2-3 zooms in on some of the map’s details. The section of the map in figure 2-3a displays the Neman River and its surrounding territory where the invasion both started and ended. It is the most dramatic aspect of the map because it shows the big difference between the number of soldiers at the start and end of the campaign. It also demonstrates the problems that a reader might have when faced with the geographical names. Most atlases today apply the so-called local place-name policy, which marks geographical names according to local spelling. Minard’s map, by contrast, uses a combination of French and German names, which can confuse readers unfamiliar with historical toponyms.
In general, this book follows local place policy. In exceptional situations, however, alternative spellings have been allowed if people still widely use it. Take, for example, the city of Tilsit in former East Prussia. Today, it belongs to Russia as Sovetsk. In other cases, places changed their name without changing countries, like the town of Ghat, renamed Gagarin in 1968 in honor of the world’s first man is space. Figure 2-5 lists variations for the most important places listed in the campaign area.
Figure 2-3b shows Moskva. This portion of the map highlights an interesting absence of time, because Minard did not clarify here the fact that Napoleon stayed in Moskva for about a month. This omission is important, because the flow line alone gives readers the misleading impression that the army moved at a uniform rate. Dates could have been added (see examples of this in figures 2-18, 2-20, or 2-21), although other forms of graphic representations might be more expressive (see chapter 5). Minard also makes some curious choices of places to map. The center of this map detail, for example, shows the town of Mozhaysk. Just west of this town, the segment of the flow line that moves toward Moskva shows a reduction of almost 30,000 troops. This happens because the Battle of Borodino, the largest battle of the campaign, occurred here, in the little village 10 kilometers west of Mozhaysk. Adding this name may have improved Minard’s map.
Figure 2-3c displays the losses that the French army suffered while crossing the Berezina River. Napoleon’s troops shrank by almost half (see also chapter 6, figure 6-7). This detail exemplifies how well Minard used geography to communicate his statistics. According to cartographer Arthur H. Robinson (1967), Minard demonstrated “cartographic ingenuity” when it came to using cartographic symbolization to get his message across. The basemap provides needed geographic context yet can adapt to the theme’s constraints. That is why Minard often called his maps “Carte figurative et approximatives.” Curiously, he did not add the term “approximatives” to his map’s title. Looking at the detailed representation of the rivers, it is easy to understand why. At the same time, the level of thematic data generalization in this map lessens the need for a detailed topography. For example, names loosely indicate the geographic location of towns. This can be misleading. Is Studianka to be found to the east or west of the river? Actually, it is east, though the map does not say. In contrast, Minard has drawn the rivers in his map in great detail, in comparison to the rectangular segments that illustrate the flow of Napoleonic soldiers through Russia.
The detail in figure 2-3d shows the scale bar and part of the temperature diagram used in Minard’s map. When he made his map, France still used its own Réaumur temperature scale. Its zero degree indicates the same temperature as that on the Celsius scale. Measurements compare as follows: −10°R equals −13°C°, −20°R equals −25°C, and −30°R equals −38°C. In Fahrenheit, these would equal 9°F, −13°F, and −36°F. Figure 2-4 displays the original map as found in the Library Lasage of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées.
Several scholars have discussed Minard’s maps in the context of the history of geography and cartography. In his study of the history of thematic maps, Robinson (1982) revealed that the Irishman Henry Drury Harness published the first flow map in 1837. In it, Drury shows “the relative quantities of traffic in different directions.” Minard’s flow map appeared only a few years later, at about the same time that Alfred Belpaire, a Belgian railway engineer, produced his transportation maps in flow line style. It remains unclear whether Minard or Belpaire knew about Harness’ work, or whether the engineers influenced each other. Robinson describes Minard’s maps as more varied and sophisticated than the other two. In another article, “Visions and re-visions of Charles Joseph Minard,” Michael Friendly pays special attention to how others have used the Frenchman’s map to explain some of today’s interactive situations. His website archive contains copies of most of Minard’s maps and provides links to other examples http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/re-minard.html. In his most recent book Beautiful Evidence (2006), Tufte revisits the map in a chapter about the “fundamental principles of analytical design” (see also chapter 6).
Figure 2-3. Details from Minard’s map of the French invasion of Russia: (2-3a) The Neman River, the start and end of the campaign; (2-3b) Napoleon in Moskva; (2-3c) the crossing of the Berezina River; (2-3d) the temperature diagram.
Figure 2-4. Minard’s maps and diagrams in the Library Lasage, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées: (2-4a) the library entrance; (2-4b) the author and the map; (2-4c) Folio 28 of the collection with the combined Hannibal and Napoleon campaign maps (45 × 87 cm); 2-4d) the cover of the collection.
Minard worked at a time when innovations in both statistical graphics and thematic mapping flourished. Gilles Palsky (1996), Robinson (1982), and Friendly (2008) describe this burst of invention in detail. Noteworthy diagrams of the nineteenth century include William Playfair’s time series line graph, the bar graph, the circle diagram pie chart, and Florence Nightengale’s polar area diagram; maps include the choropleth map, dot map, flow map, and isoline map. Minard played an important role in stimulating the rise of visual thinking and explanation during this formative period. Friendly, in his Milestones website http://www.datavis.ca/milestones/, uses several of Minard’s own maps to explain how the French engineer influenced the development of statistical mapping. Minard reported in a number of his pamphlets that he had published over ten thousand copies of his maps, most of them distributed within his Ministry of Public Works. Outside France, his work attracted less attention, although he did participate in international statistical conferences to discuss his work with others and learn from them. His work grew obscure and then experienced a revival of interest at the beginning of the twentieth century; Funkhouser, for example, called him “the French Playfair.”
ABOUT MINARD
Charles Joseph Minard was born in Dijon, France, on March 24, 1781. He studied to become an engineer in Paris at the École Polytechnique and the École Nationale des Pont et Chaussées. During his early career, he was posted to several locations in France and the Low Countries in order to work on canals and ports. In 1832, he accepted a teaching and administrative position at the École Nationale des Pont et Chaussées. From 1841 on, he became the superintendent of a district in the southwestern part of Paris. In 1846, he was promoted to Inspecteur Général des Pont and Chaussées, and became a member of its directive council. He retired five years later, in 1851, at the age of seventy.
Minard’s (carto)graphic career began just before he retired as an engineer. Or, as Friendly (2002) put it: “Minard had moved from work as a civil engineer (designing canals and railways) to work as a visual engineer (designing informative visual data displays).” The engineer published his first graphic, “Tableaux figurative de la circulation de quelques chemins de fer,” in 1844 (see figure 2-6). It represents the number of passengers that traveled on several railroad lines. In 1845, he published his first map, “Carte de la circulation des voyageurs par voitures publique,” to support the planning process of a new railroad. The map illustrates the intensity of traffic that circulated between Dijon and Mulhouse. Minard published a number of maps over the course
