{"id":1834492,"date":"2024-10-15T18:28:40","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T22:28:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=1834492"},"modified":"2024-10-15T18:28:41","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T22:28:41","slug":"the-how-and-why-of-measuring-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/10\/the-how-and-why-of-measuring-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"The How and Why of Measuring Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Matthew Edney poses an interesting question about measuring the physical size\u2014i.e., the length and width\u2014of paper maps<\/a>: how do we do it, and why are we doing it? \u201cThere\u2019s a philosophical question (how do we construe this thing that we need to measure?), the question of precision (how finely do we measure?), and a pragmatic question (what use is to be made of whatever measurements are recorded?), all of which influence the selection of which part(s) of an image are to be measured. Add to that a great deal of historical inconsistency in practice, and the question becomes difficult to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matthew Edney poses an interesting question about measuring the physical size\u2014i.e., the length and width\u2014of paper maps: how do we do it, and why are we doing it? \u201cThere\u2019s a philosophical question (how do we… More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"link","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":true,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[48,845],"class_list":["post-1834492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-antique-maps","tag-libraries","tag-paper-maps","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1786172,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-recommends-paper-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834492,"position":0},"title":"Gatineau Park Recommends Paper Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"22 August 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"Relying on your smartphone's maps can be risky in places where cellular service is patchy. That goes for Gatineau Park, where, despite the fact that its southeast corner is surrounded by the city of Gatineau, Quebec (across the river from Ottawa), staff still recommend people use paper maps, CBC News\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mobile"","block_context":{"text":"Mobile","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/mobile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/gatineau-park-map-1024x448.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1811906,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2023\/01\/the-return-of-paper-maps-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834492,"position":1},"title":"The Return of Paper Maps, Again","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 January 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Every so often we see a story about how paper maps are making a comeback. Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that sales of paper maps have been going up in recent years\u2014a story that NBC\u2019s Today show picked up yesterday. One of the appeals of paper maps, these\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Industry"","block_context":{"text":"Industry","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/industry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1787384,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/05\/fantasy-maps-dont-belong-in-the-hands-of-fantasy-characters\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834492,"position":2},"title":"Fantasy Maps Don\u2019t Belong in the Hands of Fantasy Characters","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"28 May 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"My latest piece for Tor.com went live this morning. It\u2019s called \u201cFantasy Maps Don\u2019t Belong in the Hands of Fantasy Characters\u201d and it deals with the question of in-world fantasy maps: the maps that characters inside a fantasy novel might use. (Hint: They wouldn\u2019t look like the maps found on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Maps and Literature"","block_context":{"text":"Maps and Literature","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/maps-and-literature\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screenshot from Game of Thrones","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/got-dragonstone3-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/got-dragonstone3-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/got-dragonstone3-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/got-dragonstone3-1024x576.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1829634,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2024\/04\/paper-maps-new-business-lost-loves\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834492,"position":3},"title":"Paper Maps: New Business, Lost Loves","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 April 2024","format":"link","excerpt":"GIS analyst and cartographer Andrew Middleton moved across the country to become the new owner of the Map Center, a Rhode Island map store, after the previous owner announced that he was looking for someone to give the store away to. In an interview with GeoHipster\u2019s Randal Hale, Andrew outlines\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Industry"","block_context":{"text":"Industry","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/industry\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1790351,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2021\/03\/edney-reviews-when-maps-become-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834492,"position":4},"title":"Edney Reviews ‘When Maps Become the World’","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"18 March 2021","format":"link","excerpt":"Matthew Edney reviews Rasmus Gr\u00f8nfeldt Winther\u2019s\u00a0When Maps Become the World (University of Chicago Press, 2020), a philosophy of science book that engages with maps and representation\u2014with what Winther calls \u201cmap thinking.\u201d Edney isn\u2019t convinced by Winther\u2019s approach: \u201cWinther remains committed to outmoded and deeply flawed concepts of the nature of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cartography"","block_context":{"text":"Cartography","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/cartography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/when-maps-become-the-world-100x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1786339,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/10\/when-mobile-maps-cant-keep-up-with-road-closures\/","url_meta":{"origin":1834492,"position":5},"title":"When Mobile Maps Can’t Keep Up with Road Closures","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"2 October 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"During a natural disaster like Hurricane Florence, crisis maps can be an invaluable source of information about road and bridge closures and other infrastructure outages. Trouble is, that information doesn't always trickle down to mobile phones, which is where most people get their maps. (Especially when authorities have trouble keeping\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disasters"","block_context":{"text":"Disasters","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/disasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1834492"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1834494,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834492\/revisions\/1834494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1834492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1834492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1834492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}