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Discussion: The Map Ahead

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Book cover Rediscovering the World

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Abstract

Kessler and Slocum recently made the disconcerting finding of an overall low quality of map design in an analysis of thematic maps in two major geographical academic journals. They argue that geography as a core discipline of mapping should embrace map design as a vital component of geographic education, and that good practice of mapping needs to be actively promoted and easy to perform. In my research I tried to reclaim the map (Dodge and Perkins 2008) in my very own geographic manner by rethinking cartographic practice in the light of a world that today is very different to the days when mapping became part of academic disciplines.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The differences between a Mercator map and a Peters map can be understood even if there are none of these lines shown in the map, although they make the projection easier to understand.

  2. 2.

    I used such enhancements for the gridded world population cartogram in several stages of the visualisation. The Worldmapper colour scheme can be seen as a simple example for that.

  3. 3.

    The maps shown in this thesis can easily be criticised for building exactly on such views by the design decisions that were made to put Europe in the centre of the map. However, this followed a rather pragmatic decision to not overstretch the map reader’s mind by moving from the perhaps most widespread map image at least in that part of the world where this thesis has been written. It should therefore be stated, that gridded cartograms do not have to build on that perspective, but can equally be created for other perspectives.

  4. 4.

    Take for instance the three recent volumes of Transactions, 2007–2009 (Volumes 32 (1)–34 (4)). Of the twelve issues, consisting of 92 papers, only 27 % of all the papers contain at least one map. Furthermore, in many examples of papers in these volumes where a map has been included, it is questionable how much value the map actually adds to the paper’s content or helps explain or reinforce the arguments put forward by the author.

  5. 5.

    This observation correlates well with Johnston’s (2009) observation that popular geography magazines, such as Geographical and National Geographic are characterised by large amounts of colour photographic material.

  6. 6.

    This is part of Worldmapper’s scope and as outlined earlier, also a precondition for its wider acceptance and appraisal within the cartographic community.

  7. 7.

    This phrase is borrowed from the Atlas of Science (Börner 2010), which examines how visualisation contributed considerably to the discovery and exploration of knowledge.

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Correspondence to Benjamin D. Hennig .

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Hennig, B.D. (2013). Discussion: The Map Ahead. In: Rediscovering the World. Springer Theses. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-34848-8_7

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