With the popularity of online maps, personal navigation devices (PNDs), and GIS we can easily forget that it all started on paper. We can forget the trials and tribulations of those who made early geographic discoveries, those who labored to produce early maps. In a world of instant information about where we are, many of us forget how we arrived to this place. We curse at the online map for not having a new street, while early mapmakers struggled lifetimes and even risked their lives to find and map new continents. We start to take for granted the aerial views of our world, when only a few decades ago the first remote sensing satellites launched.
Chicago is a city rich in mapping history. The first plat map of a portion of the city was surveyed in 1822, with the city plan mapped in 1830. It is the home of venerable map maker Rand McNally and publisher R.R. Donnelley & Sons. Online mapping provider MapQuest started as a division of R.R. Donnelley & Sons. The Newberry Library and the University of Chicago have long been at the center of map research and preservation. For example, the University of Chicago Press edits and publishes the multi-volume series of books resulting from the History of Cartography Project. Replogle Globes, the leading globe manufacturer, started in a Chicago apartment in 1930. NAVTEQ, the large provider of digital geographic information, has its headquarters in the city.
The Festival of Maps Chicago began in November. Dr. Anna Siegler is the Executive Director of the Festival. She told me that the Festival, five years in planning, is a citywide set of events across more than 30 cultural and scientific institutions. The ambitious project started with a committee of distinguished Chicago philanthropists, map collectors and civic leaders. Using the annual Chicago Humanities Festival as a rough model, Dr. Siegler directed the efforts that led to opening day in November. She found willing organizations among Chicago’s leading museums, libraries, arts organizations and universities. Each participating organizations decided how they would contribute. The result is 31 exhibits in 28 venues with 10 lecture programs. Rand McNally designed and printed the maps used to promote the festival.
“Everyone who heard about our map events would exclaim that they love maps,” said Dr. Siegler. “This enthusiasm seems clandestine, though. We wanted to bring it out of hiding.” One goal is to take that love of maps and feed people with real examples of the rich Chicago map scene. With the decline of geography in schools, the Festival can help renew interest and knowledge in the subject.
The Field Museum exhibited more than 100 maps of all types in its “Maps: Finding Our Place in the World” exhibit. Exhibits elsewhere vary from historical (“European Cartographers and the Ottoman World 1500-1750″ at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago) to the modern (“Mapping the Self” at the Museum of Contemporary Art). There is also a local focus, with several exhibits and lectures about the mapping of Chicago. Even the Brookfield Zoo participated with its “Building and Mapping of an Institution” describing the challenges of mapping a zoo.
While the Festival is now wrapping up, others are following Chicago’s lead. Baltimore just opened its Festival of Maps on March 16.
In this age of declining geographic knowledge, the map festival can play a significant role in helping people appreciate the importance and roles of location in our lives and as a way to help understand history and current happenings. It is encouraging to see the success of the ambitious efforts in Chicago. Hopefully other locales will find the resources to take a similar path.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) created the event called Earth Hour. On Saturday March 29 at 8 PM local time, millions of people and businesses worldwide are turning off their lights to make a statement about climate change.
It all started last year in Sydney Australia. This year, the WWF says more than 200 cities around the world, including 100 in North America, will turn out their lights for the event.
According to the WWF, “Earth Hour will demonstrate that by working together, each one of us can make a positive impact on this global issue. Earth Hour encourages businesses, communities and individuals to take the simple steps needed to cut their carbon dioxide emissions. WWF will hold this event in at least 25 cities across 6 continents. In the U.S. it will be held in Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix and San Francisco.”
Check it out. Think about your carbon foortprint. Pull out those candles. Just don’t burn the place down!
It seems like such a story would be boring. Two Germans we might be vaguely aware of, each taking very different approaches to discovering secrets of the earth. The novel, Measuring the World by German author Daniel Kehlmann. No, I don’t read German. Thankfully, this book is translated into English. And we’re fortunate to have it!
Alexander von Humboldt is the world-traveling explorer seeking out truths of the earth by climbing the highest mountains, venturing into the deepest jungles, and journeying across the roughest seas. Along the way, with great determination and significant risk to his well-being, he collects, measures, and records every detail.
Carl Friedrich Gauss is a child prodigy math genius exploring the world using his brain. He rarely ventures far physically yet becomes the greatest mathematician since Newton. Like von Humbolt, he notices every minute detail. Unlike him, however, Gauss has a penchant for women.
The novel takes the reader through a luscious journey showing the contrasts and similarities of these two men. We see the human side of everything they do, their interactions with others. Scientific discovery woven with the real world of just living. The fascinations. The impatience with other people. The gritty determination. The solitude. The joys of discovery. The sorrows of aging. Kehlmann provides a fantastic narrative, laced with humor and emotion. And plenty of interesting geography!
Chris offers that after GIS developers start using agile practices, they use them in the same way as what her calls “mainstream” developers. In the results, something pops out at me. More than half of the respondents said they did not know when their organizations would adapt agile practices and more than 14% said they think their organizations would never go agile. Along with some other questions along these lines, it seems that GIS developers are likely to remain less agile than the rest of the development world.
In Chris’ whitepaper analyzing the results, he postulates that GIS is certainly lagging the rest of the market in terms of agile adoptation, and it is really not that far behind. The reasons for the difference are not clear from the survey results. Perhaps GIS developers are more resistent to change. Maybe management and customers don’t see the value. This is an open question.
Could it be that developing GIS applications is somehow different in a way that makes it agile-unfriendly? Or maybe organizations that are now have the main GIS developement activities tend to be conservative and thus less likely to embrace agile – governments, utilities, and large contractors serving them. I didn’t see anything in the survey results indicating the industry the respondents work in.
This survey is a great first step in better understanding of the GIS developer community. As Chris suggests, future surveys and analysis will help us better understand.
Today in frigid Washington D.C., the 2008 ESRI Federal User Conference started. I attended and share here some observations on the opening presentation by ESRI’s President, Jack Dangermond.
This is the 20th version of the federal user conference. ESRI officials told me that 2,500 pre-registered, an increase of 600 from 2007. Incredible growth for a technology conference these days.
The nice new Washington Convention Center is the venue; the rooms are, well, roomy. The food is decent … but let’s move to the good stuff.
Jack Dangermond kicked off the plenary discussing how his audience is “working on the nation’s problems.” He showed dozens of maps covering about 20 categories of applications including humanitarian programs, emergency management, environment, energy, defense, homeland security, and facility management. The heart of his message was that Read all »
With the popularity of online maps, personal navigation devices (PNDs), and GIS we can easily forget that it all started on paper. We can forget the trials and tribulations of those who made early geographic discoveries, those who labored to produce early maps. In a world of instant information about where we are, many of us forget how we arrived to this place. We curse at the online map for not having a new street, while early mapmakers struggled lifetimes and even risked their lives to find and map new continents. We start to take for granted the aerial views of our world, when only a few decades ago the first remote sensing satellites launched.
