Looking for Book Reviewers for Cartographic Perspectives

Mark Denil, book review editor for Cartographic Perspectives, needs reviewers for several recent books. Reviews will be published in Cartographic Perspectives, and the reviewer keeps the book. Currently available books include:

• Cartographic Science: Compendium Map Projections (CRC, 2006)
• Charting the Unknown: How Computer Mapping at Harvard Became GIS (ESRI Press, 2007)
• ELSE/WHERE: Mapping (Univ. of Minnesota Press, 2005)
• Historical Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1788-2004 (CQ Press, 2006)

Check the NACIS book review web page for details on these books. New books for review will be added to the web page in the future.

If you would like to review any of the listed books for CP, please email Mark (mdenil AT conservation.org). Also contact Mark if you have suggestions for books, atlases, or other printed matter for review in Cartographic Perspectives.

Free Article: Denis Wood: Some Things Lilla LoCurto and William Outcault Have to Say About Maps (CP 56)

See this entire article (2mb PDF) here.

In the Visual Fields section of CP 56 Denis Wood considers artists Lilla LoCurto and Bill Outcault and their work projecting and mapping the human body. This work, “at once so close to that of mapmakers and at the same time so completely alien, forces us to confront afresh the bizarre, distorted, multiperspectival fact of the map, and so refresh our own self-image.”

“In 1996 LoCurto and Outcault attended a show about Buckminster Fuller’s work where his icosahedral projection of the world hit them as something of an epiphany, revealing for them the sculptural implications of a map. ‘It was probably,’ LoCurto and Outcault have written:

… the simplicity of his projection that made us understand what mechanics were involved but, like most people, we’d never really thought too much about how a map originated from a three dimensional surface. We saw connections between this and the artistic problem of rendering a three dimensional object on a two-dimensional surface as well as with the Cubist and Futurist idea of simultaneity, experiencing that three-dimensionality at once in its entirety. We’d been working with the figure, particularly our own, prior to this and the idea of projecting the human figure like a map using digital technologies struck us as a way to add to these traditions in a contemporary way. We also imagined the process itself would contribute aesthetically to the final images by tearing the body as it flattened it, emphasizing the frailty and vulnerability we saw as inherent in our condition.”

Citation: Denis Wood. “Some Things Lilla LoCurto and William Outcault Have to Say About Maps.” Cartographic Perspectives 56, Winter 2007, pp. 81-88 (color).

See this entire article (2mb PDF) here.

More on LoCurto and Outcault here.

Cartographic Perspectives issue #56 (Winter 2007) will be mailed soon to NACIS members. is $42/year ($20 for students) and includes three issues of the journal.

Buckley, Barnes, & Richards: Achieving Historical Map Effects with Modern GIS (CP 56)

Aileen Buckley, David Barnes, and Jaynya Richards write, “Historical maps have long captivated map readers with their aesthetic qualities and the intrigue they impart, partly because they were done by hand. In this paper, historical maps were examined to determine if they illustrated design techniques and symbology that are adaptable for maps today. If so, the design techniques were then replicated in a modern map making environment using geographic information systems (GIS). With this “history of cartography” approach, we attempt to discover the underlying technical process of creation.”

Techniques discussed and illustrated in color:

Late Sixteenth to Early Seventeenth Century: Hillsigns, Coastal Rakes, Rhumb Lines, Ocean Art, Mimetic City Symbols, Ocean Stippling, Stream Tapering.

Early to Mid-nineteenth Century: Point Symbols along Roads, Border Calibrated to the Graticule

Late Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Century: Sepia Tone

“The techniques described can help to improve modern design and production for a number of reasons: these enhanced effects allow greater design flexibility which is appreciated by both cartographer and map reader; some of the effects can be used for challenging black and white map design; some of the symbols are intuitive and easily understood by the map reader; some create a unique and unusual look that draws the map reader in and keeps his or her attention; and some add beauty and intrigue to maps.”

Citation: Aileen Buckley, David Barnes, and Jaynya Richards. “Achieving Historical Map Effects with Modern GIS.” Cartographic Perspectives 56, Winter 2007, pp. 63-72 (pp. 67-72 in color).

Cartographic Perspectives issue #56 (Winter 2007) will be mailed soon to NACIS members. NACIS membership is $42/year ($20 for students) and includes three issues of the journal.

Knowles & Leitner: Visual Representations of the Spatial Relationship Between Bermuda High Strengths and Hurricane Tracks (CP 56)

Jason Knowles and Michael Leitner write, “The purpose of this research was to discover which visualization methods are best suited to detecting the spatial patterns of a large number of hurricane tracks collected for the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico since 1947.”

Article abstract: The 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons dramatically demonstrated the magnitude of the societal significance of hurricanes, negatively impacting on all scales from the personal to the national. Although definitive identification of the forcing mechanisms controlling hurricane tracks and landfall patterns remains elusive, increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that the increase in hurricane activity along the Gulf Coast is due to a southwestward shift in the position of the Bermuda High. This research uses multiple visualization techniques to explore the spatial correlation between Bermuda High strengths – as interpreted from the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index – and hurricane tracks. Using hurricane vector data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Hurricane Data set (HURRDAT) and NAO index data since 1947, the hypothesized spatial relationships were investigated. Due to the vast number of storm track segments (more than 17,000), displaying all segments in the same map failed to reveal any coherent spatial pattern. For this reason, storm track segments were converted into a point coverage, each point representing the mid-point of an original storm segment. Other visualization methods were applied to this new point coverage, including choropleth mapping and continuous 2-D and enhanced 3-D surface displays.

The latter two methods were novel approaches for the visualization of large numbers of hurricane tracks and can be applied to any large data sets consisting of linear features. Results visually support a spatial relationship between hurricane tracks and Bermuda High strengths.

Citation: Jason T. Knowles and Michael Leitner. “Visual Representations of the Spatial Relationship Between Bermuda High Strengths and Hurricane Tracks.” Cartographic Perspectives 56, Winter 2007, pp. 37-51, pp. 76-80 color figures.

Cartographic Perspectives issue #56 (Winter 2007) will be mailed soon to NACIS members. NACIS membership is $42/year ($20 for students) and includes three issues of the journal.

Dooley & Lavin: Visualizing Method-Produced Uncertainty in Isometric Mapping (CP 56)

Mathew Dooley and Stephen Lavin write, “Use of the exploration and visualization techniques examined herein might direct map users to a better understanding of uncertainty about isometric map interpolation through visual, as opposed to numerical, means.”

Article abstract: Isometric mapping, while highly uncertain, continues to be a preferred mapping method for continuous data in many of the physical and social sciences. Isometric method-produced uncertainty refers to the various map representations that result when different methods and/or specifications are used in the mapping process. This paper examines ways to communicate the nature and magnitude of isometric method-produced uncertainty to map readers so that they are encouraged to be uncertain when it is warranted. As a case study, we consider an extensive set of plant hardiness zone maps that result when different interpolation methods and sampling resolutions operate on the same set of data.

Our results show that slightly different choices in the mapping process can result in very different looking isometric maps, and suggest that the manifestations of method-produced uncertainty are not as systematic, or straightforward, as suggested by interpolation accuracy assessments. We then explore the use of two existing visualization techniques, flickering and transparency, to communicate the nature and magnitude of isometric method-produced uncertainty.

Citation: Mathew A. Dooley and Stephen J. Lavin. “Visualizing Method-Produced Uncertainty in Isometric Mapping.” Cartographic Perspectives 56, Winter 2007, pp. 17-36, pp. 74-75 color figures.

Cartographic Perspectives issue #56 (Winter 2007) will be mailed soon to NACIS members. NACIS membership is $42/year ($20 for students) and includes three issues of the journal.

Denis Wood: A Map Is an Image Proclaiming Its Objective Neutrality (CP 56)

What is it that makes a map a map? Denis Wood tackles the issue in the opening essay in CP 56. The essay is in response to Mark Denil’s critique (CP 55) of Wood’s article “Map Art.” (CP 53).

Wood writes: “The following remarks … are intended to clarify what I have been claiming makes a map a map, that is, what I’ve been calling the map’s mask.” Wood argues “the map’s mask establishes its alienation.”

Selected quotes: “. . . an essential property of maps: their objectness, their objectiveness, their objectivity.” “. . . I was to conclude that all maps were mental maps, that is, subjective to one degree or another.” “. . . the map insisted on being accepted not as a discourse about the world (which would be open to discussion, or a fight) but as the world . . .”

“. . . almost everything about the map looks to us for acceptance.” “The sketch map comes into the world naked, subjective and expressive.” “Although art maps do not enter the world naked as sketch maps do, neither do they enter it masked as maps. Rather they come with masks in hand, masks pulled from the face of maps they’ve unmasked.”

Cartographic Perspectives issue 53 was a special issue on mapping and the arts. Contents included “Map Art” by Denis Wood, “Interpreting Map Art with a Perspective Learned from J.M. Blaut” by Dalia Varanka, “Art-Machines, Body-Ovens and Map-Recipes: Entries for a Psychogeographic Dictionary” by kanarinka, “Jake Barton’s Performance Maps: An Essay” by John Krygier and a “Catalogue of Map Artists” Compiled by Denis Wood.

Citation: Denis Wood. “A Map Is an Image Proclaiming Its Objective Neutrality: A Response to Mark Denil.” Cartographic Perspectives 56, Winter 2007, pp. 4-16.

Cartographic Perspectives issue #56 (Winter 2007) will be mailed soon to NACIS members. NACIS membership is $42/year ($20 for students) and includes three issues of the journal.

Cartographic Perspectives 56 Contents: Critical Cartography, Visualizing Uncertainty, Hurricane Mapping, Historical Map Effects with GIS, Body Mapping

Cartographic Perspectives issue #56 (Winter 2007) will be mailed soon to NACIS members. NACIS membership is $42/year ($20 for students) and includes three issues of the journal. CP 56 includes five substantive articles, book reviews, and a 21 page color section. CP 56 contents are listed below, additional postings with article abstracts to follow.

CP 56 Contents: Peer-reviewed articles, methods, and essays:

A Map Is an Image Proclaiming Its Objective Neutrality: A Response to Mark Denil, by Denis Wood

Visualizing Method-Produced Uncertainty in Isometric Mapping, by Mathew A. Dooley and Stephen J. Lavin

Visual Representations of the Spatial Relationship Between Bermuda High Strengths and Hurricane Tracks, by Jason T. Knowles and Michael Leitner

Achieving Historical Map Effects with Modern GIS, by Aileen Buckley, David Barnes, and Jaynya Richards

Some Things Lilla LoCurto and William Outcault Have to Say About Maps, by Denis Wood

Book Reviews

Field Methods in Remote Sensing, Reviewed by Jenny Hewson
Remote Sensing for GIS Managers, Reviewed by Daniel G. Cole
Literature, Mapping, and the Politics of Space in Early Modern Britain, Reviewed by Brooks C. Pearson
Maps as Mediated Seeing: Fundamentals of Cartography, Reviewed by Mary L. Johnson
Seeing Through Maps: Many Ways to See the World, Reviewed by Mary L. Johnson

CP Blog

Cartographic Perspectives, the peer-reviewed journal of the North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS), will soon publish its 56th issue. Over the years, CP, which began as a newsletter, has evolved into a journal documenting research and creative work on mapping, situated in the broader context of geospatial technologies. Research article foci include psychological evaluations of map elements, social theory and critical cartography, terrain rendering algorithms, the history of mapping, GIS and cartography, multimedia and multisensory mapping, educational issues, color, art and mapping, among many others. A methods section details practical and educational projects that enhance map making and learning. Visual Fields reproduces exemplary maps in color with commentary. Reviews of relevant books and software are included in each issue.

Ideas for new sections are being developed, including exploratory essays, poster-sized map inserts, and peer-reviewed maps and cartographic software. Cartographic Perspectives, its editorial board and myself, the new editor, are devoted to creative, engaging, and substantive content reflecting the diversity of mapping in today’s world.

Why a blog? Enhancing communication! I plan to post abstracts and summaries of articles, essays, methods pieces, and reviews in forthcoming issues of CP to this blog, each with its own entry. This will serve to promote the work published in CP and allow comments and responses to the work. I will also report on developments such as full text availability (via EBSCO [and maybe other services] sometime this year), calls for submissions – books/software to be reviewed, methods pieces, visual fields materials, etc.

I am committed to engaging more people in providing quality content for Cartographic Perspectives – academics, professionals, enthusiasts, hackers – anyone with an interests in maps and mapping. It is impossible to fit mapping into any single field or area of expertise, and my hope is to represent the diversity of work on mapping in Cartographic Perspectives.