Thematic Cartography

Thematic Cartography

Colette Cauvin, Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg, France
Francisco Escobar, University of Alcala, Spain
Aziz Serradj, Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg, France


ISBN :

Publication Date : April 2010

Co-publisher

Description


A thematic map is a map that illustrates more than simply geographical relationships or locations, but rather also portrays themes, patterns, or data relating to physical, social, medical, economic, political or any other aspect of a region or location. Examples include maps that show variations of population density, climate data, wealth, voting intentions, or life expectancy with geographical location. These tools have become central to the work of scientists, practitioners, and students in nearly every field, from epidemiology to political science, and are familiar to members of the public as a common means of expressing complicated and multivariate information in easily understood graphical formats.

This set of three volumes on Thematic Cartography considers maps as information constructs resulting from a number of successive information transformations and the products of decision stages, integrated into a logical reasoning and the order of those choices. It thereby provides a thorough understanding of the theoretical basis for thematic mapping, as well as the means of applying the various techniques and methodologies in order to create a desired analytical presentation.

The first volume introduces the basics of thematic cartography. The authors present the transformations necessary to the production – using a scientific approach – of any thematic map. Four stages are detailed: from geographic entities to cartographic objects; the [XY] transformation; the [XYZ] cartographic transformations; and the semiotic transformation. Technical aspects giving map-reading keys are also included.

The second volume focuses on the impact of the quantitative revolution on thematic cartography, partly related to the advent of the computer age. It deals with transformations related to the [Z] data and the technically renewed methods (anamorphoses, 3D representations).

The third volume is exclusively focused on new approaches in thematic cartography offered by three successive revolutions affecting the discipline: digital, multimedia and Internet phenomena. It discusses transformations related to modern technologies (animation, interactivity, multimedia, etc.) leading to geovisualization and solutions to spatio-temporal data cartography.

Contents


Volume 1: Thematic Cartography and Transformations
Part 1. CARTOGRAPHY: AN EVOLVING SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE
1. A Brief History of Thematic Cartography
2. Cartography: A Discipline of Transformations
3. The Map – a Construction Based on Scientific Reasoning
Part 2. DATA CONSTRUCTION: A TRANSFORMATION DEFINING THE QUALITY OF THE MAP
4. Localized Data: the Specialty of Cartography
5. Attributes: the Specificity of Thematic Cartography
6. Locations and Attributes: Quality Criteria
Part 3. NECESSARY TRANSFORMATIONS IN THEMATIC CARTOGRAPHY
7. A Permanent Phase: The Semiotic Transformation
8. Cartographic Transformations: the Representation Modes
9. Cartographic Design



Volume 2: Cartography and the Impact of the Quantitative Revolution
Part 1. TRANSFORMATIONS OF ATTRIBUTES [Z] AND USE OF QUANTITATIVE METHODS: GENERALIZATION AND MODELING
1. From the Description to the Generalization of an
Attribute Variable Z
2. Generalization of Thematic Attributes.
3. Modeling Thematic Attributes: Generalizable Cartographic
Choices
Part 2. NEW CARTOGRAPHIC TRANSFORMATIONS AND 3D REPRESENTATIONS
4. Cartographic Transformations of Position
5. Taking a Third Dimension into Account, Transformation
of Display


Volume 3: New approaches in Thematic Cartography
1. Technological Revolutions and Their Conceptual and
Practical Consequences.
2. Towards a Spatio-Temporal Representation of Cartographic Objects
3. Thematic Cartography within the Framework of New
Paradigms

About the authors/editors


Colette Cauvin was formerly Professor of Geography at Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg, France.

Francisco Escobar is Professor of Geography at the University of Alcala, Spain.

Aziz Serradj is Lecturer of Geography at the Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg, France.