4. The necessity in densely populated areas for regional
planning.
5. The rapid growth of tourism.
Current issues such as (1) mapping for the energy crisis, (2)
energy development versus environmental protection, (3) the
best use of natural resources, (4) the degree and methods of
pollution control, have brought about new and urgent needs
for maps, topographical as well as thematical.
3 Geodesy and Cartography
It was not until a few decades ago that geodesy asserted
certain rights over cartography. According to the definition
of the German geodesist, Helmert*, geodesy was the science
of the measuring and the presentation of the earth's surface
(die Wissenschaft von der Ausmessung und Abbildung der
Erdoberflache). Repeatedly, it has been stated in geodetic
literature that Helmert did not intend to incorporate the
"Abbildung" (the portrayal of the earth's surface) into the
geodetic realm and that in using this term, he only referred to
topometric and not to topographic/cartographic aspects.
However, not all geodesists seem to share this view, as is
evident from Hunger, who as late as 1955, still considered the
portrayal of the earth's surface as a task for Lower Geodesy.
Further, it should be noted that within the I Oth edition of the
classic "Handbuch der Vermessungskunde" by Jordan, an
additional Volume 1A was published, in 1971, entitled "Ge-
landeformen, Reproduktion, Topographische Karten und
Karten-Abbildungen".
In this volume, Dr. Willi Beck deals with great skill, with the
complete gamma of cartographic presentation problems.
However, he carefully avoids, as it were, the mention of the
headword "cartography", thus codifying, as it were, the
former usage of geodesists to incorporate cartography within
their realm. In the same time, however, the awareness of
cartography as a separate discipline with separate aims and
objectives, so vigorously pursued by German cartographers,
such as Karl Peucker (1859-1940) and Max Ecker (1868-
1938), is gaining with other geodesists. In both the "Diction-
naire Multilingue de la Fédération Internationale des
Géomètres" of 1963, and in the „Fachwörterbuch, Benen-
nungen und Definitionen im deutschen Vermessungswesen,
Heft 8 Kartographie, Kartenvervielfaltigung", compiled by
experts of the Institut für Angewandte Geodasie in Frankfurt
in 1971, "cartography" is assigned a separate status with aims
and objectives corresponding with those adhered to by the
International Cartographic Association.
A different conception of cartography is followed at the
United Nations, as well as in several countries in the New
World, according to which Cartography is the science of
preparing all maps and charts, including every operation from
the original survey to the final printing. According to this
definition, cartography stands for the collective surveying and
mapping activities and embraces geodesy, aerial photography,
photogrammetry, topography and cartography proper. In
practice the concentration of all phases of topo map produc
tion under one roof may be practicable, but the labelling of
all these activities under the heading of "cartography" leads
to confusion as the UN Regional Cartographic Conferences
Friedrich Robert Helmert (1843-1917).
146
testify, where the entire gamma of these disciplines is passing
the revue.
4 Topographic and Thematic Cartography
Within the realm of cartography, distinction is made between
topographic cartography and thematic cartography. The
topographic cartography embraces the production of topo
graphical maps which are supposed to give an overall view of
the topography of a particular area, including its natural and
man-made features, within the limitations of scale.
The term thematic map is a comparatively new term in carto
graphy. It was first introduced in the fifties and it rapidly
found general acceptance in the cartographic community. A
thematic map, in contrast to the synthetic view of the topo
map, represents the spatial distribution of selected phenom
ena, features or concepts against a generalized topographical
background. Its objective is to communicate geographical
concepts, such as densities, magnitudes, gradients, move
ments, spatial relationships, etc. In thematic mapping, the
cartographer places his services at the disposal of some
principal, often a geo-scientist or statistician, who wishes his
ideas or concepts to be conveyed to a map. In this working
situation, the principal is the "map author", upon whose
initiative the map is compiled, who actually participates
mentally in its production, and who accepts the responsibility
for its contents. The contribution of the cartographer with his
knowledge of graphic communication is to translate the
concepts of the map author into symbols on a map and to
ensure the best possible communication between the principal
and his customers, the map users. In thematic mapping, the
final product is the result of combined effort, of different
specialists, each of them sharing his own responsibility.
It should be pointed out, however, that the fundamental
problems of both categories, topographic and thematic
cartography, are conceptually similar; i.e., the conception,
the designing, and the execution of the map as distinct from
the collection of the data, is fundamentally the same in both
divisions. Further, in theory, the general division into topo
graphical and thematical maps may not always be unequivo
cal, as the topography of the earth's surface can also be
treated as a separate subject or theme and therefore topo
graphic maps should also be classified as thematic. On the
other hand, a road map, or a land use map, or a geo-mor-
phological map, which are classified as thematical maps, also
contain topographic elements. Moreover it will be clear that
as a consequence of the advent of computers, the distinction
between topographic and thematic cartography will lose in
significance, as both types result from data, which are often
indistinguishable in the machine.
5 Trends in cartography
In reviewing the turbulent development of cartography in the
sense of the afore-mentioned ICA definition during the last
decades, a number of trends or tendencies were obvious. In
view of the limited available time, out of these trends, I would
like to concentrate upon the following selection;
1. Growing concern for cartographic communication and
perception.
2. Increasing demand for thematic maps.
3. Development of new branches of cartography and
corresponding new fields of research.
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