Tariq
Hassan
Professor
Blanka Roundtree
Art 211
10 Oct.
2016
21st Century Technology
Geographic Information Systems or GIS is a form of technology that is all
around, originally created out of the military, GIS is a combination of taking
data and overlaying it with maps. The
most common use of GIS is in most people’s smart phones, ranging from Google
Maps, to Yelp, where information is overlaid on a traditional map. This paper will explore the history of GIS
and look at its potential future as it becomes more widespread in everyday
use.
GIS has
multiple points of technological origination that cumulate in the product that
people use and see today. Initially,
global positioning systems were developed by the military and then utilized by
specialized businesses to help pinpoint the location of individuals using satellites,
tracking stations, and a receiver (Rubenstein 8). Eventually, GPS became used on a personal
level in some car systems and was incorporated into today’s cell phones. The knowledge of GPS, determining where
people are precisely, allowed for a confluence of overlaying this information
on a map, which is a starting point of GIS.
A GIS is a database that stores information, but then it allows for the
query of data, often based on GPS, that overlays information onto the base map
(Rubenstein 9). However, the information
that is stored in GIS databases have its origins pre-GPS and the computer age.
Dr. John
Snow, not to be confused with a Game of Thrones protagonist, was a London
doctor in the 1850’s. Dr. Snow’s claim
to fame was the recognition of the Broad Street pump as the source of a cholera
outbreak in the SoHo district of London (Johnson 3). Dr. Snow’s discovery was the result of a
combination of technologies of his day. Dr.
Farr, a separate doctor in the mid-1800’s and in London, had begun the process
of collecting and reporting mortality statics for London (Johnson 140). Although this information gathering may not
seem to be too technologically advanced, it is important to recognize that
technology can be in the form of ideas and processes, which is what Dr. Farr’s
behavior would fall under. Due to Dr.
Farr beginning the process of collecting data on mortality, Dr. John Snow could
recognize that there was an outbreak that was isolate to the SoHo district of
the city and began to investigate. The
contribution that Dr. Snow then makes is something called “The Ghost Map” (Johnson
33). Although it seems rudimentary now,
Dr. Snow’s map was revolutionary in that he charted the number of deaths at
each address in the SoHo district, using Dr. Farr’s data, and a base map of the
area. Dr. Snow had created the first GIS
system in his idea to overlay data on a map.
The result was Dr. Snow’s ability to recognize the geographic
distribution of deaths clustered around the Broad Street Pump, allowing for the
removal of the pump handle.
Dr. Snow’s
advancement of overlaying data not only relied on Dr. Farr’s data, but it also
relied on a map, one of the earliest inventions in the history of mankind. Maps themselves have a unique history and multiple
re-iterations. As recently as 2013 Simon
Garfield authored a best-seller of over 400 pages simply discussing the origin
of a couple of maps, identifying that maps themselves were the result of
advancements in mathematics, astronomy, and exploration. Maps also contain and have helped influence
how society views the world, incorporating not only mathematical elements, but
elements reflecting an interpretation of the world through religion or dominate
cultures (Garfield 44). Even the base of
a modern technology like GIS has its roots in the earliest functions of
civilization.
Understanding
that maps are fundamental to how humans interact with the world drives home the
reality that GIS, today’s modern map, will continue evolving in the
future. Overlaying data on maps gives
individuals a sense of what is around a person, but moving forward in the
future, it has the possibility to data dump large amounts of information on a
person in a readily accessible way.
Right now, information and GIS functions tend to be in a silo, but in
the future, it may be possible to turn on one’s Google Maps and see a ten-year
history of property values, crimes, or car accidents based on a few settings on
one’s phone. It also has significant ramifications
for virtual reality, as the overlay of information becomes so extensive persons
may find that they can take a virtual tour in greater detail, than they can
now, placing themselves in the stands of a sporting event, or jogging with a
friend based on the capabilities of their device.
Works Cited
Garfield, Simon. On the
Map: A Mind-expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks. New
York,
NY: Gotham, 2013. Print.
Johnson, Steven. The
Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic--and How It
Changed
Science, Cities, and the Modern World. New York: Riverhead, 2006. Print.
Rubenstein, James. The
Cultural Landscape An Introduction to Human Geography, Books a La
Carte
Edition. Boston:
Pearson College Div, 2015. Print.
