The desire to determine their location on land, at sea, or among the stars was one of the very first reasonable human needs. Primitive drawings of primitive habitats gave rise to a complex and multi-valued direction of human activity. Investigations of new lands and their description gave impetus to the intellectual development of all civilization.
Cartography is not just a combination of methods for visual display of the earth's surface or the starry sky, it is an effective tool of cognition that has been improved throughout human history.
Origin of the term
The Greek words χάρτης - hartis (charter, papyrus, paper) and γράφειν - graphene (write, scratch) became the basis of the term denoting the vast area of special professional activity at the junction of various branches of science related to the description of the spatial environment of human life. Cartography is also a special area of visual art.
The best examples of handwritten maps from the heritage of past years are masterpieces of graphic art of a high artistic level. Today, when creating electronic cards, plans, schemes, you also can not do without artists. In the XXI century, cartography is an exquisite computer two-dimensional and 3D-graphics, stylish visual design.
Start
The earliest surviving images, similar to maps, related not only to primitive drawings of the earth's surface, but also to the sky. Petroglyphs (carved on stone) - images of the brightest constellations found in France and Spain. A rock painting resembling a village plan was made 6000 years BC in the foothills of Turkey. The history of cartography suggests that it appeared before writing and tells about the concentration of all advanced scientific knowledge to create the first cartographic images.
The views of ancient philosophers on the world order were reflected in the first geographical maps, which he drew in the VI century BC. e. scientist Anaximander. The earth appeared on them in a flat circle surrounded by water.
Knowledge about the world expanded, the territory of the planet depicted on the maps increased. The development of cartography is difficult to imagine without Ptolemy's “Geography” (II century BC. E.). On his maps there is already a designation of latitude and longitude, three parts of the world are indicated: Europe, Asia and Libya (Africa). The most studied regions of Europe and North Africa had a very accurate image, Asia was more conventional. A large place on the maps of Ptolemy was occupied by the Unknown Land.
Maps of Ancient China and the East
The first mentions of Chinese maps containing, in addition to geographic data, information about the economy of different regions, about the goods offered, date back to the 3rd century BC. e. The foundations of cartography, as an alloy of various scientific knowledge - physical, geographical, historical, economic and political - were laid precisely then. The maps and topographic plans of the Han Dynasties in the first centuries of our time already had symbolic systems, rectangular coordinate systems, and exact boundaries of the lands belonging to the possessions of different rulers.
The achievements of cartographers of India in ancient times are reflected in illustrations for the epic poems Mahabharata and Ramayana. In places where the action of these poems takes place, there are many mythological elements - legendary cities and fictional creatures.
On the medieval maps of the eastern geographers of Al-Khwarizmi, Piri-reis and others there are many fantastic and unrealistic objects, but there are also areas unknown to European scholars on them. Among them are the southern extremities of America and even the unknown southern continent - Antarctica.
Geographical Discoveries
The history of cartography consists of several critical, revolutionary stages. Such events marked the Renaissance. This was the appearance of the globe of the German geographer Martin Beheim, called the “Earth apple”, and the release of the first collections of geographical maps, sponsored by Gerhart Mercator and Abraham Ortelius. These atlases possessed all the attributes that determined the correct approach to the development and production of maps. Geographic maps have made typography successful.
These events were both a consequence and a cause of geographical discoveries that did not leave dark spots on the planet. The emergence of accurate maps served as its success geography, cartography made possible long ocean voyages and transcontinental land crossings. The expeditions of Columbus and Magellan, the travels of Vasco da Gama became possible thanks to the invention of navigation tools on the Sun and stars and the widespread dissemination of accurate and relatively complete images of the studied sections of the earth's surface.
Cartography in Russia
The importance of information about where borders, states, the location of large natural objects, and deposits of natural resources in Russia have been aware of since the time of princely feuds. Geography, topography, cartography fell into the sphere of special state interests during the formation of the centralized authority of Moscow. The result of such attention was the "Big Drawing". It was a plan of Russian territories, executed on a 2.5x2.5 m sheet, created according to one version according to the order of Ivan the Terrible.
This first known work of Russian cartographers came only in the form of a detailed description - “The Book of the Big Drawing”, which showed the great informativeness and thoroughness of the map.
State approach
Since the time of Peter the Great, a state system of geodesy and cartography has been formed in Russia. The compilation and printing of the maps were entrusted to the Academy of Sciences. As a result, a great deal of work was done on the state surveying of Russian territory, several versions of detailed atlases were issued.
Among the experts and amateurs, the Atlas of the central Russian provinces, compiled and published under the direction of A. I. Mende, is very famous.
At a new technical and organizational level, domestic cartography and geoinformatics were raised in the Soviet period. By 1954, mapping of the entire territory of the country on a scale of 1: 100000 was completed. With established active international cooperation, the Great Soviet Atlas of the World, one of the most comprehensive cartographic publications in the world, was published.
Modern technologies
Hand-drawn plans and maps of past centuries are a subject of admiration for historians, collectors and connoisseurs of graphic art. Modern cartography is a synthesis of advanced scientific achievements and modern technologies. A breakthrough was the active use of remote methods of zoning our planet - first aerial photography, and then - scanning the earth's surface using satellites. These tools have made today's maps and plans of various sizes unique in their completeness and accuracy.
Computer and electron-optical printing systems have fundamentally changed the process of printing cards. 3D modeling, digital image processing, analysis and management of huge databases are the usual methods of work of a modern cartographer. Moreover, the relevance of paper media is rapidly declining. The main focus of today's cartography and geoinformatics has made the visualization of information on the geosphere for electronic media, for viewing on various gadgets.
What cartography includes:
- Cartography is a general doctrine of geographical maps.
- The history of cartography is the development of methods for compiling, manufacturing and using maps.
- Design and mapping.
- Cartographic semiotics - a system of conventional signs and their use in maps.
- Cartographic design.
- Publishing and publishing maps.
- Use of cartographic materials.
- Development of cartographic information sources.
- Toponymy is the science of geographical names.
Sectoral directions of cartography
Modern cartographic products may contain information related to many areas of scientific, social and cultural activities of people. Among them, the general geographical - the location of objects of natural and artificial origin, geological, soil, ethnographic. New directions include geoecology, geopolitics, and electoral.
There are several areas of practical application of such products that have specific requirements for preparation and design. Maps and atlases are actively used in the educational process at various levels of education, in scientific work, they are necessary in marine and air navigation, maps are an important part of tourist guides. Traditionally, military and civil engineering maps and topographic plans are in demand.
IT technology
Computer technology in cartography made a real revolution, giving rise to one of its most sought after areas. The interaction of computer modeling and geoinformatics generated geoinformation mapping. The most obvious and distinct result of it was Internet mapping, which allows you to use the necessary and relevant information about the surrounding geosphere, a huge number of people.
The main advantage of Internet cartography is the relevance of information, its high information content and clarity. The ability to update the map online, various options for displaying it - planar and three-dimensional, day and night, supplementing the map with panoramic photos and video images - all these are unattainable means for cartographers of the past.
On land and in the ocean, on Earth and in space
Without maps it is impossible to explore the world. They carry the information collected by experts from different branches of science, which helps in its analysis, processing, the emergence of new theories and hypotheses.
For example, geomorphology - the science of the laws governing the formation of the earth's relief - cannot do without accurate topographic maps of land and the seabed. It is impossible to study the spread and causes of epidemics without detailed natural and socio-economic maps.
Even distant planets become an object for modern cartography. Comparative planetology establishes the laws of formation of celestial bodies by analyzing Earth maps and images taken by spacecraft.
Traditions and Perspectives
Sometimes there are judgments about the impending death of traditional cartography. Allegedly, the development of information technology will lead to the uselessness of maps and plans in the form of globes and paper atlases. Finding the maximum information about any point on our planet or in visible space is becoming easier. But this only speaks of a method for publishing cartographic information.
Cartography is a long history and great traditions. Let the quality of printing and the advantages of graphic design of maps concern more collectors, - modern information and navigation systems are built on the principles developed by many generations of cartographers.
The constant change in the physical, socio-political appearance of the Earth and its environment makes cartography a branch of science and technology, the need for which will never disappear.