Chaos Into Order

Cartography and the Amorphous Blob

Abstract

Some years ago while tutoring in the Geography Department of U.C.C., an irate second year student came up to me and said, 'Ronan, look what some bastard tutors' put as a comment on my cartography practical'. He pointed to a comment I had written beside his work implying that, despite his best efforts, his traffic flow map of European imports and exports still looked like a great amorphous blob! Needless to say I immediately blamed my brother, a fellow tutor at the time. Cartographic techniques have changed a lot since then and doubtless in a few years time students everywhere will be capable of creating amorphous blobs on computer screens as well. This paper will seek to outline some of the differences between traditional and computer-based cartography. It will also attempt to discuss some of the underlying assumptions about cartography itself, about the scientific and philosophical basis of cartographic data and about the future of the subject in the years when GIS (Geographic Information Systems) will rule the world