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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpg ==Origin== Medieval Latin ''mappa'', from Latin, napkin, towel. Post-classical Latin ''mappa'' is attested from the late 4th cent. as a term used b...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]]
==Origin==
Medieval Latin ''mappa'', from [[Latin]], napkin, towel. Post-classical Latin ''mappa'' is attested from the late 4th cent. as a term used by [[land]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveyor_%28surveying%29 surveyors], though its exact [[interpretation]] is not clear. (The usual word for a surveyor's map in classical Latin and post-classical Latin is ''forma'' .) The [[transition]] in sense from ‘cloth’ to ‘map’ is probably due to the [[fact]] that early maps were sometimes drawn on cloth.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_century 1527]
==Definitions==
*1a : a [[representation]] usually on a flat [[surface]] of the whole or a part of an area
:b : a representation of the [[celestial]] [[sphere]] or a part of it
*2: something that [[represents]] with a [[clarity]] suggestive of a map <the Freudian map of the [[mind]] — Harold Bloom>
*3: the arrangement of [[genes]] on a [[chromosome]] —called also genetic map
==Description==
A '''map''' is a visual [[representation]] of an area—a [[symbolic]] depiction highlighting [[relationships]] between elements of that [[space]] such as objects, regions, and themes.
Many maps are static two-dimensional, geometrically accurate (or approximately accurate) representations of three-dimensional [[space]], while others are [[dynamic]] or interactive, even three-dimensional. Although most commonly used to depict [[geography]], maps may [[represent]] any [[space]], real or imagined, without regard to [[context]] or [[scale]]; e.g. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_mapping brain mapping], [[DNA]] mapping, and [[extraterrestrial]] mapping.
Maps of the world or large areas are often either '[[political]]' or '[[physical]]'. The most important [[purpose]] of the political map is to show territorial borders; the [[purpose]] of the physical is to show features of [[geography]] such as [[mountains]], soil type or land use including infrastruction such as roads, railroads and buildings. Topographic maps show elevations and [[relief]] with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contour_line contour lines] or shading. [[Geological]] maps show not only the [[physical]] [[surface]], but characteristics of the underlying rock, fault lines, and subsurface [[structures]].
Maps that depict the [[surface]] of the [[Earth]] also use a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map_projection projection], a way of [[translating]] the three-dimensional real surface of the geoid to a two-dimensional [[picture]]. Perhaps the best-known world-map projection is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection Mercator projection], originally designed as a form of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_chart nautical chart].
Aeroplane pilots use aeronautical charts based on a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_conformal_conic_projection Lambert conformal conic projection], in which a cone is laid over the section of the [[earth]] to be mapped. The cone intersects the [[sphere]] (the earth) at one or two [[parallels]] which are chosen as standard lines. This allows the pilots to plot a great-circle route approximation on a flat, two-dimensional chart.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map_projection#Azimuthal_.28projections_onto_a_plane.29 Azimuthal] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomonic_projection Gnomonic] map projections are often used in planning air routes due to their [[ability]] to [[represent]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_circle great circles] as straight lines.
*Richard Edes Harrison produced a striking series of maps during and after [[World War II]] for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_(magazine) Fortune magazine]. These used "bird's eye" projections to emphasize globally strategic "fronts" in the air age, pointing out proximities and barriers not apparent on a conventional rectangular projection of the world.
Maps exist of the [[solar system]], and other [[cosmological]] features such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_map star maps]. In addition maps of other bodies such as the [[Moon]] and other [[planets]] are technically not geological maps.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map]
[[Category: Earth Science]]
==Origin==
Medieval Latin ''mappa'', from [[Latin]], napkin, towel. Post-classical Latin ''mappa'' is attested from the late 4th cent. as a term used by [[land]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveyor_%28surveying%29 surveyors], though its exact [[interpretation]] is not clear. (The usual word for a surveyor's map in classical Latin and post-classical Latin is ''forma'' .) The [[transition]] in sense from ‘cloth’ to ‘map’ is probably due to the [[fact]] that early maps were sometimes drawn on cloth.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/16th_century 1527]
==Definitions==
*1a : a [[representation]] usually on a flat [[surface]] of the whole or a part of an area
:b : a representation of the [[celestial]] [[sphere]] or a part of it
*2: something that [[represents]] with a [[clarity]] suggestive of a map <the Freudian map of the [[mind]] — Harold Bloom>
*3: the arrangement of [[genes]] on a [[chromosome]] —called also genetic map
==Description==
A '''map''' is a visual [[representation]] of an area—a [[symbolic]] depiction highlighting [[relationships]] between elements of that [[space]] such as objects, regions, and themes.
Many maps are static two-dimensional, geometrically accurate (or approximately accurate) representations of three-dimensional [[space]], while others are [[dynamic]] or interactive, even three-dimensional. Although most commonly used to depict [[geography]], maps may [[represent]] any [[space]], real or imagined, without regard to [[context]] or [[scale]]; e.g. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_mapping brain mapping], [[DNA]] mapping, and [[extraterrestrial]] mapping.
Maps of the world or large areas are often either '[[political]]' or '[[physical]]'. The most important [[purpose]] of the political map is to show territorial borders; the [[purpose]] of the physical is to show features of [[geography]] such as [[mountains]], soil type or land use including infrastruction such as roads, railroads and buildings. Topographic maps show elevations and [[relief]] with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contour_line contour lines] or shading. [[Geological]] maps show not only the [[physical]] [[surface]], but characteristics of the underlying rock, fault lines, and subsurface [[structures]].
Maps that depict the [[surface]] of the [[Earth]] also use a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map_projection projection], a way of [[translating]] the three-dimensional real surface of the geoid to a two-dimensional [[picture]]. Perhaps the best-known world-map projection is the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection Mercator projection], originally designed as a form of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_chart nautical chart].
Aeroplane pilots use aeronautical charts based on a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambert_conformal_conic_projection Lambert conformal conic projection], in which a cone is laid over the section of the [[earth]] to be mapped. The cone intersects the [[sphere]] (the earth) at one or two [[parallels]] which are chosen as standard lines. This allows the pilots to plot a great-circle route approximation on a flat, two-dimensional chart.
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map_projection#Azimuthal_.28projections_onto_a_plane.29 Azimuthal] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnomonic_projection Gnomonic] map projections are often used in planning air routes due to their [[ability]] to [[represent]] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_circle great circles] as straight lines.
*Richard Edes Harrison produced a striking series of maps during and after [[World War II]] for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_(magazine) Fortune magazine]. These used "bird's eye" projections to emphasize globally strategic "fronts" in the air age, pointing out proximities and barriers not apparent on a conventional rectangular projection of the world.
Maps exist of the [[solar system]], and other [[cosmological]] features such as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_map star maps]. In addition maps of other bodies such as the [[Moon]] and other [[planets]] are technically not geological maps.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Map]
[[Category: Earth Science]]