National atlases as indicators of scientific and economic change

Summary

Nicholson compares Canada’s national atlases of 1906, 1915 and 1957 through their coverage, presentation, map sequence and language, treating the series as a record of changing geographical knowledge, cartographic practice and national development. The first two atlases emphasized physical geography, transportation and population; expanded city mapping in 1915 reflected urban growth. The 1957 atlas added detailed Arctic coverage, glaciers, soils, flora and fauna, and substantially expanded the mapping of economic activity. Separate statistical sheets declined from 53 percent of the 1906 volume to 34 percent in 1915 and disappeared in 1957. Nicholson connects increasingly precise spatial information to survey work, aerial photography and improved collection and analysis of economic and social data. He praises advances in topographic detail, colour and printing, while criticizing statistical maps that imply abrupt changes at administrative boundaries; he finds the 1957 population-density map more realistic. The editions share a broadly similar map sequence, whose theoretical basis he considers insufficiently examined. The earlier atlases appeared only in English; the decision to produce English and French volumes for the 1957 atlas reflected, in his view, Canada’s developing biculturalism. He argues that successive national atlases can guide geographical research and assess progress, and that census-like institutional status would support continuity of staff and concepts between editions.