with and by Indigenous communities. It includes maps designed during the 2017 Montréal workshop like <a href="http://mappingback.org/project/violation-and-restoration/">The Violation and Restoration Map</a> as well as other <a href="http://mappingback.org/project/mappingback-at-imw-2018/">examples crafted during</a> the <a href="https://www.indigenousmaps.com/2018imw/">2018 Indigenous Mapping Workshop</a>. Each example includes written or oral reflections about the mapping process. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267186/original/file-20190402-177167-1nh2d7o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Whose Land is it Anyway? (crafted by Charlotte Adams, Kaitlin Kok, Melissa Castron, Tom McGurk, Mary Kate Craig, Sébastien Caquard - Aug. 2018)</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://mappingback.org/home_en/resources/">Network, the second section of the platform,</a> offers a list of resources available for communities interested in using spatial representations to fight against extractive industries. </p>
<p>The resources have been mapped with <a href="https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/">uMap</a>, a free open source mapping application and include the names of Indigenous communities involved in fighting against extractive industries as well as a list of individuals indicating the expertise they are willing to contribute to the mapping project (Eg. GIS, legal, social or financial support).</p>
<p>Because some of the Indigenous communities involved in fighting against extractive industries have been exposed to high levels of threats and violence and have paid an expensive human cost, some of these resources will only be shared on a case by case scenario for privacy and security reasons.</p>
<p>MappingBack can support Indigenous perspectives on territories and resources through spatial representations. We hope it will serve Indigenous communities fighting against extractive industries. These fights are often at the forefront of broad and urgent environmental threats.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111472/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sébastien Caquard received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to work on this project </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annita Lucchesi, Leah Temper, and Thomas Mcgurk do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Historically, western corporate maps have been privileged over Indigenous ones. But given the essential debate of territory in resource conflicts, maps are a crucial tool.
Sébastien Caquard, Associate Professor in Geography, Concordia University
Annita Lucchesi, PhD student, University of Lethbridge
Daviken Studnicki-Gizbert, Associate professor, Department of History, McGill University
Leah Temper, Research Associate, History and Classical Studies, McGill University
Thomas Mcgurk, Lecturer, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/110735
2019-02-03T09:18:29Z
2019-02-03T09:18:29Z
What we learned when our map of southern Africa’s rivers went viral
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/256811/original/file-20190201-103164-uuj90x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The map that went viral.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sukhmani Mantel</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can you name the river closest to where you live? Have you ever seen that river on a map? How would you react if you saw that river, and others near you, in a map unlike others you have seen before? </p>
<p>We have spent a lot of time considering these questions and others related particularly to maps since a map of southern Africa’s rivers that one of us, Sukhmani, created and posted on Facebook. The post went viral.</p>
<p>And though it didn’t start out strictly as “science” – it was created on a whim after <a href="https://www.livescience.com/56751-visualization-of-united-states-rivers.html">seeing a map of US rivers</a> – the map has provided us with valuable insights into how scientists and researchers can use maps to engage with broad audiences beyond the usual journals and conferences.</p>
<p>The map was shared thousands of times in the months after it was posted on Facebook. A <a href="https://goo.gl/t7zqoU">high-resolution version</a> was accessed more than 2000 times in five months by people from 48 countries, many of them outside southern Africa. </p>
<p>These figures may not sound high in a world of viral online content. But, as researchers who are not necessarily used to such abundant public engagement, we were so surprised by the response that we asked those interested in downloading the map to complete <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/survey-to-figure-out-why-map-of-south-african-rivers-captivates-people-2018-9">a survey</a> so that we could begin to better understand what it was about the map that sparked their interest.</p>
<p>Our initial findings echo those emerging from a growing field of study, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325181270_Elements_of_Viral_Cartography">viral cartography</a>. The rise of open data and mapping platforms like <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/">Google Earth </a>and <a href="https://qgis.org/en/site/">QGIS</a> is turning maps and other spatial information into powerful tools for advancing knowledge. </p>
<p>Essentially, maps can show “the big picture” to a great many people. They can tell people an enormous amount in an engaging and often colourful way, revealing everything from real and <a href="https://brilliantmaps.com/if-only-x-voted/">hypothetical voting patterns</a> to the layout of a region’s rivers.</p>
<p>Our hope is that other researchers who want to share knowledge, source information and engage with the public can learn from – and build on – this story of a river map gone viral.</p>
<h2>Why maps matter</h2>
<p>Maps have fascinated people for centuries. In recent years, research has shown that they can <a href="https://www.gislounge.com/makes-maps-go-viral/">elicit emotional responses</a>. After all, maps are inherently <a href="https://www.acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/723">political</a>. What we see on a map either aligns with our view of the world, or doesn’t. When it does, we share the map because it confirms our beliefs. When it doesn’t, we hit “share” because we want others to see what we’re criticising.</p>
<p>Maps are also inherently incorrect, and can be misleading. This is because they depict three-dimensional earth on a two-dimensional space. We cannot (yet) capture all the detail of earth’s surface in a single map.</p>
<p>It’s also important to remember that maps aren’t perfect. They can contain errors, or leave out information that would help people understand what they’re seeing.</p>
<p>So, how did these factors play out in relation to the rivers map? </p>
<h2>Going viral</h2>
<p>Through an initial review of responses to our questionnaire we identified several themes related to why people might have been interested in downloading the rivers map. These also linked to broad characteristics that were previously shown to give particular <a href="https://theconversation.com/memetics-and-the-science-of-going-viral-64416">internet memes a competitive advantage</a>, and to spread. </p>
<p>Broadly speaking, the characteristics of internet content with a competitive advantage are that it: 1) is genuinely useful to people; 2) is aesthetically pleasing or easily imitated by the human brain; and 3) answers a question of interest to a diverse group of people.</p>
<p>Respondents identified the rivers map as being genuinely useful to them. They appreciated that the map was freely accessible and that they could download it to share with family members and friends. </p>
<p>Second, respondents found the river map as aesthetically pleasing. One person noted that, had such a map been available when they were in school, it would have made learning geography more memorable. This is another reminder that art, in many forms, can bring “unseen” elements of science and nature to diverse audiences.</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/an-artists-lens-on-the-wonders-of-the-world-brings-science-to-life-77026">An artist's lens on the wonders of the world brings science to life</a>
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</em>
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<p>This response also chimes with research that suggests that <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117148">colours in an image can influence how it spreads in social media</a>. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117148">Red, purple and pink</a> have been found to be particularly useful when promoting an image on social media.</p>
<p>Third, respondents indicated that the map helped them understand the distribution of the rivers and the land over which water flows in southern Africa. This group was interested in how the map visualised boundaries and connections between rivers and land and sea. One person wrote: “Correlation between the mountain ranges and watersheds is easily observed on this map, even without the topographic information.” </p>
<p>In this way, the rivers map offered the landscape in a new or interesting perspective. It provided information in a way that seems to have addressed questions held by diverse groups of people.</p>
<p>Finally, people were able to engage with the map and point out errors, which could then be fixed.</p>
<p>Of course, not all content that ticks these boxes will go viral. But, as public engagement becomes <a href="https://theconversation.com/science-can-influence-policy-and-benefit-the-public-heres-how-41668">more and more important to society</a>, it’s useful for scientists to know what <em>can</em> work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sukhmani Mantel receives funding from Water Research Commission, a government funding body. The data I used for the map is from the Department of Water and Sanitation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Januchowski-Hartley receives funding from Welsh European Funding Office and European Regional Development Fund under project no. 80761-SU-140 (West).</span></em></p>
Maps can show “the big picture” to lots and lots of people in an engaging and colourful way.
Sukhmani Mantel, Senior Research Officer Institute for water research, Rhodes University
Stephanie Januchowski-Hartley, Sêr Cymru Research Fellow, Swansea University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/102611
2018-09-11T11:44:55Z
2018-09-11T11:44:55Z
Happiness is the metric of the future – but there are problems with how we measure it
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235649/original/file-20180910-123107-wgrip4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-young-woman-healthy-teeth-on-705779773?src=TSTZ1M9FBCed1yqNvcnnUA-2-23">Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Move over GDP: happiness is angling to become the metric of the future. Nation states have begun to compete in global happiness rankings and plan policy according to statistics of well-being.</p>
<p>Most recently, <a href="https://www.budget.govt.nz/budget/2018/economic-fiscal-outlook/budget-2019-focus-on-wellbeing.htm">New Zealand</a> announced that its 2019 budget will report on how national spending impacts on well-being. City authorities are developing “smart” approaches to measuring happiness, mobilising an ever increasing array of mobile apps and behavioural data that aim to sense, map and explain our daily happiness. For example, the Smart Dubai Office launched their <a href="http://www.itp.net/615725-smart-dubai-holds-workshop-for-shape-happiness-tool">Smart Happiness Index</a> earlier in 2018, which promises to assess the performance of their city managers based on happiness gain per funds spent.</p>
<p>This emphasis comes off the back of the academic field of happiness studies, which has emerged as a credible science – with its own research centres and academic journals – since the turn of the 21st century. A simple Google Scholar search for happiness scholarship published in 2018 will pull up an astonishing 23,000 hits. </p>
<p>The field’s <a href="https://link-springer-com.ezproxye.bham.ac.uk/article/10.1023/A%3A1010077309452">leading scholars</a> originally set out to bring together diverse insights from philosophy, psychology, sociology, health perspectives, economics, cultural studies and the arts, to rigorously investigate how satisfied people feel about their life and how they assess their own subjective well-being. Psychologists in particular were fed up of focusing on distress and disorder, and launched the associated field of <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2000-13324-001">positive psychology</a> at this time.</p>
<h2>Measuring a smile</h2>
<p>The idea that happiness can be measured and mapped, and that it varies geographically, is now established. Every three years since 2012, a <a href="http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2012/">World Happiness Report</a> releases eagerly awaited global rankings of happiness. These are based on a global survey that asks people to evaluate how they feel about their life on a scale from zero to ten. The rankings are usually dominated by the Nordic countries, with Finland currently topping the list.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235790/original/file-20180911-144464-bp6e31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235790/original/file-20180911-144464-bp6e31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235790/original/file-20180911-144464-bp6e31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235790/original/file-20180911-144464-bp6e31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235790/original/file-20180911-144464-bp6e31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235790/original/file-20180911-144464-bp6e31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235790/original/file-20180911-144464-bp6e31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Finland: currently the happiest country in the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/winter-sport-finland-nordic-walking-senior-554386903?src=clPLbr_xc8V55yLjjvAy1g-1-0">Aleksandra Suzi/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While people might generally feel that their happiness is something intangible which cannot be given a number, this new measurement approach is increasingly popular among governments who want to move beyond economic growth as a measure of a nation’s value and progress. Meanwhile, a <a href="https://wellbeingeconomy.org/">global movement</a> for transforming current economic models to one based on well-being is gathering support.</p>
<p>It’s true that we now know a substantial amount about happiness, including who is happiest and where, social patterns in happiness according to your age and gender, and what drives individual and national levels of happiness, such as income, education, social relationships, good national governance, and health. Yet levels of <a href="https://eml.berkeley.edu/%7Esaez/ACPSZ2018WIDWP.pdf">global economic inequality</a> and high rates of <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/254610/WHO-MSD-MER-2017.2-eng.pdf">global depression and mental distress</a> persist. In other words, while we know a lot more about happiness, happiness as a whole has not improved.</p>
<p>This is a pressing issue, and should affect how national governments, cities, and local authorities go about their modern attempts to improve happiness levels. The problem is that as the field has taken off, a particular understanding of happiness has taken hold. And it is increasingly clear that this definition is limiting.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236012/original/file-20180912-133901-a5lpo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236012/original/file-20180912-133901-a5lpo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236012/original/file-20180912-133901-a5lpo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236012/original/file-20180912-133901-a5lpo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236012/original/file-20180912-133901-a5lpo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236012/original/file-20180912-133901-a5lpo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236012/original/file-20180912-133901-a5lpo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236012/original/file-20180912-133901-a5lpo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Countries and cities that focus on metrics of well-being.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Jessica Pykett</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Defining happiness</h2>
<p>Behavioural economists have been highly influential in bringing happiness studies to the public policy agenda on a world stage. But in order to measure happiness, it had to be redefined <a href="https://whatworkswellbeing.org/product/definitions-and-measures-of-subjective-wellbeing-discussion-paper-3/">as an observable behaviour</a>. As such, happiness as understood by those monitoring and measuring it is something internal, concerning the mental aspects of individual – yet as everyone knows, happiness generally relates to something outside of ourselves (we feel happy “about” something), and can be transformed by a change in our external circumstances.</p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/roiw.12369">Economists</a> working in happiness studies are also increasingly interested in using neuroscientific and genetic evidence in their efforts to eliminate bias and provide objective, comparable measures. Again this involves looking inwards – this time at our biology rather than our behaviour – to define what happiness actually means.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235749/original/file-20180911-144473-1kz9eau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235749/original/file-20180911-144473-1kz9eau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235749/original/file-20180911-144473-1kz9eau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235749/original/file-20180911-144473-1kz9eau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235749/original/file-20180911-144473-1kz9eau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235749/original/file-20180911-144473-1kz9eau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235749/original/file-20180911-144473-1kz9eau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is neuroscience the key to happiness?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/doctor-hand-holds-mri-brain-scan-761256601">DedMityay/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are serious limitations to behavioural economic and neuroscientific explanations. These approaches transform subjective well-being into an objectified measure, a target of national and global governance, by aggregating the well-being of anonymised individuals. This downplays the role of culture and context in shaping our very sense of self, our expectations, aspirations and perceptions. Alternative understandings that challenge the boundaries between inside and out, and that are central to understanding this important field, have been eclipsed.</p>
<p>“Culture”, then, is a sticking point for behavioural definitions of happiness. Even the idea that subjective well-being can be measured by a survey is increasingly contested by some economists, who have, for example, identified that people’s assessments of their happiness can be affected by the way in which their country’s education system grades exams – <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-18-00325.html">an unusual effect</a> which challenges the validity of global happiness indexes.</p>
<h2>Paradoxes of happiness</h2>
<p>Further limitations are often highlighted by economists and psychologists. Namely, while we might commonly think of happiness as the opposite of depression, this does not always appear to be the case. People living with mental health problems can simultaneously <a href="https://psywb.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/2211-1522-1-2">report feeling happy</a>. Some of the happiest nations, such as Finland and Denmark, also have high suicide rates, as reported in <a href="http://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1236906/FULLTEXT02.pdf">a new study</a>, which set out to expose some of the contradictions in the Nordic dominance of global happiness league tables. Isabella Arendt, a researcher at the Danish Happiness Research Institute, told me recently how she sees happiness as a relative and dynamic term, which seems far more sensible: “Even if we lived in a Utopia, there would still be unhappy people.”</p>
<p>Another paradox haunts happiness studies: creating the conditions to promote well-being may in fact be driven by a sense of dissatisfaction and unhappiness with the status quo. Less happy people, for example, are <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-90-481-2350-6_8">more likely</a> to be politically active than happy ones. Little wonder, then, that increased scientific knowledge about happiness has not yet led to significant social change.</p>
<p>These limitations and paradoxes need to shape the future of happiness studies and well-being policies. It seems improbable that the current “smart happy cities” movement, informed by predictive behavioural analytics, wearable emotion sensing and empathic machine learning, will provide a 21st-century technical fix to the centuries old question of what happiness is and how we might collectively pursue it. <a href="http://conference.rgs.org/AC2018/d932c310-05c1-4299-9570-5dd8b37c7d87">Tracking happiness</a> is all very well, but before we use such maps to determine how we are governed, we need to understand what happens to our happiness when it becomes an emotion to be <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-58204-1_10">mapped, measured and managed</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102611/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Pykett has previously received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>
Can happiness really be mapped?
Jessica Pykett, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Birmingham
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/91456
2018-03-14T10:01:07Z
2018-03-14T10:01:07Z
Economists are unfairly maligned – but they are often pretty prejudiced themselves
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210077/original/file-20180313-30958-kld2eu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/accounting-job-126103568">FotoYakov/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I am an economist, and I have spent many hours of my life trying to fight misleading stereotypes about what I do. People, for example, often assume that when I say “I’m an economist”, I mean “I worship the creed of self-righting markets”.</p>
<p>In response to such assumptions or accusations, some of the world’s leading economists are <a href="https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/economics-and-finance/dismal-ignorance-of-the-dismal-science-a-response-to-larry-elliot">attempting</a> to explain <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhatEconomistsReallyDo?src=hash">#WhatEconomistsReallyDo</a>. This is an important effort. But I think this discussion is also a great opportunity for economists to reflect on their own prejudices, in particular those regarding other social sciences.</p>
<p>Duncan Green, senior strategic adviser at Oxfam, <a href="https://twitter.com/fp2p/status/943927097587879936">recently wrote on Twitter</a> that, while working at the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), he “got into trouble” at an “economics for non-economists” course for asking when the “non-economics for economists” course would be running.</p>
<p>There is something to this: it’s unhelpful when people criticise economics without understanding what economists actually do, but it is also unhelpful when economists criticise or even entirely disregard research from other disciplines simply because they use different methodologies.</p>
<p>Let’s start with “economics for non-economists”.</p>
<h2>Economists</h2>
<p>The different views on what economists actually do can be nicely <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/2389b3e0-d853-11e6-944b-e7eb37a6aa8e">captured in metaphors</a>. I find the cartography metaphor spot on: economists try to create and use maps to navigate the world of human choices.</p>
<p>If economists are cartographers, then economic models are their maps. Models, just like maps, make assumptions to abstract from unnecessary detail and show you the way.</p>
<p>Different maps are helpful in different situations. That’s what makes this metaphor helpful. If you are hiking in the Alps and you want to find your way, you will want a map that gives you a simplified perspective of the terrain – steep changes in altitude should stand out. A map with <a href="https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/File:Etna_Contours.jpg">elevation contour lines</a> will be very helpful. </p>
<p>On the other hand, if you are an engineer trying to calibrate the compass in an airplane, then a hiking map is not going to be of much use to you. Instead, you’ll want a map that gives you a simplified perspective of how magnetic fields change – a map that highlights <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination#Declination_change_over_time_and_location">magnetic variation</a> by showing you <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/isogonic_line">isogonic lines</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210078/original/file-20180313-30969-1y86cp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210078/original/file-20180313-30969-1y86cp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210078/original/file-20180313-30969-1y86cp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210078/original/file-20180313-30969-1y86cp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210078/original/file-20180313-30969-1y86cp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210078/original/file-20180313-30969-1y86cp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210078/original/file-20180313-30969-1y86cp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are all sorts of maps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/3d-topographic-map-background-concept-topo-727794478?src=L8wDeWoSebCKAyM7rDXPzw-1-0">Andis Rea/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Deciding whether it is a good idea to rely on a specific map in a concrete situation is difficult. You need to understand the map’s limitations, as well as the limitations and strengths of available alternatives. For your hike in the Alps, a map of magnetic forces won’t be very helpful. There is nothing wrong with mapping isogonic lines; we should just know what they are and when to use them.</p>
<p>This example illustrates a key point. When people criticise economics they are often criticising how a specific map is unhelpful to answer a specific question, rather than criticising the foundational methods of the discipline.</p>
<p>Still, criticising how economists practice the discipline is important. Economic advice often feeds into policy decisions that affect a large number of people. So if economists make mistakes, or if they are unclear or ineffective communicators of the assumptions and limitations of their models, it can have large implications.</p>
<h2>Sociologists</h2>
<p>Now let’s move to “non-economics for economists”. If economists make maps, then what do, say, sociologists do? As it turns out, they also make maps: just different kinds of maps.</p>
<p>Economists often think that they have a monopoly over this “social science cartography”. This is both wrong and counterproductive. The fact that other social scientists don’t (usually) write their theories in mathematical notation, or that they rely on qualitative rather than quantitative research methods, doesn’t mean that they can’t make helpful maps of the world, or that their maps are in some way inferior. I personally like using maths to formalise my ideas. But maths is just a language. Unfortunately, some economists sometimes forget this; they mistake the language for the message.</p>
<p>I think a big part of the bias that many economists have against qualitative research is grounded in ignorance about what rigorous qualitative research actually looks like, and how it might be successfully used in practice.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210149/original/file-20180313-30994-1ybapvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210149/original/file-20180313-30994-1ybapvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210149/original/file-20180313-30994-1ybapvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210149/original/file-20180313-30994-1ybapvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210149/original/file-20180313-30994-1ybapvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210149/original/file-20180313-30994-1ybapvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/210149/original/file-20180313-30994-1ybapvc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map derived from talking to people might look quite different – but it’s no less valid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bardocz Peter/Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Suppose that we are tasked with hunting for archaeological treasures buried in London. A qualitative researcher may try to make a map by relying on non-numerical data – for example, by going around the city, and interviewing people in a systematic and rigorous way.</p>
<p>If people keep on saying that there is an old folk song that tells the story of a hidden treasure in the South Bank, then that’s a sort of map. How helpful is such map? Well, who knows. It depends on the specific situation and the alternatives available. It also depends on what you ask, how you ask, who you ask. But the point is that it would be silly to dismiss the information just because it is qualitative.</p>
<h2>Working together</h2>
<p>In the hypothetical treasure hunt situation above, a simple map of the streets of London might be useless on its own. But in combination with the extra information from the folk songs, it might actually be useful – it might help us get to the South Bank treasure trove. Indeed, alternative research methods can be (and often are) complements rather than substitutes. There are many concrete real-world situations where new insights emerge from combining quantitative and qualitative research methods.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2013/12/randomised-control-trials">randomised policy evaluations</a> can be complemented with qualitative methods to help uncover the underlying mechanisms that produce quantifiable outcomes. Here’s a concrete instance: in a multi-country impact evaluation of interventions aimed at improving women’s empowerment, qualitative studies are being <a href="https://www.poverty-action.org/blog/encouraging-mixed-methods-impact-evaluations-women%E2%80%99s-empowerment-economist%E2%80%99s-perspective">used</a> to unpack the role that social norms have in perpetuating barriers to women’s empowerment.</p>
<p>There are many other fascinating examples that illustrate the power of combining methods in the social sciences. Researchers have been able to cast light on the <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/74b3/77a99ceeae27d29dc50f9cba263e1bf96b52.pdf">economics of street prostitution</a> in Chicago by combining official arrest records with data on “tricks” (transactions) collected in cooperation with sex workers; and we have been able to learn about the workings of deliberative democracy in South India from <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2084387">research</a> that combines data from linguistic divisions, household surveys, and transcripts from discussions in village parliaments.</p>
<p>There is plenty of evidence showing the potential of multidisciplinary research. Social scientists, economists included, would all benefit from explaining what they do better, while trying harder to identify opportunities for collaboration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91456/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esteban Ortiz-Ospina receives funding from the project Our World in Data – all funders of this project are listed here: <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/about">https://ourworldindata.org/about</a></span></em></p>
Economists try to create and use maps to navigate the world of human choices. But in some ways, these maps are limited.
Esteban Ortiz-Ospina, Research Associate, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/84474
2017-09-26T13:03:15Z
2017-09-26T13:03:15Z
Why Amazonian forest peoples are ‘counter-mapping’ their ancestral lands
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187192/original/file-20170922-17306-439tju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C2434%2C2128&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">"The earth is our mother. We should look after and respect her. This territory is where the peccary passed. Under the authority of Karodaybi [the first Munduruku warrior]</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mauricio Torres</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1707, a Jesuit missionary from what is now the Czech Republic named Samuel Fritz published one of the first detailed maps of the Amazon River. Fritz spent much of his life in the region and his map names and locates (often incorrectly) many of the Amazonian forest peoples he encountered. In this sense, his map helped tie them to certain places, and to particular colonially-defined identities. </p>
<p>While Fritz was mapping out the Amazon, other Europeans were hard at work in tropical forested countries across the globe, drawing up boundaries that ignored and criminalised forest peoples’ customary rights to live in their ancestral territories. </p>
<p>Maps have always been part of the imposition of power over colonised peoples. While map-making might be thought of as “objective”, it is fundamentally political, a necessary part of controlling a territory. Maps inscribe borders, which are then used to include some and exclude others.</p>
<p>During a late 19th-century rubber boom, Amazonia became increasingly well mapped out as the young nations of <a href="http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo8352731.html">Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia</a> vied for territorial control. The rights and interests of Amazonian peoples were never included in this process and they would be continually denied rights, recognition and citizenship from these nations until the 1980s and 1990s. Even following legal recognition, their territorial rights – critical for their continued existence – are still often ignored in practice.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187191/original/file-20170922-17241-1hcej4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187191/original/file-20170922-17241-1hcej4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187191/original/file-20170922-17241-1hcej4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187191/original/file-20170922-17241-1hcej4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187191/original/file-20170922-17241-1hcej4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187191/original/file-20170922-17241-1hcej4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187191/original/file-20170922-17241-1hcej4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187191/original/file-20170922-17241-1hcej4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fritz’s map of Amazonia, published in 1707.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Mara%C3%B1on_or_Amazon_River_with_the_Mission_of_the_Society_of_Jesus_WDL1137.png">Samuel Fritz</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These marginalised people are now working together to reclaim the process of mapping itself. In the central Brazilian Amazon there has been a recent flurry of “counter-mapping”, used by forest peoples to contest the very state maps that initially failed to recognise their ancestral territorial rights.</p>
<p>Counter-mapping first came to prominence in the 1990s, when it was particularly influential in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8330.1995.tb00286.x/abstract">Indonesia</a>. Back then, it was rudimentary and new maps were produced by hand. Today, communities have access to GPS and smartphones and are able to walk along trails marking out their territorial claims. </p>
<p>In Brazil counter-mapping falls under the wider term of “auto-demarcation”, which also includes various other forms of territorial monitoring that would normally be carried out by the state. The goal is to safeguard the integrity of territory, defined as much more than just land (schools, for example, are one stated objective). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187195/original/file-20170922-15786-qm3zzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187195/original/file-20170922-15786-qm3zzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187195/original/file-20170922-15786-qm3zzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187195/original/file-20170922-15786-qm3zzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187195/original/file-20170922-15786-qm3zzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187195/original/file-20170922-15786-qm3zzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187195/original/file-20170922-15786-qm3zzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Munduruku school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mauricio Torres</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Brazil, recognition of forest peoples’ territorial rights <a href="https://www.academia.edu/34807336/_Eu_n%C3%A3o_quero_o_lugar_dos_outros_direitos_e_conflitos_na_Terra_Ind%C3%ADgena_Cachoeira_Seca">can take decades</a>. The government, acting in the interest of rural elites, is currently attempting to <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/brazils-temer-revokes-constitutional-indigenous-land-rights/">roll back these rights</a>. </p>
<p>The Munduruku people of the middle Tapajós river, a southern tributary of the Amazon, provide the most iconic example of counter-mapping. The <a href="http://amazonwatch.org/news/2014/1105-defying-brazilian-government-indigenous-group-proceeds-with-demarcation-of-amazonian-territory">auto-demarcation</a> of their <a href="https://www.academia.edu/34351613/Ipi_Ocemumuge_A_Regional_Archaeology_of_the_Upper_Tapaj%C3%B3s_River">ancestral Sawre Muybu territory</a> is part of a wider Munduruku political movement <a href="https://www.academia.edu/34696525/GOVERNO_KARODAYBI_O_movimento_Ipere%C4%9F_Ay%C5%A9_e_a_resist%C3%AAncia_Munduruku">Ipereğ Ayũ</a> against dam construction and industrial mining on their land.</p>
<p>Neighbouring riverine peasants who self-identify as “the Beiradeiros,” are counter-mapping their community of Montanha-Mangabal to resist land grabbing, illegal mining and logging. The Beiradeiros and the Munduruku have passed from being enemies to allies through joint political action against <a href="http://amazonwatch.org/news/2017/0726-we-are-made-of-the-sacred">major proposed hydroelectric projects</a> and now work together to auto-demarcate their respective territories.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187204/original/file-20170922-15786-1ar49l9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187204/original/file-20170922-15786-1ar49l9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/187204/original/file-20170922-15786-1ar49l9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187204/original/file-20170922-15786-1ar49l9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187204/original/file-20170922-15786-1ar49l9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187204/original/file-20170922-15786-1ar49l9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187204/original/file-20170922-15786-1ar49l9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/187204/original/file-20170922-15786-1ar49l9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The beiradeiros’ auto-demarcation of Montanha-Mangabal community in progress.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ailen Vega</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But can counter-mapping really liberate these communities? Research on counter-mapping in <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1474474008101515">Nicaragua and Belize</a> in the 1990s and 2000s shows it did result in the recognition of indigenous land rights. But land can’t fix everything. Even reclaiming their land couldn’t free indigenous peoples from colonial social relations. State-indigenous relationships continued to be oriented around property rights, the basis of modern politics. </p>
<p>Counter-mapping can also be ineffective. In the <a href="http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/?GCOI=80140100747480">Chaco region of Bolivia</a>, years of stalled land titling led some Guaraní indigenous people to give up on state recognition of their territory. Instead, they signed an agreement with Repsol, a Spanish oil company, which acknowledged their property rights. Despite this having no legal standing in Bolivian law, the Guaraní saw an agreement with an oil company as better than a state land title.</p>
<p>In central Brazilian Amazonia, however, auto-demarcation has in some cases forced the government to act. For instance, the Munduruku have gained official recognition of their territory, <a href="http://www.funai.gov.br/index.php/comunicacao/noticias/3712-funai-publica-estudos-das-terras-indigenas-sawre-muybu-pa-ypoi-triunfo-ms-sambaqui-pr-e-jurubaxi-tea-am">Sawre Muybu</a>. Auto-demarcation then can be understood as a combative form of dialogue with the state, of struggle for access to territorial rights, much more than just the materialisation of these rights. </p>
<p>The indigenous peoples of the middle and lower Tapajós are now considering the links between their struggles and those of the <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/21427-from-fire-to-autonomy-zapatistas-20-years-of-walking-slowly">Zapatista movement</a> in southern Mexico, where auto-demarcation was used as part of reclaiming their sovereignty. </p>
<p>The degree of political agency and empowerment that Amazonian forest peoples acquire through the process of auto-demarcation is striking. Independent of whether it leads to state action and guarantees of territory, this is an important achievement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84474/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Angus Fraser has received funding from the ESRC and Leverhulme Trust. </span></em></p>
They are contesting the maps that deny them territorial rights.
James A. Fraser, Lecturer in Political Ecology, Lancaster University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/80341
2017-08-07T09:20:50Z
2017-08-07T09:20:50Z
Three reasons to think twice about mapping the brain
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180856/original/file-20170803-7132-14fr9g5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Interior Design / Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The brain has a geography that matters. The cerebral cortex (the grey outer layer of the brain) is folded into our skulls in such a way as to reduce the wiring length of our neurons and improve cognitive function. Needless to say, this folding is incredibly complex. In order to examine and make sense of this structure, neuroscientists are increasingly turning to maps to represent its complexity. Much like the towns, cities, countries and continents represented on a typical geographic map, areas of the brain are similarly being spatially defined, labelled and understood through a process of mapping.</p>
<p>Mapping the brain is key to understanding how it works. The population is ageing and <a href="https://www.alz.org/news_and_events_facts_and_figures_report.asp">one in three seniors</a> will die with Alzheimer’s or another dementia. Mapping brain areas could help in the early identification of such generative disorders. An improved ability to chart the loss of brain volume with advancing age could help in the routine diagnosis of individuals with possible cognitive problems, by indicating if their brain is within normal limits for their age and establishing a “brain Body Mass Index (BMI)”.</p>
<p>Eventually, there may even be efforts to train and medicate flagged individuals, stimulating specific brain areas that appear to deviate from the norm curves. In this respect, mapping the brain takes on an important role in keeping track of brain structure and identifying degenerative health.</p>
<p>The emergence of this “<a href="http://www.janeprophet.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Jane-Prophet-Art-Paper-SIGGRAPH-Asia2015-final.pdf">neuro cartography</a>” has been welcomed as a novel way to examine and understand the complexity of the brain. But it has received very little critical attention from scholars interested in deconstructing the power of maps, a long-established field in geography. And there are a few reasons why we should remain <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/impossible-partnerships-mapping-uncharted-territories-members-only-tickets-33247800065#">critical of the manner in which we map the brain</a>.</p>
<h2>1. Maps are not neutral</h2>
<p>Maps are not neutral representations of the world: they are social and political constructions. Country borders represented on maps, for example, produce and maintain the authority of the state over its territory. This has a powerful effect on the geographical imaginations of citizens using maps. </p>
<p>The manner in which the world’s three-dimensional geography is flattened onto a two-dimensional map is also often political – the Mercator Projection, the <a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/07/projection-mercator/">most commonly used map</a> of the globe <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-maps-that-will-change-how-you-see-the-world-74967">inflates the size of countries in the global north</a>, for example, giving a skewed view of reality. There is no perfect world map.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180866/original/file-20170803-5618-5fghpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180866/original/file-20170803-5618-5fghpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180866/original/file-20170803-5618-5fghpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180866/original/file-20170803-5618-5fghpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180866/original/file-20170803-5618-5fghpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180866/original/file-20170803-5618-5fghpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180866/original/file-20170803-5618-5fghpg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Mercator projection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection#/media/File:Mercator_projection_SW.jpg">Daniel R. Strebe</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Maps are useful tools for simplifying the complexities into accurate and practical representations. They are tools to draw and maintain boundaries, to win arguments and pursue agendas, to tell stories, to represent incomplete truths and to act as aesthetic objects. As such, all maps are embedded with a social and political power that matters. This is particularly important to consider when maps are used as tools of scientific authority.</p>
<p>Maps – whether geographical or neurological – need to be critically assessed because they have an innate power to produce certain knowledge. As such, in these early days of brain mapping, we need to be conscious of any similar assumptions that may influence or taint how the field develops. We should examine how, why and where brain maps are produced and used.</p>
<h2>2. One size does not fit all</h2>
<p>Acting as scientific tools of authority, brain maps go out into the world and produce perspectives on the brain that are taken seriously. But the perfect average brain does not exist, and so nor does the perfect brain map. Variance in brain volume, shape and thickness between individuals is immense. Global and regional brain volumes reflect the lifelong additive and interactive influence of multiple genetic, environmental and experiential factors.</p>
<p>The common one size fits all brain map does not reflect the diversity of brains, something which is vital to consider when using such maps to understand the brains of large populations. It is therefore crucial to remain critical of brain maps, for as the history of cartography shows, representing scientific knowledge through the map can lead us to a place where the authority of maps goes unquestioned, sidelining other possible interpretations of issues.</p>
<p>For example, there is no one perfect example of a schizophrenic brain. Every patient is unique and each schizophrenic’s current brain health needs to be assessed in conjunction with other factors. The plan should start with a doctor visit and extensive testing, including among other things, family/health history, blood exams, cognitive tests and an MRI. Authoritative brain maps may serve to detract from this more personalised approach.</p>
<h2>3. Ownership has changed in the digital era</h2>
<p>Examining advances in digital technology is also central to understanding the ways that the brain is mapped. Brain mapping has been <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v536/n7615/abs/nature18933.html?foxtrotcallback=true">revolutionised</a> by technological advances in the last 30 years through technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners. It is also now possible to distribute and publish the content of brain maps much more freely, enabling a positive interactivity between researchers and a wider public. Projects such as <a href="http://enigma.ini.usc.edu/">ENIGMA</a>, the <a href="https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/en/">Human Brain Project</a>, and the <a href="http://www.kavlifoundation.org/brain-initiative">BRAIN Initiative</a> already offer a platform for contribution and wider collaboration in brain mapping. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180857/original/file-20170803-5618-mjen0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/180857/original/file-20170803-5618-mjen0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180857/original/file-20170803-5618-mjen0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180857/original/file-20170803-5618-mjen0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180857/original/file-20170803-5618-mjen0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180857/original/file-20170803-5618-mjen0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/180857/original/file-20170803-5618-mjen0s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digital brains.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Imagine Photographer / Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like the map itself, such technology has implicit social and cultural biases that need to be unpacked in order to properly understand how, why and where brain maps are produced and used.</p>
<p>The scientific community is as rigorous as ever, but brain mapping has not yet changed everyday life. Google Earth and Google Maps have changed the way we interact with our everyday environments in ways that did not seem probable when the technology was first introduced. Let’s speculate a little – what if you could navigate your own brain in the same way that you navigate around the city you live in or visit on holiday? </p>
<p>Or, to take things even further, what are the potential benefits and pitfalls of VR technologies for brain mapping; how might we visualise and experience brain maps in the future? And could we have more ownership and authorship of the mapping process of the brain as non-professionals? </p>
<p>These and other questions need to be interrogated. Brain mapping is evolving, fast, and it is crucial that we incorporate a more critical approach to understanding its processes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80341/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Danai Dima has not received any funding for this project but her research has been partially funded by a NARSAD 2014 Young Investigator Award (Leichtung Family Investigator, Grant ID: 22471) and a Psychiatric Research Trust (Grant Reference: 92 Branthwaite) grant.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dot Young has not received any funding for this project, but has previously received funding from the Performance Research and Development Fund and the Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund, University of London to study the sonic histories of objects.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Duggan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations. He has not received any funding for this project, but has previously received funding from the EPSRC and the Ordnance Survey to study maps. </span></em></p>
Areas of the brain are being mapped, much like the towns, cities and countries represented in a typical atlas.
Danai Dima, Lecturer in Cognitive Neuroscience, City, University of London
Dot Young, Lecturer in BATP Prop Making, Royal Central School of Speech & Drama
Mike Duggan, Cultural Geographer, Royal Holloway University of London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/74967
2017-03-22T15:15:49Z
2017-03-22T15:15:49Z
Five maps that will change how you see the world
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162037/original/image-20170322-31190-1rbflrz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://archive.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=360">Worldmapper.org / Sasi Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Boston public schools recently announced that they will shift to using world maps based on the <a href="http://www.oxfordcartographers.com/our-maps/peters-projection-map/">Peters projection</a>, reportedly the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/19/boston-public-schools-world-map-mercator-peters-projection">first time a US public school district</a> has done so. Why? Because the Peters projection accurately shows different countries’ relative sizes. Although it distorts countries’ shapes, this way of drawing a world map avoids exaggerating the size of developed nations in Europe and North America and reducing the size of less developed countries in Asia, Africa and South America. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162017/original/image-20170322-31187-12ez00u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162017/original/image-20170322-31187-12ez00u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162017/original/image-20170322-31187-12ez00u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162017/original/image-20170322-31187-12ez00u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162017/original/image-20170322-31187-12ez00u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162017/original/image-20170322-31187-12ez00u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162017/original/image-20170322-31187-12ez00u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peters projection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gall–Peters_projection#/media/File:Gall–Peters_projection_SW.jpg">Daniel R. Strebe</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is what happens with the more commonly used <a href="https://www.wired.com/2013/07/projection-mercator/">Mercator projection</a>, which exaggerates the size of the Earth around the poles and shrinks it around the equator. So the developed “global North” appears bigger than reality, and equatorial regions, which tend to be less developed, appear smaller. It’s especially problematic given that the first world maps based on the Mercator projection were produced by European colonialists.</p>
<p>Why does this problem occur? Simply put, the world is round and a map is flat. Imagine drawing a world map on an orange, peeling the skin to leave a single piece and then flattening it. It would, of course, rip. But imagine you could stretch it. As you did so, the map drawn on its surface would distort.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162016/original/image-20170322-31176-2q8pz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162016/original/image-20170322-31176-2q8pz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162016/original/image-20170322-31176-2q8pz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162016/original/image-20170322-31176-2q8pz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162016/original/image-20170322-31176-2q8pz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162016/original/image-20170322-31176-2q8pz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162016/original/image-20170322-31176-2q8pz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mercator projection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection#/media/File:Mercator_projection_SW.jpg">Daniel R. Strebe</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The distortions this introduces are massive. And different projections distort maps in different ways. The Mercator projection depicts Greenland as larger than Africa. But, in reality, Africa is 14 times the size of Greenland. It alters the way you see the size – and, <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/spais/migrated/documents/fotiadis0609.pdf">some people argue</a>, the way you see the importance – of different parts of the world. So this isn’t just a cartographer’s dilemma – it’s a political problem.</p>
<p>The Renaissance cartographer Gerardus Mercator did this to preserve the shapes of countries, so the map could be used to accurately <a href="http://www.geo.hunter.cuny.edu/%7Ejochen/gtech201/lectures/lec6concepts/Map%20coordinate%20systems/True%20direction%20and%20constant%20direction.htm">calculate compass bearings</a>. Accurate compass bearings are very important if you are a 16th century seafarer. But if you want a better idea of the relative size of the world’s landmasses, you need a map that distorts shape but preserves area, like the Peters projection does.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162018/original/image-20170322-31187-1nsly2w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162018/original/image-20170322-31187-1nsly2w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162018/original/image-20170322-31187-1nsly2w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162018/original/image-20170322-31187-1nsly2w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162018/original/image-20170322-31187-1nsly2w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162018/original/image-20170322-31187-1nsly2w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162018/original/image-20170322-31187-1nsly2w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162018/original/image-20170322-31187-1nsly2w.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mercator’s original 1569 map.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gerardus Mercator</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The difference between the Peters and Mercator projections shows how significant changing the way a map is drawn can be. Here are four other map styles that each come with their own political implications.</p>
<h2>South-up</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162021/original/image-20170322-31217-3p4bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162021/original/image-20170322-31217-3p4bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162021/original/image-20170322-31217-3p4bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162021/original/image-20170322-31217-3p4bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162021/original/image-20170322-31217-3p4bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162021/original/image-20170322-31217-3p4bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162021/original/image-20170322-31217-3p4bxk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">South-up Peters projection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel R. Strebe</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>North is up, right? Only by convention. There’s no scientific reason why north is any more up than south. Equally, we could do east-up, west-up or any other compass bearing. Purposefully reversing the typical way world maps are drawn has a similar political effect to using the Peters projection, putting more developing countries in the generally poorer southern hemisphere at the top of the map and so giving them greater significance.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vVX-PrBRtTY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>But some of the <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/2/maps-cartographycolonialismnortheurocentricglobe.html">first known world maps</a> put south at the top as a matter of course. For example, in 1154 Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi drew a south-up map of Europe, Asia and northern Africa for his book the Tabula Rogeriana. The Arabian Peninsula can be seen in the centre of the map but, of course, pointing upwards rather than the more familiar downwards.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162024/original/image-20170322-31203-1x8x6nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162024/original/image-20170322-31203-1x8x6nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=272&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162024/original/image-20170322-31203-1x8x6nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=272&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162024/original/image-20170322-31203-1x8x6nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=272&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162024/original/image-20170322-31203-1x8x6nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162024/original/image-20170322-31203-1x8x6nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162024/original/image-20170322-31203-1x8x6nl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">1927 recreation of the Tabula Rogeriana.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TabulaRogeriana.jpg">Muhammad al-Idrisi/Konrad Miller</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pacific-centred</h2>
<p>Another convention of world maps is that they are centred on the prime meridian, or zero degrees longitude (east-west). But this is scientifically arbitrary, deriving from the location of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. The result is that Europe (although also Africa) is in the centre of the conventional world map – a rather colonial perspective.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162030/original/image-20170322-31217-6vixc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162030/original/image-20170322-31217-6vixc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162030/original/image-20170322-31217-6vixc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162030/original/image-20170322-31217-6vixc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162030/original/image-20170322-31217-6vixc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162030/original/image-20170322-31217-6vixc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162030/original/image-20170322-31217-6vixc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pacific-centred map.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WorldMap-B_non-Frame.png">DEMIS Mapserver/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The familiar meridian-centred map conveniently places the map edges down the middle of the Pacific Ocean so no continent is chopped in two. But maps centred on the Pacific Ocean also work well because the edges of the map conveniently run down the middle of the Atlantic. This places east Asia in a more prominent position and pushes Europe to the edge. Much of Oceania and Asia uses Pacific-centred maps. (American-centred maps are also in use, but these have the unfortunate consequence of partitioning Asia to either side of the map.)</p>
<p>Our meridian-centred view of the world shapes how we refer to world regions. “Far East”, for example, implies far from Greenwich, London. Seeing Europe on the left of a map and the Americas on the right can seem counter-intuitive, but it is just as correct as any other arbitrary chop point. The world is, after all, round.</p>
<h2>Azimuthal polar projection</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162032/original/image-20170322-31203-5iqxlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162032/original/image-20170322-31203-5iqxlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162032/original/image-20170322-31203-5iqxlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162032/original/image-20170322-31203-5iqxlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162032/original/image-20170322-31203-5iqxlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162032/original/image-20170322-31203-5iqxlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162032/original/image-20170322-31203-5iqxlp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Azimuthal equidistant projection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azimuthal_equidistant_projection#/media/File:Azimuthal_equidistant_projection_SW.jpg">Daniel R. Strebe</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All the projections we’ve discussed so far tend to put one continent in the middle of the map, giving it greater prominence over the others. An alternative is to place the North Pole in the centre. It is strangely disorienting to gaze on the world from a polar perspective. The lower hemisphere should be hidden from view by the curve of the Earth because you can only see half a sphere at a time.</p>
<p>But on the azimuthal polar projection from the north, the southern hemisphere has been pulled into view on the page, with the consequence that Antarctica centrifuges into a doughnut around the edge of the circular map. This highlights the disadvantage of the projection as it distorts both the area and shape of landmasses, but distances from the North Pole are accurate in all directions, with those further from the centre becoming more enlarged on their east-west axis.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162034/original/image-20170322-31190-47c0lh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162034/original/image-20170322-31190-47c0lh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162034/original/image-20170322-31190-47c0lh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162034/original/image-20170322-31190-47c0lh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162034/original/image-20170322-31190-47c0lh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=641&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162034/original/image-20170322-31190-47c0lh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=641&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162034/original/image-20170322-31190-47c0lh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=641&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">UN logo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">United Nations</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This “azimuthal” polar projection is depicted on the United Nations flag. North America was prominent on the <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F06EEDD1538E532A25753C1A9659C946793D6CF&legacy=true">initial 1945 UN flag</a> (which had the longitude line 90 degrees west pointing upwards). The following year, the map on the flag was reoriented to be more neutral by having the international date line (180 degrees east, lying in the middle of the Pacific Ocean) pointing upwards. The map stops at latitude 60 degrees south, meaning Antarctica does not appear.</p>
<h2>Cartograms</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162012/original/image-20170322-31198-mmdpvc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/162012/original/image-20170322-31198-mmdpvc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162012/original/image-20170322-31198-mmdpvc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162012/original/image-20170322-31198-mmdpvc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=295&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162012/original/image-20170322-31198-mmdpvc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162012/original/image-20170322-31198-mmdpvc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/162012/original/image-20170322-31198-mmdpvc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Voter turnout cartogram.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://archive.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=360">Worldmapper.org / Sasi Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another way of representing the world is to display countries’ sizes in proportion to key indicators of interest to geographers today, such as population, environment and development. Predictably, <a href="https://worldmapper.org/maps/gdp-2018/">the world map of GDP</a> is dominated by North America and Europe, while Africa almost disappears. The <a href="https://worldmapper.org/maps/population-year-2018/">population cartogram</a> gives greater prominence to India and China, and makes Indonesia far bigger than neighbouring Australia. But perhaps more surprising is the <a href="http://archive.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=360">map of voter turnout</a>, where emerging economies are bigger – and North America smaller – than many people might suppose.</p>
<p>Now more than ever, we need to be able to see the world from different perspectives. Any one perspective is not any more correct than another – just different.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/74967/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Donald Houston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Nothing is where you think it is.
Donald Houston, Head of Geography, University of Portsmouth
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/35238
2015-01-07T11:11:40Z
2015-01-07T11:11:40Z
How – and why – Google is transforming the map
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68035/original/image-20141223-32207-47mhsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For Google, the map is not the end product.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/leebennett/8804227510/">Lee Bennett/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Google has managed to map most of the world. Recently, the company offered a <a href="http://bit.ly/1pMzcCl">behind-the-scenes glimpse</a> into how it’s built the Google Maps application using a combination of technology (the Google Street View car), expansion (the acquisition of satellite-imagery startup Skybox) and algorithms (computer vision, photogrammetry, mapping). </p>
<p>While the company’s initial focus had been on the world’s population centers (in 2006, Google had used high resolution satellite imagery to map 37% of the world’s population; by 2012 that number <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-maps-now-covers-75-of-global-pop-26-million-miles-of-directions/">had risen to 75%</a>), their reach has extended beyond human settlements. In Google Maps’ Street View feature, users can now observe <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/views/u/0/view/streetview/antarctica/penguins/ZzuMubmHCfCGGo3ePSlpCQ?gl=us&heading=239&pitch=90&fovy=75">penguins in Antarctica</a>, tourists in Machu Picchu, and Himalayan base camps. </p>
<p>While the early focus of Google’s mapping efforts had been on mapping <em>for</em> the world, the company is now jumping on the crowdsourcing bandwagon: to collect mapping data <em>from</em> the world. </p>
<p>With mapping tools like “Google Map Maker” and “Report a Problem,” they try to harness the geographical contributions of “on the ground” users as a way to complement existing content in Google Maps. People from <a href="https://support.google.com/mapmaker/answer/155415">all over the world</a> can now edit information on the Google Maps application to ensure a higher accuracy. </p>
<p>In addition to being editors, users can also become data collectors. They can carry the <a href="http://nyti.ms/1cs8d2Z">Street View Trekker</a> (a backpack outfitted with Google’s cameras) to snap images – later to be uploaded on Street View – as they hike through US National Parks and the Galapagos islands, or even take <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/google-camel-view-maps-oasis-desert-180952984/?no-ist">camel rides</a> to map Abu Dhabi’s sand dunes.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68033/original/image-20141223-32213-1cocc6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68033/original/image-20141223-32213-1cocc6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68033/original/image-20141223-32213-1cocc6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68033/original/image-20141223-32213-1cocc6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68033/original/image-20141223-32213-1cocc6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68033/original/image-20141223-32213-1cocc6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68033/original/image-20141223-32213-1cocc6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Users have participated in Google’s mapping efforts. Here, a bicycle has been outfitted with Google’s sophisticated Street View camera to map a bike path.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tylerhowarth/4557813137/">Tyler Howarth/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Think of it as a collaborative, Wikipedia-like effort to map the physical world.</p>
<p>But while we know <em>how</em> Google does it, another question has emerged: <em>why</em> is Google devoting so many resources to “paint the world…one pixel to the inch” (as one Google employee <a href="http://nyti.ms/1cs8d2Z">put it</a>)? </p>
<p>Throughout history, maps evolved as an outgrowth of humankind’s yearning to both explore and record the physical world. First there was a 7,000 BCE wall painting in Catal Huyuk (in southern Anatolia) that depicted an erupting volcano and a map of that settlement’s town plan. More than 6,000 years later, in 600 BCE, Anaximander drew up a world map, followed by the creation of a coordinate system by Eratosthenes and the gazetteer by Ptolemy (300 BCE and 200 AD, respectively). </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68030/original/image-20141223-32216-1kmdc6f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68030/original/image-20141223-32216-1kmdc6f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68030/original/image-20141223-32216-1kmdc6f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68030/original/image-20141223-32216-1kmdc6f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68030/original/image-20141223-32216-1kmdc6f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68030/original/image-20141223-32216-1kmdc6f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68030/original/image-20141223-32216-1kmdc6f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A recreation of Anaximander’s map, one of the first attempts to map the world.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Anaximander_world_map-en.svg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Maps have always been about depicting the world and helping us navigate through it. And Google Maps does this: it does show us where things are in the world and it does help us navigate. In fact, it already provides such support to <a href="http://bgr.com/2014/06/13/google-maps-downloads-1-billion/">an estimated one billion worldwide users</a>. </p>
<p>But other solutions do the same for a much lower cost. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a nonprofit effort founded around ten years ago as a way to invite the general public to map the world. Tracing the centerlines of roads and the outlines of buildings – and even mapping park benches and bicycle routes – volunteers have generated a mapping product of global coverage, freely available through an Open Database License (ODbL). OSM compares well in terms of accuracy to its more authoritative, better-funded counterparts. A wonderful map produced by <a href="http://tyrasd.github.io/osm-node-density/#2/16.5/389.2">Martin Raifer</a> shows the astonishing global coverage offered today by OSM. In a recent <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/magazine/googles-plan-for-global-domination-dont-ask-why-ask-where.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">New York Times article</a> it was reported that OSM runs on less than $100,000 a year, which is certainly dwarfed by Google Maps’ budget. </p>
<p>So why does Google appear to be doing slightly more while spending much, much more? The answer probably lies on the intended use of the product. OSM is a cartographic product. Google Maps is much more that that.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68032/original/image-20141223-32207-gtz80q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68032/original/image-20141223-32207-gtz80q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68032/original/image-20141223-32207-gtz80q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68032/original/image-20141223-32207-gtz80q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68032/original/image-20141223-32207-gtz80q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68032/original/image-20141223-32207-gtz80q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68032/original/image-20141223-32207-gtz80q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Like older maps, Google Maps also depicts spaces to help users navigate. The company, however, has grander plans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Google, cartography is not the end product, but rather the necessary means for future products. </p>
<p>Take, for instance, Google’s <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/22/7434715/google-first-complete-prototype-autonomous-car-photo">autonomous car initiative</a>, which aims to combine sensors, GPS and 3D maps to develop self-driving cars. Then there’s Google’s Project Wing: a drone-based delivery systems that hopes to make use of a detailed 3D model of the world to quickly link supply to demand – and shatter the current retail paradigm. </p>
<p>In both cases, Google Maps serves as the digital framework in which these fledgling technologies operate – a foundation for Google as it seeks to revolutionize the mobility of people, goods, and even ideas. In other words, Google’s mapping data will support a wide variety of its new products, whether they’re self-driving cars or drones.</p>
<p>While OSM is about mapping the world around us, Google Maps takes it a step further: ultimately, Google Maps is about mapping lives and merging the physical and the virtual. The application collects information about <em>us</em>: the physical pathways that we follow – either on foot or in a car – and the digital traces we leave behind: photographs we’ve snapped, purchases we’ve made, and activities we’ve participated in.</p>
<p>This information can then be used to understand how we function in this newly emerging hybrid universe.</p>
<p>In that sense, Google is mapping <em>places</em> rather than simply mapping spaces. Loosely defined in the context of this article, the idea of place is the meaning, or significance, that certain locations hold for us. This could mean our home neighborhood, or a dangerous part of the city where we rarely venture; it could refer to our favorite nightlife hotspots, or where we buy our groceries. </p>
<p>By connecting the geometrical content of its Google Maps databases to digital traces that it collects, Google can assign meaning to space, transforming it into place. While Google’s stated objective is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” its Google Maps endeavor allows it to organize <em>your</em> world’s information, making it personally accessible and useful. </p>
<p>Therefore one could argue that Google’s vision for its map goes far beyond the traditional one. Yes, the map serves not only as a way to capture space; but it also exists as a framework for empowering human life and everyday activities. By combining the power of high resolution mapping, digital human traces, and smart machines, Google has the ability to revolutionize the underpinnings of the modern lifestyle: communication, mobility, consumption, and production. </p>
<p>Mapping by machines no longer simply addresses the age-old task of “you are here,” but rather seeks to understand who you are and where you should be heading.</p>
<p>Welcome to the era of map ex machina.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Google has managed to map most of the world. Recently, the company offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how it’s built the Google Maps application using a combination of technology (the Google Street…
Anthony Stefanidis, Professor and Chair, Dept. of Geography and GeoInformation Science, George Mason University
Andrew Crooks, Assistant Professor of Computational Social Science, George Mason University
Arie Croitoru, Associate Professor of Geography and GeoInformation Science, George Mason University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/34342
2014-11-21T12:46:38Z
2014-11-21T12:46:38Z
Magic mountains and sea serpents: the secrets of early Arctic maps
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/65115/original/image-20141120-4475-e5bm98.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Section of the Carta Marina, 1527-39.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>What comes to mind when you think of the Arctic? Ice, I imagine, polar bears, a barren cold landscape. And most would assume that these associations have remained the same for a pretty long time, given that it’s only relatively recently that the Arctic was explored. It is generally believed that the earliest maps reflected this ignorance, showing a vast blank expanse waiting to be filled with geographical content by explorers.</p>
<p>This is not the case. That came much later, in the 18th century, when myths and hearsay had been overridden by the rigour of scientific investigation. In fact, when the Arctic first begins to be shown in detail on maps in the 16th century, it’s teeming with life and activity. </p>
<p>Let’s start at the beginning. The earliest appearance of the Arctic in maps is as a frigid northern region in the climatic maps of Macrobius from the fifth century. “<em>Inhabitabilis</em>” it is labelled, in common with its southern counterpart. Not only was the Arctic unknown in the Middle Ages, it was felt by scholars to be unknowable.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64748/original/hf7sptc8-1416250554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64748/original/hf7sptc8-1416250554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64748/original/hf7sptc8-1416250554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64748/original/hf7sptc8-1416250554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64748/original/hf7sptc8-1416250554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=624&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64748/original/hf7sptc8-1416250554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64748/original/hf7sptc8-1416250554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64748/original/hf7sptc8-1416250554.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Macrobius, a world map dating from the 9th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">British Library Harl.MS 2772, fol. 70v.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In medieval world maps the extreme north, as with the south, became the area where legends could be placed. You might see on a late medieval <em>mappamundi</em>, for example, the giants Gog and Magog from the Alexander Legend at the northern area of modern Siberia. You might see deformed creatures with big feet or faces in their chests populating the southern rim of the world. You would certainly see mythical islands and places that do not exist next to places that do. </p>
<p>But to the people who made and looked at these maps the places were real, whether they existed or not. This is the great power of maps, a power that has not diminished over time. The island of Frisland, for example, appears like a second mini-Iceland, and even occasionally part of the southern tip of Greenland. Frisland originated with the Greeks and had a mystical allure – a sort of northern Eldorado. A similar allure comes to characterise that “mariner’s philosopher’s stone”, the Northwest Passage. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64750/original/jfghktcc-1416250920.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64750/original/jfghktcc-1416250920.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64750/original/jfghktcc-1416250920.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64750/original/jfghktcc-1416250920.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64750/original/jfghktcc-1416250920.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64750/original/jfghktcc-1416250920.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64750/original/jfghktcc-1416250920.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64750/original/jfghktcc-1416250920.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Carta Marina, drawn by Olaus Magnus in 1527-39.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">rrr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the geography of the north became better defined from the end of the 15th century, features quickly populated it on maps. Reindeers, polar bears and other creatures litter the Olaus Magnus map of Scandinavia. </p>
<p>One of the most interesting Arctic features first appeared in Martin Behaim’s globe of 1492. This is an extraordinary North Pole with four rivers running symmetrically from the pole. This feature was repeated in various maps for decades after, including Gerard Mercator’s famous world map of 1569 and atlas map of 1595.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64751/original/ph47y4hd-1416251092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64751/original/ph47y4hd-1416251092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64751/original/ph47y4hd-1416251092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64751/original/ph47y4hd-1416251092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64751/original/ph47y4hd-1416251092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64751/original/ph47y4hd-1416251092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64751/original/ph47y4hd-1416251092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64751/original/ph47y4hd-1416251092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Septentrionalium Terrarum Descriptio.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gerard Mercator / Jodocus Hondius, 1595 (1606)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another bizarre feature added to early maps was the appearance of a vast magnetic mountain at the top of the world – myths often hold a grain of truth! Early sailors found that their mariner’s compasses began to show bizarre readings in northern climes and this certainly may have had something to do with this addition to the maps. The legend more directly derived from a journal of an Arctic voyage supposedly made by a Dutchman named Jacobus Cnoyen, who witnessed these and other peculiarities. Any sources, spurious or not, were treated seriously by European states looking to expand their gaze and their empires. </p>
<p>For Britain in the 16th century, the promise of a northern shortcut to the Pacific Ocean and the riches of China meant that considerable thought and resource would be poured into the Arctic, to explore geographies real or otherwise. Geographical features appeared and disappeared on maps, mountains rose and fell, channels and straits, based on seemingly unimpeachable sources, were cut through North America. </p>
<p>The tale of the search for the Northwest Passage is a compelling one – and one which illustrates how tangible things can be when there is the will to believe them, and when they are shown on maps.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The British Library’s free exhibition <a href="http://www.bl.uk/events/lines-in-the-ice-seeking-the-northwest-passage">Lines in the Ice: Seeking a Northwest Passage</a>, is open until March 29 2015.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tom Harper co-curated Lines in the Ice at the British Library.</span></em></p>
What comes to mind when you think of the Arctic? Ice, I imagine, polar bears, a barren cold landscape. And most would assume that these associations have remained the same for a pretty long time, given…
Tom Harper, Curator of Antiquarian Mapping, British Library
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/29816
2014-08-10T21:34:19Z
2014-08-10T21:34:19Z
Putting ‘Australia’ on the map
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55100/original/nwkzk4ft-1406598522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When did the name 'Australia' first appear on a map? It may be much earlier than historians had previously believed. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Phillip Clarke</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Matthew Flinders, who died just over 200 years ago, is widely credited with giving this country its name: Australia. Flinders preferred Australia to the more commonly used Terra Australis as he thought it was “more agreeable to the ear”. He liked it so much that he included the name Australia on <a href="http://www.nla.gov.au/events/1814-flinders-map-seminar">his map of the whole continent</a> published in 1814. </p>
<p>It has also long been known that the term Australia was used prior to Flinders, to describe southern regions on maps, including by James Wilson in 1799 and the Scottish geographer Dalrymple in 1770. </p>
<p>Much earlier, the Spanish used the phrase “Austrialia del Espiritu Santo” for Vanuatu in 1606. Some of the maps that included these usages were on display earlier this year at the National Library of Australia’s <a href="http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/mapping-our-world">Mapping Our World exhibition</a>.</p>
<h2>The south end of the map</h2>
<p>But what has previously gone unnoticed is that several famous early cartographers also made use of the word Australia on maps. </p>
<p>In the 16th century, most maps were published in Latin and cartographers were just starting to record European discoveries such as America. What these cartographers had inherited were maps of what has become known as the “Old World”, typified by Schedel’s map from his Nuremberg Chronicle (below), which in turn were copies of maps constructed from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy's_world_map">Ptolemy’s Geographia</a> from the 2nd century AD. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55078/original/t5s2mxns-1406591968.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55078/original/t5s2mxns-1406591968.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55078/original/t5s2mxns-1406591968.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55078/original/t5s2mxns-1406591968.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55078/original/t5s2mxns-1406591968.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55078/original/t5s2mxns-1406591968.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55078/original/t5s2mxns-1406591968.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55078/original/t5s2mxns-1406591968.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schedel’s Nuremberg Chronicle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many of these maps contained divisions at different latitudes called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climata">climata</a> that were defined by the length of the longest daylight. Typically there were seven such divisions on classical maps, often denoted by Roman numerals I to VII indicating latitudes from 13 to 16 hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere.</p>
<p>During the course of the 16th century, cartographers extended their maps to cover the southern hemisphere including the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/waldexh.html">Waldseemuller world map from 1507</a> that includes both South America and all of Africa. There seems to have been no accepted conventions about what labels to apply to climata.</p>
<h2>Mercator’s <em>climata australia</em></h2>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerardus_Mercator">Gerard Mercator</a> (1512-94), perhaps the most famous cartographer of all time, worked on what is known as a double cordiform map in 1538 (representing the world on two sheets which both use heart shaped projections) early in his career, before he developed his own projection. This Mercator map delineated climata in both the northern and southern hemispheres. </p>
<p>On this map Mercator appears to apply the term australia to all the climata in the southern hemisphere. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56010/original/p9wkykmk-1407457388.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56010/original/p9wkykmk-1407457388.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56010/original/p9wkykmk-1407457388.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56010/original/p9wkykmk-1407457388.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56010/original/p9wkykmk-1407457388.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56010/original/p9wkykmk-1407457388.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56010/original/p9wkykmk-1407457388.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56010/original/p9wkykmk-1407457388.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mercator’s 1538 World Map on Double Cordiform Projection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The phrase “climata australia” is on the top right hand corner in the figure above, a version which can be enlarged <a href="http://www.wdl.org/en/item/6766/">is available online</a>.</p>
<p>Climata is a Greek term which was adopted into Latin. </p>
<p>The adjective australis, formed from the noun auster which is used of the South wind, is employed as a term for “southern” by Classical writers such as Cicero and Seneca. When it is used to describe climata it takes the inflection -ia (australia) rather than –is (australis) because in Latin the endings of adjectives agree with the nouns they describe (thus australia agrees with the neuter plural ending of climata). </p>
<h2>Schooled by Frisius</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55093/original/zb96xw75-1406598258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55093/original/zb96xw75-1406598258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55093/original/zb96xw75-1406598258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55093/original/zb96xw75-1406598258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55093/original/zb96xw75-1406598258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55093/original/zb96xw75-1406598258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55093/original/zb96xw75-1406598258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55093/original/zb96xw75-1406598258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=544&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure A: Gemma Frisius’s truncated cordiform world map. Notes: This map is from 1545 Latin edition of Cosmographia. An identical map was published in the French edition of 1544. From the author’s personal collection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Phillip Clarke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55097/original/ytjqxp76-1406598373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55097/original/ytjqxp76-1406598373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55097/original/ytjqxp76-1406598373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55097/original/ytjqxp76-1406598373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55097/original/ytjqxp76-1406598373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55097/original/ytjqxp76-1406598373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55097/original/ytjqxp76-1406598373.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=636&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure B: Expanded portion of the highlighted Frisius map containing the term</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Phillip Clarke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The other map-maker who employs the term Australia on maps during this period is Gemma Frisius (1508-55) who was Mercator’s teacher and collaborator. He created his own cordiform wall map in 1540, no copies of which survive, but what is believed to be a reduced version is contained in his revised version of Cosmographia from 1544 (Figure A and B). </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55098/original/jbg2jvdb-1406598447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55098/original/jbg2jvdb-1406598447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55098/original/jbg2jvdb-1406598447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55098/original/jbg2jvdb-1406598447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55098/original/jbg2jvdb-1406598447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55098/original/jbg2jvdb-1406598447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55098/original/jbg2jvdb-1406598447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/55098/original/jbg2jvdb-1406598447.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=639&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure C: A diagram from Cosmographia explaining the naming of Climata lines on maps from 1545 Latin edition (this figure also appears in the 1544 French edition). From the author’s personal collection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Phillip Clarke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This book also includes an explanation of climata in a separate figure in the text (Figure C): both the map and the figure use the term Australia to denote southern latitudes. </p>
<p>Australia appears on at least two later 16th-century maps. </p>
<p>The word appears in a rare book on astronomy by Cyriaco Jacob zum Barth published in Frankfurt-am-Main in 1545 that was also on display in the <a href="http://www.nla.gov.au/sites/default/files/nla_mapping_our_world_exhibition_checklist_0.pdf">Mapping Our World</a> exhibition. The catalogue notes is “the first appearance” of the use of Australia in print. While books were traded across Europe even at this time, including through the Frankfurt Book Fair, it is unclear whether there is any link between zum Barth’s use of Australia and Mercator or Frisius.</p>
<p>Mercator also uses the term again on a map of the old world much later in 1578. He again denotes southerly latitudes as climata australia. This map was reproduced for at least the next 150 years and the <a href="http://cdm16044.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15099coll3/id/725">Birmingham Public Library digital collection contains a copy</a> of a later edition.</p>
<h2>The first Australia</h2>
<p>So which map-maker first used the term Australia on a map? On the current available evidence, it first appears on Mercator’s 1538 world map. But, during this period Mercator was working very closely with Frisius, including their work on several globes, so it may have also been a joint product of their collaboration. </p>
<p>What seems less likely is that they were copying the term Australia from an earlier map. Frisius’ earlier editions of Cosmographia (published as late as 1540 - which can be <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=1E_lMgEACAAJ&dq=gemma+apiani+1540&hl=en&sa=X&ei=QFfMU-f9G8P08QWc04CYBQ&redir_esc=y">downloaded from Google books</a>) have a figure equivalent to the one reproduced in Figure C.</p>
<p>But the world in this earlier figure is inverted (with south at the top) and uses the term Meridionalia rather than Australia to denote southern altitudes. This suggests he only adopted the term for naming climata after 1540, but intriguingly elsewhere in the text of this earlier edition, the term Australia is used as an adjective for southern. </p>
<p>From the end of the 16th century, the declining influence of Ptolemy meant that climata zones were no longer used on most maps, so there was no need to use the term Australia. Even here, there are exceptions, such as the delineations on several world maps from Dutch Golden Age which are based on Mercator’s projection. </p>
<p>Some of these include climata and follow Mercator in calling southerly latitudes australia. e.g. <a href="http://www.nla.gov.au/apps/cdview/?pi=nla.map-ra10-s12-sd&rgn=0.8040375914,0.6849315068,0.9432648799,0.8738781294&width=400&cmd=zoomin">Hendrick Doncker map</a> (bottom right hand corner of this map). </p>
<p>All of the maps mentioned in this article are widely available for study on the internet and have been reproduced numerous times in books. </p>
<p>What is rather surprising is that the use of Australia on several maps dating back to the 16th century has to date gone unrecognised. Maybe this is due to the fact that collectors of Australian maps have less interest in this period, as it is one which predates maps that document the European exploration of Australia. </p>
<p>Clearly we will need to add a few more names to the cartographic history of Australia.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29816/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Matthew Flinders, who died just over 200 years ago, is widely credited with giving this country its name: Australia. Flinders preferred Australia to the more commonly used Terra Australis as he thought…
Philip Clarke, Professor of Health Economics, The University of Melbourne
Jacqueline Clarke, Senior Lecturer in Classics, University of Adelaide
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