Cartography,
cartography: Monachus’ world map, 1529 [Credit: The Granger Collection, New York]the art and science of graphically representing a geographical area, usually on a flat surface such as a map or chart; it may involve the superimposition of political, cultural, or other nongeographical divisions onto the representation of a geographical area.
A brief treatment of cartography follows. For full treatment, see map.
cartography: Ptolemy’s world map, 1482 [Credit: Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.]Cartography is an ancient discipline that dates from the prehistoric depiction of hunting and fishing territories. The Babylonians mapped the world in a flattened, disk-shaped form, but Ptolemy established the basis for subsequent efforts in the 2nd century ad with an eight-volume work on geography that showed a ... (100 of 383 words)