Historical context of explorers and maps

. . .

Maps have traditionally been commissioned by:

• Monarchs
• Popes
• Governments
• Industries

This creates a natural tension between

• scientists striving to find pure knowledge, and
• the goals of empire

Coming back to Norway, recall that Vinland was discovered in about 1000 AD.
However, there was not a map made and it provided little value to succeeding generations.

Whether we look back 500 years or look ahead 500 years, our concepts (our maps) of reality will be extremely different.

The history of cartography, from the crudest clay tablets to recent discoveries of the relationship of galaxies,
shows the shedding of a succession of untenable centrisms

Copyright © 1998 WVS Corporation