FIELD ECOLOGY JOURNAL the college school
Cartography Cartographical Body of Knowledge Cartography has always been around, because all that is needed is a pencil and some paper. There have been many famous cartographers over the years. Cartography was first designed when people still thought that the earth was flat; ancient people designed these maps to understand trade routes. They did this so they could get delicacies quicker, and so bandits would not steal their food. The first big map makers were the ancient Greeks and the Romans. Ptolemy is the most famous map maker, and was Greek. He made the very first map of the world, and it is because of him that Cartography is such a popular art. It seems that at the same time, the Chinese and the Indians were working on mapping the solar system as they knew it (Sen Nag 2018). When they first drew maps, they didn’t have a compass, which made cartography extremely challenging. A compass works because it is drawn by the magnetic pull of the North Pole. There is a magnetic North that pulls the compass away from true north and it is in Canada (Ashford). The magnetic North Pole has shifted over 600 miles over the past century (Ashford). Cartography can usually be split into two different categories, General Cartography and Thematic Cartography. General Cartography involves maps that are meant for the general public (Sen Nag 2018). These are usually produced in a series, with each map covering a certain part of their area of study. For instance, the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey are complete maps of the United Kingdom (Sen Nag 2018). The other type of Cartography is Thematic Cartography, which deals with more specific geographic fields of study (Escobar 2010). These maps are usually meant for a select group of people, like scientists. A great tool for General Cartography is Geographical Information Systems. These are online mapping databases like CalTopo and the point of these are so people can explore the areas in the United States closer and more in depth. As well as having two different types of cartography, there are two main maps. These two are Topographical and Topological maps. Topographical maps are generally highly detailed and quantitative, and usually focus on elevation. These maps have a key and focus on railroads, roads, man made features, forests, drainage patterns among other types of symbolized objects (Sen Nag 2018). Topological maps are very simplified drawings or diagrams of different areas. A good example of these Topological maps are the London Tube map, a beautiful feat of cartographic knowledge (Sen Nag 2018). GIS, or Geographic Information System, is the main body of knowledge for cartography. It has been greatly developed and enhanced over the years. It is now free and widely available to the public, even though it has been around for only 57 years. It all started in 1962, when 10
