INTRODUCTION Xlll 



requirements, and in co-operation with them the cartographer 

 must evolve methods of mapping all kinds of 'distributions', 

 from geological strata and dolmens, climatic regimes and plant 

 associations, to land use and 'urban spread'. It is the present 

 widespread recognition of the value of the map in the co- 

 ordination and interpretation of phenomena in many sciences 

 that has led to what may truly be called a modern renaissance 

 of cartography. 



It would be misleading to represent the stages summarily 

 sketched above as being either continuous or consecutive. There 

 have been periods of retrogression or stagnation, broken by 

 others of rapid development, during which outmoded ideas 

 have held their place beside the new. Again, cartographers 

 have constantly realized the theoretical basis for progress, but 

 have had to wait for technical improvement in their instru- 

 ments before they could apply their new ideas. Since the easiest 

 way to make a map is to copy an old one, and considerable 

 capital has often been locked up in printing plates or stock, 

 map publishers have often been resistant to new ideas. Con- 

 sequently, maps must never be accepted uncritically as evidence 

 of contemporary knowledge and technique. 



In studying cartographical history, the various classes of 

 individuals who have contributed to the map as it reaches the 

 public must be clearly differentiated. The explorer, the topo- 

 graphical surveyor and the geodesist, with their counterparts 

 on the seas, the navigator and the hydrographical surveyor, 

 provide the data; the compiler, computer, and draughtsman 

 work them up to the best of their ability; and finally, with 

 printed maps and charts, the engraver or printer has his part 

 in determining the character of the finished map. Further, in 

 earlier centuries, when a considerable speculative element 

 entered into ideas on the distribution and configuration of land 

 masses, the cosmosgrapher often interpreted or applied the 

 results obtained by explorers to fit into preconceived opinions. 

 Professor E. G. R. Taylor has also warned the student against 

 the booksellers and engravers, "who copied and compiled 

 what they wanted quite uncritically, using any old maps and 

 plates that came to hand". 



Clearly the maps, many thousands in number, which have 



