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The Technology War, the Magical Aeroplane, and the Shift to Photogrammetry in American Public-Sector Mapmaking

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History of Cartography

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography ((ICA))

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Abstract

This paper examines a shift in U.S. public-sector mapping and its public perception in the first three decades of the twentieth century. In particular the emphasis will be on the first moves toward replacement of tradition-laced systems of apprenticeship and tradesmanship by more technicized approaches to mapping, eventually resulting in a technology-dependent factory system staffed by cadres of skilled and specialized workers. The effects of military financing and R&D through this period became a powerful force shaping mapping technologies both directly (through the funding of civilian mapping agencies during WWI) and indirectly (training personnel who would return to civilian sector mapping following the war). In the minds of the general public at this time, photography from airplanes became synonymous with mapping.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This is not intended to be a comprehensive history of the USGS topographic mapping operations during this period but rather an examination of a particular facet of their mapping practices. A more comprehensive set of historical resources (Evans and Frye ed. 2009) has been recently released by USGS.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, De Paul University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Patrick McHaffie

Authors
  1. Patrick McHaffie
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Correspondence to Patrick McHaffie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. of Cartography, ICA Commission on the History, Menlo Park, Pretoria, 0102, South Africa

    Elri Liebenberg

  2. , Department of History, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, 76011, USA

    Imre Josef Demhardt

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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McHaffie, P. (2012). The Technology War, the Magical Aeroplane, and the Shift to Photogrammetry in American Public-Sector Mapmaking. In: Liebenberg, E., Demhardt, I. (eds) History of Cartography. Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19088-9_6

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