NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/comp/graphics/visualiz/2054

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From: [e-mail] (Eugene N. Miya)
Subject: Book Review: Cartographic Relief Presentation by Eduard Imhof
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Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 01:30:46 GMT
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First of two reviews w.r.t "scientific visualization."

Cartographic Relief Presentation
Eduard Imhof
1982
If you intend to purchase this book, get publisher data from Books-in-Print.
$145.00    <- not cheap


Years before the term "scientific visualization" became a fad,
scientists have used visual imagery for centuries.  Many years ago, I
made the acquaintance of William Burke of the UCSC Physics Dept.
I did not realize what was happening in his academic life at the time,
but that is now documented in Gleick's book on Chaos.  To me, he and
his then wife Pat, were climbing and skiing partners to break trail in
knee deep snow.  It the years that followed, I learned that any time
Bill gave advice or recommendations, I knew I could trust and appreciate
it 100%, and likewise he has taken my advice (however slower: physicists
in Bill's own words are "Set in their ways"): it could be a Chinese
restaurant [he knows the best], climbing routes, mountain biking, you
name it, or books.  Walk off a cliff?  With Bill?  Sure.  When do we go?

Bill's interest in optics and lasers and cosmology might seem far afield from
cartography and making maps, but it seemed perfectly natural to me when
he recommended Imhof's book.  It was with the greatest respect that
I went and located this book.

Maps, are without question, the most information dense images in our culture:
beyond any photo, painting or drawing.  And in many ways I do regret not
going down that path of remote sensing, but other things called.
Serious students of scientific rendering/analytic graphics should own
or have quick access to this book.  Pure programmers might not appreciate
this book, computers make only a small portion.  The book might be
a little subtle for them.  The important thing is to be able to generalize
the information of this book beyond cartography and geodesy.
This book is at once awesome in the scope it commands and very subtle.

This book is not a coffee table book.
One of the most expensive (but worth it) books I have ever purchased.

The author makes maps for the Swiss army.
And is an author noted for other works which I will not cover.
If you see this book for just the maps, at just the surface level, you
will not see the power of this book.  The author discusses the power of
the generalization.

A map taxonomy begins with
Basiskarten -- the source maps
Folgekarten -- derived maps
Aufnahmekarten -- basic maps
Originalkarten -- original maps

If you are a scientist who distains the music at visualization meetings,
the glitz, the artistes'  who hang around, this book is something for you
to consider.  All of the interface issues of the graphics are covered here,
for instance Imhof writes:

Chap. 16 page 359.
7. On art in cartography

 The means of cartographical expression are subject to the same experiences
and visual aesthetic rules as every other type of graphic product.  *Art*
however, is the highest level attainable in graphical work.  Thus, a good map
cannot lack an artistic touch.
  There has already been much debate and writing on the question of whether
cartography has anything to do with art and if so, how much.  We must try to
remain in the clear on this topic and avoid exaggeration and cliche.  Certainly
it is not a function of cartography to create art in the higher sense of the
word: the cartographer has scarcely the opportunity of doing so.  Art
presupposed the widest ranging freedom of form and structure, whereas
cartographers are confined to the smallest details by topographical survey,
statistical figures, by standardization of symbolism and color, and by what
is essentially a non-artistic purpose.  On the other hand, however, the
following facts are clearly established; we demand of it a balanced
expression which emphasizes the significant and subdues the insignificant;
and we demand a well balance, harmonious interplay of all elements contained.
It is in accordance with practical experience, however, which the author has
personally observed over many decades, that in cartographic affairs, as in
all graphic work, the greatest clarity, the greatest power of expression,
balance and simplicity are concurrent with beauty.  To create beauty, a
purely technical, practical arrangement of things is not sufficient.  Beauty
is, to a large extent, irrational.  Artistic talent, aesthetic sensitivity,
sense of proportion, of harmony, of form and color, and of graphical
interplay are indispensible to the creation of a beautiful map and thus to a
clear expressive map.


Here are other excellent quotes contained in Imhof.

 *Judgment as to whether the land form in a map are natural or unnatural,
requires, of course, a good talent for observation, much experience of nature
and an adequate knowledge of geomorphology.  These conditions are very
critical, since innumerable maps today still show stylized or even impossible
forms.*

Chap. 3 page 42
*He should be able to read maps perfectly.*

page 44
  Drawing demands careful observation.  Observation is the conscious viewing
directed towards certian objects.  "It makes a considerable difference if one
views something *with* a sketching pad in hand than *without* the pen in
hand."  (Paul Valery)

Page 50
5. Some essential differences between the aerial photograph and the map

1. The aerial photograph like any photograph, has a central perspective, the
map has a parallel perspective (apart from grid distortion).

4. Within the limits of photographic resolution capabilities and under
suitable conditions of good lighting, etc. aerial photographs (especially
color) are realistic, instantaneous pictures of the earth's surface,
albeit only its superficial aspects.  However such pictures are often full
of deceptive features and obscuring conditions.
Similar things may frequently appear different.
Important objects may not be visible while incidental or unimportant
things may stand out clearly.
The topographic map, on the other hand, is a generalized image, conditioned
by its scale, by its purpose, by conventions and the artifice of its ...

Chap. 5 The Problem and Its Characteristics page 75

1. Statement of the problem
The general aim in cartographic terrain representation can be stated as
follows:

 The three dimensional surface of the land is to be represented as a
two-dimensional plan, such that the representation should satisfy the
following requirements:

a) The position, form and dimensions of any portion of the surface should be
capable of geometric determination as far as possible.  They should be
measurable or provide for the direct reading of values.

b) The representation should be as clear as possible.  This applies both to
the individual elements of the image and the picture as a whole.

c) The graphic framework should be simple.  In other words it should be
well generalized as far as circumstances permit.  The shape and character of
forms, however, should be retained to the greatest degree possible, despite
generalization.

d) The various image elements should be balanced both graphically and with
respect to content.

e) Graphical production and technical reproduction should be as economical as
possible.

It is by no means easy to satisfy all these requirements.  At the outset, the
photographical image of nature, the vertical aerial photograph, provides an
object for comparison.

7. The map is not only a picture.
   The differences between maps and pictures page 79-80

The map is not only a picture; it is, primarily, a means of *providing
information.*  It has other responsibilities than has painting.  It must show
not only those features which appear in good light, but must also allow all
similar things to appear with the same emphasis wherever they are present.


Chap. 5 page 80
8. The forms and their dimensions should be capable of comprehension and
measurement.  The fiction of the "contour blanket"

  Observation alone cannot accurately determine the spatial location of any
point, line, or area on the ground, or on a model, or (even less easily) on a
flat image.  If a map must serve the purpose to which it was intended, an
additional aid must be introduced, a method of facilitating measurement.
  Measurement is specialized observation, i.e. the comparison of the object
to be measured with a measuring device or a scale.  Human eyes are, in
themselves, not measuring devices.

Chap. 16 page 357.
6. On the nature of cartographic representation

The representation of a human face on a postage stamp is far removed from
the original appearance of the person shown.  The topographic map is just
as poor as imitation of a photographically accurate copy of nature, nor is
it simply the approximate outcome of a direct transformation of the
large-scale map into a smaller-scale map with exactly the same geometrical
qualities.  A purely mechanical transformation would not produce the
required result.  The small-scale map is a new formation, a new creation in
content and purpose.  The topographical map shows more than a photograph.
It is not only a metrically and graphically produced ground plan of the
earth's surface, but should also present a wide variety of information which
could not be picked up from a direct image such as an aerial photograph.
Due to scale restrictions, the cartographer makes a selection, classifies,
standardizes; he undertakes intellectual and graphical simplifications
and combinations; he emphasizes, enlarges, subdues or suppresses visual
phenomena according to their significance to the map.  In short, he
*generalizes, standardizes, and makes selections* and he reorganizes the
many elements which interfere with one another, lie in opposition and overlap,
this *coordinating* the content to clarify the geographical patterns of
the region.  His most important element is the line, the drawn stroke.  As
stated at the outset, lines and dashes do not exist in natural phenomena.
In pictures, however, they are used as practical and indispensable
abstractions.
  For all these reasons, the content and graphical structure of a complex,
demanding map image can never be rendered in a completely automatic way.

Of course you don't have to buy this book.
I gave our people interested in visualization some "advanced time" with
it before posting this.  Now if I could only get that Bongard book for
my library......

--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, [e-mail]
  Associate Editor, Software and Publication Reviews
  Scientific Programming
  {uunet,mailrus,other gateways}!ames!eugene
Seeking Books to buy:    Bongard, Pattern Recognition
            3 down 1 to go.