880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
A Brief History of ‘mapping’
Cliff OglebyDepartment of Geomatics
(all images here are Copyright their creators and/or their publishers)
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Overview of Today
• Today we will look at why people started to make maps
• The perceptions and processes involved
• And some famous historical maps• To provide a foundation for the rest of
semester
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Introduction
• Today will give an overview of the development of the graphical representation of place and space– Including some cartography– Some geodesy– Imperialism, imagination
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Mapping Today
• Is based on:– A knowledge of the shape of the Earth
built up over millennia– A body of mathematical knowledge
including computations on a sphere– Technologies that enable the
measurement of long distances– An ontology for representation
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
In the beginning
• Why did humans decide to make a sketch to show a sense of place?– Of ‘here’ and ‘there’?
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
In the beginning…
• We remembered features of our world, imagined them, named them. We had a mental ‘map’ of the places that were important.
• And then perhaps in order to describe, navigate, explain or illustrate, we made ‘maps’
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
6200 BCE – Catal Huyuk
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
600 BCE Babylon
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Death and Taxes
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
The Shape of the World
• Firstly, it looked flat for as far as we could see, interrupted by mountains, rivers and seas
• And the heavens appeared to move over us– The geocentric model
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
The Shape of the World
• Homer’s view was that it was a disc floating in an ocean
• Pythagoras postulated that it was spherical, Aristotle proved it.
• The circumference was determined by Eratosthenes by measuring shadows
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Ancient Greek Developments
• The idea that the earth is spherical• The development of geometry for measuring
the land• The collection of worldly knowledge• Ptolemy’s books and maps• The Great Library at Alexandria
• But alas all this was lost…
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Eratosthenes’ Map
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Ptolemy's Map
• He developed the concept of latitude and grids, the gazetteer and map projections
• The map and texts were lost to the ‘west’ until Persian scholars brought it to Europe via Byzantium
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Ptolemy's Map 150±
CE
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
A Biblical World View (600CE)
Cosmas Indicopleustes
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Dante’s Hell
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
1154, Al Idrisi
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
1389 China
• China also developed sophisticated mapping techniques, and these continued though the European Dark Ages
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
The Compass
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Galileo Galilei
• Galileo promoted the Coppernican heliocentric model of the heavens– By scientific observation
• Pope Urban VII imprisoned him for this heresy in 1633
• On 31 October 1992, Pope John Paul II– expressed regret for how the Galileo affair was
handled, and officially conceded that the Earth was not stationary, as the result of a study conducted by the Pontifical Council for Culture.
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
The Age of Discovery
• Europe woke up and had a renaissance• Early 15thC to 17thC• An influx of new ideas, along with the
development of navigation, exploration, industrialisation – Leading to an Age of Imperialism
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
There be Dragons
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Geographical Coordinates
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
The Determination of Time and Longitude
• Whilst latitude was reasonably easy to measure (elevation of the sun above the horizon) longitude was a problem
• Longitude is the distance around the globe, which is directly correlated with time
• If we can measure time, we can measure λ
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Harrison’s Chronometers
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
GPS Time
• Time is the basis for GPS navigation and positioning
• Time is kept using Caesium 133 atomic clocks
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Empire
• To name is to own, to map shows the range of your authority
• Most major maritime nations that colonised renamed places
• Britain in India performed the Great Trigonometrical Survey
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Mathematics
• Calculations on the Spheroid• Map Projections• Geometry, astronomical positioning• Lens equations, perspective• Logarithms enable rapid calculations
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Reprographics
• The development of printing and durable inks
• Use of base materials like linen, silk and paper
• Lithography
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Photogrammetry
• Measurement from photographs• Technique developed for architecture
but after invention of flight was adapted for aerial photography
• The basis of almost all 20thC mapping, particularly following WWII
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Satellite Imaging Systems
• The advent of civilian space borne imaging systems
• The increasing resolution of these systems
• The ability to detect other wavelengths
• The ability to scale and position imagery
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Active Systems• Airborne laser scanning
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Modern Maps
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/im/RD-T.html
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
Extra-terrestrial Mapping
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
GIS
• An information system capable of analysing and displaying spatial data (sort of)
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS
What you learnt today
• Why mapping is part of both cultural and scientific endeavour
• The evolution of mapping into a ‘science’
880-106 MappingENVIRONMENTS