Although maps have played a vital role in transportation and navigation, they are slowly declining due to the ease and efficiency of computer generated navigation. Maps have a history dating back thousands of years, where they were only improved upon only benefiting society but then suffered a drastic decline.
Maps have been the most commonly used form of navigation since ancient times. Cartography is the art of map-making added with science. Some historians believe that some cave drawings are actually maps showing animals and other important “destinations” in relation to natural landmarks. These are examples of preliterate maps, making cartography older than writing. According to “Britannica Encyclopedia”, the oldest known, sensible, maps are inscribed on Babylonian clay tablets, dating back to the year 2300 B.C.E. created by nonliterate people. As the years and eras went on, each new map maker and user added new advancements and ideas to the map. In medieval maps, religion played a huge role. On most maps made in the medieval time, Jerusalem was depicted as the center of Earth. In 500 B.C.E, Greek scholar, Hacateus of Miletus created the first ever atlas (Britannica). Ptolemy followed suit 400 years later and created an eight volume Guide to Geography (Britannica). The guide consisted of globe models, 8,000 locations and how to get there and instructions on creating and reading maps. The world’s first terrestrial globe was created in 1492 by Martin Behaim. Maps, along with studies by the ancient Greeks helped spread the idea that Earth was indeed a sphere, not flat.
Maps originated as clay tablets and slowly transitioned to animal skins and tree bark. They kept evolving and production was increased with the invention of the printing press. Several historic landmarks also changed how maps were produced. During the Age of Exploration (15th and 16th centuries), new maps were being produced on a mass scale all over Europe. The travels of Marco Polo spread new ideas of far off lands, thus sparking a need for more advanced, more filled maps. These travels also boosted map sales among common people. The application of the scientific method gave maps a new found accuracy. However, as time progressed, maps became more and more simple. Older maps had been filled with fanciful designs and illustrations giving a mythic, adventurous feel. More recent maps are strictly business, being straight to the point with only information important to safely navigating your journey. By the 18th century, many different kinds of maps roamed the markets being county, estate, and harbour maps along with town and oceanic charts. In the 19th century cartographers began surveying new colonial territories as Europe was already mapped accurately.
Maps were perhaps one of the most helpful inventions of all time, benefitting society by showing sizes, shapes and distances between locations, helping people see the world. Without them, traveling would be practically impossible with no way to tell which direction you were traveling. In modern times, maps weren’t only useful to travelers, but also to city planners and politicians. City planners’ jobs were made so much easier since maps allowed them to visualize where structures would be convenient and well-spaced. Politicians use maps to set boundaries between territories and to plan military actions. Modern maps have the ability to track the growth of invasive plants and determine the forecast (Wikle). Maps also helped people on a more complex level. According to an article published on the “Scientific American” modern technology such as GPS and navigational apps have taken away from the brain’s ability to sense direction and navigate without the pieces of technology. However, maps helped people navigate, while keeping their sense of direction somewhat intact.
The growth of technology played a crucial role in the so-called death of paper maps. The computer age allowed maps to be easier to use and make. Computers made it way easier for maps to be accessed in that they became part of mobile phones allowing for a more compact and portable map system. Computer maps work by using GPS (Global Positioning Systems), a system that uses satellites orbiting earth in order to pinpoint locations within a meter of accuracy. According to Thomas Wikle, using GPS, map software can track the speeds of vehicles and determine elevation. This allows for navigation apps such as Google Maps to give live and very accurate directions to drivers and pedestrians. GIS (Geographic Information System) has also revolutionized cartography. Instead of drawing and graphing by hand, cartographers can easily computer generate locations and produce maps at almost triple the speed. After programming a map on a computer, a process called digitizing is done where the computer maps are printed onto paper to scale (Britannica). However, good old paper maps can still provide information that apps and GPS don’t. Maps provided an accurate display of terrain as well as just directions, even though, maps are soon to be extinct.
Maps have played an important role in transportation and navigation for thousands of years, but are almost extinct due to new advancements such as GPS and GIS. They started out as basic drawings and have evolved into a complex array of streets, towns, cities, and countries, helping humans travel the world. Maps also proved to help keep people’s sense of direction intact while modern forms of navigation are deteriorating the part of our brain that helps navigate.