This document discusses the field of geography from the perspective of Prof. Ashis Sarkar. It begins by providing background on Prof. Sarkar's career path and interests within geography. It then discusses the history and development of geography as a field, including key thinkers, paradigms, and the development of quantitative and digital methods. It also summarizes Waldo Tobler's First and Second Laws of Geography. Finally, it proposes imagining geography concepts within a "GeoCube" framework involving 6 planes and 54 parameters to represent the breadth of topics within the field. The document aims to provide an overview of the diverse topics and ongoing discussions within geography.

1. GEOGRAPHY AND MAPS – myth and contemporary realities
Prof Ashis Sarkar
Chandernagore College
Chandernagore, West Bengal

2. Why this Topic?
1. After almost 34 Years of Teaching and Research, in Govt. Colleges at UG
and PG levels in various fields of Geography, sure its time for introspection.
2. In School, I never liked ‘Geography’; but, I had to pursue it, not by my choice
but by that of my ‘Career Teacher’ (Late Nirmal C Ghosh).
3. I never wanted to be a Teacher, but my Fate brought me to this profession.
4. Prof. Banerjee took me to his fold and made me a Ph.D. Scholar. I was
simply ‘nobody’.
5. I was fluent in Cartography, had a very soft corner for Fluvial
Geomorphology but my Ph.D. Research was on “Urban Geography”.
6. I could have joined the SBI as Probationary Officer (1976) or could well have
been in Indian Civil Service (1978) with enviable prospects. Sometimes, I
feel: have I done any mistake in my life choosing my father’s profession?
7. Finally, I thought, this is not the platform for presenting serious geographical
essays or research.
8. Hence the ‘topic’……actually my experiences with “geography and maps”.

3. 1. Our teachers talked about ‘paradigm shift’, ‘quantitative revolution’, ‘systems
analysis’… We were simply excited….reflections documented in the 1978,
1979, 1980 Issues of “Observer” containing interesting and innnovative
‘write ups on ‘techniques of quantitative analysis’.
2. Physics and Mathematics helped me a lot to understand the ‘scientific
essence of geography’ and to trade on its various fields simply as an
‘explorer’. It was so easy to me ….. choose a topic .... frame objectives …
formulate hypotheses…collect data…perform statistical analysis…go for
testing….jot down your findings….submit for publication.
3. In the mid 1980s ‘digital revolution’ was slowly making headway … I was
fortunate being a Presidencian….The Computer Lab of the Geology and
Statistics Departments helped me grow up with “Wordstar”,“dBase”, “Lotus
1-2-3”, “FORTRAN”, etc since 1990s.
4. The Book by JC Davies with Menus and Sub Menus for Multivariate
Statistical Analysis like RA, PCA, FA, CA, DA, and TSA contained the
desired Mine for 3 of us: Prof. SS Sarkar (Geology) and Prof. A. Chatterjee
(Statistics).
5. I was inspired by teachers like Prof. A.B.Chatterjee, Prof. S.C Chakraborty,
Prof. B. Banerjee, Prof. B. N. Thakur, Prof. A. B. Banerjee, Prof. D. K. Singh,
Prof. D. Goswami, Prof. A. Gupta, Prof. A. Biswas, Prof. S.R. Basu, Prof.
Sekhar Mukherjee, and used to emulate them.

4. 1. So were the works of Strahler, A. N. (1954); Zobler, L. (1957); Clarke, J. I.
(1959); Berry, B. J. L. (1961); Gibbs J P (ed.1961); Dickinson, G. C. (1963);
Gregory, S. (1963); Kansky, K. J. (1963); Kendall, M. G. (1965); Haggett, P.
(1965); Neft, D. S. (1966); Alonso, W (1968); Harvey, D. H. (1969); King, L.
J. (1969); Chorley, R. J., Cole, J. P. (1970), King, C. A. M. (1970); Parr, J. B.
(1970); Abler R, J. S. Adams and P. Gould (1971); Doornkamp, J. C. (1971);
Davis, J. C. (1973); Richardson, H. W. (1973); Hammond, R. and
McCullagh, P. S. (1974); Wolman, M.G. (1974); Mather, P. M. (1976); Ebdon,
D. (1977); Taylor, P. J. (1977); Johnston, R. J. (1978)….
2. However, in 1990s, I felt bored with the ….. ‘dull quantitative methods’ that
overshadows the ‘core geography’. Always feeling ‘something missing’…..
3. I tried to concentrate on the philosophy of “geography” through the eyes of
Huntington, de la Blache, Bruhnes, Semple, Ratzel, Forde, Harvey, Sauer,
Haggett, Chorley, Tobler, Paglen and others ….. amazing that across the
World, the debate still goes on:
Is it really a scientific discipline? “Geomorphology” with “Geology” or with
“Geography”? “Cartography” with “Geography” or as a separate discipline?
Hence the ‘topic’……full of ‘conflicts and confusions’, ‘myth and reality’,
‘traditions and post-modernity’, ‘technology and research’, ‘development and
corporatisation’,‘imperialism and socialism’, ‘dreams and frustrations’……

5. The term “Geography” is used to —
…."describe or picture or write about the Earth": Eratosthenes (276–194 BC).
But, mere names of places...are not geography... It has higher aims than this: it
seeks —
(1) to classify phenomena,
(2) to compare,
(3) to generalize,
(4) to ascend from effects to causes, and in doing so,
(5) to trace out the laws of nature and to mark their influences upon
man.
This is simply 'a description of the world‘ : Hence, Geography is a Science—
- a thing not of mere names but
- of argument and reason,
- of cause and effect: William Hughes (1863)

6. Geography is important in Real World —
1. Aristotle (384–322 BC): to avoid the errors of other people and
countries and to profit from their good ideas.
2. Aurelius (121–180): in order to keep our principles of living with
nature alive ….compare them to those in other countries.
3. Montaigne (1533–1592): it teaches us to put things in perspective
amid earthquakes, volcanism, floods and wars.
4. Cervantes (1547–1616): it’s the job of the geographers to be exact,
truthful and unbiased about time, storehouse of deeds, witness for
the past, examples and counsel for the present and warning for the
future.
5. Descartes (1596–1650): in order to judge our own customs and
actions better by examining those of others living in different
situations ……to travel to another place and time by listening to
people describing their time and country.
6. Pascal (1623–1662): in order to advance man’s knowledge…. man
makes continual progress through trial-and-error learning….to learn
the universal principles of human nature by seeing man in different
kinds of situations and circumstances…

7. Hume (1711–1776): mankind are so much the same, in all times and
places… the use of geography is to understand, live and exist in our
current world ….. we must trade, understand and exist with others.
Adam Smith (1723–1790): to insure order in society by having an
informed and educated people and in order to remove prejudices and
increase understanding.
Thus, Geography takes us to different land and people with different
cultures. It’s fun and fascinating. It has 5 fundamental themes —
Location: position on the earth’s surface
Place: physical and human characteristics
Relationships within places: man – environment
Movement: human interaction on the earth
Regions: how they form and change
Earth – in relation to – Man: Physical Geography
Man – in relation to – Earth: Human Geography
The Choice is Yours!!

8. Physical Geography
Earth Science: Geotectonics, Geomorphology,
Atmospheric Science: Climatology,
Life Science: Soil Geography, Plant Geography, Environmental
Geography
Hypotheses, Theories and Universal Laws of Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics
Human Geography
Economics: Economic Geography (Activity, Spatial Pattern, Spatial Structure and
Organization, Trade and Commerce, Transport, etc)
Philosophy: Evolution of Thoughts (Schools)
Sociology: Social / Cultural Geography including Health, Recreation, Education
Demography: Population Geography
Hypotheses and Theories :: Mechanistically applied from Others
We proudly call Geography a Science… a discipline almost 2250+ Years Old
but seriously suffers from the absence of the ‘Universal Laws of Geography’!
That’s why, the IVY League of Universities shut down their Geography
Department in the late 1950s. No Law – No Science – No Research – No
Funding.
It shook the World. The QR began in order to regain its status by
an all-out effort to build Theories and Laws.

9. Waldo R. Tobler (b.1930)
1. An American-Swiss Geographer and Cartographer; participated in
geography's William Garrison-led QR – 1 of the late 1950s; a 1961 Ph.D.
from the University of Washington; a Member of RGS, GB.
2. Initially, he was at the University of Michigan and then Professor of
Geography and Professor of Statistics at UC,SB until his retirement.
3. It was he who formulated the “First Law of Geography" (TFL) in 1970 while
producing a computer movie.
4. He was a Scientist in the National Center for Geographic Information and
Analysis (NCGIA) using Computers in Geographic Research since 1960s
with emphasis on Mathematical Modeling and Graphic Interpretations.
5. He is the inventor of novel and unusual Map Projections, among which was
the 1st Derivation of the Partial Differential Equations for Area Cartograms.
6. He also invented a method for smooth 2D Mass-preserving Areal Data
Redistribution.
7. He also built a global, latitude-longitude oriented, demographic information
base with 2nd Order Resolution.

10. 1. His keen interests relate to ideas in Computational Geography
including the analysis of Geographical Vector Fields and the
development of Migration and of Global Trade Models.
2. In 1999, he was the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award
in GIS by ESRI.
3. In 2003, he released a MS Windows-based Freeware, The
Flow Mapper that ESRI incorporated in 2005 version of ArcGIS.
Tobler’s 1st Law of Geography (TFL:1970)
“Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than
distant things”
Tobler, W. R. (1970): A computer model simulation of urban growth in the Detroit region. Economic
Geography, 46(2): 234-240
1. The TFL lies at the core of spatial autocorrelation statistics, for analyzing
correlation relative to distance or connectivity relationships.
2. As geographers, we are really only interested in a subset of all possible
spaces, namely, geo-spaces (both Euclidean and Non-Euclidean) or those
that can meaningfully represent phenomena on or near the surface of the
Earth.

11. 1. There are a wide range of analytical and computational
techniques for representing and analyzing these spaces and
are now part of a standard GIS toolkit.
2. It took almost 1970+276 = 2246 Years for the 1st Law only. After
much debate, the TFL gained popularity since 1990s with the
entrenchment of GIS.
Tobler’s 2nd Law of Geography (TSL:1999)
The phenomenon external to (a geographic) area of interest
affects what goes on in the inside.
We are unfortunate that Albert Einstein enrolled to study and
pursue “Geography” in Higher School, but after a short period,
he left and took up “Physics” as he felt it much easier than
“Geography”.
Had it not been so, we could have “Laws” much earlier…… but
then no “Nobels”!!

12. Trevor Paglen (b. 1974): Experimental Geography
1. A new breed of researcher for the UCB: He takes a wildly experimental
approach to study the strategic and practical boundaries of contested public / private
space.
1. His peers call him an Underground Geographer, an all-round Academic Outlaw
armed with a telescope, a GPS device, some light-field military listening equipment,
a car trunk full of cameras and maps, and one hideously nondescript corporate
infiltration suit.
2. He is an Intervention Artist, and Investigative Journalist, a Prison-Abolition Activist, a
Punk Rocker and Total Sound Head, a 3rd Degree Master in the Art of Panoptic
Trespass.
His Publications:
1. Torture Taxi: On the Trail of the CIA's Rendition Flights, (with A.C. Thompson),
Melville House, 2006. ISBN 1 933633 09 3
2. I Could Tell You but Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me, Melville House,
2007 (Black Projects meant for Top-secret US Programs). ISBN 1 933633 32 8
3. Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon’s Secret World,
Dutton Adult, 2009. ISBN 97 811 01011 49 2
4. Experimental Geography: Radical Approaches to Landscape, Cartography, and
Urbanism (with N. Thompson, and J. Kastner), Melville House, 2009.
5. Invisible: Covert Operations and Classified Landscapes (with R. Solnit),Aperture
Foundation Incorporated, 2010, ISBN 97 815 97111 30 0
6. The Last Pictures: University of California Press. 2012. ISBN 97 805 20275 00 3

13. GeoCube
To understand, the mosaic of “Modern
Geography”, lets imagine a Cube with 6
Planes, each representing a
Geographer’s perspective as follows—
1. Exploring our World (Global Issues
Geographers now exploring)
2. Fascinating Earth (Physical Earth
Geographers’ main concern)
3. Living Together (Human Society,
Economy and Development
Geographers normally address)
4. Shrinking Planet (Human Exploitation of
Earth as the Geographer’s concern)
5. Useful Geographies (Man’s Activity
Space - measured, monitored, mapped
and modeled by GIS & RS)
6. Earth from all Angles (Regional
Complexities Geographers focus on)
On each of these Planes lies a set of 9
Parameters as follows —
A
B
C
F
ED

14. A.Exploring our World: Global Issues
1. Species Extinction 2. Deforestation 3.Ozone Hole
Formation
4. Climate Change 5. Weather Forecasting 6.Population Growth
and Distribution

15. A. Exploring Our World
7. Aging Population 8. Tourism 9. War
1.Earthquakes 2. Tsunami 3. Volcanoes
B. Fascinating Earth (Physical Earth)

16. 4. Storms 5. Hurricanes 6. Floods
B. Fascinating Earth (Physical Earth)
7. Drought 8. Forest Fires 9. Conflicts in
Earth Systems

17. C. Living Together (Human Society, Economy and Development)
1. Ethnicity 2. Language 3. Literacy
and Religion
4. Health 5. Migration 6. Mobility

18. 7. Poverty 8. Economic Development 9. Pollution in Cities
C. Living Together (Human Society, Economy and Development)
1. Nature 2. Minerals 3. Water Resources
D. Shrinking Planet (Human Exploitation of our Earth)

19. 4. Land Resources 5. Energy Resources 6.Agriculture
D. Shrinking Planet (Human Exploitation of our Earth)
7. Food Resources 8. Housing 9. Waste and
Distribution Pollution

20. E. Useful Geographies (Man’s Activity Space)
1. Risk 2. Transport 3.Planning
4. Education 5. GIS 6. Geographic Skills

21. 7. Using Maps 8. Facilities Management 9. Resources
Management
E. Useful Geographies (Man’s Activity Space)
1. Mountains 2. Deserts 3. Wetlands
F. Earth from all Angles (Regional Complexities)

22. F. Earth from all Angles (Regional Complexities)
4. Rivers 5. Oceans and Seas 6. Karst Landscape
7. Polar Region 8. Rural Landscape 9.Urban Landscape

23. The Measurement, Mapping, Monitoring and Modelling of any of these
54 Elements either individually or in combination or their
interrelations form the Core of our beloved Geography.
What we just need to comprehend:
A real-time, well-designed depiction of our
habitat, economy and society, along with their
interrelations, i.e., MAPs
Cartography: The Art and Science of Map Making
1. Depiction of Earth’s Surface
2. Convenient Reduction through Scale Factor
3. Mathematical Principles of transformation of 3D Surface onto a 2D
Plane
4. Orientation through relatively fixed Reference Directions
5. Ground Surveying for —
a) building the GCN: rMap or bMap
b) generating the tBase: Elevation dBase
c) geographical overlaying (GrO): Thematic Data Layers

24. Cartography started during the Greek Civilization
(2100 B.C. - 15th Century A.D.) with 4 Periods:
1. the Archaic and Classical Period (upto 4th Century B.C.),
2. the Hellenistic Period (4th - 3rd Centuries B.C.),
3. the Greco-Roman Period (2nd Century B.C.–2nd Century A.D.),
4. the Age of Ptolemy (2nd Century A.D.)
Anaximander: Circular and Flat Earth (6th Century B.C.)
Pythagoras, Herodotus, Democritus: New Theories and Applications
(6th – 4th Century B.C.)
Since then developed the disciplines of Geodesy (Size and Shape of
Earth), Map Projection (2D Transformation) and Cartography……
The Quest is on even now for a flawless 2D Map of the 3D Earth
Surface.

25. Understanding the User Needs
This is absolutely vital to the success of any map! An
effectively designed map clearly communicates the required
info to the map user. This is only possible by fully
understanding what that message is and how the map is
intended to be used.
Consideration of Display Format
There are numerous output formats for maps and various
types of media on which they can be disseminated. Each has
its own merits and its own limitations so there needs to be
sound consideration and a valid reason for the choice that is
made.
A Clear Visual Hierarchy
The aim here is to draw attention to certain elements of the
map and push those of less importance further down the
visual plane. This helps the user differentiate between map
features and helps them comprehend the map's message
effectively.

26. Simplicity
Cartography aims to portray spatial information in an
appropriate way in order to transform information into
knowledge. One should always assess that information’s value
to the user against map clutter and confusion.
Legibility
All map elements need to be legible, readable, understandable
and recognisable. All need to be large enough and clear
enough relative to the viewing scale and the media on which
the final map will be displayed.
Consistency
It provides a map with balance, thereby, enabling features to
be perceived as being organised into groups and it allows
maps themselves to belong to a family of products through a
shared identity.

27. Accessibility
Making maps and making geographic data and accompanying
style sheets easily obtainable and usable, depending on
distribution formats, user disabilities, cost and intuitiveness in
use.
Good Composition
It concerns the arrangement of all the different visual
elements. It is both how the map is structured and positioned.
All elements should work together to provide a clear and
complete understanding to the user. Their style should also be
harmonious or complementary.
Dent's Ethics in Cartography:
1. Always have a straightforward agenda, and have a defining purpose or
goal for each map.
2. Do not intentionally lie with data.
3. Data should not be discarded simply because they are contrary to a
position held by those creating a map.
4. Strive for an accurate portrayal of the data.
5. Avoid plagiarizing; report all data sources.
6. Symbolization should not be selected to bias the interpretation of the
map.

31. GCN: Map Projections with innumerable probabilities and combinations
of multiple deformations, requires knowledge base of —
Algebra,
Co-ordinate Geometry,
Plane Trigonometry,
Spherical Trigonometry,
Geodesy,
Field Astronomy,
RS & GIS,
Photogrammametry, and
Cartography
tBase: Ground Surveying with Instrumentation
Chain, Compass, Plane Table, Theodolite, Total Station,
GPS, Remote Imaging
GrO: Raisz’s (1962) 7 Fundamental Principles —
1)are drawn on a predetermined scale
2)are selective
3)emphasize certain of the selective features
4)are symbolized
5)are generalised
6)are lettered, titled and labelled
7)are related to a system of parallels and meridians

32. Current Experiences—
The 1984 Perth ICA MEET:
A New Cartography emerged with the dramatic
impact of IT on Traditional Cartography, known
variously as —
Computer Cartography,
Computer Assisted Cartography,
Digital Cartography,
e-Cartography,
GIS,
Geomatics,
Geovisualisation,
GIScience,
Geoinformation,
Visual Analytics,
Geospatial Information Management,
etc
The 1990s witnessed the dramatic impact of Digital
Technologies on Cartography. It played a great Role
in Gulf War.
Its use exploded in GIS Applications since then.

33. It helped the —
extraction, manipulation and visualization of
real time spatial data
relating to GCN, tBase and GrO
with the click of a mouse.
Precise Algorithms developed for rMap / bMap
using WGS 1984 Datum and UTM Grids
with Minimal Deformation.
Satellite Surveying made mapping the previously
inaccessible areas easy and precise.
Accurate Ground Surveying on Micro Scale is
replaced by TS and DGPS
Corporate Control (Geopolitics?)
1. Bias in representing Size, Shape and Boundary
of a Country / Nation (e.g., India).
2. Bias in choosing Map Projection to represent our
World (OL Atlas).
3. The Style Galleries of Scale, Symbols and
Cartographic Abstraction varies from one GIS
House to another; these can’t be customized;
you have to follow them only….

34. The Greek Prof. Athanasios Pallikaris (April 2014) compared a
number of currently used Map Projections in order to
“Choosing Suitable Map Projections for Worldwide
Depiction of Electronic Charts in ECDIS (Electronic Chart
Display and Information Systems)” in terms of —
A. Qualitative Criteria—
(1) ability to portray the whole globe in a familiar and
pleasant view,
(2) visual perception of the relative geographical
location between any two points,
(3) visual perception of the spherical / ellipsoidal
shape of the earth.
B. Quantitative Criteria—
(1) amount and distribution of angle distortion
(2) amount and distribution of area distortion
(3) orthodromicity factor or loxodromicity factor
The best choice for Global Depiction of ENCs on the ECDIS
Screen is Loximuthal Projection and not Mercator’s, or
Robinson’s, or Miller’s Projection.
But, till now Loximuthal is missing in the “Projection” gallery
in the currently available GIS Softwares…..I am sure very
few of us here has any knowledge of LP.

35. Areal Deformation
Loximuthal
Angle Distortion: LoximuthalAngle Distortion: Robinson
Areal Deformation
Mercator

36. Loxodromes and Orthodromes
Mercator
Loximuthal

41. Today, the term “Cartography” seems to be ―
1. old-fashioned and out-dated,
2. does not earn the same respect, appreciation and
recognition as the Modern Day Map Makers.
The role of Map has changed. Formerly, they used to
be artifacts; they had to look beautiful and well
designed; they had to store information for a long
time because it needed to be used for a long period
of time.
Now, they have become multi-functional―
1. an artifact,
2. an interface that gives users access to information stored
in the map and beyond it in databases.
3. a Table of Structured Information through spatial
attributes.
4. a medium of ‘Efficient Communication of Geospatial
Information’

42. Hence a Modern Cartographer needs to be an
interdisciplinary skilled professional with
expertise in ―
Map Projection, Surveying, Geodesy, RS,
GIS, Photogrammetry, Computer Science,
Design and Layout, Symbolisation and
Abstraction, Art and Modelling, Analytical
Techniques and Upcoming Technologies.
Naturally, a Cartographer stands in the heart
of the triangle with Technology, Art and
Research at its vertices.
Unfortunately, Cartographers with
such skills are few and rare.
But, Experts of Geo-data handling (lacking
design skills) and programmers (lacking a
profound understanding of ‘geo’) are
increasing exponentially in number.
Cartographer
Technology
Art Research

43. It may be because –
it needs a different name to describe the job of a
“modern cartographer”.
As the popularity of ―
GIS increased in map making,
RS increased for updated spatial
information,
GPS increased for navigation,
Satellite-enabled topographic surveying increased.
Everybody wanted to cut a niche, forgetting about the
real domain of Cartography and became proud to
rechristen its parts and combinations as―
Geomatics, Geoinformatics, GIScience,
Geoinformation, Geospatial Information Management,
eCartography, Digital Cartography and so on

44. Some says, the new ‘term’ for ‘cartography’should reflect
exactly —
(1) what an industry is doing?
(2) what an expert in a discipline is doing?
(3) even, which methods and technologies are
being used?
“what I am doing as something most modern, complex,
contemporary as this will earn me due respect,
appreciation and recognition?”
The INCA has failed to take the initiative to clarify that —
all these semantics are nothing but the components of
Cartography.
It can well be renamed, if anybody wishes, as Modern
Cartography only and none else.
Reasons include: “Lack of dedicated and structured

45. Things that we do that are geographic —
1. Choose where to live.
2. Select which way to go to work.
3. Learn where supermarkets, shopping malls, doctors' chamber, hospital, bus
stand, auto stand, sweet shops, bakery, local markets, and local schools are
located.
4. Choose a place to visit on holidays and figure out how to get there.
5. Understand where the events are occurring that are mentioned on the
evening's international and national newscasts.
6. Prepare background material for the location (national or international) of my
next job posting.
7. Walk around my neighborhood and return home safely.
8. Understand seasonal weather changes so I can purchase adequate clothing
and plan long trips.
9. Know whether New Delhi is north or south of Agra or Kathmandu.
10.Know where places of recreation can be found.

46. 1. Finding Car in the Parking lot /or the Way to my Hotel in a new City.
2. Choosing a Sports Team to follow.
3. Deciding which Newspaper to buy.
4. Booking Reservations for Flight, Trains, AC Volvo, Hotels, Restaurants,
Resorts, and all sorts of Recreations.
5. Estimating where the next Petrol Pump or Hotel will be, while on a Trip.
6. Understanding the Locations of Ethnic / Cultural Restaurants in a city.
7. Purchasing / Selling almost any thing of my choice.
8. Appreciating —
(a) why it is difficult to build houses on steep slopes with unstable soils
(b) where do people live and why live there?
• Some live in places of frequent floods /hurricanes /tornadoes /fires/earthquakes/ toxic
emissions
• In many cities the poor live on some of the most expensive land and consume very
little of it on a per capita basis (producing high population density in inner city
areas),
while the rich live on land with less value per unit area and consume much of it on a
per capita basis (producing low suburban population densities).

47. The result is —
a "density gradient" of population over distance from the city center.
simply, a ‘distance – decay’ function in ‘technical language’.
one of the most powerful generalizations geographers have ever made about
the spatial distribution of phenomena
Today, Smart Phones / iPhones have made our life more geography-friendly,
using Location-based Services / Apps like—
GPS, Google Map, iPhone Map, Flipkart, Amazon, GoogleEarth,
AccuWeather, Hop Stop, etc
Yes. That’s Geography in Action, all over the Globe.
Thus, it requires a formalized knowledge to understand the “core principles of
geography” related to the ‘habitat, economy and society’ of mankind living in a
particular setting that varies with time and space.
In all practicabilty, Geography is the “Science of Location” at all Scale and at all
Levels.
To solve the ‘Location Problem’ all required are to overlay and
judge ‘sets of Spatial Information’ in a form we know and call
“MAPS”.

48. That’s Why, right now —
Maps are a Big News……
and Geography is a most
useful discipline
Maps are a must-have on smart
phones thanks to the Google,
Apple and Microsoft.
The Trekkers, Mountaineers, Explorers,
Adventurers, Drivers, Pilots,
Navigators ………..all they need is a
correct map they can rely on for their
own individual purposes.
Hence, the term ‘map’ seems to see
its repeated revival as —
a contemporary, relevant and
attractive term for something
contemporary, relevant and attractive.

49. International Map Year
August 2015 – December 2016
declared by the ICA endorsed by
UN – GGIM
(United Nations Global Geospatial
Information Management) to be officially
opened at the ICA Conference in Rio de
Janeiro

50. The ICA Member Countries ‘ll participate—
1) to give their citizens a broader
knowledge of Maps, i.e., how they are
produced and used for many purposes
in society
1) to give school children and university
students an opportunity to learn more
about cartography and also about its
neighbouring sciences, viz., geodesy,
photogrammetry, remote imaging
sciences and surveying

51. The purpose of IMY is to —
1) Make maps more visible to citizens
and school children in a global
context
2) Show how maps and atlases can be
used in society
3) Show how IT can be used in
getting geographic information and
how to produce one’s own
map
4) Display and show different types of
maps and map production
5) Show the technical development of
mapping and atlas production
6) Show the necessity of a sustainable
development of GI infrastructure
7) Increase the recruitment of
students to cartography and
cartography-related disciplines
8) IMY shall become a trade mark for
mapping and boost the identity of
the ICA and highlight its mission in
the international arena
The Target groups for IMY are —
1) General public
2) School children
3) Professionals
4) Government employees

52. Vision 2030
1) information is available anytime and anywhere
2) in its provision and delivery, it is tailored to the user’s context and
needs
3) in this, the location is a key selector for which and how
information is provided
4) cartographic services are thus widespread and of daily use in a
truly ubiquitous manner
5) persons would feel spatially blind without using their map, which
enable them to see
(1) who or what is near them, get supported and
(2) do searches based on the current location
(3) collect data on-site accurately and timely
The current mobile technologies have demonstrated their huge potential and
changed ―
(1) how we work
(2) how we live and
(3) how we interact

53. Prof Georg Gartner (August 2014):
“Starting as a geographer and
cartographer dealing with details on how
to deal with signs, graphic variables and
basically modelling the syntax of
cartographic language,
I have evolved into becoming interested
in the meaning of this form from a more
semantical perspective and finally end up
in being interested in the enormous
power and potential of the pragmatic
dimension of cartography,
Thus understanding maps not only as a
collection of signs and graphics,
but that those signs carry a specific
meaning for a particular human being or
community in a particular situation,
thereby leading to an immersive way of
human communication.”

54. Geography in Everyday Life
Reginald Golledge, 2015: Today geographers teach and research
about concepts that are relevant to everyday life, thereby enabling
us —
• to understand the things we do on a daily or other episodic basis,
• how everyday actions affect the world around us (e.g. auto
pollution contributing to global warming).
This kind of emphasis —
increases awareness of our personal lives and activities and their
socio-political contexts at scales ranging from neighborhood to
global.
Certainly, we do all practice “geography”. It has helped me to —
1) understand the ‘physical systems’ that affect our everyday life.
2) learn the ‘location of places’ and their ‘physico-cultural characteristics’.
3) understand the ‘geography of the past’ and how it has ‘played important
roles’ in the ‘evolution of people, their ideas, places and environments’.

55.  develop a ‘mental map’ of our ‘community, country and the world’ in order to
understand the “where” of places and events.
 explain how the ‘processes of human and physical systems’ have arranged
themselves and also, sometimes changed the surface of the Earth.
 understand the ‘spatial organization’ of peoples and identify ‘order’ in
what appears to be random.
 recognize spatial distributions at all ‘scales – local and global’ - in order to
understand the linkages between people and places.
 be able to make sensible judgements about mattes involving relationships
between physical environment and society.
 appreciate Earth as the Home of Mankind and provide insight for ‘wise
use of natural resources’ of this planet.
 understand our ‘global interdependence’ and to become a better ‘global
citizen’.

56. 1. It has made me to lead a ‘smart life’.
2. It has inherently built in me the “lay of the land” of the world’.
3. It has helped me to understand my ‘home’, my ‘neighbourhood’ – its
‘habitat’, ‘landscapes’ and ‘natural resources’.
4. It has helped me to travel smart for vacation / holiday – ‘when’, ‘where’ and
‘how’.
5. I can easily relate the real-time News /Events in terms of “where” in the
World Map.
6. It has helped me to understand the course of ‘history’ better (Ancient,
Medeival, Modern - India / World). I got a better grasp on globalization, as
‘it’s a small world’ today.
7. Human culture is fundamentally place-based: its cuisine, clothing,
architecture, even social relationships – I do understand it better.
8. It prepares me for the future as well in taking important decisions every
day... from shopping to architecture to politics to business…..
Also….

57. All Because…….
It’s Big: It’s more than maps. Geography’s about knowing what’s where, why it’s
there, and why it matters. Knowing geography makes our life more interesting, more
exciting, and more fun. Geography opens doors for the whole Universe.
It’s out there: Geography is in your backyard and across the globe. Get to know
your community and the people in it.
It’s what you know: How’s your Global IQ? Try GeoSpy and GeoBee Challenge.
It’s what you listen to: Regions have its own rhythms, and sounds that echo
cultures a world away.
It’s what you eat: While in a restaurant, find the region your food is from on a
map.
It’s what you buy: A walk through the Mall or the Grocery Store can be a journey
around the world. Find out, where they have come from, how they have been
processed / made and how they got here.
It’s what you do: Slap a map up on your wall, or get a GPS unit and play
Geocaching or EarthCaching. It’s high-tech and real-life treasure hunting.
It’s academic: Choose “geography” as your ‘major’ and research topics that let you
learn about exotic places and geographic issues.
It’s your future: It can take you anywhere and everywhere. One of the
hottest fields now is GIS, understanding and tackling challenges—globally and
locally.

58. It’s important: Make sure your teachers, parents, neighbours, and friends aren’t out
of the loop. Go to MyWonderfulWorld.org so they can get geography, too.
I can now declare that ―
I didn’t make any mistake in my life pursuing “Geography”, and
I believe, I have been able to make some of my most Critical
Teachers, Scholars and Students feel happy and proud of me.
The naïve or common-sense geography is practiced more widely by people.
Be a Geographer today
just as Man has been from
the Dawn of his Existence.

59. We can go for a Geography Skill Test (GST) with a set of 20
“Statements” (related to relative location and neighbourhood
image: can be easily customized for a particular group).
Examples:
1. I am very good at drawing a map so my friends can find my home.
2. After visiting a shop, I have no trouble telling my friends how to
find it.
3. I use a map when driving to a new destination.
4. In a new city, I can always point to the direction of my place of
stay.
5. When leaving a building, I always know which way to turn.
6. When travelling, I take shortcuts as frequently as possible.
7. I have no difficulty in naming the states of India, districts of my
state or countries of the World, etc.
8. I am good at remembering the distances between major cities.
9. I have a very good "mental map" of my neighbourhood.
10.I have no difficulty in remembering where I parked my car.
11.I know the location of all the major landmarks in my
neighbourhood.
12.I can easily associate national / international events with places of
occurrences.

60. 1. When planning a trip, I have a good idea of the relative geographic
locations of home and destination cities.
2. I can identify familiar objects on an aerial photograph.
3. I can recognize landmarks from an aeroplane window.
4. I never get lost when walking in a new place.
5. I have no difficulty in estimating the distance between cities on a
highway map.
6. I always select the stores closest to my home.
7. I always take the same route when taking my children to school.
8. I have no difficulty in remembering the layout of shops in a
shopping center.
Score:
Strongly Agree +2.0 Somewhat Agree +1.0 Neutral 0
Somewhat Disagree -1.0 Strongly Disagree -2.0
Very High >30 High 20 – 30 Average 10 – 20 Poor 0 – 10
Very Poor < 0
Just score the questions honestly and give yourself a "spatial skills"
rating (total score) with respect to everyday behavior.
It varies from person to person depending on age, sex, education,
experience, attitude and also the kind of habitat they live in.

61. Thank You All
profdrashis@gmail.com
www.indiansss.org
editorijss@gmail.com