Milestones in the History of Thematic Cartography, Statistical Graphics, and Data Visualization
Pre-1600	Ptolemy 1842 map	Mercator portrait	Catalan Atlas

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2.  Pre-1600: Early maps and diagrams

c. 6200 BC

The oldest known map? (There are several claimants for this honor.)- Museum at Konya, Turkey.
IMG: Konya town map (280 x 160; 7K)
FIG: Konya town map (555 x 317; 24K)
TXT: Town map, with an errupting volcano (Hasan Daö?) and the Konya plain
TXT: An extended description of the most ancient maps

c. 550 BC

The first world map? (No extant copies, but described in books II and IV of Herodotus' ``Histories'' [254]- Anaximander of Miletus (c.610BC-546BC), Turkey.
FIG: The first world map (325 x 326; 3K)
TXT: Anaximander biography

366-335 BC

The first route map (``carte routière''), showing the whole of the Roman world, a map from Vienna, through Italy, to Carthage; painted on parchment, 34 cm. high, by 7 m. in length. (Named the table of Peutinger, after a 16th century German collector.)- Italy.
FIG: Peutinger map (1251 x 833; 330k)
TXT: Peutinger map background
TXT: Peutinger map images

The whole of the Roman world is reproduced on this painted parchment 34 centimetres in height and almost 7 metres in length. Although it is the most reproduced Roman chart, the Table of Peutinger does not make it possible to perceive the extent of the cartographic work undertaken by the Romans. Land conquerors, they had a utilitary vision of geography and their cartographic representations were related to the imperial conquests. Topographers accompanied the Roman armies in their campaigns in order to recognize the conquered grounds. Information collected was used for the military needs and the development of infrastructures such as the routes, but also to describe the routes. The table of Peutinger, named after the XVI century German collector to which it was offered, was a form of very widespread geographical description. If this chart does not bring topographic information, it gives indications of distances and size of the places, very practical information for the traveller. The North-South distances are represented on a smaller scale than the East-West distances, thus making it possible to the traveller to unfold or unroll the section which corresponded to its course.

240 BC

Calculation of the diameter of the earth by measuring noontime shadows at sites 800 km. apart- Eratosthenes (of Cyrene) (276BC-194BC), Libya.
TXT: Eratosthenes biography
TXT: Eratosthenes of Cyrene

Assuming the earth is a sphere, the measured angle between the sites is seven degrees and the circumference is about 50 times 800 km., or about 40,000 km.

170 BC

Invention of parchment. Parchment was superior to papyrus because it could be printed on both sides and folded.- Pergamon.
TXT: History of parchment

134 BC

Measurement of the year with great accuracy and building of the first comprehensive star chart with 850 stars and a luminosity, or brightness, scale; discovery of the precision of the equinoxes- Hipparchus (of Rhodes) (190-120BC), Turkey.
TXT: Astronomy
TXT: Hipparchus the Astronomer
TXT: Hipparchus biography

He seems to have been very impressed that either of two geometrically constructed hypotheses could 'save the appearance' of the path that a planet follows

c. 105

Invention of paper, replacing (somewhat later) writing and other inscriptions on wood, cloth, stone, etc.-Tsai Lun , China
PIC: Tsai Lun portrait (180 x 180; 14K)
TXT: Tsai Lun, portrait and biography
TXT: Timeline of paper making

c. 150

Map projections of a spherical earth and use of latitude and longitude to characterize position (first display of longitude)- Claudius Ptolemy (c. 85-c. 165), Alexandria, Egypt.
PIC: Ptolemy, portrait from ca. 1400 (90 x 109; 9K)
FIG: Ptolemy's world map, republished in 1482 (640 x 496; 40K)
TXT: Ptolemy world map description, with images
TXT: The world according to Ptolemy
TXT: Ptolemy's world map, description and high-res image
TXT: Ptolemy history

c. 950

Earliest known attempt to show changing values graphically (positions of the sun, moon, and planets throughout the year)- Europe [91].
IMG: see [291,p. 28]
IMG: Planetary movements icon (222 x 124; 19K)
FIG: Planetary movements diagram (750 x 420; 92K)

c. 1280

Triangular diagrams of paired comparisons for electoral systems (how to elect a Pope or Mother Superior, when all the candidates are voting)- Ramon Llull (1235-1316), Spain [176].
PIC: Llull portrait (409 x 477; 69K)
TXT: Llull portraits
TXT: Llull's writings on electoral systems

1305

Mechanical diagrams of knowledge, as aids to reasoning (served as an inspiration to Leibnitz in the development of symbolic logic)- Ramon Llull (1235-1316), Spain.
FIG: Llull's tree of knowledge (329 x 467; 79K)
FIG: Llull's mechanical disks (518 x 354; 37K)

c. 1350

Proto-bar graph (of a theoretical function), and development of the logical relation between tabulating values, and graphing them (pre-dating Descartes). Oresme proposed the use of a graph for plotting a variable magnitude whose value depends on another, and, implicitly, the idea of a coordinate system- Nicole Oresme (Bishop of Lisieus) (1323-1382), France [217,218]
PIC: Oresme portrait (709 x 688; 105K)
IMG: Oresme bar graph (225 x 117; 6K)
IMG: Page from Oresme (453 x 600; 19K)

1375

Catalan Atlas, an exquisitely beautiful visual cosmography, perpetual calendar, and thematic representation of the known world- Abraham Cresques (1325-1387), Majorca, Spain.
IMG: Carte de l'Europe, de l'Afrique du Nord et du Proche-Orient, BNF, ESP 30 (266 x 168; 48K)
IMG: Carte de l'Europe, de l'Afrique du Nord et du Proche-Orient, BNF, ESP 30 (747 x 508; 195K)
FIG: Catalan Atlas, detail: Europe, North Africa (747 x 508; 195K)
TXT: BNF description of Atlas catalan (BNF, ESP 30)
TXT: BNF listing of images from the Catalan Atlas
TXT: Detailed description of Catalan Atlas and Abraham Cresques (Henry-Davis)

c. 1450

Graphs of distance vs. speed, presumably of the theoretical relation - Nicolas of Cusa (1401-1464), Italy.
TXT: Cusa biography
TXT: English translations of the works of Cusa
TXT: Annotated links: Nicolas of Cusa on the Web

1453

Invention of moveable type printing press, and printing of the Mazarin bible (leads to a decline in the use of mixed text and graphics)- Johann Gutenberg (1387-1468), Germany.
PIC: Gutenberg portrait (124 x 114; 8K)
IMG: Gutenberg type sample (116 x 145; 5K)
FIG: Page from the Mazarin bible (375 x 952;196K)

c. 1500

Use of rectangular coordinates to analyze velocity of falling objects- Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Florence, Italy [309].
PIC: da Vinci portrait (168 x 254; 10K)
TXT: biography of Leonardo da Vinci
IMG: The 'Arnovalley', the first known and dated work of Leonardo da Vinci (220 x 148; 13K)

1530

Theoretical description of how longitude may be determined using difference of times by a clock and the associated observed change in star positions (not implemented)- Regnier Gemma-Frisius (1508-1555), Leuven, Belgium [89].
PIC: Gemma Frisius portrait (90 x 109; 4K)
TXT: Frisius biography

1533

Description of how to determine mapping locations by triangulation, from similar triangles, and with use of angles w.r.t meridians- Regnier Gemma-Frisius (1508-1555), Leuven, Belgium [90].
PIC: Gemma Frisius at his desk surrounded by instruments and books (200 x 139; 30K) .
FIG: Image from Peter Apianius Cosmographia, edited by Gemma Frissius (383 x 503; 70K)
FIG: Gemma-Frisius Diagram of triangulation (272 x 400; 21K)
TXT: Frisius biography
TXT: Cosmographia web site

1545

The first published illustration of a camera obscura, used to record an eclipse of the sun, on January 24, 1544.- Regnier Gemma-Frisius (1508-1555), Leuven, Belgium [103].
IMG: Camera obscura (357 x 250; 40K)
FIG: Camera obscura (485 x 340; 90K)
TXT: Adventures in Cybersound: The Camera Obscura
TXT: Science, Optics and You - Timeline, 1000-1599

1550

Trigonometric tables (published 1596 posthumously)- Georg Joachim Rheticus (1514-1574), Germany.
TXT: Rheticus biography

1556

Development of a method to fix position and survey land using compass-bearing and distance. (Tartaglia is better known for discovering a method to solve cubic equations) - Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia (1499-1557), Italy [279].
PIC: Tartaglia portrait (268 x 326; 19K)
TXT: Tartaglia biography

1562

Liber de Ludo Alaea, a practical guide to gambling, containing the first systematic computation of probabilities; written in 1562, but not published until 1663.- Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576), Italy [39,55].
PIC: Gerolamo Cardano portrait (250 x 304; 24K)
TXT: Cardano (Galileo project)
TXT: Cardano biography

1569

Invention of cylindrical projection for portraying the globe on maps, to preserve straightness of rhumb lines- Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594), Belgium [258].
PIC: Mercator portrait (356 x 400; 34K)
FIG: Mercator's 1569 Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae map (495 x 643; 145K)
TXT: Mercator biography, with related links
TXT: Mercator biography, with images

1570

The first modern atlas, Teatrum Orbis Terrarum- Abraham Ortelius (Ortel) (1527-1598), Antwerp, Belgium [219].
PIC: Ortelius portrait (160 x 217; 18K)
IMG: Map of the Netherlands, small (200 x 147; 32K)
FIG: Map of the Netherlands, medium (590 x 435; 255K)
FIG: Ortelius world map, from De Camp 1970 (700 x 874; 174K)
TXT: Overview of Ortelius and the Teatrum
TXT: Maps from Teatrum Orbis Terrarum

1572

Improvements in instruments for accurately measuring positions of stars and planets, providing the most accurate catalog on which later discoveries (e.g., Kepler's laws) would be based-Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), Denmark.
PIC: Tycho Brahe portrait (280 x 306; 27K)
FIG: Tycho Brahe's wall quadrant (290 x 450; 35K)
FIG: Parallax diagram (286 x 372; 31K)
TXT: Tycho Brahe ``home page''
TXT: Galileo project summary of Brahe
TXT: Tycho Brahe biography

1581

Discovery of isosynchronous property of the pendulum (to be used for clocks and measurement)- Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Italy.
TXT: Properties of the pendulum
TXT: Galileo's pendulum experiments

Up: Milestones	Introduction	Related	References	Term Index	Images: Pre-1600
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