Albane Valenzuela History 95N Thematic Maps and Maps as Products: A Social Story All maps tell stories that have either shaped or were shaped by history. During the age of exploration and discovery, cartography was primarily a political enterprise that helped the state assert its colonial and imperial endeavors by drawing the boundaries of newly claimed territories. Gradually, these topographic maps evolved into more specific, accessible objects. The numerous social, economic and technological changes of the last few centuries have modified and diversified the production and consumption of maps. Since the nineteenth century, thematic and commercial maps have not ceased to proliferate. Since entering the digital era,…
Cosmography is the study of the known world and its place in the cosmos. This study played a significant role in our understanding of how the New World was discovered. In 1506, two men by the names of Matthias Ringmann and Martin Waldseemüller, collaborated together on a magnificent map that depicted something no one had ever seen before. Through the descriptive letters from a Florentine merchant, Amerigo Vespucci, Ringmann and Waldseemüller were able to formulate a textbook titled, Introduction…
always been interested in the art of map making and maps itself. I enjoy geography and applying my keen sense of direction to everyday life. As someone who draws maps for fun I have already seen how math plays into the art of map making simply by having to preform math equations to set an accurate map up. In this paper, I will combine my personal uses of math in cartography along with the research I have found regarding the use of math in cartography. The three main uses of math in cartography…
The main focus of education in Flatland is polygon recognition. When looking at another polygon in Flatland, they all look like lines. However, in early childhood, everyone learns how to feel one another’s angles in order to determine what type of polygon one is. Yet, with further education, it is possible to detect the type of polygon through sight recognition. In Flatland, there are two main variables that determine the route of one’s education; gender and social status. If one is male, they…
In the article entitled “Map It Then Write It!” by Kimberly Lott and Sylvia Read, I learned a lot about how beneficial mapping can be before a student begins to write about a certain topic. “Primary students have many options for graphic organizers to help develop writing skills in science” (Lott and Read, 46). This quote from the article really seems to sum up what the article was about because children have so many opportunities to use mapping to make their writing better, especially since…
1___Scale is a geographic tool for creating and interpreting maps. Scale also has a broader meaning for geographers, as the relationship between any phenomenon and Earth as a whole. 2___A region is an area characterized by a unique combination of features. 3___A formal region is an area within which everyone has one or more distinctive characteristics in common, whereas A functional region is an area organized around a node or focal point. 4___An example of a functional region is the…
Introduction There are many situations where maps come in handy because there are many forms of maps. There are maps that express ideas, maps that explain how to complete a task and maps that are small-scale representations of a large area or location that is difficult to navigate. This small representation is to help the user find their way around the area or location. This document proposes a reevaluation of the usefulness and accessibility of the maps that are on the University of Houston…
Ken Jennings’ Maphead narrates his lifelong love affair with geography and explores why maps have always been so interesting to him and to fellow fans everywhere. Jennings takes readers on a world tour of geogeeks from the London Map Fair to the bowels of the Library of Congress, from the prepubescent geniuses at the National Geographic Bee to the computer programmers at Google Earth. Each chapter delves into a different aspect of map culture: highpointing, geocaching, road atlas rallying, even…
of maps because it helps us explain what goes on, on the Earth, see what the Earth will be like in the future, and research why the earth does things the way it does. Maps help us explain the weather, the patterns in geology, and other miscellaneous facts. They also help us see what we need to wear, and prepare for like tornados or hurricanes, even earthquakes. Lastly maps help us research why there are hot and cold days, what the average whether will be in a country or city. Maps help us…
Are Maps Biased? What is a map? A map is a diagrammatic representation of an area of land or sea showing physical features, cities, roads, etc. Many people believe all maps are biased, because they have learned that all world maps are distorted and centered on a single landmass, causing every map projection to be biased. But while this is true, this perspective only takes into account world maps, and does not include the many other often-used maps in our daily lives which do not have a bias.…