Passion for maps
Spam: everybody hates it. These unwanted electronic messages, mostly advertisements. Spam accounts for 14.5 billion messages globally per day. Some research companies estimate that spam email makes up for 73% of all emails. Although this can be an interesting topic for a post, I do not want to talk here about this annoying phenomena, but about the opposite. The true opposite of “SPAM” is “MAPS”. Maps: these old paper-folded Michelin maps that we used during travel, these fantastic world globes or the maps in your navigation system.
I work in the “map” sector. But I have one problem. For all these years I always found it really difficult to properly and concisely answer this very simple question: “What do you do for a job?”. While others could just say “I work in the IT”, “I am a dentist” or “I am an architect”, I started with “Well, accompanied with a big sigh, I work in the geographical sector and we make all kind of applications based on e.g. satellite images, bla bla bla.” I always needed a couple of minutes before people started to understand what I did for a job. Way too long, and especially not very convincing. I had to improve that, starting with working out why I am so fascinated by my job, so passionate about maps.
Maps tell a story! They draw, like no words can explain, in a kind of universal language a huge story on just one sheet.
Marvelous, no? With just seeing a glimmer of these sloping contour lines or bombastic north arrow, my eyes begin to sparkle and glow. It is hard to disregard their beauty. But there is more: the soft rustling of the map paper… And then there is this typical odor … It is almost as you can smell the story of the area depicted on the map. And maps do so, they tell a story! They draw, like no words can explain, in a kind of universal language a huge story on just one sheet. And hence they impose order on chaos. The picturesque antiques ones speak of quest and conquest, of discovery, claim and glory, not to mention the horror tales about exploitation of native populations. In modern maps it may be more difficult to “see” these stories. Yet up-to-date maps make great templates of new stories: swept clean of their topological details, and with various data superimposed, they can make a statement about e.g. the voting patterns in the latest elections, or the spread of disease at an epidemic outbreak.
I still remember vividly the holiday car trips to Switzerland as a kid with my family. A must-have on these trips was a road map. Not the road map, but road maps. At least 3 of them: one for Belgium and Luxembourg, one for France and then of course one for Switzerland. First we always had this family moment, all together planning the best route and stop-places and then of course there were these inevitable anti-family moments, when father missed the exit, mother did not find a direct alternative on the map and marriage was at the point of breaking. I still get excited when I think about the maps of walking trails to hike in the Alps: the endless attempts to fold these maps, a piece of “pain français with Nutella” falling on the map, and the few times we took the wrong dotted lines on the map to end up in the other valley. Maps trigger our imagination. Maps in our mind are powerful things, and those we see as children may never leave us. You also have this with these large maps or world maps in particular. One of their most appealing features is that all journeys are feasible.
One of their most appealing features of maps is that all journeys are feasible.
I would like to end this plea for maps with probably the most mysterious story in cartographic history: “The mystery of Vinland”. Please help me out. Who discovered America? And in what year? Now look at this map on top, the Vinland map, dated around 1440. What do we see here? Yes, North-America, named “Vinilanda Insula” or “Wineland island”. So that means that the Vikings have discovered and inhabited America way before Columbus! If the map is genuine, all history books need to be rewritten. When the map was discovered they believed it was real. Later research showed it was a forgery; But … the latest techniques question this again and illustrate it could indeed be genuine. The insured value of the map is $25 million. The Vinland map is still the subject of considerable debate! But it for sure illustrates the romance and mystery maps hold within.
If it is a world map or a treasure map or just the map in our navigation system, it will take us to places we have never been before, in reality or in our head.
As a summary, where does my passion for maps comes from? Well, first of all: their breath taking beauty! Along the way, we got to take their beauty for granted. But just like a husband can suddenly realise after just having slept for 30 years with his wife how beautiful she still is, I also realize now the beauty maps hold within. Secondly, I admire maps for their ability to tell a story, their power to capture history, their strength to tell, like no words can explain, in a kind of universal language what the problem is, their ability to impose order on chaos. And, three, maps fascinate me! Show us a map and we get excited; If it is a world map or a treasure map or just the map in our navigation system, it will take us to places we have never been before, in reality or in our head.
Important remark: Parts of the text is based on the book “On the map” from Simon Garfield
About Nicolas
Nicolas is a socially committed mapping expert and map enthusiast. He is convinced that map applications can play a positive role in this transitioning world. It is not by coincidence that the true opposite of “SPAM” is “MAPS”.
He is co-founder of nazka mapps. nazka is focused on maps that matter, adding value to society. Check for sure also aircheckr.
