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Showing posts from March, 2019

The Mapophobic to Mapophilic Transformation

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If you had chanced to look into maps made in medieval times, the dragons, multi-headed serpents and other strange fictional creatures marking the distant and unexplored lands on the edges of maps must have surely scared you. Cartographers of medieval times used the inscription HIC SVNT LEONES (“Here are Lions”) and notation of strange or mythical creatures to invoke the harm that sailors feared to encounter when entering previously uncharted territories. Mathematics has been a bitter pill for many as kids. Nevertheless, geography and maps too have been a phobia to many as well. From spatially locating continents, countries, states, cities on a map to getting the capitals right, it has been a nightmare for many experiencing symptoms from racing hearts, sweating, dizziness, disorientation and panic when looking at maps. MapQuest founded in 1967 as a cartographic services division of R.R. Donnelley & Sons launched online maps, the web services version of present day in 1996. MapQue