Cartography past, present and future: A festschrift for F. J. Ormeling

Summary

This Festschrift honours Ferdinand Jan “Fer” Ormeling while presenting a deliberately structured survey of the condition and direction of world cartography in the late 1980s. Its opening biographical chapter traces Ormeling’s education, atlas work, tropical experience, professorship, service at the International Institute for Aerospace Survey and Earth Sciences, and sustained involvement in the creation and leadership of the International Cartographic Association. These activities establish his broader significance as an advocate of cartographic education, international cooperation, professional organisation, and the institutional development of the discipline. The first major section adopts a national perspective through studies of Nigeria, India, Poland, France, Mexico, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the People’s Republic of China. Although differing in emphasis and style, the chapters collectively examine historical traditions, surveying and mapping agencies, educational programmes, professional staffing, map production and use, printing processes, thematic and base mapping, remote sensing, and emerging automated methods. They reveal substantial differences in institutional capacity, technological resources, public demand, and national priorities, yet also identify shared movement toward standardisation, digital production, land information systems, geographic information systems, and broader integration of spatial data. The thematic section addresses questions that cut across national boundaries. Contributors debate whether cartography should be understood as an art, a science, or an inseparable combination of both, considering the roles of aesthetic judgement, empirical method, communication theory, cognition, and formalisation. Historical cartography is reviewed as a field encompassing map collections, librarianship, publication, interpretation, and the study of maps as both documentary evidence and cultural artefacts. Further chapters examine cartographic education, map-use competence, and the special circumstances of developing countries, where shortages of trained personnel, funding, accessible data, and suitable technology may reinforce external dependence. The discussion of computer mapping evaluates the capabilities of existing software and outlines an ideal system combining data management, statistical analysis, flexible graphic representation, interactivity, user-friendly operation, and embedded cartographic knowledge. The concluding assessment interprets computers, satellite imagery, remote sensing, and digital spatial information as the foundations of a major transformation during the 1980s. Cartography is shown to be moving from specialised manual production toward integrated information processing and GIS-based environments. Nevertheless, the volume argues that technological innovation alone is insufficient: effective progress also requires sound theory, attention to users, education, institutional coordination, information policy, and international collaboration. Overall, the collection documents a pivotal transition from traditional to digital cartography and anticipates a more automated, intelligent, interdisciplinary, and user-oriented future.