Abstract
THE evolution of maps, and of our ideas regarding their use and function, might be made the subject of an interesting and profitable study. The main object of the early cartographers was to plot down with all attainable accuracy the relative size and position of countries, of towns or of smaller units, and to indicate such natural features as mountains and rivers; roads were added later, and, as the necessity became more evident and geodetic methods improved, the scale was enlarged, while the increasing accuracy permitted additional and minuter details to be introduced. The organisation of national cadastral surveys gave us at last the large-scale contoured maps that, with, or without orographic colouring, constitute the highest expression of the map-maker's science.
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References
“The Interpretation of Topographic Maps”. By R. D. Salisbury and W. W. Attwood . Pp. 84+clxx plates. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Professional Paper, 60. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1909.)
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K., P. The Interpretation of Topographic Maps 1 . Nature 82, 430–431 (1910). https://doi.org/10.1038/082430a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/082430a0