{"id":2299,"date":"2016-06-23T12:09:20","date_gmt":"2016-06-23T16:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/?p=2299"},"modified":"2023-07-11T11:12:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-11T15:12:44","slug":"the-origins-of-north-at-the-top-of-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2016\/06\/the-origins-of-north-at-the-top-of-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"The Origins of North at the Top of Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"

BBC Future’s Caroline Williams explores the following question: why do modern maps have north at the top?<\/a>\u00a0“Given such a long history of human map-making, it is perhaps surprising that it is only within the last few hundred years that north has been consistently considered to be at the top.”\u00a0Early European maps had east at the top (orientation is derived from\u00a0orient<\/em>, or east); Islamic maps faced\u00a0south. When maps changed to north-at-top is difficult to pinpoint, or at least the article has difficulty in doing so, but it came relatively late in history. (Thanks to Denis Dooley for the link.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BBC Future’s Caroline Williams explores the following question: why do modern maps have north at the top?\u00a0“Given such a long history of human map-making, it is perhaps surprising that it is only within the last… 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":[35],"tags":[312,1590],"class_list":["post-2299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-link","hentry","category-history","tag-history-of-cartography","tag-north","post_format-post-format-link"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":513340,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/12\/a-book-roundup-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2299,"position":0},"title":"A Book Roundup","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"19 December 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"The Routledge Handbook Out last month, the expensive, 600-page\u00a0Routledge Handbook of Mapping and Cartography\u00a0(Routledge). Edited by Alexander J. Kent (who co-wrote\u00a0The Red Atlas) and Peter Vujakovic, the book \"draws on the wealth of new scholarship and practice in this emerging field, from the latest conceptual developments in mapping and advances\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/social-life-of-maps-142x150.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1789490,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/10\/new-map-books-early-october-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":2299,"position":1},"title":"New Map Books: Early October 2020","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"7 October 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"New map books released in early October include: The 27th edition of the Oxford Atlas of the World (Oxford University Press); this atlas is updated annually. This edition includes more satellite imagery, a new feature on plastics pollution, and an updated cities section. Amazon (Canada, UK), Bookshop The 14th edition\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/a-history-of-second-world-war-100-maps-uk-107x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/a-history-of-second-world-war-100-maps-uk-107x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/a-history-of-second-world-war-100-maps-uk-107x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/a-history-of-second-world-war-100-maps-uk-107x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1788753,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2020\/04\/the-magnificent-maps-puzzle-book\/","url_meta":{"origin":2299,"position":2},"title":"The Magnificent Maps Puzzle Book","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"16 April 2020","format":"link","excerpt":"I missed Philip Parker\u2019s Magnificent Maps Puzzle Book when it came out in Britain from British Library Publishing last October, but it seems to be available in North America this month (the logistics of delivering physical books during a pandemic permitting). From the publisher: \u201cIt features carefully devised questions inspired\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Games"","block_context":{"text":"Games","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/games\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Magnificent Maps Puzzle Book (cover)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/magnificent-maps-puzzle-book-195x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4373,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2017\/04\/maps-and-empire-new-books\/","url_meta":{"origin":2299,"position":3},"title":"Maps and Empire: New Books","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"25 April 2017","format":"link","excerpt":"Three\u00a0academic books out this month deal with the subject of mapping, surveying, and empire-building: The New Map of Empire: How Britain Imagined America before Independence by S. Max Edelson (Harvard University Press) covers the period between the Seven Years' War and the American Revolution. From the publisher: Under orders from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History"","block_context":{"text":"History","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/new-map-of-empire-99x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1785487,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2018\/04\/new-and-reissued-books-for-april-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":2299,"position":4},"title":"New and Reissued Books for April 2018","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"24 April 2018","format":"link","excerpt":"New Editions The third edition of Mark Monmonier's classic\u00a0How to Lie with Maps (University of Chicago Press, 1o April) \"includes significant updates throughout as well as new chapters on image maps, prohibitive cartography, and online maps. It also includes an expanded section of color images and an updated list of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/how-to-lie-with-maps-3rd-99x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1787490,"url":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/2019\/07\/talking-maps\/","url_meta":{"origin":2299,"position":5},"title":"Talking Maps","author":"Jonathan Crowe","date":"5 July 2019","format":"link","excerpt":"Talking Maps, opening today at the Bodleian Libraries, is a major new map exhibition featuring maps from the Bodleian's collections. Highlights on show include the Gough Map, the earliest surviving map showing Great Britain in a recognizable form, the Selden Map, a late Ming map of the South China Sea,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Antique Maps"","block_context":{"text":"Antique Maps","link":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/category\/antique-maps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.maproomblog.com\/xq\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/talking-maps-148x150.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2299","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=2299"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2302,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2299\/revisions\/2302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maproomblog.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}