map
3.5 Temporal data visualization and time-space
Change from object perspective
Change from attribute perspective
Change from location perspective
Change and Minard’s representation of Napoleon’s Russian campaign
5.4 Change in a series of maps
6 Maps and temporal exploration
6.1 From presentation to exploration
Examining Napoleon’s battle record
What happened at the crossing of the Berezina River?
Preface
How do we map time? That has been the overriding question guiding my research. Questions about mapping time challenge us to go beyond the conventional snapshot-based approach to maps in order to incorporate processes. Such a task requires a different view of maps now that technological advancements have made time-related data so abundant. We need new approaches to this data that will enrich our knowledge about spatiotemporal patterns and relations and their implications for the real world. Indeed, how we conceptualize mapping time will fundamentally shape how we understand the data and how we present our findings to various audiences.
Minard’s map of Napoleon’s Russian campaign in 1812 has played a role in my career ever since my research interests in mapping time matured. Many claim that this might be the best map ever made. It is worth challenging the truth of such a statement, which many of my former students have done in the course of their research. It would be easy to refute the claim, of course, because every situation demands its own map so, in my view, there cannot be a single best map.
Almost all of the book’s illustrations—over 110 in all—relate either directly or indirectly to the Russian campaign. The dataset supporting my analysis of Minard’s map has expanded significantly over the years. My growing interest in the French invasion has led me to amass a large repository of data, including many shelves of books, maps, and games related
