mappemond map-ð-mõnd
a map of the world (obs.) the world itself (hist.) [ L.L. mappa mundi ]

I have an existential map; it has 'you are here' written all over it. -- Steven Wright

'Mappemond: the representation of real and artificial worlds' is the working title for my final year project on the BSc MediaLab Arts course at the University of Plymouth.

Maps chart the history of navigation and exploration, discovery and conquest . From the earliest plans and diagrams to the most modern GIS sytems, they show a fundamental human need to know where we are in relation to our immediate neighbours and the universe.

A map is by definition a representation of a space (usually the surface of the earth) and is therefore rooted in the physical world. Yet cyberspace has no fixed topography, and therefore it is the map itself that defines and becomes the space. (Baudrillard - Precession of Simulacra).

My aim is to look at the history of maps in order to better understand how to represent this new mode of navigation and exploration. This will involve following various strands:

• Antique maps and Portolan charts
• The meaning of maps - their symbols and colours
• Exploration and discovery
• The map as representation of reality and navigational aid
• Spatial awareness. Points of the compass
• Levels of detail. How much to include. What to leave out
• Projections. Flattening the sphere. Scale

Initial Reading List:

• L.A. Brown, The Story of Maps (New York: Dover Publications, 1979). [Reprint of the original edition of 1949]. 912.09
• J.J.S. Goss, The Mapmakers Art: A History of Cartography (London: Studio Editions, 1993). [Very well illustrated].
• C.Moreland and D. Bannister, Antique Maps. (Oxford: Phaidon/Christie's, 1989). [With a paperback edition in 1993].
• N.J.W. Thrower, Maps & Civilization: Cartography in Culture and Society. (University of Chicago Press,1996).
• Leo Bagrow & R.A. Skelton, History of Cartography 526.809
• Simon Berthon & Andrew Robinson, The Shape of the World 912.09
• F.J. Monkhouse and H.R. Wilkinson, Maps & Diagrams: Their Compilation and Construction (Methuen & Co Ltd, 1978) [Reprint of third edition].
  
  • Map Design (p.13)
  • The Use of Colour (pp. 53-54)
  • Topological Maps (p. 85)
• Carl Moreland and David Bannister, Antique Maps (Phaidon Press Ltd, 1989) [Third edition]
• P.D.A. Harvey, Medieval Maps (The British Library, 1991)
• Dava Sobel, Longitude (Fourth Estate, 1996)
• G. James Morrison, Maps: Their Uses and Construction (Edward Stanford Ltd, 1929) [second edition]
  
  • Problems with Projections (pp. 1-2)
  • Advice to Globemakers (p.47)
• Lancelot Hogben, Mathematics for the Million (Merlin Press, 1989) [Revised edition]