CARTOGRAPHY AND COMPUTERS

Abstract

Literacy, numeracy and graphicacy are the educated counterparts of the three types of innate ability that feature in intelligence tests. Computers are essentially numerate and increasingly literate but only very unevenly graphicate. This paper explores the nature of the computer barrier in the field of cartography. For this purpose maps are classified as cartogram maps which portray point data, isogram maps which portray line data, morphogram maps which portray area data (shapes), and compound maps which combine two or three of the foregoing types. Cartogram and isogram maps do not present fundamental obstacles to computerisation as they possess the desirable characteristics of numerical input and a low ratio of markings to blank space. Isogram maps also permit interpolations. Morphogram maps are likely to be vastly more complex and the time and cost of feeding in data may far outweigh any savings in analysis and calculation. This class of map is discussed more fully.