Geological Maps in National Atlases

The author reviews the group of geological maps in national atlases, comparing the form and content of geological-stratigraphic, tectonic, mineral-deposits, lithological-petrographic and Quaternary-deposits maps and making recommendations for greater uniformity of such maps in national atlases.     

Population Maps in National Atlases

The author finds that population maps in national atlases should, as a minimum, treat population from four aspects: population numbers and density, geography of settlements, social and economic characteristics, and ethnographic characteristics. He notes that published national atlases generally slight the social and economic aspects in favor of strictly demographic characteristics of population.     

Climate Maps in National Atlases

A complete climate section of a national atlas should contain maps, tables and graphs presenting data on climate-forming factors, the temperature regime, moisture supply, climatic regions and typical weather situations. Published national atlases are analyzed and recommendations for the treatment of climate are made. Particular importance is attached to the integrated presentation of several climatic elements on a single map. The value of climatic maps for various segments of the economy (agriculture, construction, transportation) is emphasized.     

Complexity and Redundancy in Binary Maps

The complexity of binary maps that is provided by the areal arrangement of colors is considered, and measured using information theory. In addition, information theory provides other measures that have an interpretation in a map context. One of these, redundancy, is examined and found to bear a striking empirical relationship to a spatial autocorrelation statistic. It is argued that spatial autocorrelation is, conceptually as well as empirically, the two-dimensional equivalent of redundancy. It too measures the extent to which the occurrence of an event (color) in an areal unit constrains, or makes more probable, the occurrence of an event in a neighboring areal unit.     

An Evaluative Technique for Categorical Maps

A method is developed that can be used to evaluate categorical maps quantitatively. The method is based on the conditional probability of the occurrence of a cell state, given the states of its neighbors, i.e., to determine the most likely state of a given cell. A zero-one loss function can then be used to calculate the total number of improbable cell states as well as category-by-category counts. Experiments with the technique show its ability to predict accurately the amount of pseudo random noise that is added to a test array of categorical data.     

The Two Earliest Maps of Hull

Abstract

This article seeks to date more accurately the two earliest-known maps of Hull. From both internal and external evidence, it is suggested that both are military engineers’ plans of fortifications, one probably drawn in 1538/9, the other in 1541/2.     

Medieval Maps at Merton College,Oxford

Abstract

À la fin du XVIIIe siècle, dans le processus de fixation de la frontière linéaire entre le Royaume de France et les Pays‐Bas autrichiens, les cartes manuscrites thématiques des traités des limites jouent un rôle fondamental en tant qu'instruments de négociation. Ces cartes permettent de saisir visuellement la complexité des possessions territoriales et de comprendre les enjeux économiques et politiques des transactions pacifiques. Les cartes analysées, de concert avec les actes des traités, mettent clairement en évidence un aspect moins connu, mais fondamental des cartes des limites, à savoir leur rôle en tant qu'indicateurs des enjeux économiques, en présentant avec beaucoup de soin les grands axes de communication par route.