Cartography txo!?
Cartography has been the means of mapping and representing the world ever since the very beginnings of humanity, right from the first cave paintings, where we can clearly see how cave dwellers indicated where to find their prey in relation to their homesteads, to the Babylonians who jotted down their trade routes on maps, right through to this day and age.
The pirate Long John Silver who used to mark the whereabouts of his treasure by plunging a knife into a map on the table, would undoubtedly shatter the odd computer screen nowadays with the same kind of carry-on. Our view of our universe and world has constantly changed down through the years due to the discoveries we have made, and are ceaselessly making. We used to think the world was flat and that’s how it was shown on maps of the time. Today, we know the world is spherical in shape and we try to represent this on our maps, even though most times our two-dimensional bits of paper prevent us from showing the world as it truly is. World globes were thought of years ago to try and display the world in all its round glory, but it was almost always impossible to find one: where would you be going with a big ball tucked under your arm? I mean, you can’t put one in your school bag, can you? That’s not to mention that everything is dwarf-size on them. Nowadays, thanks to advances in computer technology, we can easily view 3D images of the world on two-dimensional screens. We can basically view 3D images of almost anything you can think of. Our view of the world is changing nonstop and computers facilitate the means of viewing the world. They enable us to better our perception of reality.
I’m quite sure that in the near future we’ll find Long John Silver slashing his knife through the thin air as he tries to punch his dagger into the maps that will be projected in the air in front of us. Yep, just like they do it in sci-fi movies now. In time we’ll be able to view this kind of technology in any type of vehicle, museum, virtual internet visit or wherever your fancy takes you.
The aforementioned technological advances already enable us to visit ancient China and the tombs of the Pharaohs from the comfort of our homes:
The size of things on electronic maps these days is no hindrance to us at all: the power zoom removes all physical barriers:
The pirate Long John Silver who used to mark the whereabouts of his treasure by plunging a knife into a map on the table, would undoubtedly shatter the odd computer screen nowadays with the same kind of carry-on. Our view of our universe and world has constantly changed down through the years due to the discoveries we have made, and are ceaselessly making. We used to think the world was flat and that’s how it was shown on maps of the time. Today, we know the world is spherical in shape and we try to represent this on our maps, even though most times our two-dimensional bits of paper prevent us from showing the world as it truly is. World globes were thought of years ago to try and display the world in all its round glory, but it was almost always impossible to find one: where would you be going with a big ball tucked under your arm? I mean, you can’t put one in your school bag, can you? That’s not to mention that everything is dwarf-size on them. Nowadays, thanks to advances in computer technology, we can easily view 3D images of the world on two-dimensional screens. We can basically view 3D images of almost anything you can think of. Our view of the world is changing nonstop and computers facilitate the means of viewing the world. They enable us to better our perception of reality.
I’m quite sure that in the near future we’ll find Long John Silver slashing his knife through the thin air as he tries to punch his dagger into the maps that will be projected in the air in front of us. Yep, just like they do it in sci-fi movies now. In time we’ll be able to view this kind of technology in any type of vehicle, museum, virtual internet visit or wherever your fancy takes you.
The aforementioned technological advances already enable us to visit ancient China and the tombs of the Pharaohs from the comfort of our homes:
The size of things on electronic maps these days is no hindrance to us at all: the power zoom removes all physical barriers:
- http://www.perm.org/yinyutang
- http://www.thebanmappingproject.com
- http://www.nationalgeographic.com/maps
