To Map, To Ascertain

This paper offers a reflection on the theme of this special issue, how mapmakers deal with uncertainty, from a digital humanities perspective. For modern geohumanities scholars and digital mapmakers working in the field of history, dealing with the dual uncertainties of historical data and historica...

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Main Author: Rombert Stapel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: openjournals.nl 2024-10-01
Series:Journal for the History of Knowledge
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view/14640
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author Rombert Stapel
author_facet Rombert Stapel
author_sort Rombert Stapel
collection DOAJ
description This paper offers a reflection on the theme of this special issue, how mapmakers deal with uncertainty, from a digital humanities perspective. For modern geohumanities scholars and digital mapmakers working in the field of history, dealing with the dual uncertainties of historical data and historical societies themselves can be a difficult task. How do they deal with these challenges? Do we use similar solutions to deal with uncertainty? Can we learn from the practices of early modern cartographers? And to what extent is (un)certainty itself a fruitful research topic in the geohumanities? To answer these questions, it is important to consider the historical development of the field of geohumanities and why it has learned to adapt to dealing with uncertain or ambiguous knowledge. Practical examples from my own research demonstrate how modern geohumanities scholars are affected by the notion of uncertainty in different ways. These examples are linked to the contributions and questions raised in this special issue. The engagement with early modern cartographers shows how important it is for geohumanities scholars not only to invest in geospatial analysis tasks, but also to become cartographers themselves.
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spelling doaj-art-e7225b85cb154c5fbb1c947dc001d7a02025-08-20T02:11:37Zengopenjournals.nlJournal for the History of Knowledge2632-282X2024-10-0110.55283/jhk.14640To Map, To AscertainRombert Stapel0International Institute of Social HistoryThis paper offers a reflection on the theme of this special issue, how mapmakers deal with uncertainty, from a digital humanities perspective. For modern geohumanities scholars and digital mapmakers working in the field of history, dealing with the dual uncertainties of historical data and historical societies themselves can be a difficult task. How do they deal with these challenges? Do we use similar solutions to deal with uncertainty? Can we learn from the practices of early modern cartographers? And to what extent is (un)certainty itself a fruitful research topic in the geohumanities? To answer these questions, it is important to consider the historical development of the field of geohumanities and why it has learned to adapt to dealing with uncertain or ambiguous knowledge. Practical examples from my own research demonstrate how modern geohumanities scholars are affected by the notion of uncertainty in different ways. These examples are linked to the contributions and questions raised in this special issue. The engagement with early modern cartographers shows how important it is for geohumanities scholars not only to invest in geospatial analysis tasks, but also to become cartographers themselves. https://journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view/14640geohumanitieshistorical GISuncertaintyvisualizationscartography
spellingShingle Rombert Stapel
To Map, To Ascertain
Journal for the History of Knowledge
geohumanities
historical GIS
uncertainty
visualizations
cartography
title To Map, To Ascertain
title_full To Map, To Ascertain
title_fullStr To Map, To Ascertain
title_full_unstemmed To Map, To Ascertain
title_short To Map, To Ascertain
title_sort to map to ascertain
topic geohumanities
historical GIS
uncertainty
visualizations
cartography
url https://journalhistoryknowledge.org/article/view/14640
work_keys_str_mv AT rombertstapel tomaptoascertain