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Geographic
descriptions of the earth constitute our earliest science and ancient
maps predate any discovered written language. It appears that mankind
has always wanted to illustrate its environment. The earliest maps known
today date back beyond 6,000 BC. It was nearly 4,000 years later before
geometry was introduced to map making and measuring the Earth.
Another 2,000 years passed before the mathematics of depicting a spherical
world on a flat sheet of paper were developed. Greek astronomer and geographer
Claudius Ptolemy developed the first maps depicting a spherical world
around 200 A.D.
Yet it wasn't until the fifteenth century before Ptolemy's maps were widely
published and used by navigators, including Columbus, Vespucci, Magellan,
and Drake. Of course the American continents did not appear on Ptolemy's
maps. In fact it was his maps' exaggeration of the size of Asia that misled
Columbus into underestimating the distance to the Orient. The new world
that Columbus encountered was first added to a world map in 1507. At the
close of that century, Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator published
the first bound collection of scientific maps. His work featured an illustration
of the mythological giant Atlas. Since its publication in Duisburg, a
collection of maps has come to be known as an Atlas.
Today's atlases still collect and offer maps. Yet not all are bound and
printed and sold in book stores. Advances in publishing, computer, and
communications technologies now make it possible for map makers to deliver
atlases on CD-ROM, DVD, and via the World Wide Web. Despite the many changes
in map making techniques and the widespread use of computers in map production
and dissemination, the purposes and uses of atlases remain unaltered.
An
atlas is a collection of objective geographic information, expressed in
maps. Its compilation is justified by its contribution to research and
decision making. It enhances the user's understanding of a place and fosters
cultural development and self-awareness. An atlas educates. Atlas makers
employ maps to stimulate broader and deeper understanding of geography,
history, culture, and more. They provide real depictions of a region,
country, or the world. |
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The National Atlas of the United States® is a concerted effort to
present consistent and reliable national maps that can be used to explore
the human dimensions of American landscapes and environments. The individuals
and organizations that collaborate on the National Atlas share these goals:
to
contribute to a better understanding of the environmental, resource,
demographic, economic, social, political and historical dimensions of
American life,
- to serve as a medium for the dissemination of information helpful
to gaining a better understanding of the United States and other parts
of the world,
- to make possible a comparison of the United States with other countries
and world regions that will give Americans a better understanding of
their country in relation to what takes place elsewhere in the world,
- to offer information for effective communication among scientists
and scholars in the various fields of knowledge that can be appropriately
presented in map format on a national basis,
- to provide useful information through graphical presentation and
text to persons in positions of responsibility confronted with making
important legislative, planning, management, business, and other decisions
- to provide materials useful to educators and students,
to give additional visibility through map making to statistical and
dynamic information, and
- to honor traditions of cartographic excellence while advancing the
state of the art in the preparation and use of modern maps.
Cartography is the science and art of making maps.
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Cartographers
like to emphasize that map making is not merely a scientific endeavor.
Maps have always been abstractions of the real world. Map makers use graphic
distortions to maintain correct relationships among geographic features.
All the information available cannot possibly be included because maps
are much smaller than the areas they portray. Map makers must choose to
display those features that are critical to conveying their intended message.
For example, within the National Atlas Map Maker, we do not include detailed
street maps. That is because the intent of an atlas that covers the whole
Nation is to use generalized maps that portray America's broad conditions,
patterns, and trends.
Within this chapter we offer information on maps, mapping, and the people
and government institutions that make maps. Topics may include mapping
history, discussions of map making techniques and instrumentation, and
descriptions of the elements common to most maps. We will introduce you
to Federal mapping programs and explain how these maps and the geographic
information behind them are used in everyday applications.
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