How Maps Work: Representation, Visualization, and Design - Hardcover

MacEachren, Alan M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0898625890 ISBN 13: 9780898625899

Publisher: The Guilford Press, 1995

Synopsis

This book is the first systematic integration of cognitive and semiotic approaches to understanding maps as powerful, abstract, and synthetic spatial representations. Presenting a perspective built on four decades of cartographic research, it explores how maps work at multiple levels--from the cognitive to the societal--and provides a cohesive picture of how the many representational choices inherent in mapping interact with the processing of information and construction of knowledge. «MDUL»«MDNM»Utilizing this complex perspective, the author shows how the insights derived from a better understanding of maps can be used in future map design. Although computers now provide the graphic tools to produce maps of similar or better quality than previous manual techniques, they seldom incorporate the conceptual tools needed to make informed symbolization and design decisions. The search for these conceptual tools is the basis for «MDUL»How Maps Work«MDNM».

About this title

About the Author

Alan M. MacEachren is currently Professor of Geography and Director of the GeoVISTA Center at The Pennsylvania State University. In addition to researching cognitive and semiotic aspects of how maps work, he is active in the development of interactive systems for geographic visualization and in understanding and enabling group work with geospatial information and technologies. He is the author of [i]Some Truth with Maps[/i] and coeditor of [i]Visualization in Modern Cartography[/i].

From the Back Cover

This book is the first systematic integration of cognitive and semiotic approaches to understanding maps as powerful, abstract, and synthetic spatial representations. Presenting a perspective built on four decades of cartographic research, along with research from other areas, it explores how maps work at multiple levels - from the individual to societal - and provides a cohesive picture of how the many representational choices inherent in mapping interact with the processing of information construction of knowledge. Utilizing this perspective, the author shows how the insights derived from a better understanding of maps can be used in future map design. Although computers now provide the graphic tools to produce maps of similar or better quality than those produced by previous manual techniques, they seldom incorporate the conceptual tools needed to make informed symbolization and design decisions. The search for these conceptual tools is the basis for How Maps Work.

Edition details

• Publisher: The Guilford Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0898625890
• ISBN 13: 9780898625899
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 513