The Map as Intent

Variations on the Theme of John Snow

Datos Bibliográficos

ID14701356
AutoresTom Koch (0000-0002-8444-3700, University of British Columbia, autor de correspondencia)
Año2004
Volumen39
Número4
Páginas1-14
Fecha de publicación2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCartographica The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0317-7173 • E-ISSN: 1911-9925
EditorialUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3138/b123-8124-4390-5792
OpenAlexW2013729038
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas11

Critical geographers" concerned with cartography insist maps are first and foremost social artefacts that must be "read" as authorial documents rather than perceived as data statements. Their argument is typically dismissed as trivial because the relation between intent and output has rarely been demonstrated in a critical way. This article seeks to demonstrate the degree to which authorial intent defines map content and appearance through an analysis of a single set of maps. All are based on the original data collected in 1854 by Dr John Snow as part of his study of the cholera outbreak in London's Soho district. Snow's original map is included as baseline for a study that includes versions of the Snow map by a range of authors, including Cliff and Haggett; the US Centers for Disease Control; Gilbert; Tufte; and Monmonier. The resulting appropriations bear progressively less resemblance to the original work, despite the use of the same data set and its clear availability. The result is a cautionary tale of the distance between maps and the data they represent. The article also insists upon the close relation between authorial intent and mapped result irrespective of the data available. Finally, the article concludes that because mapping is not value-free, dangers occur when professional cartographers and geographers attempt to map data from fields in which they are ignorant

Argument (complex analysis · Cartography · Data mining · Epistemology · Geography · Relation (database · Set (abstract data type · Snow · Sociology · Theme (computing · Computer Science · Geographic Information Systems Studies · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Historical Geography and Geographical Thought · Philosophy