OWLS IX - 'Maps'

Q UA R T E R L Y Oxford & Wimbledon Leading Scholarship

O

The Journal of the Academic Scholars of Oxford and Wimbledon High Schools

EDITION IX

MA PS SPRING 2021

OWLS QUARTERLY, EDITION IX, SPRING 2021 MAPS Every map tells a story. Maps tell us about the places they depict and the people that make and use them, whether those places are real or fictional. Arguably, they are neither just objects of scientific communication nor tools of ideology, but proposals about the world that help people to understand who they are by describing where they are. This edition sees the Owls thinking and writing about maps. A gift of a question for Geographers,

yes, but also a rich seam of thought and research for them all. We might think about actual maps, maps as metaphors, what maps say about us and our need to understand our place in the world and universe, maps in nature, maps of the body or mind, maps in mythology, folklore or fiction, the maths of mapping, the history of cartography…

We might even think about what happens ‘in the margins’ – when the maps stop.

Editors OWLS Quarterly Ms Rachael Pallas-Brown (OHS) and Dr John Parsons (WHS) HOW DOES MAPPING HELP TO CREATE A FICTIONAL WORLD?.............................................................3 MAPPING DIVIDES: EXPLORING THE NEGATIVE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF PARIS’S URBAN LAYOUT .. ........................................................................................................5 HOW DO MAPS NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A PLACE?......................................7 A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO THE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE WORLD THROUGH EIGHT DIFFERENT PROJECTIONS.. ...............................................................................................................9 THE BEGINNING OF MAPS. . ..........................................................................................................................10 THE MAP OF EUROPE’S MYTHICAL BEINGS. . ............................................................................................13 THE NEW WAY OF MAPPING – MAPS THAT ARE TOUCHABLE AND HEARABLE.................................. 15 THE ROLE OF GEOSPATIAL DATA IN THE COVID-19 RESPONSE............................................................ 16 HOW DO MAPS PRIORITIZING IMPERIAL INTERESTS STOKE TERRORISM TODAY?. . .......................18 HOW HAVE MAPS BEEN USED AS A POLITICAL VEHICLE?.....................................................................20 WHAT ROLE DO MAPS PLAY IN CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS? . . ........................................................... 21 WHY GOOGLE MAPS STILL USES THE MERCATOR. . ................................................................................ 24 MAPPING THE ELEMENTS............................................................................................................................ 26 GLOBAL MAPPING OF FASHION. . .................................................................................................................28 MAPPING ILLYRIA..........................................................................................................................................31 THE KNOWLEDGE VS GOOGLE MAPS........................................................................................................ 33 CONNECTING EAST AND WEST. . .................................................................................................................35 HOW DOES THE BRAIN MAP AND FUNCTION OF AN INTROVERT DIFFER TO THAT OF AN EXTROVERT? .. .................................................................................................... 37 HOW HAS MODERN TECHNOLOGY CHANGED THE WAY WE MAP THE WORLD?........................................ 39 HOW HAVE MAPS REFLECTED THE IMPERALIST NATURE OF EUROPE DURING THE AGE OF EXPLORATION? ......................................................................................................41 SOMATOTOPIC MAPS: MAPS OF THE BODY.. .............................................................................................43 HOW DOES COUNTERMAPPING REVEAL AND CHALLENGE POWER INEQUALITIES?....................... 45 THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENTS WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED MAPPING THE MOST SIGNIFICANTLY.........................................................................................................................47 A LINE IN THE SAND - THE MAP THAT DEFINED THE MIDDLE EAST.. ................................................. 49

HOW DOES MAPPING HELP

deserts, forests and cities fills the world with purpose and starts to create a realistic-looking artefact. Mistakes made can also be of benefit to the plot and narrative.

For example, if extra lines are drawn accidentally or a town has been placed far from any others, there is space for artistic license to make these into a story. If there is an abandoned trail it could have been deserted after a guerrilla warfare group used it in an ambush, and the isolated town could be used to excommunicate criminals as punishment in the country’s justice system.

TO CREATE A FICTIONAL WORLD? Ruby Large (WHS) Many famous literary works started off as a blank piece of graph paper and an idea for a fictional world to be created. J.R.R. Tolkien produced three maps and over six hundred place names for his ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy [1] which became one of the bestselling series in history with over 150 million copies sold worldwide [2]. He is one of many successful authors to utilise the practice of cartography in the establishment of a fantasy land, along with names such as Robert Louis Stevenson who wrote ‘Treasure Island’ with the initial inspiration of a hand-drawn map and childhood favourite C.S. Lewis who invented Narnia. But why is this technique so popular among authors and why does it make for more developed novels and fruitful book sales?

With the process of mapping for a fictional piece clear, the question lies in the purpose of the creation of such an artefact – why wouldn’t the author simply write their plot and skip this sketching? The answer is simple: this physical expression of the world inside the author’s head is invaluable when delving deeper into the story’s setting and background. The writer can use their map to discover more about the land which they have pictured, which is the main aim and luxury of using cartography to compliment literature in this way. Even a simple structure like the borders of the land probes into why that line was laid in that precise place. Was there dispute or war over territory? How are foreign relations between this country and its neighbour, and how does this impact the everyday lives of the citizens?

Does uncertainty of safety plague the ruling body and make a totalitarian state in which inhabitants cannot cross the threshold to leave? Questions like these help the author to flesh out and contextualise the history of the world that they are creating which makes for a much more three-dimensional and realistic setting. It helps to understand what they are wanting to put across to their readers in regard to the landscape (political and social as well as physical) and history and in this respect, cartography is undoubtably very important for the production of a fantasy world from an author’s point of view.

With the market for novels becoming more and more competitive, readers gravitate towards stories with an easily visualisable and truthful world and deeply considered and nuanced characters. Although there are many techniques which can achieve this, mapping is a simple way to produce ‘evidence’ for the fictional land to exist as they imply the realism of what the author has created [6]. It adds another layer of credibility to the novel which allows full immersion for the audience.

The process of literary map-making is an extensive and varied one [4]. Authors generally decide to depict a country or full land map instead of a city or street one in order to get a full view of the world they are creating and its geography. Once borders have been established, the addition of features such as mountain ranges, rivers,

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We want to believe in what has been put in front of us, as by human nature we are inclined to wish to read for escapism and truth is a huge part of what draws us into the narrative which is where producing artefacts becomes very useful for an author. This fact is what makes book sales soar for fantasy novels as they carry us away from the sometimes mundane real world, but having some reliability from a seemingly genuine source encourages us to engage with the text on a deeper and more meaningful level.

So mapping does indeed help an incredible amount to create a fictional world, both for the author to fully investigate their land and exploit the maximum amount of nuance and history from it and for the reader to be able to fully immerse themselves in the novel and believe in what has been set out in front of them. It is no wonder that fantasy books containing careful cartography are so popular and successful, then, and will continue to thrive as long as humans continue to need exploration and escapism.

The aforementioned literary genius that is J.R.R. Tolkien is a clear example of how mapmaking benefits both the author and reader in a fictional tale. He wrote in a letter to the novelist Naomi Mitchinson in 1954 that: ‘I wisely started with a map, and made the story fit (generally with meticulous care for distances). The other way about lands one in confusions and impossibilities, and in any case it is weary work to compose a map from a story.’ [1] This alludes to the fact that Tolkien decided to come up with detailed maps depicting what would become ‘middle-earth’ and even chose to invent detailed languages and names before creating a plot. This is justifying the point, and again in this quote, that having a map before a narrative is not a downfall, but a delight as successful exploration of possible characters and storylines can only come from detailed research and prior thought as to the setting.

Not only was Tolkien’s cartography useful for him to devise a plot but was widely appreciated by readers of his books worldwide. Literary critic Shippey writes that his maps are “extraordinarily useful to fantasy, weighing it down as they do with repeated implicit assurances of the existence of the things they label, and of course of their nature and history too” [1] and this shows the fact that his novels are so well-loved (as shown by the extraordinary sales numbers) because they offer for the audience a believable escape and a world to love and learn about, all because they are based on and include maps.

Bibliography [1] Tolkien’s maps. (2020, October 21). Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Tolkien’s_maps [2] The Lord of the Rings. (2020, November 05). Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings [3] Treasure Island image: http://robert-louisstevenson.org/first-illustrations-treasure-island/ [4] Maps Workshop - Developing the Fictional World through Mapping. (2019, April 16). Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://hollylisle.com/mapsworkshop-developing-the-fictional-world-throughmapping/ [5] image from: https://lithub.com/why-we-feel-socompelled-to-make-maps-of-fictional-worlds/ [6] Grossman, L. (2019, October 02). Why We Feel So Compelled to Make Maps of Fictional Worlds.

Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://lithub. com/why-we-feel-so-compelled-to-make-maps-offictional-worlds/ [7] Lord of the Rings map image: https://www. google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww. theguardian.com%2Fbooks%2F2015%2Foct% 2F23%2Fjrr-tolkien-middle-earth-annotatedmap-blackwells-lord-of-the-rings&psig=AOvV aw1rGj0yOL77gS0oZxpV5j_w&ust=1605296-

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MAPPING DIVIDES: EXPLORING THE NEGATIVE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF PARIS’S URBAN LAYOUT Leila Branfoot (OHS) Some would argue that wherever imaginary lines are drawn on a map, the consequent divides between individuals and communities are very real indeed. It is true that maps usually intend to reflect our common reality for practical and informative purposes, however, they also have a hand in creating it. Here, I refer to the role mapping and urban planning can play in reinforcing stigma, stereotypes and ghettoisation, where particular groups of people, often from minority groups, find themselves living confined to a specific area of a city in poor social and economic conditions.

Maps are inextricably linked with governance - how the authorities aim to run the city determines how said city is mapped, and how a city is mapped influences how the authorities go about governing it. In Paris, each arrondissement has its own town hall, directly-elected council and mayor - there is of course an additional overarching Conseil de Paris, but many Parisians feel still that this municipal system has left the city lacking cohesion and unable to deal with the city’s problems as a whole.

It is important to consider, when looking at any map, what is not included on it; what lies at the edges and beyond. In Paris, the suburbs are not part of the arrondissement system, instead they are mapped as belonging to the ring of three départements (Hautsde-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne) surrounding inner Paris. They are physically set apart from central Paris by the périphérique (ringroad) and are governed separately. London has large suburbs, yet considers them a vital part of the city. Clearly, Paris sees things differently - despite the two cities being roughly the same size, the mayor of Paris represents just the 2.2 million people living within the boundaries of the arrondissements only, whilst the mayor of London governs all of the city’s 8.8 million inhabitants .

A widespread method of managing sprawling cities is to map them in subsections of the whole, and what better example of this than France’s capital city, Paris, whose core is separated into arrondissements. This division originated in 1790, during the reforms of the French revolution, but at this time there were just twelve districts. Major restructuring came about in 1860, when, commissioned by Emperor Napoleon III, Baron Haussman had Paris’s toll walls pulled down and incorporated the surrounding villages into the city. The resulting map of twenty divisions, spiralling clockwise outwards from the central 1st arrondissement, is a part of Paris’s unique character. However, the system, devised now over 200 years ago, is also a source of tension. With the separation of a city into constituent parts, it emphasizes the idea of fundamental difference between neighbourhoods. Stereotypes and suspicion build around particular districts, often with a class or racial aspect, depending on the populations that live there - for example, anti-semitic abuse against established Jewish communities in Parisian arrondissements such as the 4th is unfortunately a regular occurence. People make assumptions about places on the map without ever having visited them, which is fueled by online content and even Microsoft’s GPS navigation app, dubbed “Avoid the ghetto” by critics, which allows the user to adapt their walking routes to avoid areas which are “economically challenged” or have high crime rates, patented in 2012 amidst much controversy . The spread of negative place image by the internet and the media means that tourism and therefore investment remain low in traditionally poor districts of cities, who find it difficult to shake off these perceptions and reinvent themselves.

The origins of this gulf between the inner city and the suburbs can be traced back, of course, to the 1860 remapping of Paris, when the city’s immediate surroundings were welcomed into the arrondissement system of the city core, and new peripheries emerged in previously open space due to urban sprawl. Poorer communities found themselves ousted to the outskirts - an area which became referred to as the banlieues (“place of the banned”), illustrating how inhabitants were, and remain, both physically (in terms of distance) and culturally excluded.

Baron Haussman employed the power of the straight line to transform inner Paris, building the grand boulevards, which became the basis of the city’s carefully considered spacial zoning originally designed to separate the rich from the poor. This tactic was maintained by Paris urban planners during the post-war years of 1945-75, but this time out in the suburbs, as they commandeered projects to build vast 5

neighbourhoods of poor-quality high-rises, which were essentially ghettos to accommodate immigrants from north Africa and other ex-French colonies looking for work in France. Deindustrialisation and economic restructuring began in France in the 1980s and the banlieues have suffered particularly badly ever since.

Unemployment levels are regularly twice the national average, poverty rates are high and educational achievement low, alongside a disproportionate representation of ethnic minorities.

the headlines on occasion of violence and vandalism.

If Paris wants to solve its problems once and for all, it must accept the banlieues with open arms, create meaningful change for residents and put them on the map - for positive reasons.

Bibliography: Angelil, M., Siress, C. (2012) The Paris “Banlieue”: Peripheries of Inequity. In Journal of International Affairs Vol. 65, No. 2, pp. 57-67. Journal of International Affairs Editorial Board. Accessed October 26 2020 from https://www.jstor.org/stable/24388218 France 24, “I filmed my nightmare commute on Paris public transport”, accessed 26 October 2020 https://observers.france24.com/en/20150629-francebanlieue-suburbs-transport-commute-clichy The Guardian, “Nothing’s changed”: 10 years after French riots, banlieues remain in crisis, accessed 26 October 2020

Aside from racial segregation, another issue that arose with this planning strategy was a lack of transport connections with the inner city and between suburbs - the banlieues were not sufficiently considered when mapping public transport services. Clichy-sous-Bois in the Seine-Saint-Denis département, for example, lacks both a tram stop and a train station, having no direct links to central Paris whatsoever. Though the suburb is just ten miles from Notre Dame, journey times can be up to two hours. Banlieue residents usually become either reliant on cars, the additional costs of which can consume up to 20% of the average household income in outer Paris , or find themselves restricted to the vicinity. A lack of mobility reduces social integration between districts, and more importantly, hugely narrows job opportunities. Thus, the suburbs are further disadvantaged, simply because of their location on the map and poor urban planning.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/22/ nothings-changed-10-years-after-french-riots-banlieuesremain-in-crisis Motte-Baumvol, B., Massot, MH., Byrd, A. (2010).

Escaping Car Dependence in the Outer Suburbs of Paris. In Urban Studies Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 604-619.

Sage Publications Ltd. Accessed October 26, 2020, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43079811 Les Studios de Paris, A Comme Arrondissement, accessed 26 October 2020 https://studiosparis.wordpress.com/tag/history-ofparis-arrondissements/ Syracuse News, Microsoft “avoid ghetto app” for smartphones’ GPS navigation stirs controversy, accessed October 26 2020

The physical exclusion of the banlieues from the traditional map of Paris is a potent symbol of their rejection from the city, rooted in the past, and perpetuated in the present. It is no wonder that these spatial inequalities, driven by race and class prejudice, have led to a strong feeling of alienation and anger in the Parisian suburbs. In 2005, the situation came to a head when two teenagers were killed running from the police in Clichy-sous-Bois. This triggered three weeks of rioting on Paris estates, in which 9000 vehicles, municipal buildings and businesses went up in flames .

It was a clear sign of a marginalised generation, filled with rage and despair for the way the city failed them.

Even once the riots were extinguished, tensions in the banlieues remained high, and have flared up regularly in the past 15 years.

https://www.syracuse.com/news/2012/01/microsoft_ avoid_ghetto_app_windows_phone.html Unherd, The brutal apartheid of the French banlieues, accessed 26 October 2020 https://unherd.com/2018/09/french-elite-ignoresapartheid-banlieues/ Images: Paris map - https://parismap360.com/parisarrondissement-map, accessed 26 October 2020 Clichy-sous-Bois estate - https://www.laprovence.com/ article/france-monde/5877664/a-clichy-sous-bois-lavraie-misere-de-la-cite-des-miserables.html, accessed 26 October 2020

For too long, the suburbs have been treated as if they are not a part of Paris at all, just places without context, purpose or opportunity. They have only appeared in

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HOW DO MAPS

Greenland, estimated 0.8 million sq km is portrayed as the same size as the entire continent of Africa, where in reality, it is around 14 times smaller (shown in Figure 2). This unrealistic representation on maps shows the remnants of colonialism, inflating importance of many more affluent countries, and can therefore increase attractiveness to tourists who are looking at countries on a map. This then would increase input from tourism, allowing more money to be placed into the economy, providing a source of higher income and employment opportunities for many. All of these factors can lead to a higher standard of living, with increased healthcare services from public sector, and higher rates of job security. This then increases global perspective of a place, making it seem inviting and appealing to those looking to invest, and potentially visit, showing how the slight inflation of countries on a sailing map written 500 years ago can affect an economy’s industry today.

NEGATIVELY IMPACT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A PLACE? Alexia Platt (WHS) Maps are formal representations of place, that are viewed and perceived as accurate depictions of a geographical location. However, the creation of maps has affected how a place is seen globally, and locally, and alter the feeling and characteristics at that location, changing how a place is viewed. Maps do not consider cultural, historical or personal aspects of a place, and rather give a dissociated, and potentially inaccurate view of a place, and as part of this, have effect on character, industry, income and standard of living.

Figure 2

Figure 1

The creation of maps was not a universal decision – generally, it was either members of governments or individuals that decided exact lines of borders to be written on maps, for example the Sino-Indian border along Southern Tibet, written by British officer Henry McMahon in 1914. At the time of publish, India was part of the British Commonwealth, and China were not included in the drawing of the 3,500 km border, meaning borders were heavily in favour of India. However, Beijing immediately disputed this border, claiming 90,000 square km of Indian territory.

However, as a result of this, India then captured 38,000 square km of land under Chinese control. This has led to subsequent wars and scuffles, including the Ladakh confrontation on June 15th, 2020, resulting in 20 deaths, and 76 injuries. Just one misdrawn line, drawn over 100 years ago still leads to political unrest in the area, meaning the place between the two countries is viewed as a dangerous, uninhabitable zone. Furthermore, the location itself is not tied with any nation, meaning a sense of pride for a country has not been developed, removing a sense of belonging to those, who are not fighting, within the area. This zone has led to tensions between the two countries, and countless deaths, showing the detrimental effects of cartography.

The Mercator map (shown in Figure 1), created in 1569 by Geradus Mercator, is the map most commonly used today. Found in school classrooms, geographical diagrams and GIS systems, such as Google Maps, many go through life never seeing another type of map, and presume the depiction provided in that map is a true and accurate representation of the globe. But, if the map was created in 1569, how can this be thought to be accurate? There were no satellite photographs available, limited data providing the true distances between locations and the map was created by just one man, who had little experience in travel. The true creation of this map was made by using a previous, rectangular map, and creating a paper cylinder, thus drawing a new, more proportionate map, intended for use by sailors, creating a loxodrome where all latitude and longitude lines were on the same angle.

However, in doing so, this distorted the true size of land, increasingly distorting land further away from the Equator. Although many may argue this was due to practicality reasons, this led to richer Western countries appearing disproportionately large, and countries which had lower income and less influence over a global trade market to appear smaller, shown through the Greenland Effect, where the island of 7

Bibliography https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/ gerardus-mercator/ https://www.businessinsider.com/the-mercatorprojection-distorts-countries-2017-6?r=US&IR=T https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2020/mappingindia-and-china-disputed-borders/index.html https://globalriskinsights.com/2016/03/impactindependence-kurdistan/

Figure 3 Maps have potential to isolate entire communities, making them feel alone and unable to feel national pride, if the drawing of maps were unable to cater to the cultural group. Kurdish people are a large community of 30 million people without a homeland – the largest group in the World. After WWI, as part of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points, the Kurdish people were meant to receive their own homeland, Kurdistan (shown in Figure 3), drawn between Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey. However, the Treaty of Lausanne did not include for this, leaving an entire community without a home. This has led to genocides, such as

by Saddam Hussein in the 1980’s, where thousands of Kurdish people were gassed. This means that Kurdish people felt like the were outsiders in their own locational country of Iraq, as the government were not welcoming to them, and rather oppressed them instead.

Furthermore, the fact that there is no real border created with bordering countries means that trade is difficult for Kurdish people, affecting income and quality of services and life for those within the region.

This can make the place seem unattractive, and a harsh place to live, all due to the lack of physical lines on a map for the country. The non-physical divides allow for more affluent and dominant countries to overrule and oppress smaller countries when maps are drawn, affecting a sense of community and belonging to a place that does not, according to maps, exist.

Maps, generally, are a detriment to a sense of connection and belonging to a place, as the intricate details surrounding true borders are often not discussed thoroughly, meaning local communities, and nations are affected. The modern map is outdated and created

by Western colonialists to prove their sense of authority globally, and in turn, isolating and reducing importance of smaller, non-Western countries. In order to allow for places to develop individually, and not be affected by past attempts to reduce power, many parts of maps, including proportions and individual borders, need to be rethought, in order to benefit the world economy and belonging, rather than individual nations.

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A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO THE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE WORLD THROUGH EIGHT DIFFERENT PROJECTIONS :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dymaxion_map

Rebecca Gill (OHS)

In addition to this, in the past, many early world maps featured the cartographer’s country of origin as the centre point - even sometimes depicting the world in the reverse orientation, contrary to what many would think of as the normal.

The Map of the World is a recognisable and iconic figure, familiar to children and adults alike, being presented in everyday life in all sorts of forms, from classrooms and offices to the latest data and evidence in several fields. Clearly this graphical figure holds a lot of importance within society in politics, economics, geography, art and many other categories. However, through time there have been several different representations of the world that aren’t quite as identifiable.

Muhammed al-Idrisi’s south-up map of Europe, Asia and northern Africa (1154) depicting the Arabian Peninsula in the centre of the map pointing upwards.

Another instance of this is Peirce Quincuncial - made in 1879 by Charles Sanders Pierce. This map projects the world by laying it out into four quadrants, again placing the North Pole in the centre of the map, enabling this map to be tiled perfectly and is therefore used as a model in 360° photography.

The Mercator Projection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Mercator_projection The Mercator Projection, perhaps the most commonly used projection, has been criticised for portraying the sizes of countries inaccurately, particularly in regards to the minimisation of certain areas of the globe, noticeably the continent of Africa, and the enlargement of countries within Europe, for instance. Some have claimed that these inaccurate projections have caused people to have a biased view on the level and rate of development in certain affected countries.

Because of this, several cartographers have set about creating their own world maps, one example of these unusual projections is the Dymaxion Map released

by R Buckminster Fuller (1954). It was created with the aim of making a map of the world with no “right way up” by removing the usual look of the two poles.

Although the net shape is completely different and now in the form of an icosahedron, the scale of the distance between the countries is relatively similar to the Mercator projection.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peirce_quincuncial_projection The Sinu-Mollweide is a projection that was developed in 1953. Taking inspiration from certain previous world maps, Allen K Philbrick sought to create a projection with the goal of challenging what people thought of as how a flattened form of the usual world map should 9

look like. This unique view separates the globe into a completely different and almost eccentric shape which maintains the fundamental idea of positioning the north pole near to the central point of the world map but this time it splits up the south pole into the two ends of the map and spreads out the gaps between the continents, allowing for its distinctive shape.

Our final example is perhaps one of the most interesting projections in terms of its use in today’s society as one of the few maps in this list to actually be implemented into daily use. The Azimuthal projection is used on the United Nations flag with the idea that this projection is the least biased when compared to many other projections as it centralises on the international date line. However, it is limited by the fact that Antarctica is, in fact, not portrayed at all as the map is cut off at a latitude of 60 degrees south.

https://www.mapthematics.com/ProjectionsList. php?Projection=124 Other cartographers have taken measures to ensure that their projections display the countries as being accurately placed and distributed. One instance of this includes Goode’s Homolosine. This projection, having been compared to an orange peel, works by implementing ‘interruptions’ into the spaces within the oceans. Although, perhaps similar in appearance to the previous example, Goode’s Homolosine is able to retain the size and proportions of the Earth’s land masses.

https://www.un.org/en/sections/about-un/un-logo-and-flag/ index.html Through this short look at some of the innovative ideas for projections of the world map we are already able to see the flaws within the standard projection that most of us are very used to and even the imperfections that may have helped to alter our outlook on the world in a negative light. In my opinion it is very interesting to see both how what could be described as subliminal content has been widely accepted all over the world but also that it was only in the last few decades that a suitable alternative was created.

Bibliography

John Paul Goode’s projection of the map of the world (1925) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goode_homolosine_projection

Capek, R. (2001, August). Which is the best projection for the world map. In Proceedings of the 20th international Cartographic Conference (Vol. 5, pp.

3084-3093).

However, the first cartographer to be able to achieve a projection with both accurate land proportions as well as oceanic proportions was the Japanese cartographer, Hajime Narukawa, in 1999, with his Authagraph projection. His concept was to split the Earth into 96 triangles instead of using the familiar spherical shape.

This method therefore allows the projection to be unfolded into the shape of a rectangle.

Hinks, A. R. (1940). Maps of the world on an oblique Mercator projection. The Geographical Journal, 95(5), 381-383.

Snyder, J. P. (1990). The Robinson projection—a computation algorithm. Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, 17(4), 301-305.

:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AuthaGraph_projection 10

THE BEGINNING OF MAPS

map of Korea called Daedong-yeojido is very well known. When he was a boy, he saw a map for the first time at a market. This greatly interested him and from that day on, he spent his time looking and studying maps written by other cartographers of the time. Soon the owner of the map shop hired him to study the maps and copy them out professionally. However, he soon found out that maps drawn by cartographers were not consistent. He felt that it was too hard to follow those maps. He then decided to make a map of his own with accurate records of different places. After numerous attempts to find a good template for his map, he was very disappointed e even the map from the royal palace was incorrect. Without hesitation, he decided to travel around every corner of Korea to work out the exact locations and shapes of different regions. He successfully created the first map of Korea. He then carved this map onto a wood in order to produce lots of copies for people to use. This was the Daedong-yeojido:

Ashley Lee (WHS) A map is a representation of places which demonstrates specific characteristics of those regions on a flat surface.

Maps often only contain factual information such as exact locations of houses or rivers around that region.

These are very useful as maps can be used for scientific purposes such as the weather maps. However, it can also tell us about why towns and villages are located where they are and what effect this has on the people.

So how did people actually make maps without satellites? Records that resembles the modern maps were found all over the world around different times.

These maps all look different as exact geography of Earth was unknown before. However, maps such as this was drawn during the13th century:

John Hessler analysed this map (Portolan chart) and found it ‘so different from the mathematical structure you see in [modern] maps’. Even so this map that was drawn so long ago looks very similar to the modern maps. This illustrates how different people from different times work using unique methods but still arrive at very similar conclusion.

This map is very similar to the modern map in the sense that it uses scale and that it has symbols for different features. For example, he used different shaped lines to distinguish between rivers and roads which resembles the use of symbols in modern maps of today.

Moreover, like the contour lines in Ordnance Survey Kim Jung-ho used lines to express the heights and shapes of the mountains in the map.

Coinciding with this very special Portolan chart, the first proper map of Korea was drawn in 1861. The story of Kim Jung-ho, the inventor of the first complete

Daedong-yeojido was made by an ordinary man who wanted to make an accurate map for people of Korea as a person who was very passionate about maps.

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n contrast, Ordnance Survey was produced for military strategy following rebellion in 1745. As the French rebellion started to threaten the shores of Britain, the government ordered the defence ministry to start a survey of England’s vulnerable southern coast. Young engineer, William Roy was assigned to carry out initially small military survey of Scotland. This survey started in 1747 and completed eight years later. This map is known as the Great Map. Roads, hills, rivers and other features were recorded accurately using surveying compasses to measure different angles and distance between important characteristics of the landscapes.

This is very similar to Daedong-yeojido as people travelled to different regions of the country in order to record the geography. This highlights that even during different time and without knowing how other people produced maps, people still managed to produce very accurate maps of that time.

Now modern Ordnance survey has information reserved in digital form with much wider range of information. Even so richer data is still being collected through field surveyors, global navigation satellite systems, remote sensing and a range of advanced GIS tools and software.

Today, people produce and modify maps by using technology that has advanced in the last hundreds of years. Cartographers no longer have to travel to different regions and record the geography manually.

It goes without saying that the hard work of the early cartographers have allowed us to have a secure starting point of mapping and helped us to build more on using our advanced technology and larger data base of today. Without them, it would have been harder to get to where we are today. I have only mentioned three maps that were meaningful to me. However, there were thousands of maps that were produced by very different people. I believe that older maps are very interesting to see because now we know what the places look like but it also paints a picture of what it was like hundreds of years ago. Old maps are valuable because of their historic value as well as providing context to earlier times.

Bibliography Park Hye-Suk(2018). Our land carved on wood.

Seoul:greatbooks The official website of Ordnance Survey

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THE MAP OF EUROPE’S

While the one may think of scale guides or spot heights or roads and rivers when the word ‘map’ is mentioned, the Mythical Creatures of Europe map has a range of unconventional and quite bizarre data. First, each beast was put into one of five categories, whether they’re an animal, animal-animal hybrid, human-animal hybrid, animal-like being or human-like being. They were then also sorted by their dispositions towards humans; neutral, malicious, benevolent or ambivalent. They also took into account the environmental conditions of each creature by drawing moors and swamps or trees or mountains besides them. Finally, they also took into account the frequency of their ‘occurrences’ in the human world, however that information could not be represented on the map and was only used for the reliability of each creature ‘existence’.

MYTHICAL BEINGS Millie Bance (WHS) The map of Mythical Creatures of Europe gathers information on two hundred and thirteen mythical creatures that has been extracted from European folklore. In 2011, a group of students from Vilnius University (in Lithuania) created this extraordinary map, taking them a total of 1200 hours to create.

They partly created it after recognising the lack of publications devoted to the analysis of mythical beings in European countries. As well as making the map, a guide was also assembled to make it more accessible for viewers, giving brief but interesting information about each creature.

The creators of the map of Mythical Creatures of Europe went through a rigorous gathering process to make sure all information they included was as accurate as possible, and even set out rules for their categorising. This meant sourcing information from legends, tales, songs and anecdotes in nine different languages. To be included, the mythical creature must have been mentioned in multiple folklore plots, reside on a particular part of Earth, be seen by local people and have an identifiable shape. They could not be counted if they were fictional characters that were only in a small number of books, or if they were ghosts/ deities or beings made by adults for the sole purpose of scaring children (which there is a very surprisingly large number of).

The reason that I chose this particular map, as opposed to a more Geological or realistic one, was simply down to my old fascination for folklore and hoping to potentially share some otherwise lesser-known mythological details with the reader.

The origins of this map budded from an old Chinese legend about Huang Di (黄帝 - ‘Yellow Emperor’) and a beast called Bai Ze (白澤 – half man and half ox who only appears for virtuous leaders). This creature, who met the Emperor at the top of a mountain, told him about 11,520 different demons, monsters, shapeshifters and spirits. Bai Ze’s important information was said to have been published into a book with illustrations and rich details about each creature to help manage and understand them, however it unfortunately no longer exists. Therefore, the creators of this map wanted to help visualise the fascinating details of mythical beings in Europe and create a better understanding of some European countries’ culture.

Delving deeper into the map itself, one can get a fascinating insight into mythical beings that you most likely did not know about before. For instance, the malicious Hound of Annwn, which is said to have appeared in England. The map tells one that this creature is a ‘nocturnal dog of hell’ whose ‘howling foretells death to anyone who hears it’. In addition to the land animals are various sea creatures, such as the Saratan, just off of the coast of Portugal. It is a ‘giant marine creature’ which carries ‘mountains, valleys and vegetation on its back’, making it appear like a ‘ghost island’.

Some may wonder why, in the 21st Century, was there any use in creating such a map, due to the fact that we know for sure that none of these creatures exist.

However, it is incredibly useful for those studying or even just interested in mythology and ethnology, and could also be seen as a piece of art, rather than just a Geographical map. This beautiful piece sparks curiosity in the viewer and ay make them want to delve further into Europe’s various countries and their cultures.

The creators themselves said their main goal for the project was to show the ‘possibility and advantages of a geographic approach in mythology and folk-lore studies’.

A Japanese Painting: Hakutaku Hikai Zu (白澤避怪図 – Depiction of Bai Ze to Repel Prodigies) by Gogaku, F. and Bansen, S. (1785)

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The map of ‘Mythical Creatures in Europe’, made by students of Vilnius University in Lithuania (2011)

Bibliography Beconyte, G., Eismontaite, A., Zemaitiene, J. (2013).

Mythical creatures of Europe. Taylor & Francis Online.

Bai Ze 白澤. The British Museum.

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THE NEW WAY OF MAPPING –

This was changed through the release of the iPhone 3GS in 2009, the first phone to have the function of a voiceover. It also marked the first time that the blind and visually impaired community was able to use a fully functioning phone (one that is not made especially for the disabled) without the help of another person. The software of voiceover, which is preinstalled on every Apple device, reads out loud what is on the screen when we tap on it. This technology is undoubtedly a long-awaited breakthrough, marking the beginning of the era of technology for the visually impaired community.

MAPS THAT ARE TOUCHABLE AND HEARABLE Shirley Lan Bao (WHS) Maps are crucial to our everyday lives. They represent the real world on a much smaller scale, help us find where things are, and help us get from one place to another. Map reading is also taught in many schools as a foundational skill that is needed to develop other knowledge and abilities. It is hard to imagine a time where we aren’t able to read maps - we use them so often: Paper ones we buy on holiday, GPS fitted on our cars or the world map which many have in their study.

It is through the technology of voiceover that modern maps for visually impaired began to develop. The first enterprise to do this was Google, via its notorious map app: Google Maps.

This initiative was spearheaded by Wakana Sugiyama, a Tokyo based business analyst at Google who is legally blind.

According to her, going from her home to her office is easy, as she is familiar with the route, but venturing to some places where she doesn’t have previous experience can be very intimidating. “Some of my most pressing concerns include knowing if I’m going the right way or if a street is safe to cross,” She says.

However, there is a large group of people who cannot have access to this. In the UK alone, almost 2 million people are suffering from sight loss. Of these, around 360,000 are registered as blind or partially sighted.

This new Google Maps initiative is that users would be able to activate a new feature which allows them to receive more verbal updates about their trip. Announcements, alerts, warnings and compass directions are also all provided.

Furthermore, this feature is not only for those with visual defects but is also accessible for those having difficulty looking down at their screens. This includes parents with strollers, people with poor vision, etc. The advancement of this technology undoubtedly received a big praise and excitement from multiple countries, and more and more enterprises, such as Apple begin to follow suit in developing maps and software accessible for those with visual impairments. It was a major step in the improvement of the lives of the visually impaired and blind community.

So how are they able to do map-reading like us?

The world’s first atlas for the blind was created in 1837 in the US, made by Samuel Gridley Howe to help children at the New England Institute for the Education of the Blind.

It was the first time that an atlas was created in braille , and ultimately marked the first time that people with visual impairments can experience the landforms of countries.

This atlas composed of images of each state, along with borders, rivers and mountain ranges. Howe represented the geographical features on the map using different textured graving: borders were represented with dotted lines, and rivers by smooth lines, each protruding from the page.

Accompanying this was texts in braille, explaining the geographical features of each state.

Luckily, in the 21st century, we are more aware of the issues to do with visual impairments, and more and more improvements are made to ameliorate the lives of the visually impaired and blind community. There has been a surge in the number of charities helping those in need, along with new inventions every day helping the disabled. With maps now both touchable and hearable, it is close to the time when we can make technology available for all.

Nowadays, this type of mapping is still available and is referred to as tactile maps. They too are read by touch and contain different elevations to represent different features.

Tactile maps are usually created through 3D printing, today, is the fastest and most convenient way of producing these kinds of maps. However, in the 21st century, paper maps are no longer the most dominant type of maps as people start to prefer something more convenient, and “up-to-date.” The invention of digitalised maps simplified our lives greatly.

Instead of having to flick through numerous pages to find the destination we are searching for, we can simply just type it in our search engine; and our digital map will do it for us.

The fact that the map of the whole world can be stored in something as little as a smartphone undoubtedly adds to its popularity. Easy to access. Easy to carry. Easy to use.

Bibliography NHS UK. Blindness and Vision Loss www.nhs.uk Braille Works. History of Braille. www.brailleworks.com.

Mappenstance Atlas for the Blind. www.blog.richmond.edu Murillo. S from The Chicago Lighthouse. How do people who are blind and visually impaired use the Iphone? www. chicagolighthouse.org

However, this is unfortunately not the case for those with visual impairments. Tactile maps still only have the ability to show the landforms of one particular area. They also are not only hard to carry and inconvenient to use but also extremely behind technology-wise. In order for someone visually impaired to navigate around town, they would have to carry numerous tactile maps with them.

Magistretti. B from Forbes. Google Maps launches a new feature to help the visually impaired with navigation. www.Forbes.com Mapy.cz. What are tactile maps and who are they for? www.napoveda.seznam.cz 15

THE ROLE OF GEOSPATIAL

Maps also have helped individuals in local communities track down and receive essential resources and services.

Due to closures of businesses and reduction in critical services such as public transportation, it has been difficult for key workers to travel, and for individuals to access resources that are essential such as food and medical supplies. Today we live in a world where when we open our phones within seconds, we have a map of the world with vast amounts of data showing opening times of businesses, our nearest open supermarkets or information of what businesses sell. The accessibility of maps has increased our interconnectivity to our local neighbourhood and during the pandemic has allowed us to receive essential items due to maps being a critical tool in our connectivity to our local area allowing us to locate the essential items we need.

DATA IN THE COVID-19 RESPONSE Katie Lorimer (WHS) Geospatial data and maps have long been used to track the spread of diseases from John Snow’s iconic mapping of cholera outbreaks in 1854, fast forward now to widespread use of mapping and technology to track the spread of COVID-19 in very present times.

Maps are a form of geospatial data that has been visualised to present data in a meaningful way.

They help disease responses as they strengthen our understanding and behavioural response to outbreaks.

Take the COVID-19 outbreak, we can map the disease over time and its spread from the epicentre, Wuhan.

Maps clearly show the rapid spread of the virus and how due to globalisation it was able to spread so vastly and rapidly due to the mobility and interconnectivity of our world and its inhabitants that is ever increasing.

This means maps help us to not only look at the current disease as it is spreading but look at future diseases learning from how past ones have spread and how we can contain them on both the global and hyper-local level by analysing our mobility and our response tactics to the outbreak.

Maps can also be used to evaluate the economic impact of lockdown and promote business progression.

In addition to the devastating public health impacts from COVID-19 that have been experienced globally, the economy has also experienced sharp contracts and national recessions. When centring in on local economies across the United States, the economic impact of the pandemic has not been consistent.

However, geospatial data can play an important part in understanding provincial differences enabling the support of business progression and recovery from the economic contraction. This economic geospatial data can be displayed to highlight economic vulnerability of regions as shown by the KY COVID-19 Economic Impact Dashboard built by Kentucky’s GIS team.

The dashboard traces and presents unemployment levels across different districts resulting in the economic vulnerability of each of those districts to be highlighted. Not only does this dashboard measure economic impact, but it also serves a purpose to help allocate unemployment services to districts of the state with the greatest economic impact and highest levels of unemployment as a result of the pandemic.

In addition to this, maps can be used to aid business progression through the promotion of small businesses using geospatial data to connect residents to local small businesses. The use of maps help individuals to be more aware of small businesses and is a platform to promote them in the hope for individuals to target their money towards the small businesses in their local area so they can remain open, keep their employees employed and see more economic growth during these difficult economic times.

Organisations such as the BBC use maps and geospatial data to help minimise the spread of the virus by allowing individuals to put in their postal code and see mapped COVID-19 case data in their local area. This can help minimise the spread as it helps individuals to make smart decisions about their social interactions in correlation with the rate of COVID-19 in their area and enables people to take steps to reduce the spread of infection in their local community.

Socioeconomic impacts.

The socioeconomic impacts of the COIVD-19 virus can also be mapped using geospatial data to highlight areas with social vulnerability. An example of this is the Centres for Disease Control’s social vulnerability index which uses 15 states of the US census variables to help local officials identify communities that may need support as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The social vulnerability index groups social factors into four main themes: household composition, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status and housing/transportation.

By mapping data highlighting census variables across the US, it is possible to mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of the outbreak in vulnerable communities through local and national officials recognising the increased social vulnerability in an area and therefore taking steps to reduce this by allocating more services and by reducing social vulnerability this can decrease emotional suffering and economic loss.

Maps are also a useful tool to display factors such as loneliness which has been something commonly felt across the outbreak of the pandemic due to many lockdowns across the world. Age UK display a heat map showing the relative risk of loneliness that people may be experiencing in pandemics and lockdowns across 32,844 neighbourhoods in England. The relative risk of loneliness map is based on the Census 2011 figures and shows the following factors: marital status, self-reported health status, household size and age. By 16

looking at these four factors plotted on a map one is able to observe areas of concentrated loneliness. By using this geospatial data displayed on a map, local authorities are able to allocate their limited resources to reduce loneliness to the right geographic areas.

This helps officials to understand whether existing services such as mental health services are sufficient and reaching the areas of need, signalling where there is a deficit in these services in correlation to the needs of the neighbourhoods and also to elevate the profile of loneliness that occurs among older people in a local community in hope for others to reach out and support the elderly in our lives and in our own local communities.

Maps are effective in visualising data however for them to be fully effective and influence people they have to tell a story; they have to be personal. Data by itself does not portray a story however when overlaid with a map this can inspire action by creating a share narrative.

A map that inspires action during the COVID-19 pandemic has great influences: it can motivate action from global leaders, influencers and communities, create a shared narrative between leaders and individuals, and it can remind us that we are strong if we lean on each other and we will get through this.

Bibliography https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computerscience/geospatial-data https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51235105 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51768274 https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index. html https://www.geospatialworld.net/blogs/google-mapsupdates-the-operational-status-of-businesses/ COVID-19 Economic Impact Dashboard http://data.ageuk.org.uk/loneliness-maps/ england-2016/

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HOW DO MAPS

British Foreign Secretary, when asked about the border agreement: “I would like to draw a line from the ‘e’ in Acre to the last ‘k’ in Kirkuk,” Sykes stated, bringing to mind a fiction writer creating a fantasy world from their imagination, rather than a diplomat whose actions have real consequences on the lives of real people. After the war, this abstract line became the border between Iraq, Syria, and Jordan, splitting up communities and forcing groups together that were previously separated by religious, ethnic, and linguistic divides. This ‘divide and rule’ tactic allowed Britain to maintain complete control by exacerbating ethnic and religious differences and not allowing any one group to get too powerful.

PRIORITIZING IMPERIAL INTERESTS STOKE TERRORISM TODAY? Kate McKeough (WHS) When we think about maps today, we think about nations and provinces separated by borders, defined by boundaries which are fixed in place. But in the early and mid 20th century, when empires around the world still held significant influence and power, maps were displays of potential. They illustrated countries to dominate, territories to expand into, and competition to eliminate. The people of the places under empires’ spheres of influence were very rarely considered, while the division of territory was prioritized. Diplomats, politicians, and cartographers alike pored over maps, reimagining the borders which would define lives.

The agreement was doubly malicious as the British had promised, in the event of the Ottoman empire falling, to support King Hussein and his sons in the formation of an Arab state. Thinking they were fighting for a future with a united Arab nation, the Arabs secured key victories for the Allies at the port city of Aqaba and aided in the capture of Jerusalem. Furthermore, the British pledged to support the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. They did this in order to gain the support of the Jews in the fight against the Ottomans. At this point, the British had promised nearly the same set of land to both the Jews and the Arabs, all the while knowing the land was to be theirs, as denoted by the secret Sykes-Picot agreement.

But what happens when, over a century later, those borders have modern day consequences?

The duplicity of the British was revealed just weeks after the Balfour agreement, when the Imperial Russian government was removed from power following the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Imperial Russian government had helped approve the Sykes-Picot agreement, and then had filed it away in state archives.

The new Bolshevik leaders discovered the secret map, acted as whistle-blowers, and published it. Because of this, much controversy surrounded the League of Nations mandates for Iraq and Syria as they were given to Britain and France. The mandates didn’t last for long, with Iraq being granted independence in 1932, and Syria’s mandate being lifted in 1943. However, the map’s impact remained in the form of its borders between Syria and Iraq, which were formalized at the San Remo Conference of 1920.

On May 16th, 1916, a secret agreement was ratified between France and Britain, with assent from the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement in question was a map of the Middle East, crudely and simplistically divided using a ruler and blue and red coloured pens. British and French diplomats Sir Mark Sykes and François Georges-Picot represented the interests of their respective empires, creating the Sykes-Picot Agreement based on this map.

The British and French empires had plans to split the Middle East after the fall of the Ottoman empire, post World War l. It was decided that the French would take the North under their sphere of influence, and the British would gain the South. The nature of this agreement is epitomized in a quote from Sykes to the

Today, we can still see the effects of that fateful SykesPicot map. One of the main goals of the Islamic State terrorist group, more commonly known as ISIS, is to restore Muslim unity in the Middle East. ISIS believe that this unity was taken away by imperial and Western intervention. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS from 2014 until his death in 2019, said “This blessed advance will not stop until we hit the last nail in the coffin of the Sykes–Picot conspiracy.” Furthermore, in a 2014 ISIS propaganda video named ‘The End of Sykes-Picot’, militants bulldozed a part of the SyriaIraq border in a symbolic show of resistance against imperialism. This shows the importance of the SykesPicot agreement in the propaganda machine of ISIS, as 18

they spread the message of being a post colonial, post national group who aim to unify the Middle East. In truth, Syria and Iraq have often been ruled separately throughout history; no ruler has, arguably, truly unified the Middle East since the death of Muhammed in 632.

The overarching message of ISIS has limited basis in fact, but the widespread destruction that was caused in the name of dismantling imperial interference is indisputable.

While the Sykes-Picot map is obviously not solely responsible for the turmoil seen in the Middle East today, it does offer some explanation. It also is useful as a key example in displaying the deterioration of Western-Middle Eastern relations. The Middle East, and more specifically Iraq and Syria, remains politically unstable and in a state of disarray. These countries are forever changed by the empires of two nations who prioritized increasing their territory over people’s lives.

D.H Lawrence stated, “The map appears more real to us than the land.” This seems fitting for an empire which strove for greatness through territorial expansion, and perhaps even more fitting for Sykes and Picot, two diplomats who saw the map as merely a piece of paper to draw a line on.

Bibliography Awan, A. (Jan 1, 2016). ISIS and the Abuse of History.

History Today. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/ isis-and-abuse-history Awan, A. (May 16, 2016). Architects of Failure: 100 Years of Sykes-Picot. History Today. https://www. historytoday.com/architects-failure-100-years-sykespicot Wright, R. (April 30, 2016). How the Curse of SykesPicot Still Haunts the Middle East. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/howthe-curse-of-sykes-picot-still-haunts-the-middle-east Wikipedia. (May 8, 1916). Map of Sykes-Picot Agreement showing Eastern Turkey in Asia, Syria and Western Persia, and areas of control and influence agreed between the British and the French. Royal Geographical Society, 1910-15. Signed by Mark Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot. Wikimedia. https:// commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MPK1-26_Sykes_ Picot_Agreement_Map_signed_8_May_1916.jpg

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HOW HAVE MAPS BEEN USED AS A POLITICAL VEHICLE? Andrea Thordarson (WHS) Maps have been present in many cultures over many years. They share the common purpose of depicting the many geographical features of an area and are regarded as honest and objective fact. From an early age one is taught to trust and follow maps and not question what is written. This is what makes them such a powerful political tool. Maps are used to display a wide variety of factors and each has a unique purpose. Some show only a small area but in immense detail where every road, building and pond is named. Others such as our world map present us with a view of each key city and the borders between countries. Over time many people have used cartography to influence the minds of others. For example, in the light of the new green movement a government may choose to minimise or leave off large factories and other pollutants, or a small town seeking an increase in tourism may emphasise the more desirable factors such as a forest or a fairground.

When you go to a theme park you are often presented with a map, cartoonishly drawn where your eye darts unable to choose which attraction to visit first. The human brain is impressionable, and while a tourism agenda may not pose much threat, this ‘persuasive cartography’ can have a far more dangerous reach in the hands of those leading a country.

Another cartographic alteration is the purposeful highlighting of certain aspects of a country’s geography or infrastructure. For example, in the early 20th century America, a map was produced focusing only on the roads present at the time. It served to show the public how they were significantly lacking connecting roads between the states as well as the urban and the rural.

They emphasised this as an issue declaring the US vulnerable in war and at a great economic disadvantage should this lack of interconnectivity continue.

One of the most common alterations to maps made is changing the apparent sizing of each country. Take for example what we would regard as the regular world map. Although this is widely seen as an accurate representation of our world, we have come to discover that it is a fallacy. This version of a world map was drawn up in 1569 by a Flemish man named Gerardus Mercator. At the time of its making, Europe had begun to become a continent of empires. As France, Britain, the Netherlands and other European nations begun to expand in all directions, seeking lucrative trade and foreign lands, cartography was in high demand.

Imperialists being as they are, took the chance to create a completely Eurocentric map. We see Europe sat right in the middle, Greenland of a similar size to Africa, swathes of land taken up by North America and land mass seemingly increasing the further north you reach. In reality Greenland is 14 times smaller than Africa and three times smaller than Australia .

In fact were the countries in the northern hemisphere drawn to the same scale as the countries nearest to the equator, you would see a massive decrease in size.

This specific form of manipulation is also apparent more subtly in a vast number of maps. Places that inspire national unity such as those with historic value (the trenches in which the battle of the Somme took place and other monuments) are most often included on maps where less pleasing aspects, for instance toxic waste facilities or abandoned buildings are left off.

Finally, in a more blatant display of propaganda, all through the various conflicts of the 20th century artistic alterations to maps would be made. During the Cold war Russia would be coloured in bright red clearly highlighting the country and its size, seeking to inspire fear within Americans and garnering support for the anti-Soviet campaigns of the time. Depictions of countries as animals, specific examples of Britain as a spider or octopus, attempting to wrap around its African colonies, or in the first world war, around Europe saw to portray the UK as a power hungry, devious and egotistical power. Below is a map of Europe in the first world war. Each Nation a dog, all aimed at the threat of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The triple entente: strong dogs aided by a steam roller, menacing and surrounding the threat: two small dogs, wide eyed and fearful. During times where the most common dispute 20

was that over borders, it comes as no surprise that cartographic propaganda ran rampant.

Although many use them regularly, maps are not something most spend much time questioning. That is exactly what makes them such an efficient and easily used political vehicle. We trust what is given to us and rarely ask further questions and as a result we have been influenced into the hatred of nations overseas, overlooked the darker sides of our countries and have relied on an inaccurate world map for nearly 500 years.

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WHAT ROLE DO MAPS PLAY

In Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne, the iconic sketchy map of the Hundred Acre Wood, which is based on the landscapes of the Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, plays more of a role in depicting the relationships between characters and the size and scope of Christopher Robin’s world, rather than a major journey that is undertaken. This map’s perspective is solely from that of a child’s, being ‘drawn by me’, voicing Christopher Robin, and adding that ‘Mr Shepard helpd’ referring to E.H. Shepard, the illustrator. This is also evident due to the spelling mistakes that scatter the map, including ‘big stones and rox’ and ‘rabbits friends and raletions’, giving it a more relatable meaning for children, and an endearing touch for adult readers. The effect of this child’s viewpoint transforms evident fantasy, detailed by ‘heffalumps’ and ‘the wozzle’, into childish reality.

IN CLASSIC CHILDREN’S BOOKS? Lizzie Caird (OHS)

Furthermore, this map helps the reader to understand the importance of each landmark, which would seem indifferent to any passer-by, thus immersing the reader in the microscopic woodland world. True magic is created by the idea of a familiar landscape to all humans, in this case a standard wood, becoming the home to much-loved animal characters, giving an ordinary landscape meaningful value. When assessing the nature of Winnie the Pooh, which is written in snippet-like chapters, covering different adventures, perhaps the mapping of the Hundred Acre Wood could be considered to ground a familiar fictional space that could be endless, thus simply assisting the narrative to flow and connect. Therefore, the map centralises the story, providing the reader with a perception of scale, and preventing the stories from being entirely intangible.

Similar to Winnie the Pooh’s basis on reality, Swallows and Amazons covers a fantastical version of the land that Arthur Ransome, the author, explored as a child, in the Lake District. Of course, the map in Swallows and Amazons shows the journeys and adventures that the Walker children take, therefore providing a more practical use. However, what is particularly evident in these maps is the childish simplification of unknown territory, contrasting with the detailed and personal nature of homeland. For example, by labelling ‘Great Mountains’ on the map, it is clear that the Walker children view the Lake District mountains that tower over the lake, a conglomeration of Windermere and Coniston, as unsurveyed, faraway land. In contrast, the area around their very own ‘Wild Cat Island’ is detailed with the names of bays and ‘native settlements’.

This is a direct reflection of a child’s imagination, embellishing the familiar environment and simplifying the intimidating ‘unknown’. This is also evident in the fact that both Winnie the Pooh and Swallows and Amazons include references to the North Pole, acting as an impalpable location as the pinnacle of unexplored territory for children.

In many ways, cartographers and authors share a similar mission; both create forms of artwork, one could argue, that tell a story and provide the possibility for adventure. Despite the practical aspects of maps for navigation, they shape journeys that happen in our everyday lives and in the lives of book characters.

In the context of books, maps provide the reader with both a sense of reality and fantasy. It is this transformative quality that maps offer that make them a key component of many classic children’s stories, carrying the plot and adding dimensions to the written world. Maps appear throughout literature, cutting past genre boundaries and age-groups, in books such as the Harry Potter series, with the Marauder’s Map, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne, and Moby Dick, by Herman Melville. There is a complex myriad of reasons for why authors include maps in their books, with the obvious motive of mapping a physical journey taken by characters. However, I want to explore the entire role that maps play in the classic children’s stories of Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne, Swallows and Amazons, by Arthur Ransome, and The Narnia Chronicles, by C.S. Lewis.

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his map to ‘be more like a medieval map than an Ordnance Survey with mountains and castles drawn - perhaps winds blowing at the corners - and a few heraldic-looking ships, whales and dolphins in the sea’, something he felt he himself couldn’t depict with his simple line sketches. Therefore, Pauline Baynes’ illustration broadened the boundaries of Narnia, adding depth and dimension to the plot, and Lewis was able to adapt his personal perspective, allowing broad-mindedness. Rather than the restriction of the reader’s imagination, as the maps of books such as Swallows and Amazons could sometimes be considered to foster, the Narnia maps assist both the reader and, presumably, the author in grasping the progress of the plot in such a fantastical world. As J.R.R. Tolkein, who was a close friend of Lewis’, declared, “if you’re going to have a complicated story you must work to a map, otherwise you’ll never make a map of it afterwards”, thus observing the need for geographical support when dealing with a fantasy world.

Ransome’s personal experiences from his childhood, that underlie throughout the story, such as the naming of his favourite yacht ‘Nancy Blackett’, blurs any boundaries between the book and his own imagination. This caused him difficulty in accepting Stephen Spurrier’s original map illustrations, which did not embody his personal picture of the landscape spurring him to create his own maps in future. This links to a possible limitation of adding maps to a piece of children’s literature, simply that they can restrict the reader’s imagination. When reading books as a child, it is common for each individual to interpret the story in a slightly different way, perhaps visualising the characters in a particular manner, or perceiving the morals independently. Therefore by introducing a physical map, the reader’s vast imagination is confined to the limits of the map, forcing them to conform to the author’s concept. This strong contrast between a sense of freedom and conformity links to the opportunities that maps offer children, which is particularly evident in Swallows and Amazons. In some ways, the children are able to invent their own lands, resulting in fictional maps such as the one Ransome creates for the Walker children. Furthermore, this means that one is not restricted by the rapidly changing ‘real’ world, with shifting demographics and evolving geographies, which was a particular concern for children living in the aftermath of World War I, which is when Swallows and Amazons was published. On the other hand, maps provide children with boundaries, meaning there are challenges to face and obstacles to overcome.

For example, the shape of Wild Cat Island, with its indented shoreline, makes it impossible normally to beach the Swallow in their hidden harbour when sailing at night. Therefore, a solution is required, resulting in the realisation that the ‘Amazons can come into the harbour without bothering about the rocks by keeping those two in line’, when referring to the white crosses on the tree stumps, providing children with scope to invent and resolve.

Contrary to Ransome’s difficulty in grasping the conception of an illustrator, Pauline Baynes, who illustrated the maps for the Narnia chronicles, expanded the land of Narnia and liberated the characters’ adventures. Lewis said that he wanted

Overall, maps do play a vital role in classic children’s books, detailing a childish sense of imagination and centralising the story. Maps can both restrict and broaden a child’s perception of a particular book, but undoubtedly ground the plot in a tangible setting.

When looking at maps in children’s books, one can certainly see the connection between cartographers and authors, inspiring the reader to make an adventure, whether physically, in one’s imagination, or emotionally, bringing worlds, both real and fictional, to life.

Bibliography Lewis-Jones, H. et al. (2018). The Writer’s Map. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd Photo Sources [1] Sotheby’s on BBC News (https://www.bbc.co.uk/ news/uk-england-sussex-44781752) [2] Google on Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ pin/415668240600255017/) [3] Lancaster University Digital Humanities Hub (http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/dighum/2016/09/13/readingand-mapping-swallows-and-amazons/) [4] Pauline Baynes, contributed by Alberto Ceccatelli (https://www.paulinebaynes. com/?what=artifacts&image_id=495) [5] Bodlein Libraries (https://bodleianlibs.tumblr.com/ post/168008344675/know-your-way-around-narnia) 23

WHY GOOGLE MAPS STILL

Greenland for example, the Mercator shows it to be larger than the continent of Africa, whereas in reality Africa’s area is fourteen times larger. This can be said for other countries as well, and the distortion in size is clear when comparing the Mercator projection with the Peters projection, showing different countries’ relative sizes. This shortcoming of the Mercator becomes more apparent when considering that not only does it alters the way the countries’ sizes are shown, but consequently can result in changing the way in which people see the relative importance of certain countries on a global scale, arguably contributing to why many don’t immediately see Africa as a continent when learning geography at a young age, and discount it as a global player. The Mercator can be regarded as a euro-centric view of the world in a political sense, and because of how widespread it is and has been for so long, recently due to the development and subsequent popularity of Google Maps, this euro-centricity has been another reinforcer of the outdated view of European superiority and influence over the rest of the world. A shortcoming that brings into question where or not modern mapping tools should use the Mercator projection in the way in which it has been used for so long.

USES THE MERCATOR Jessica Bryce (WHS) Used historically to make sense of the world around us for many purposes, serving political, nautical and artistic functions among others, map’s are arguably mankind’s greatest tool. However, despite huge improvements in technology and mapping abilities since the first Babylonian map 10,000 years ago, maps are still unable to present a sufficiently accurate picture in the present day. The spherical shape of the globe means that its geometry does not allow for projecting it onto a flat surface without having to sacrifice certain aspects of factual detail. This shortcoming will be discussed with regards to the popular map projection, the Mercator, which is still widely used and accepted through the increase in technology, such as the rise of Google Maps.

When Google Maps was created in 2005, the Mercator actually wasn’t used in the first launch, but it was introduced shortly after. In 2009 an employee explained that it was due to Mercator’s ability to preserve angles of roads, as previously “streets in high latitude places like Stockholm did not meet at right angles on the map the way they do in reality”. This highlights one of the most important reason’s for Mercator’s popularity with mapping services such as Google Maps – its accuracy when it comes to nautical navigation. The strength of the Mercator projection is that the way in which its configured keeps lines of latitude and longitude perpendicular to one another, and preserves angles locally. This gives the user the ability to plot a course on a constant bearing in a straight line, which is the reason behind its growth in popularity during the exploration age to such an extent that it has since become the standard. The likely reason behind its continued use on Google Maps is that is has become very familiar with people, making it easy to print onto maps, in both tangible and, more recently, intangible formats.

Moreover, its uses as a nautical maps has meant that when using the map to get from one place to the other, the angles of the roads relative to one another are projected onto the map in the same way in which they are laid out in real life, allowing for ease of use of Google Maps’ 2 billion daily users.

But even if the Mercator is no longer able to function as the ideal mapping projection, it cannot be replaced without a suitable alternative. There are multiple different map projections, less well known that the Mercator but still relevant. One of which is the Pacificcentred map which, instead of present the world from a colonial perspective, with London and therefore the rest of the EU towards the centre of the map, presents the world with the Pacific Ocean at the centre and the Atlantic at the sides. It challenges previous colonial beliefs that have resulted in many of the stereotypical map presentations, by pushing Europe to the edge and placing Asia in a more prominent position. However, this map is less accurate when trying to get from place to place, as all maps are only able to show a single story of the world. Recently the Peters projection, the map with relative size accuracy, has been introduced as the map that Boston public schools will teach their students from. This is a large step from the US towards de-colonising history, avoiding the exaggerated sizes of traditionally developed countries in Europe and North America, and although it can be argued that the distortion of countries’ shapes is a shortcoming of the map, as a teaching tool in schools where mapping from one place to another using correct angles is not typically part of the curriculum, it may have huge benefits in presenting a view of the world that does not physically diminish less developed areas and enforce the stereotype of their unimportance. On the other hand, these socio-political issues are not the main reason behind Google Maps’ choice of projection and so its significance can be questioned.

However, there is a cost for the nautical accuracy of the Mercator, the distortion of its countries’ land areas.

This distortion increases nearer the poles and has the effect of making countries in very high or low latitudes look bigger than they really are. This may not seem like a big price to pay for the abilities of the Mercator projection as a tool for travelling, but the impacts contribute to how many of us see the world. Take

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In conclusion, the Mercator is used by Google Maps because of its accuracy as a tool, helping people travel from A to B with minimal confusion. However, on a much larger scale, its presentation of the world that, whether purposeful or not, reinforces the assumption of more developed countries having superiority over those which as traditionally seen as ‘less developed’ is becoming increasingly outdated, especially in the present day where many are seeking to change these stereotypes. So, with increasing technology and the developing social climate, in the near future Google Maps may be called to present the world in a different light when looking at the mapped globe, whilst still maintaining its factual detail on a smaller scale.

Bibliography https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/ archaeology/a32832512/history-of-maps/ https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=W41aZKInoK0&t=0s https://philmikejones.me/blog/2015-05-04-internetmaps-mercator/ https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/5/17653122/ google-maps-update-mercator-projection-earth-isnt-flat https://theconversation.com/five-maps-that-willchange-how-you-see-the-world-74967

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MAPPING THE ELEMENTS

of California Berkeley, Dubnium after the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research2 in Dubna, USSR or Darmstadtium, named after Darmstadt in Germany, which is home to the GSI Helmholtz centre for Heavy Ion research, this usually means that the element was first discovered or manufactured there. Especially considering elements which have a higher atomic number that 92 Uranium have to be man-made and manufactured under high temperatures and pressures which are only creatable in a lab environment such as in Dubna, Russia or UCA Berkeley or Darmstadt. If an institute has already named an element after itself, it can go further by naming newly discovered ones as their region or state, their country or continent.

Lottie Houghton (WHS) Why are some elements named after places? Why are some named after scientists? Who decides what to name them?

Since the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) was created in 1919, it has been used as the consulting body to approve names and symbols for new elements that have been discovered.

For the name to be officially used and recognised it must be presented with sufficient evidence that the element has been created and then approved by the IUPAC council which can take up to five months or much longer if the name is highly contested by two distinguished parties.

However, there was some debate about naming elements known as the Transfeminism Wars for elements 104-6 between USA and USSR scientists during the height of the Cold War. As competition to develop space programmes to get to the moon increased so did the competition to discover elements and name them after geographical location to show superiority of their technological innovation departments. Rutherfordium 106 was reportedly first discovered in the USSR in 1964 when neon-22 ions were fired at plutonium-242 which gave way to spontaneous fission. Subsequently but independently the University of California Berkeley also synthesized the same element 5 years later through a method of firing carbon-12 ions at californium-249. The Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna in the USSR wanted to name the element Kurchatovium (Ku) in honour of Igor Kurchatov who invented the Soviet atom bomb, however the Americans wanted to name it Rutherfordium (Rf), after Earnest Rutherford another nuclear physics pioneer, the American name was approved by the IUPAC committee after nearly 30 years of arguments. Meanwhile the Soviet scientists did not lose out as element 105 was named Dubnium after their geographical location as well as them having their chosen name for element 101 – Mendelevium.

In most cases, elements are named after places, planets, minerals, countries, properties or scientists. Elements in the periodic table with lower atomic numbers which were discovered first, tend to be named after minerals such as Beryllium (Be) named after Beryl the mineral and Boron (B) after Borax or using the Latin and Greek derivatives for the elements. For example, Hydrogen (H) is hydro + gen = water forming, Oxygen (O) is oxy + gen = acid forming. Similarly, elements are named after their Greek or Latin words which describe their chemical properties, for example Argon (Ar) is names after argós which means idle, because it is very unreactive and Carbon (C) which is Latin for coal which is made of carbon.

Elements which are after Uranium-92 (the last naturally occurring element), have to be synthesized, so these are usually the ones with more creative names. Elements 100-104, 106-7 are named after famous scientists, mainly Nobel prize winners such as Einstein, Curie, Bohr, Fermi and Rutherford, to honour these scientists’ work and dedication to chemistry and/or physics. All of the elements that have been named after famous scientists have been done posthumously by other people; so far no one has named an element after themselves.

Elements are still being created today, even though their overall instability means they only exist for a fraction of a second, they still can be claimed with sufficient evidence by anyone who synthesises them. Recently elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 have been discovered, the naming process took about 13 years, 13 years, 6 years and 14 years respectively. They were named, Nihonium (after Japan, where it was synthesized), Moscovium (after Moscow where it was synthesized), Tennessine (after the state of Tennessee’s contributions to its discovery) and Oganesson (after Yuri Oganssium, a Russian pioneer in transactinide research). It has been said by the IUPAC that these four elements have completed the period table (as Oganesson is a noble gas). So, it is widely disputed if more elements can be created because the atoms may not get any heavier and even if they can whether governments or private companies will continue to fund this extremely

Elements named after astronomical bodies include: Helium (the Sun), Mercury (Mercury), Selenium (the Moon), tellurium (Earth), Cerium (Ceres), Plutonium (Pluto), Uranium (Uranus), Neptunium (Neptune) and Palladium (Pallas – an asteroid). These elements were named after planets and more specifically Greek and Roman gods of these planets. Uranium was named shortly after its planetary namesake was discovered in 1789, uranium, neptunium and plutonium occur consecutively in the periodic table as they do in the solar system’s order.

Typically, if elements are named after specific places such as Berkelium, named after the University 26

expensive ordeal for elements which are completely unstable and exist instantaneously before splitting into daughter nuclei with no real use.

In conclusion the reason for naming elements after compounds is primarily where the element was discovered or named after the research institute where it was synthesized or its city, region, country or continent.

A map to illustrate the locations of the elements which have geographical locations in their names.

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GLOBAL MAPPING OF FASHION Mika Tse (OHS) Maps may dictate borders, but they don’t prevent people from travelling across the globe. Cultural globalisation describes the transmission of cultures, products, values and attitudes of people across the world, and this concept is further accelerated by today’s consumer society and technology, with the quickness and ease of social media and the internet. The fashion world in particular has become international, as we are becoming heavily influenced by the clothes of people from all cultures, ages and classes. Fashion is playing a huge role in cultural globalisation to change and shape the dreams, thoughts and environments of people across the world. However, this leads us to consider the challenges of cultural identity that this can bring – is this creating a global monoculture where everyone is becoming more homogenised and local cultures are getting lost?

Japan, Kyoto,1912

In 1912, millionaire French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn created a project called Les Archives de la Planète (Archives of the Planet) where he travelled around the world to record “the aspects and the practices of human activity which will inevitably disappear over time”.1 Les Archives de la Planète includes 72,000 autochrome plates and many black and white films lasting many hundreds of hours from around the world between 1909-1931. A diverse world of local fashions and life can be seen in his works – at that time a person’s clothing was truly a reflection of their cultural identity of where and how they lived.

Kahn’s archives are now kept at the Musée AlbertKahn near Paris in Boulogne-Billancourt. However, Kahn’s project would not have the same impact if carried out today as everyday people from across the world tend to dress in similar ways.

India, Bombay, 1913

Many countries in Europe and North America rely on the globalisation of fashion to help their economy.

For example, blue denim jeans are perhaps the most popular item of clothing. Denim material was first made in the French town of Nîmes, and so the word derives from the phrase ‘serge de Nîmes’ which means ‘serge (a sturdy fabric) from Nimes’. During the Cold War they became a symbol of America’s strength and freedom in comparison to communism in Russia and China. Fashioned after the trousers of cowboys and

Sweden, near Gagnef, 1910

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ranchers in North America, they became a global sensation thanks to how cheap they were to make, consumerism and marketing that advertised their strong material and practicality. Levi made their jeans iconic in the 1800s due to their belt loops, improved pockets and zippers on flies. Alongside Levi many brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Nike and Supreme are all American companies that are dominating the fashion trends and clothing desires today. However, jeans are no longer made in France and now 40% of America’s jeans are made in Xintang, China, where many workers are exploited in sweat shops and the mass production produces a lot of greenhouse gases.

authenticity? Are we more likely to appreciate it if it’s made by a Western designer rather than a Chinese tailor?”.1The cheongsam, whilst having different meanings to Chinese people, is often regarded as simply a fashionable dress in both the east and west which induces different opinions when it comes to cultural appropriation. Mapping Motifs consists of 6 identically cut cheongsams, each showing the city map of a fashion metropolis: Paris, London, Milan, New York and included for their important relationship to the cheongsam - Hong Kong and Shanghai. At a distance the maps seem to be nameless, but when viewed closely using two different coloured lenses, the dress becomes a map of the history of the cheongsam as names of streets, cities and designers appear to reveal those people and places where the qipao has been included in collections.

Levi advertisement between 1940-50s As people from all over the world become more and more interested in fashion and clothes, the map of fashion metropolises and fashion capitals is steadily increasing. Wessie Ling examines ideas of mapping fashion, perceiving identities and the world fashion conquest in two different solo exhibitions: ‘Mapping Motifs’ and ‘Game On: The World Fashion Conquest’.

In Ling’s second exhibition ‘Game On: The World

Fashion Conquest’, she investigates link between fashion culture and modern metropolitans through the phenomenon of ‘fashion week’. In created an interactive installation inspired by the game ‘Risk’, Ling expresses the competitive prestige of fashion seek between cities. The board maps out 85 fashion cities and their international network of consumers and buyers on intersecting lines of longitude and latitude that resemble fabric whilst players sit around a catwalk and runway that resembles the real fashion world of celebrities, journalists and buyers to help internationally promote fashion week. At the centre of this project Ling focuses in on the reasons and true motives for hosting fashion weeks, questioning whether cities exploit fashion week for the economic boost, tourism or the publicity of a local identity by branding themselves as a fashion capital. In ‘Game On’ Ling sheds light on globalisation in fashion as fashion weeks encourage consumer culture and European trends overtake the local fashion – ‘Are cities a slave to fashion or do cities enslave fashion to serve their own objectives?’3

In ‘Mapping Motifs’ Ling explores how a traditional Chinese dress, called a qipao (Mandarin Chinese) or cheongsam (English derivation of Cantonese), is perceived when related to fashion. Adapted from the Qing Dynasty changpao, a men’s robe worn by the upper class, the cheongsam was worn as a symbol of gender equality by feminists in order to challenge beauty expectations for women and also as part of the May Fourth Movement in protest of traditional Confucian values. Soon after, the cheongsam became an everyday outfit for women of all ages in urban cities like Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Taiwan, with more form fitting designs, influenced by the west, to accentuate femininity. After the Communist Party came to power the cheongsam was banned as part of the cultural revolution, but the cheongsam managed to survive in Hong Kong and so continued to be a part of working women’s lives who often sewed them out of magazines themselves. The cheongsam was introduced to the west from actresses such as Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk and film characters like Suzie Wong and began to inspire the fashions of western designers.

‘Mapping Motifs: An exploratory journey through fashion, cities and identities, 2006’ was exhibited in the AVA Gallery, London. Here Ling brings attention to the cheongsam as both an homage to East Asian culture but also to question our understanding and reception of it, she asks: “Are we concerned with where it comes from, who the designer is or with the garment’s

Ling’s exhibition on Game On 29

Exploring the map of fashion in the past and present has brought up many topics of discussion.

With globalisation, unpredictable, fast paced, everchanging trends, concerns on mass production and the environment, an increasing number of fashion metropolises and many different cultures, beliefs and opinions - there is no doubt that the fashion industry will continue to provoke, enrich and inspire the lives of people no matter where they live on the map.

https://www.numptynerd.net/globalisation-fashionvictims.html Accessed: 2020/11/15 Nagle, S., (2015), Global Fashion: A Window into Globalization https://publish.illinois.edu/ globalcurrents/2015/05/19/global-fashion-a-windowinto-globalization/#:~:text=With%20the%20 rapid%20rise%20of,life%20that%20globalization%20 has%20brought. Accessed: 2020/11/15 Nagle, S., (2006), The Cartography of Fashion http:// wessieling.com/publications/game-on-the-worldfashion/game-on-the-world-fashion-text-01/ Date Accessed: 2020/11/15

https://www.opendatasoft.com/blog/2016/07/22/ archives-of-the-planet-albert-kahn-open-data 1

2

http://wessieling.com/reviews/mapping-motifs-text/

Yeung, G., (2019), The evolution of the cheongsam: from Suzie Wong to Maggie Cheung, it’s a Hong Kong fashion symbol https://www.scmp.com/magazines/ style/luxury/article/3025308/evolution-cheongsamsuzie-wong-maggie-cheung-its-hong-kongDate Accessed: 2020/11/15

http://wessieling.com/projects/game-on-the-worldfashion-conquest/ 3

Bibliography

Gao, S., (2016), A Brief History Of The Cheongsam

Opendatasoft, (2016), The Archives of the Planet by Albert Kahn, Now Available in Open Data https:// www.opendatasoft.com/blog/2016/07/22/archivesof-the-planet-albert-kahn-open-data Date Accessed: 2020/11/15

https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/articles/a-briefhistory-of-the-cheongsam/ Date Accessed: 2020/11/15

Ling, W., Huck, C., (2008), Mapping Fashion, Cities, Identities and the World Fashion Conquest

Date Accessed: 2020/11/15

Wikipedia, Cheongsam https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Cheongsam#History WESSIELING, (2006) Game On: The World Fashion Conquest, 2006.

http://www.darkmatter101.org/site/2008/10/26/ mapping-fashion-cities-identities-and-the-worldfashion-conquest/ Date Accessed: 2020/11/15

http://wessieling.com/projects/game-on-the-worldfashion-conquest/

Stamselberg, N., (2006), The World of Cheongsam.

The Review of Mapping Motifs: An Exploratory Journey Through Fashion, Cities and Identities by WESSIELING. http://wessieling.com/reviews/ mapping-motifs-text/ Date Accessed: 2020/11/15

Date Accessed: 2020/11/15 Ross, F., (2007), Wessie Ling’s Game On: The World Fashion Conquest

Baker, K., How has the globalization of fashion affected Western countries?

http://wessieling.com/reviews/game-on-the-worldfashion-conquest/game-on-the-world-fashion-conquesttext03/

https://www.arcgis.com apps/Cascade/index.

Date Accessed: 2020/11/15

Baker, K., How has the globalization of fashion affected Western countries?

Photo Sources

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index. html?appid=2292553764564a4aa 225957417ab2cb1 Date Accessed: 2020/11/15

https://timeline.com/photos-earliest-color-imagesf48ea4ae8e9f#.rmzch4o5q

Thorpe, J., (2016), How the birthplace of denim is making jeans again https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ business-37523552 Date Accessed: 2020/11/15

https://www.vogue.fr/fashion/article/vogueencyclopaedia-the-history-of-denim-jeans http://wessieling.com/projects/mapping-motifs/

Bass-Krueger, M., (2019), Vogue encyclopaedia: The history of denim jeans

http://wessieling.com/publications/game-on-theworld-fashion/

https://www.vogue.fr/fashion/article/vogueencyclopaedia-the-history-of-denim-jeans Accessed: 2020/11/15 Numpty Nerd, Geography has never been so fashionable 30

MAPPING ILLYRIA

to be seen as firmly intact. Nonetheless, Twelfth Night feels very English when we look at names such as Sir Toby Belch or the allusions, behaviour and mannerisms of the actors.

Perhaps then the title Twelfth Night, a carnivalesque season of disrule, allowed enough protection from censorship?

The play`s subtitle `As you will` seems to suggest that many interpretations of the play are possible and indeed its settings have been as diverse as nineteenth-century Albania and in a bar in Soho. Nonetheless, it does seem interesting that the play brings together couples with a partner each from the `native` Illyria and the foreign shore.

Eleanor Voak (OHS) Captain: This is Illyria, lady. Viola: And what should I do in Illyria? (Twelfth Night I, 2) From Shakespeare`s age onwards map-making saw enormous progress since maps were continuously revised as the understanding of the world increased, conquests were made and explorers returned from their journeys.

The advance in printing facilitated these developments. As `voyagers` frequently set off `into the unknown` (Jeremy Black, Mapping Shakespeare`s World), these journeys were often perceived as perilous, particularly when sea travel was involved and indeed The Tempest, The Comedy of Error and Twelfth Night all have shipwrecks as a central element of their plot. Interestingly, Twelfth Night is the one play where Shakespeare `seems to mention a specific contemporary map`, that drawn by Edward Wright in 1599.

(Peter Whitfield, Mapping Shakespeare`s World, 2015).

Moving away from the external mapping of Illyria, its internal map and locations are equally interesting. If we are to draw a map of the play, we find some very clearly segregated spaces in Illyria – Orsino`s sumptuous palace, the barren seashore, the streets of Illyria, the public promenade and the prison. Orsino`s court is in stasis due to his unrequited love for Olivia; excess and self-love govern him more than he seems to govern. The seashore is more than a geographical location – it also weaves itself metaphorically through the play. The streets of Illyria allow the confusion and violence of the play an outlet and seem to be an ideal background for the roaming Feste who is the only actor to move between the courts without the need of disguise.

The very darkest moment of this comedy is played out in Malvolio’s cell; a poignant reminder that comedy comes very close to tragedy in Twelfth Night. The cell above all shows how certain characters are not only trapped in certain places but also within themselves. For some of them the comic resolution of the play offers a resolution whereas others are not so lucky.

Captain: This is Illyria, lady. Viola: And what should I do in Illyria? (Twelfth Night I, 2). Arguably, this is a masterstroke in scene setting. Given Viola`s recent loss of her brother, it seems comprehensible that her first question is not where Illyria is but what she should do there given her tragic circumstances. Yet, she quickly moves on to ask more about the country on whose shores she finds herself shipwrecked.

The Captain provides reassurance and introduces important plot elements. The audience learns that the country is ruled

by Count Orsino who has fallen in love with a lady called Olivia who is also mourning a lost brother and has vowed abstinence.

Within this segregation of various locations, Olivia`s house deserves particular attention as it is a rather divided sphere; her private rooms, dressed in mourning, where she, initially, keeps up the facade of the mourning sister behind a veil, as if to underline this segregation. Her court, too, is in stasis before the arrival of Viola disguised as Cesario due to her mourning for her brother and her decision to forsake men as a consequence. These rooms stand in stark contrast to the cellar of Olivia`s house where the drinking scene takes place and much of the carnivalesque atmosphere of the subplot is concocted. The formal gardens of Olivia’s house are another interesting location on the map of the play as they both allow Olivia to break out of the formality of the house, yet at the same time also present a boundary. Like the house, the garden fulfils an important part with respect to the subplot as well, as Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Fabian conceal themselves in a box tree to watch Malvolio’s reaction to Maria’s letter, very much in the tradition of other Shakespeare plays where gardens are often the places where such actions take place.

When Shakespeare was writing, Illyria was a region of land on the coast of modern central Albania, which was under the control of the Venetian Republic and therefore not completely unchartered. It was, though, still sufficiently distanced from Shakespearean England to be classified as foreign and allow all sorts of projections and conjectures, though its character remains Italian (this is also true of the play`s sources). Shakespeare, we can safely assume, had never been to Illyria though he would have probably known where it was. Illyria as a name did though come with a number of connotations such as Idyl, Elysium, Allure, Illusion and Lyric which all help to create an idea of a particular setting. In addition, it would have qualified as an exotic country with a hot climate suitable to the evolving plot.

For directors of the play creating the setting for Twelfth Night, the question of whether Illyria was an imaginary place or rooted in some reality is an important one. As Tiffany Parker asks: `should that world be fantastical and purely imaginary or should it feel real`? The latter would involve some recognisable traits of the social and geographical settings in Illyria. A displacement outside of England certainly had advantages for Shakespeare: given the very real and threatening nature of Elizabethan censorship at the time, it was wise to set excess, disturbed gender and social hierarchies outside Elizabeth`s realm where these were left

Mapping Illyria therefore takes many complex shapes both in terms of geography, dramaturgy and psychology, and in the many ways in which directors and audiences can make of it what they will.

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Bibliography Jeremy Black, Mapping Shakespeare`s World: An Exploration of Shakespeare`s Worlds Through Maps, London, 2018 Luke Dunnil, Production, 31 May 2019. http://blogs. brighton.ac.uk/twldjd/2019/05/31/locating-illyria/ (Accessed, 10/11/2020) Tiffany Parker, 6 July 2020. https://www. shakespeareinitaly.org.uk/News Blog/News/ArtMID/408/ ArticleID/87/CategoryID/2/CategoryName/Blog/ Rehearsing-Shakespeare-Twelfth-Night-1-Finding-Illyria (Accessed, 8/10/2020) Peter Whitfield, Mapping Shakespeare`s World, Oxford, 2015

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THE KNOWLEDGE VS

becoming more and more irrelevant with every year that passes.

GOOGLE MAPS

The Knowledge too, represents a more ‘British’ and historical view of London, which is part of its allure.

It is traditional and historical in the sense that it hasn’t changed for over 155 years, something those who have completed the test are keenly aware of. I would argue that this in itself is not condemnable, and though it does back up the argument for The Knowledge’s irrelevancy today, it’s quite an achievement that it has manage to remain largely untouched for so long.

Cara Hene (WHS) The Knowledge of London, more commonly known as simply ‘The Knowledge’, is the test that all aspiring black cab drivers must pass in order to become one.

Largely unchanged since it was introduced during the Victorian era, The Knowledge is one of London’s unusual, though charming quirks. Covering 60,000 roads, 100,000 places of note and requiring an average of 2-4 years studying, passing the test is no mean feat – there are even special ‘Knowledge’ schools dotted around London offering help if required!

Economically speaking, the exam is a barrier to entry to people seeking to become taxi drivers, meaning fewer people will apply for the job. This is arguably purposeful, Transport for London, who run London’s black cab service, know that The Knowledge hugely limits the number of willing black cab drivers, they also know that this keeps their income relatively high as there is little supply but large demand, meaning people are willing to pay more for a service they perceive as rare. The Knowledge and Google Maps both represent contrasting pricing strategies – a small amount sold at a high price vs a high amount sold at a low price, of which both have their individual merits.

Though with online maps such as Google Maps one click away, should The Knowledge be left to stay in the past?

The most used and obvious argument for The Knowledge is that it ensures journeys are quicker and that this extra layer of regulation increases safety for customers. When you analyse the data, the first claim seems to hold true: according to a study done

by Lancaster University, black cabs on average took only 88% of the time an Uber would take for the same journey3. This does categorically prove that The Knowledge, though old-fashioned, still retains an advantage over Google Maps. However, the idea that more regulation = more safety, is disputable.

The Map used for The Knowledge of London exam1 A lot has changed since 1865 when The Knowledge was first introduced, especially technology. It made sense then, when there were no phones nor computers to help guide drivers, for the existence of a test that ensured customers would arrive at their destination with a competent driver behind the wheel (or reigns – taxi drivers used horse drawn carriages when The Knowledge was introduced). Now, why take four years studying for a test when opening Google Maps takes 4 seconds?

If we focus on sexual assault levels as a marker of safety in hire vehicles, as sexual assault is arguably the highest safety concern regarding Ubers/black cabs, then we see black cabs aren’t as safe as they claim to be.

In February 2016 TFL launched an advertising campaign targeting safety concerns surrounding their taxis, claiming that Ubers are less safe than black cabs, citing that 32 Uber drivers were convicted of sexual assault/rape, in comparison to zero black cab drivers.

Uber, an online taxi service, has exploded with success and is one of London’s taxi’s most vicious competitors, with more than quadruple the number of vehicles on the streets of London than black cabs - 114,000 Ubers vs 24,000 TFL taxis: 2

These figures seem to suggest that Uber’s dramatic rise in popularity is proof enough that The Knowledge is

4

33

However, this hides the full picture. Only 6.8% of sexual assault allegations ever lead to a conviction6 and in addition, black cab drivers are less likely to be convicted, not because the incident is less likely to occur, but due to the fact that an Uber driver is much easier to track down as their name is stored on your phone. In fact, there were 154 rape/sexual assault allegations occurring in black cabs from February 20152016, whereas only 32 were alleged in an Uber5 - whilst Uber has a 71% share of the market6, only 21% of alleged sexual assault were committed by Uber drivers.

Bibliography

Therefore, the argument that black cabs have more regulation, so are therefore safer, seems to crumble under any close inspection.

7. www.rainn.org

1. Collins Knowledge A-Z map, collins.co.uk 2. The Telegraph 3. Lancaster University UK 4. www.channel4.co.uk 5. www.taxileaks.blogspot.co.uk 6. www.secondmeasure.com 8. www.tfl.co.uk

The arguments do seem to be piling up against The Knowledge’s relevance in today’s society when faced with the technological advances of maps. However, I think the idea that one cannot or should not exist with the other is flawed. The Knowledge is somewhat a relic of the past but has its advantages too - it is part of London’s history and does make the iconic black cab faster than their Google Maps-using counterparts.

Conversely, the technological evolution of maps, from physical to online versions, clearly make them much more accessible to drivers, removing this barrier to entry!

On the whole, although The Knowledge’s existence is threatened by younger inventions, such as Google Maps and Uber, the expertise and wisdom it gives its drivers is invaluable - without it, London wouldn’t be what it is today.

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CONNECTING EAST

Unfortunately, microbes managed to spread as successfully as ideas, inventions and interests across the Silk Road. According to Mark Welford, author of the 2018 book Geography of Plague Pandemic, “the Silk Road allowed, possibly for the first time, the sustained transition of diseases endemic to Central Asia to move out along the Road to Europe”. The plague, the Black Death, which was one of the first great pandemics - travelled along the Silk Road to kill more than 75 million people between 1346 and 1352.

AND WEST Amy King (OHS) Satellites. Telecom stations. Underwater telephone cables. To the modern reader in the Information Age, these methods of communication seem ubiquitous.

Indeed it is difficult to imagine a world where Nomadic tribes passed along information and instead of a Messages app, there were designated messengers to deliver important news. At the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, however, the Scythians started to trade between different powers and thus one of the most defining moments of history was born. The Silk Road.

Interestingly, the Silk Road was not always the beating heart of Central Asia that it is often thought to have been. As the Roman empire fell and the Arabian power in the Levant rose, the Silk Road was no longer a desirable hub of trade. However, the Mongols revived the route in the 13th and 14th centuries, and the Venetian Marco Polo used it to travel to what was then Cathay (now: China).

A myriad of routes that flow together to form one of the most important trade networks that the world has ever seen. Perhaps unexpectedly, the name itself arose relatively late. In 1877 the term “Seidenstraße” was coined by the German geographer, cartographer and explorer Ferdinand von Richthofen.

The Silk Road’s origins lie in two concurrent and significant eras, Pax Sinica (Chinese Peace) and Pax Romana (Roman Peace). A mutual desire for trade combined with an extended period of political stability meant an increased demand in luxury goods. This represented an unprecedented transition towards global trade.

The southern stretches of the Silk Road, from Khotan (Xinjiang) to Eastern China, were first used for jade and not silk, as long ago as 5000 BCE, and are still in use to this day. Perhaps the term “Jade Road” would have been more appropriate than “Silk Road” had it not been for the far larger and geographically wider nature of the silk trade.

As for the first official plotting of the Silk Road, it is largely thought to have been as early as 60 CE. The Roman Empire had expanded to the Central Asian Silk Road and created one of the first “travel guides” to better govern their extended empire.

The “Seidenstraße” was central to the economic, cultural, political and religious interactions between East and West from the 2nd century BCE to the 18th century. Its two millennia history continues to have lasting impacts on the global powers we recognise today.

In many ways the success of the Silk Road eventually caused its demise as the transfer of information led to the use of maritime compasses, rendering longer land routes obsolete. Although it’s been nearly 600 years since the Silk Road was solely used for international trade, it seems as if a new project is on the horizon. A so-called 21st century Silk Road, President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road” Initiative, follows similar trade patterns to those of the Silk Road. In fact, “belt” is short for “Silk Road Economic Belt”; whereas “road” is short for “21st Century Maritime Silk Road”.

This 4000 mile journey spans almost the entirety of the Asian continent, crossing into the Mediterranean and extending by sea to Europe, Arabia and North Africa.

Samarkand and Bukhara, both cities in Uzbekistan would not have existed had it not been for the success they received from the Silk Road.

The Silk Road, which was made a UNESCO world heritage site in 2014, has irrevocably shaped our world.

The eastern part of the Silk Road grew considerably under the Chinese Han Dynasty (202BC – AD 220) and the lucrative silk trade relied heavily upon this trading route. In the interest of protecting their 2 valuable goods, the Chinese extended the Great Wall of China to increase the route’s protection.

Arguably the most important transfer was not of silk or jade but of religion. Originating in India, Buddhism migrated to China and Japan becoming prominent religions in both countries. Islam spread from the Arabian peninsula to form a new religion, Sikhism.

Warfare also evolved as a result of the silk road.

Gunpowder’s migration to the West forged the futures of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughul empires.

35

Bibliography Augustyn, A (2019). The Silk Road. Britannica.

Cartwright, M (2018). Map of the Silk Road Routes.

Oceans, W.W. L. A. (2018). Ancient History Encyclopedia.

Pedroletti, B, (2017). President Xi Jinping reveals his “Silk Road”. Paris: Le Monde.

State Council (2015). China unveils action plan of Belt and Road Initiative. Xinhua: English.Gov.CN Welford, M. (2018). Geography of Plague Pandemics.

Georgia: Taylor and Francis, Ltd. Yolu, I. (2010). China’s Maritime & Silk Road Revival.

Turkey: Silkroutes.net Zhaowen, G (2010). Eyes on the Silk Roads. Paris: UNESCO.

36

HOW DOES THE BRAIN

released when performing a stimulating activity such as reading a book. Although both acetylcholine and dopamine are typically ‘happy hormones’; dopamine is responsible for the more urgent jolts of happiness that we get when taking risks, whilst acetylcholine allows us to feel content and relaxed. Importantly, the dopamine pathway is shorter than the acetylcholine pathway which tells us that extroverts are likely to gain happiness from events quicker than introverts are.

MAP AND FUNCTION OF AN INTROVERT DIFFER TO THAT OF AN EXTROVERT? Shreya Verma (OHS)

These differences in pathways monitored by brain imaging and mapping also play a part in proving the typical stereotype that introverts are prone to over thinking. As mentioned, the greater blood flow through the dopamine pathway in extroverts means that outside information, such as a voice, travels quickly through areas in the brain that control sight, sound, taste and touch. For introverts, however, information travels along the acetylcholine pathway, which, as it’s longer, allows the external material to pass through multiple areas of the brain. These include the right front insular which regulates empathy; the Broca’s area which controls speech; the right and left frontal lobes which allow judgement and impulsiveness and the hippocampus which controls memory. Hence, as information is assessed by multiple stations in the brain of an introvert, a significant amount of thinking occurs. This perhaps suggests why introverts become overstimulated quickly too.

The brain of an elephant is three times larger than a human brain, yet humans are so much more advanced than elephants. Intrigued by this, scientist embarked on their journey of human brain mapping. Mapping the very object that controls every single person on Earth to discover exactly which parts of the brain correspond to their specific functions. What part makes us analytical?

What part makes us emotional? What makes some quieter than others?

The idea of brain mapping was initially considered in the 1880s when Angelo Mosso invented the ‘human circulation balance’ which was the first neuroimaging machine. It non-invasively measured the distribution of blood in the brain when performing emotionally or intellectually stimulating tasks. This was the basis for more advanced and safer neuroimaging techniques that are present now, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans, which are able to monitor the brain whilst performing different activities, and therefore observe how different people’s brains react to the same events.

Furthermore, due to the fact that the majority of introverts are over thinkers, a growing population of researchers suggest that they are therefore more prone to mental health disorders, such as depression.

The fact that introverts are likely to isolate themselves from others also contributes to this. However, there are arguments likewise implying that extroverts are more likely to experience depression, as they are essentially searching for more dopamine from external sources, which is unlikely to be present at all times.

Thus, this shows that the link between personality traits and mental health problems are key in not only development of research around the topic, but also in helping those who are struggling with their mental health.

The terms ‘extrovert’ and ‘introvert’ were derived

by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist, who explained ‘extroverts’ to be those who gain energy from social interaction and ‘introverts’ to be those who find social events draining. Although these terms are fairly subjective and definitely not as black and white as they are defined; there must be some variance in brain function to depict such different personality traits in terms of extroversion and introversion. This, therefore, shows the complexity of the human brain, as, unlike an organ such as the liver, it is able to change and cater its functions, in terms of personality and emotions, depending on the person and of course the person’s genes. Thus, this allows scientists and psychologists to link the variety of personality differences, such as those in extroverts and introverts, to brain function.

Additionally, research has shown that extroverts lack grey matter in their prefrontal cortex, whilst it appears significantly thicker and larger in introverts. Grey matter is supposedly the most interesting part of the brain, as this is where the information from sensory neurones is processed, and so the area that is associated with decision making. The fact that introverts have more of this confirms their ability to sit quietly and think over situations well, whilst extroverts much rather jump into risks without assessing them.

Research has shown that the brain of an extrovert requires more dopamine than an introverts’ in order to feel the same amount of happiness, which explains why extroverts are typically looking for more social interaction and additional conversation to release dopamine. Alternatively, introverts’ brains are a lot more sensitive to dopamine, and so feel over stimulated when they get too much of it. Instead, PET scans have shown an increased blood flow through the acetylcholine pathway in introverts, which is a chemical

All of these factors contribute to what makes extroverts extroverted and introverts introverted. The fact that their brains and biological pathways differ tells us that a person is born with the innate ability to be 37

extroverted or introverted. However, often we meet people who resemble themselves as both an extrovert and an introvert, or an ambivert. Studies have shown that typically younger people on the whole are more extroverted, and become progressively introverted as they age. From evolution’s point of view, it’s favourable for one to be more extroverted when they’re young as it makes it easier to find someone and mate. Thus, this helps to explain those ambivert personalities as even introverts can express extrovert qualities in their youth.

Although, nevertheless, introversion and extroversion and definitely not two mutually exclusive categories and it is easy for a person to possess characteristics of both. The fact that people in general become more introverted with age, however, sparks the question of why and what changes occur in the brain for this to happen…

Bibliography https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-themind/human-brain/brain-mapping.htm https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC4053853/#:~:text=We%20find%20that%20 the%20African,are%20found%20in%20the%20 cerebellum. https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-themind/human-brain/brain-mapping.htm https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/are-thebrains-of-introverts-and-extroverts-actually-different https://introvertdear.com/news/introverts-andextroverts-brains-really-are-different-according-toscience/ https://www.futurescienceleaders.com/ surrey1/2019/03/14/the-brains-of-extroverts-andintroverts/#:~:text=Since%20extroverts%20rely%20 more%20on,touch%2C%20sight%2C%20and%20 sound. https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-GreyMatter.aspx https://www.spinalcord.com/blog/gray-matter-vswhite-matter-in-the-brain https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-secretlives-introverts/201809/its-true-we-become-moreintroverted-age#:~:text=In%20a%20post%20on%20 Quiet,with%20age%2C%E2%80%9D%20writes%20 Cain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ neuroimaging#:~:text=The%20first%20 neuroimaging%20technique%20ever,technique%20 called%20pneumoencephalography%20was%20set. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11707157/ https://www.hopetocope.com/realizing-the-personalpower-of-introverts/ 38

HOW HAS MODERN

soon became more widely available. The maps were modified with the discoveries of new land and more accurate calculations of coordinates. The first map that showed a complete world was drawn by German cartographer, Waldseemüller, in 1507. The invention of the globe in 1515 gave cartographers a more detailed and accurate view of the Earth. From then, progress in cartography was based on the advancement of scientific and mathematic methods used to calculate positions and distances. The most recent advancement in cartography came with the invention of GPS, making mapping and navigation a lot easier and more precise.

TECHNOLOGY CHANGED THE WAY WE MAP THE WORLD? Izzi Millar (OHS) Mankind has used maps to help navigate and understand the world from when we first started building settlements. Wall paintings showing maps of streets and houses date all the way back to 6200 BCE. When cartography was first introduced, world maps were based on religious beliefs of how people saw the world and the information that could be gained about local areas. The earliest maps were more decorative and were largely inaccurate, due to lack of information.

In around the 6th century BCE, Ptolemy started using mathematical constructions to make more accurate maps of the world. In the modern day, we have many technologies such as GPS which allow us to see our location much more accurately. The advancement of technology has greatly improved how we can map and understand our world.

GPS was developed during 1970s by the US and was the first global navigation satellite system (GNSS) to be made widely available to the public. GNSS is the general term for a constellation of satellites that provide data for navigation and geo-spatial positioning. Since the 1970s, more GNSS systems have been implemented, most notably Galileo, which was launched by the European Union in 2016. GPS is made up of three elements – satellites, ground control networks, and user equipment. There are 24 GPS satellites orbiting 20,000 km above the Earth at around 8,700 miles per hour in one of six sextants that cover the entirety of Earth’s surface. The satellites are constantly sending out unique microwave signals that can be read by user equipment back on Earth. Ground control monitors the satellites and their signals, as well as providing the satellites with the data they need for time and their position in orbit. User equipment such as mobile phones and sat navs then read the signals coming from satellites. To find a location in 3D, signals must be acquired from at least four satellites. When a device receives a signal from a satellite, the distance from the device to the satellite is worked out. Distances are acquired from at least three other satellites and a position can be worked out using trilateration. This has led to the most accurate world maps being created so far. Positions can be obtained with the accuracy of 15m with GPS, and up to a matter of centimetres with Galileo. GNSS has not just revolutionised mapping and cartography, it has also greatly improved navigation.

Many cars now come with built-in sat navs, which use GPS to plan routes and journeys in real time and can use traffic information. The widespread use of technology like Google maps means crowdsourcing can be used to help update maps more efficiently. For example, users can give feedback about the map when roads in their area are created or modified. This creates more accurate and up to date maps all around the world.

One of the first known world maps is a clay tablet from the Babylonian period, dating back to around the 6th century BCE. It shows the world as a disk, surrounded by the ‘Bitter River.’ Maps like this are evidently not very accurate but are still useful in showing us how ancient civilisations saw the world according to religious beliefs. Ptolemy was one of the first cartographers to chart the world accurately using mathematical techniques. He wrote eight books on how to map the world so that the maps could be redrawn. Like other early cartographers, Ptolemy divided the equator into 360° to create lines of latitude. He then created lines of longitude by choosing the Fortune Islands as longitude zero, as it was the westernmost point discovered at the time, and took Posidonius’ value for the circumference of Earth to work out the distance of one degree. As Posidonius’ value for the circumference of the Earth was inaccurate, Ptolemy’s coordinates were inaccurate too. For example, in his calculations, the Mediterranean Sea covers 62°, however we now know that it only covers 42°. Ptolemy then calculated the coordinates for around eight thousand places, using information he had gathered from previous astronomical observations. Although Ptolemy’s methods for working out coordinates were correct, due to the inaccuracy of his data, the calculations returned incorrect. Ptolemy’s instructions for mapping were used as the basis of world maps for centuries after they were written and translated into Latin by monks. They were used to make copies of maps when the printing press was invented in the 15th century, and world maps

Technological advancement has helped change the way that we can map and understand our world. From maps that show just a few streets or the world according to religious beliefs up to an easily accessible and detailed map of the whole world. More technological advances in the future will lead to even greater accuracy in mapping the world and beyond. For example, the 39

invention of driverless cars relies heavily on GNSS, as the car needs to be able to plan and carry out its own route without human input. GNSS technologies are constantly being improved and upgraded, to make mapping quicker and more accurate, which give us a better understanding of the world we live in.

Bibliography https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/HistTopics/ Cartography/ https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/ptolemy-worldmap https://www.gsa.europa.eu/european-gnss/galileo/faq https://www.geotab.com/blog/what-is-gps/ https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_ offices/ato/service_units/techops/navservices/gnss/ faq/gps/ https://www.geotab.com/blog/crowdsourcing-tools/

40

HOW HAVE MAPS

as much influence over regular citizens as the leaders of colonisation.

REFLECTED THE

The race to conquer new lands and rapidly expand empires gave rise to maps that were created to marginalise other rival empires with territory in areas of colonial interest, such as North America, which experienced multiple empires establishing settlements and having conflict with one another over territorial boundaries. Such empires mostly involved the Spanish, French and British nations. Because these empires rivalled one another, the maps each produced to depict their perception of territory in the new world were subject to favouritism towards their own claimed lands, to assert imperial dominance over other empires. For example, In the context of the Seven Years War (fought between the British and the French over territorial disputes in North America), the British commissioned John Mitchell to create a map of British and French provinces in N. America. Mitchell, being pro-Britain, produced a map which reinforced British claims of territory within America, despite the lack of conclusive boundaries of each empire’s new settlements. The bias within cartographic records of new territory alludes to the competition relating to colonial territory between sovereign nations.

IMPERALIST NATURE OF EUROPE DURING THE AGE OF EXPLORATION? Olivia Jin (OHS) Maps are not a politically neutral representation of the world. In fact, maps are a useful resource for historical analysis because of their partial nature; the cultural, social and political connotations of many cartographic items in history have been largely influenced by their creators, much like any other historical source. A particular period of history where the usage of maps suddenly gained importance was the age of exploration, or the era of old imperialism, when they were primarily created for geographically locating newly founded settlements and tracking emerging trade routes for their founders to exploit – who were largely European countries at the time, a famous example being the Portuguese led by explorer Christopher Columbus.

The era of old imperialism lasted from the 16th to early 19th century and is also informally referred to as the Age of Exploration. Maps have been a pivotal influence on imperialism, which was particularly strong during this period, as reflected by the sudden increase in colonialist activity amongst European powers. The spatial representation of newly explored areas recorded by their founders gives an insight into the imperialist nature of much of Western European society, where countries invested in foreign exploration were highly motivated by the notion of ‘Glory, God and Gold,’ and a need to have superiority over other countries.

Colonial maps clearly outlined the capitalist and hence imperialist might of European colonists. The trade routes established by colonial powers, i.e. Britain, could only be fully navigated and utilised by traders if they were properly mapped out, hence successful trade relied on cartography. In the ages of both old and new Imperialism, the colonisation of other countries was largely to facilitate trade and provide capitalist gains or advantages for colonial powers, hence mapmaking was highly motivated by imperial benefit.

Cartographers of the time were commissioned

by European colonisers, who had vested interest in controlling the land, people and resources of newly discovered countries. Once a settlement was established, maps giving greater detail of the area tended to partition areas which previously had not been divided with formal barriers, nevertheless one indicated by a line on paper. This was particularly prevalent in cartographic representations of African colonies and India during the later eras of imperialism, where mapmakers detailed areas of likely colonisation and settlement. The evolution of British maps of India from the 17th to 18th centuries illustrates changes in colonialist motivation, from trade and commerce to greater political control and governance over foreign land. Maps of India during the 17th century largely focused on coastlines and internal rivers, which emphasises the initial traderelated motivations of British settlers. However, as the British gradually claimed areas of Indian territory in the 18th century, maps shifted to depict political and geographical regions of the internal land in greater detail, necessary for further developing the settlement

Mapmaking became a powerful tool to stake out sovereignty and legitimise power, providing further motivation for countries to conquer new territories, and reinforcing the imperialist mindset that led to foreign conquest. Cartography was particularly influential in the early colonial period, where many discovered territories were unfamiliar, thus mapping these lands granted feasibility to imperial conquest. In particular, the imperialist mindset that had gripped European countries could be partly contributed by the boom of mapmaking and type printing that had been invented in the late 15th century. Maps were produced rapidly and on a larger scale, thus information was made more readily accessible and consequently, maps were not only distributed among the elite, but to a much broader audience, and thus news of newly conquered lands quickly spread across Europe. Maps were used not only by officers stationed abroad, but also domestically, and were consumed for decorative, scholarly or political purposes, shaping the internal view of a country’s empire in relation to a rival empire, and hence had just 41

in future. The attempts of domination and control over native people are typically imperialist, dominating the country in order to colonise new lands for imperial benefit, and demonstrate the political and capitalist motivations settlers had increasingly acquired. Thus, the developments in cartographic representations of colonised land clearly reflect the progressively imperialistic goals European settlers had adopted.

The colonial maps of the imperial past, not only limited to Europe, can be seen as a pretext to the politics surrounding the consequences of globalisation today, which had first emerged after Columbus discovered the new world. Thereafter maps quickly became mechanisms of political propaganda used by Sovereign states to sustain their power and eminence. In relation to the present, current topical border and territorial disputes mirror the past conflict between major empires that had erupted over borderlines drawn on a map. The imperialism that had shaped cartographic artefacts in the age of exploration may have established a basis for border conflict today; these could be seen as fuelled by imperialist beliefs that were encouraged by borders created on a map, serving as a symbol of superiority and hailing back to Europe’s imperial past.

Bibliography Schmidt, B. (1997). Mapping an Empire: Cartographic and Colonial Rivalry in Seventeenth Century Dutch and English North America. The William and Mary Quarterly, 54(3), 549-578.

Craib, R. (2000). Cartography and Power in the Conquest and Creation of New Spain. Latin American Research Review, 35(1), 7-36.

Stone, J. (1988). Imperialism, Colonialism and Cartography. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 13(1), 57-64.

Gokmen, G., Vermeulen, W.N. & Vézina, P. The imperial roots of global trade. J Econ Growth 25, 87–145 (2020).

Biggs, M. (1999). Putting the State on the Map: Cartography, Territory, and European State Formation.

Comparative Studies in Society and History, 41(2), 374-405. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/spais/ migrated/documents/fotiadis0609.pdf https://dcc.newberry.org/collections/maps-and-thebeginnings-of-colonial-north-america https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/ postcolonialstudies/2014/06/21/maps-in-colonialism/

42

SOMATOTOPIC MAPS:

organisation to the others, confirming the presence of such ‘mapping’ from a new-born and even prenatal stage.

Maps of the body Rebecca Im (OHS) ‘The brain is the citadel of the senses; this guides the principle of thought.’

– Pliny the Elder

(Each pair of egg-shaped regions represents data from one monkey. Red - head, green - hands, blue - feet)

The brain is arguably the most central organ of the human body. It is the one with the most complexity, functioning as a network between a hundred billion neurons which form ever-changing connections at synapses.1 These neurons transport electrical impulses that allow vital communication and coordination with other cells of the body.2

https://www.pnas.org/content/116/49/24861 However, this same study also showed some sections of the somatosensory cortex were less responsive in the new-born macaque relative to the older ones. For instance, the finer-scale differentiation of body parts (eg. Individual fingers) increased with the age of the macaque. We could thereby conclude that while a somatotopic scaffold is present from birth, the map is refined postnatally through experience-driven modifications (during early development).

Neurons in the somatosensory cortex (part of the brain that receives and processes sensory information from the entire body3) are organised correspondingly with the location of touch receptors on the skin surface, preserving neighbourhood relations. For instance, sensory neurons which receive impulses from the feet are located adjacently to the sensory neurons which receive impulses from the legs.4 This internal presentation of the body is the somatotopic map5: a fundamental feature for precise motor control and spatial awareness.6

Whether the development mainly occurs prenatally or postnatally, both aspects are equally important in ensuring final motor and somatosensory function.

The prenatal process of producing a ‘scaffold’ of the somatotopic map is driven by genetic factors, as well as feedback from spontaneously generated neural activity. Deprivation of such stimulation can lead to permanent alteration of any somatotopic organization and function8, which could explain why prenatal birth notably increases the risk of developing motor and somatosensory dysfunction.

Somatotopic maps are not simply linear transformations of the body surface; specific body parts are mapped at different scales. The scale at which distinct body parts are mapped depends on their sensory importance – which is also directly reflected by the density of their surface receptors on the skin.

Therefore, the section of the somatosensory cortex receiving information from the fingers will be greater than the section receiving impulses from the back.

This dysfunction in somatotopic arrangement can also appear in stroke patients. For instance, a 54-year-old patient who suffered a stroke in the right side of their body was left with severe distortion of their somatotopic sensory maps9. After the patient was tested with detailed tactile input on their left hand, they displayed incorrect localisation of the point of the stimuli. Further future in-depth study of stroke patients’ somatotopic maps in the affected area may help to reveal the true reasons for their various functional deficits.

Currently, it is unknown when, specifically, the mammalian brain creates this organisation. The opposing groups of thoughts are either prenatal or postnatal development.

One animal study7 showed evidence that these ‘maps’ may appear from birth and therefore could be genetically hardwired. Functional MRIs were used to indicate neural responses to the tactile stimulation of different body parts (the face, hands and feet) of nine macaques. The ages of these animals ranged from newborn (11 days) to juvenile (961 days).

Interestingly, the somatotopic layout does not restrict brain remapping.10 For instance, following a hand amputation, the brain region that had usually received information from the hand will adapt to process information from other body parts. It was previously assumed that this deprived region would only process information from body parts that had neighboured the hand. However, it has been proved that proximity between brain regions does not limit brain remapping.

This is due to native brain regions of these body parts already have varying levels of overlap with the brain region of the hand.

The results showed that, regardless of the macaque’s age, their large-scale body maps were all indistinguishable from each other – activity detected in the somatosensory cortex corresponded with the location of the body part stimulated. It is important to emphasise that M1 (below), at just eleven days old, displayed an identical large-scale somatotopic 43

It is that idea that, in any scenario our brain will adapt to the changes and form new pathways and connections, that stays true to the theme of ‘maps’.

Phillips, H (2006) Introduction: The Human Brain https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9969introduction-the-human-brain/ 1

Newman, T (2017) All you need to know about neurons https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/ articles/320289#In-a-nutshell 2

Penfield, W., and Rasmussen, T. (1950) The Cerebral Cortex of Man: A Clinical Study of Localization of Function. New York: Macmillan 3

Neuroskeptic (2019) Innateness of Body Maps https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/innatenessof-body-maps 4

Wilson. S., and Moore, C. (2015) S1 somatotopic maps http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/S1_somatotopic_ maps 5

Dall’Orso, S., Steinweg, J., Allievi, A. G., Edwards, A. D., Burdet, E., & Arichi, T. (2018). Somatotopic Mapping of the Developing Sensorimotor Cortex in the Preterm Human Brain. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 28(7), 2507–2515. https://doi. org/10.1093/cercor/bhy050 6

Acracro, M,. Schade, P,. Livingstone,. M (2019) Body map proto-organization in newborn macaques Pittsburgh, Pa: PNAS https://www.pnas.org/ content/116/49/24861 7

Larroque B, Ancel PY, Marret S, Marchand L, André M, Arnaud C, Pierrat V, Rozé JC, Messer J, Thiriez G, Burguet A, Picaud JC, Bréart G, Kaminski M; (2008) EPIPAGE Study group. Neurodevelopmental disabilities and special care of 5-year-old children born before 33 weeks of gestation (the EPIPAGE study): a longitudinal cohort study. Lancet.

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Birznieks, I., Logina, I., & Wasner, G. (2012).

Somatotopic mismatch following stroke: a pathophysiological condition escaping detection. BMJ case reports https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC4543302/ 9

Hahamy, A,. and Makin, T (2019) Remapping in Cebrebral and Cerebella Cortices Is Not Restricted by Somatotopy J Neurosci . https://www.jneurosci.org/ content/39/47/9328#ref-53 10

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HOW DOES

with incredibly poor facilities. This results in very low quality of life for the refugees, sometimes endangering their lives. For example, in Italy, during the first half of January two young men had already lost their lives while detained, it was assumed that both deaths were caused by violence inside the centre, by guards rather than other detainees. Detention centres, as with all places of mass incarceration, are riddled with power imbalance and violence; and the Border-Criminologies organisation aims to help tell the stories of detainees, and aid human rights defenders by using this map and their other resources.

COUNTERMAPPING REVEAL AND CHALLENGE POWER INEQUALITIES? Ella Bosworth-Gerbino (OHS) In Year 9, school children across the country in the UK learn how to read maps, and how to plot their way across fields of cows, as part of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme. In many other parts of the world, those less fortunate follow quite different maps, designed by human smugglers, to avoid interception by border guards, as they search for sanctuary.

Another example of online countermapping is Queering the Map, a collaborative platform designed to record important queer experiences and where they happened. It was created and launched in 2017

by Lucas LaRochelle, with the intent of bringing the ‘queer internet culture’ to those that perhaps do not have access to it in real life, because of lack of safety or comfort. Another one of LaRochelle’s goals was to ‘contribute to discourses that think of queer space beyond places of consumption like bars, nightclubs, bookstores, bathhouses’ and dispel the harmful oversexualisation of homosexuality.

In these examples, we can see the wide variety of practices that can be considered as maps. We also glimpse the range of purposes these charts may hold.

For some, they help with building a cv, and with acquiring those ever important UCAS points. For others, they are a matter of life and death. This essay will explore how maps suggest that places are distinct, and how they emphasise the importance of territory and borders; but how countermapping can erase these lines and focus the user’s gaze onto something that is perhaps more interesting. I will look at two examples of online countermapping and how they show power and the imbalances it causes.

It shows stories from queer individuals all over the world; they range from tales of heartbreak to discovery, and are all incredibly touching. When looking at the entries, they mostly correlate with population density, big cities are particularly overcrowded with pins, and the rural areas less so. However, it is clear that the countries with stricter marriage and sexuality laws have much fewer entries, many of them being simply songs of praise and sympathy for those who live there but do not have the right to be themselves. For example, in Russia an entry reads “I think I’m bisexual. I also live in a Muslim family and I really love my parents but they will never accept me”, and surrounding it are messages from other queer Muslims, promising good things for the future. While these messages are positive, it does not detract from the obvious power imbalances in those countries.

Countermapping is the use of maps to show injustice, often in opposition to borders created by colonialism, or other power inequalities. However, it can also be used simply to point out irregularities in travel patterns or population density.

Maps are usually used for convenience, to plot a journey, to answer a question on capital cities; but when combined with countermapping they can become a useful tool for researchers. For example, Landscapes of Border Control maps a total of 23 border control practices and detention centres across the world.

Created by a group of academics at Oxford University, it’s intention is to expose the inhumane, and often hidden, practices that every country uses to suppress migrants and refugees. At the moment, Europe has the highest number of sites plotted (18), but the research is ongoing, and has been focused on Italy and Greece, so it is difficult to draw a conclusion. For instance, England has seven detention centres and only one is listed.

However, it does offer an insight into the path of the journey that many refugees take. When coming from the Middle East of North Africa, the first stop many migrants make is in Greece, which leads to the large number of centres built to house them. As with many countries, Greece has a very inhumane way of dealing with the influx of refugees; instead of supporting their integration, the state locks them up in detention centres

Both of the examples above were created with the intent of helping others. Of course countermapping can simply be used for scientific purposes, but when combined with social reform, it becomes something far more impressive. In Landscapes of Border Control, the countermapping shows how governments have reacted to granting refugees their basic human rights (denied them). And with Queering the Map it shows how queer people rely on each other, and tend to gather in large cities, as they are often more accepting.

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Bibliography Cobarrubias, S 2010, ‘Countermapping’, in Warf, B (ed.), Encyclopedia of geography, SAGE Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 596, viewed 12 November 2020, doi: 10.4135/9781412939591.n227.

Dorothy Kidd (2019) Extra-activism: countermapping and data justice, Information, Communication & Society, 22:7, 954-970, DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2019.1581243 O’Dwyer, L., Countermapping: cartography that lets the powerless speak, [online]. Available from https:// www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2018/mar/06/ counter-mapping-cartography-that-lets-the-powerlessspeak [Accessed November 9 2020] BorderCrim, 2020, The Landscapes of Border Control: Mapping border control and resistance, [online].

Available from https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/researchsubject-groups/centre-criminology/centrebordercriminologies/blog/2020/01/landscapes-border, [Accessed November 14 2020].

“Queering The Map.” Queering The Map, 2020, https://queeringthemap.com/.

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THE HUMAN

compared to human powered boats such as canoes, making a journey across the world more feasible.

Finally, although the three boats that Columbus used were relatively small at only 15 to 21m in length they were very speedy and manoeuvrable. They could also carry 40-50 tonnes of cargo therefore longer journeys could be made as sufficient food to sustain the crew for the return journey could be carried. This highlights the importance of having a good transport system in the development of maps.

DEVELOPMENTS WHICH HAVE INFLUENCED MAPPING THE MOST SIGNIFICANTLY Abigail Turner (OHS) The first recorded map dates back to around 600B.C in Babylonian times. This map was written in cuneiform script on a clay tablet. Cuneiform was a common script, characterized by its wedge shape impressions.

The map depicts Babylon in the centre of the map surrounded by a circular ocean. Although some places, such as Assyria, are explicitly named on the map, there are eight triangles circling the exterior edge of the tablet represent islands which the Babylonians believed contained mythical beasts. This Babylonian map is hugely different to modern day maps. For example, each map would have taken months to create and each ‘copy’ would be unique, therefore compromising the accuracy. Additionally, the necessary tools that are needed for a precise map would not have been available at the time. As a result, this map shows the extent to which maps have significantly improved by the development of technology over the years.

Another development that significantly influenced mapping was the development of accurate measuring tools. One of the most important of these is the sextant. This measures the angle between two objects allowing the navigator to find where they are by precise measurement. This is essential in mapping so that an undistorted map of an area can be produced. For the same reason, the development of the compass in 10001200A.D. was also a major event in the improvement of maps. In recent years, real time maps of the world can be created in seconds as a result of the instrumental role played by imaging satellites. Imaging satellites orbit the earth and take photographs before sending them back to earth where they can provide the data needed for mapping. Not all these maps are traditional, maps showing precipitation and weather can also be created.

In this way, severe storms can be predicted allowing people time to prepare and evacuate before storms hit. This highlights how satellites have revolutionised the way that maps are produced and have helped save countless lives.

One of the key developments that had to occur before people were able to start mapping on a larger scale was the development of reliable and fast methods of transport. This allowed people to travel further afield and to record what they saw in the form of a map.

Perhaps the most significant form of transport was the development of the boat. Boats allowed people to travel across the oceans to unexplored countries and continents. Although the first boat recorded was the Pesse Dugout Canoe from the early Mesolithic Period around 8000B.C. However, this canoe as only 3m long and so would not have supported a long journey as few supplies would have fitted in. When Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain in 1492 he took three boats and 90 men, people believe that he would have used a 2m long map of the world created by Henricus Martellus in 1491. This map was hand-painted and glued to a canvas backing. However, one big flaw in Martellus’ map was that America was not marked.

Although, both Africa and Europe were shown on the map, they were not very accurate representations of the continents. As a result, when Columbus reached the Caribbean, he thought that he had reached Japan due to the distortion of Martellus’ map. It was not until Columbus’s journey in ships and first-hand discovery of America that Martin Waldseemuller produced a map of the world in 1507, that included America as a continent. This shows that ships were essential in creating maps that are similar to ones that we know today. Furthermore, the development of larger ships powered by sail decreased the journey time significantly

Finally, the methods of distribution over the years have influenced mapping. Before the process of lithography was invented in 1798, whereby the non-image areas of a flat surface are treated to repel ink and the image areas are treated so that the ink sticks. This allowed maps to be reproduced quickly, accurately and inexpensively. Before this, maps had to be engraved on copper plates in reverse before being printed using hand presses. This process took a very long time, and so prior to 1798, it was much less common to own a map as they were so expensive due to the time they took to produce. However, before hand presses were invented, each map had to be individually painted or carved, as a result maps were reserved for very rich people only.

In the last few decades with the development of smart phones and computers, maps are available online with many in-built onto devices. As a result, at least 45.4% of the world’s population is able to access a constantly updating online map at any time and can use GPS to map their location. This provides a whole host of benefits, for example, people are less likely to get lost as they are able to pinpoint their location directly onto the map. Additionally, the technology provides a very affordable way of distributing maps as paper and ink are not required. In this way, the creation of inexpensive maps as a result of technological advances by humans has revolutionised the distribution of maps.

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To conclude, the development of mapping is still improving as technological advances continue. For example, in 2019, Google released an augmented reality (AR) option on maps on their brand of phones.

This software allows users to choose a route. If they are unsure of the turning that they should take, they can simply point their phone at the area around them.

Arrows and directions will be shown on their phone screen, layered on top of the real-world view that the phone is able to see using the phone camera. This is designed to ensure that people map reading skills do not get lost, improving the accessibility of maps.

caravels> [accessed 31st October 2020] Clipperlight.com. (n.d.). How the sextent works. <https://www.clipperlight.com/howusesextant.html> [accessed 31st October 2020] Nova Online. (2002). How a sextent works. <https:// www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/shackleton/navigate/ escapeworks.html> [accessed 31st October 2020] Science Direct. (n.d.). Satellite Mapping. <https:// www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetarysciences/satellite-mapping> [accessed 31st October 2020] National Geographic. (n.d.). Compass. <https://www. nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/compass/> [accessed 31st October 2020]

Bibliography Andrews, E. (2018). 8 Remarkable Early Maps. <https://www.history.com/news/8-remarkable-earlymaps> [accessed 31st October 2020]

Library of Congress. (n.d.). Mapmaking and Printing. <https://www.loc.gov/collections/railroad-maps1828-to-1900/articles-and-essays/history-of-railroadsand-maps/mapmaking-and-printing/> [accessed 31st October 2020]

Norman, J.M. (n.d.). The Babylonian Map of the World, the Oldest Usable Map. <https://www. historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=4057> [accessed 31st October 2020]

Oberlo (n.d.). How many people have smartphones in 2020? < https://www.oberlo.co.uk/statistics/ how-many-people-have-smartphones> [accessed 31st October 2020]

Khan Academy (n.d.). Cuneiform. <https://www. khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/ ancient-near-east1/the-ancient-near-east-anintroduction/a/cuneiform> [accessed 31st October 2020] Monterey Boats (2016). The Very First Boat. <https:// www.montereyboats.com/The-Very-First-Boat-1-655. html> [accessed 31st October 2020] Vaucher, J. (2014). Prehistoric Craft. <http://www.iro. umontreal.ca/~vaucher/History/Prehistoric_Craft/> [accessed 31st October 2020] British Library. (n.d.). World map by Henricus Martellus. <https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/worldmap-by-henricus-martellus> [accessed 31st October 2020] National Geographic. (n.d.). Aug 3, 1492 CE: Columbus Sets Sail. <https://www.nationalgeographic. org/thisday/aug3/columbus-sets-sail/> [accessed 31st October 2020] Singh, I. (2020). Which map did Christopher Columbus use? <https://www.geoawesomeness.com/which-mapcolumbus-use/> [accessed 31st October 2020] Harvey, I. (2018). Columbus’ Distorted Map of the World he used to Mistakenly Identify his Discoveries. <https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/09/10/ columbus-map/> [accessed 31st October 2020] Miller, G. (2018). A 500-year-old map used by Columbus reveals its secrets. <https://www. nationalgeographic.com/culture/2018/10/columbusmap-discovery-secrets-new-world/> [accessed 31st October 2020] Roos, D. (2019). The Ships of Christopher Columbus Were Sleek, Fast—and Cramped. <https://www. history.com/news/christopher-columbus-ships-

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A LINE IN THE SAND -

demographic, socio-cultural and religious aspects were deemed irrelevant. Several Arab tribes, though nomadic, found themselves separated and dispersed into different states. Diplomats seemed ignorant of the competing traditions in the Islamic world – for instance, by a stroke of a pencil they reduced the Sunni majority in Syria, and gave the Sunni minority power over the Shiite majority in Iraq. Ever since, this region has been shaken by revolts, coups, and uprisings that have continued to this day. No account was taken of the Kurds, who found themselves abandoned on both sides of the line. The promise of an Arab state in Greater Syria was broken. Later agreements, like the B ​ alfour Declaration promising a homeland for the Jews in Palestine, also rode roughshod over Arab sensitivities.

THE MAP THAT DEFINED THE MIDDLE EAST Georgia Jackson Jessel (OHS) Just as history is written by victors regardless of truth, maps are drawn by those in control, and as such are not a neutral representation of the world. Such maps are convenient at the time, but are capable of storing up centuries of strife. This is story of a map that changed the world just over 100 years ago, but whose consequences would lead to 9/11, ISIS, the Palestinian conflict, and even the current Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Sykes-Picot agreement was almost literally a line in the sand; while today’s borders don’t exactly resemble those of 1916, the Sykes-Picot map has been proven as the root cause of much that has happened since.

History has a way of unpicking the work of mapmakers; all of these simmering resentments erupted into conflicts which shook the region. Authority has collapsed across the region to this day, as its inhabitants are reaching for their older identities of Shiite, Sunni, and Kurd. Sectarian groups (often Islamist), have spilled over the boarders and spread violence. Arab states like Iran and Iraq became assertively nationalist and militarist – none of them functioning democracies.

They needed to control their divided populations, and they had the money and international support to do so, with the discovery of massive amounts of oil, and the world’s new dependence on it. Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Palestine – this catalogue of war and disaster is the legacy of that convenient line in the sand.

Mark Sykes and Francois-George Picot were two diplomats representing Britain and France respectively, sent by their governments to agree to the postwar division of much of the Middle East. The Sykes-Picot agreement in 1915-16 was a secret treaty primarily between the British and the French to carve up the remains of the Ottoman Empire, which the Great Powers assumed would finally collapse with an Allied victory. The Empire sprawled over much of the Arab world – modern day Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, and Turkey. The indigenous Arabs had been encouraged by the Great Powers to rise up against the Ottomans, with the reassurance that as a reward they would get their own Arab state out of the ruins of Ottoman power.

Even today, ISIS justifies its atrocities with reference to Sykes-Picot. In June 2014, ISIL removed border posts between Syria and Iraq, as part of the group’s plan to restore the Islamic Caliphate on the ruins of the SykesPicot border. In July 2014, ISIL’s former leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, made a speech at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul, vowing that “this blessed advance will not stop until we hit the last nail in the coffin of the Sykes–Picot conspiracy”.

The line was written in chinagraph, and was almost entirely straight; the agreement gave Britain control of what is today southern Israel and Palestine, Jordan and southern Iraq, while France was to control southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

The new map of the Middle East was itself based on a map, one sprawled out on a table at 10 Downing Street.

Sykes looked at it and said “I should like to draw a line from the ‘e’ in Acre to the last ‘k’ in Kirkuk”. Thus, the way a cartographer’s printer had arranged some place names on a map shaped the destiny of millions of people in the decades to come.

Maps were created to give order to the world. This becomes clear when the abundance of suspiciously straight lines appear in man-made states. Whilst Europe’s borders are extremely convoluted, often following contours designated by geography, language, ethnicity, culture or religion, Africa is full of artificially straight divides – the colonialists splitting up the spoils between themselves along arbitrary parallels, regardless of local loyalties and tribal traditions. The frontier between Papua and Papua New Guinea, home to the most varied and historic tribal societies in the world, follows the 141st meridian east in a straight line, cutting across the Oenake Range, the Kohari Hills, the Bewani and Border Mountains, and the Central Highlands.

The Dutch, German, and British colonists were utterly apathetic of habitat and culture. In the United States, Wyoming and Colorado are perfect squares – perfect for administrative convenience, less than perfect for the native American tribes who suddenly had to live

Map-makers like to make the world tidy. But, as so often, this desire for orderliness utterly disregarded the realities on the ground which it was dividing. Two diplomats randomly split the map of one of the most fraught regions in the world into states that completely divided ethnic and religious communities. The Middle East was divided by artificial borders, ones with no regard for ethnic or sectarian characteristics, and have caused endless conflict. The division into zones of influence did not take into account the local peoples; 49

in a map-maker’s box. Maps have even added a new dimension to wars - was there really any good reason in Korea for the UN to fight on until they reached the 38th parallel? How much extra blood was shed in order to reach that arbitrary line?

Al Jazeera. A ​ century on: Why Arabs resent SykesPicot.​https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2016/s ykes-picot-100-years-middle-east-map/index.html​ Encyclopedia Britannica. New Guinea | History & Facts. ​https://www.britannica.com/place/New-Guinea

Maps provide the blueprints of exclusion, a vital part of a world designed to make 80 million refugees homeless - for the crime of living on the wrong side of a line.

They legitimise the caging of children, separated from their families, on the Mexico border; from maps grow fences of barbed wire, and unforgiving concrete walls.

Those who build them can claim, with reason, that their cruelty has legal authority based on the thin black line on a piece of paper.

Long, C. (2019). ​Human Rights Watch. Written Testimony: “Kids in Cages: Inhumane Treatment at the Border” ​July 11, 2019. W ​ ritten Testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

Maps do not make the world simpler. Disguised as an innocent traveller’s aid, they are instead one of the most ancient geopolitical forms of power, a tool to (unjustly) claim sovereignty and to ‘legitimise’ power; cartographers give authority, definition, and permanence to acts of conquest or colonialism. In a simpler world, we’d look out of the aeroplane window to see where we were, looking at the Rhine or the Limpopo, the Andes or the Alps to give us our sense of place. But we do not live in a simple world, and some of that has got a lot to do with maps.

Maps? Maybe it’s time to wonder if we really would be lost without them.

Bibliography Photograph: Awan, A. (2016). ​Architects of Failure: 100 years of Sykes-Picot | History Today. https://www. historytoday.com/architects-failure-100-y ears-sykespicot​ Yapp, E.M. and Shaw, S.J. (2018). O ​ ttoman Empire | Facts, History, & Map. In: Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Ottoman-Empire​ Mason, P. (2016)​. www.newstatesman.com. ​Paul Mason on Sykes-Picot: how an arbitrary set of borders created the modern Middle East. https://www.newstatesman. com/world/middle-east/201 6/05/paul-mason-sykespicot-how-arbitrary-set-border s-created-modernmiddle Wright, R. (2017). H ​ ow the Curse of Sykes-Picot Still Haunts the Middle East. The New Yorker. https:// www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-the-curseof-sykes-picot-still-haunts-the-middle-east​ El Bakri, A. (2018). R ​ evolutions and Rebellions: Arab Revolt (Ottoman Empire/Middle East) | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)​. https:// encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/revol utions_and_rebellions_arab_revolt_ottoman_empiremi ddle_east​ Ibrahim, S.E. ​Islam and prospects for democracy in the Middle East. Center for Strategic and International Studies.

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