From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Tue Dec 18 2001 - 05:50:08 MST
On Mon, Dec 17, 2001 at 10:54:53PM +0100, Amara Graps wrote:
>
> I like maps, especially the early maps. The early maps not only
> were works of art, but the map's inherent scale and embellishments
> captured the views and value systems of the people at those times.
Yes, I'm also a big map fan. My father collected maps and atlases, and
deliberately put maps around the kitchen table so me and my brother
could learn the world. Every six months he switched maps to ensure that
we saw the same things. Since he preferred the maps of the "real
world", my brother and I got the maps from National Geographic
magazine of the planets and stars to put in our room. I can still
remembering lying in my bed and thinking about trips across the
martian landscape in the southern highlands towards the mysterious
crater Edom.
A good map is not a representation of physical reality, but rather
something that links different aspects of reality together by shared
location. An ordinary map shows physical reality in the sense of
landforms and human structures, as well as the cultural reality of names
and borders. More interesting maps show further aspects: geology,
climate, ethicity, languages, genes, history and economy. What really
shows the skill of a mapmaker is to combine the many layers into
something understandable and beautiful. After all, a map is a kind of
story about what the world is and how things fit together.
What map projection is the "best"? Of course none - they all have their
different uses. The Dymaxion map has a point, but it has also limited
itself in its uses. But one map projection is the truest: a globe. It is
only the limitations of paper that has forced us to make projections of
what truly is an S^2 surface. I dream of having a powerful 3D GIS where
I can project all kind of information, from mantle plumes to current
geopolitcal boundaries to freedom-of-press indices to weather to
satellite orbits. That would be a grand map, but it still would require
a mapmaker to turn it into art or something as coherent as the real
world.
-- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension! asa@nada.kth.se http://www.nada.kth.se/~asa/ GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y
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