Lessons Index:
6. CHART MAKING FOR NAVIGATORS
Osher Map Library
University of Southern Maine
Charting Neptune's Realm:
From Classical Mythology to Satellite Imagery
An exhibition at the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, University of Southern Maine, Portland, 4 April 2000 to 11 January 2001
Donald S. Johnson, guest curator
HUMAN INTERACTION
Osher Map Library Lesson
Charting Neptune's Realm
Gary Spring
B. Background Information
As illustrated by the Osher Map Library's exhibit, "Charting Neptune's Realm: From Classical Mythology to Satellite Imagery," nautical charts represent the efforts of hundreds of people over hundreds of years. The information contained in charts, information such as the patterns of currents and records of depths, enabled Europeans to sail for the Indies for "God, Gold and Glory." Today, the satellite-derived information on our charts permits us to travel more directly and more safely on the oceans than ever before. This information was of such great value that it was considered "top secret" by the emerging nation-states of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Thirteenth century charts similar to the detailed coastal maps, called portolanos, are probably among the oldest nautical charts.
In 1415, Prince Henry of Portugal founded his school of navigation and marine science at Sagres; evidence of official recognition of the strategic value of such knowledge. Consider the eventual outcome of the Navigator's decision: in 1492 Columbus brought a new world to Europe. The greatest human impact on the environment in history would then begin, and continues to this day: the migration of germs, plants and animals known collectively as the Columbian Exchange.
The immense stakes of profit associated with this exchange would lead to conflict among the Europeans. This competition between the vanguard nations of Portugal and Spain was forestalled for some time when Pope Alexander VI established his Line of Demarcation in 1493, and a year later when both nations accepted the Treaty of Tordesillas. The Treaty divided the world at 45W-135E, with the Portuguese getting everything east of 45°W and the Spanish everything to the west. Of course, this was before the discovery of Brazil in 1500. This can be seen in Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas' map, Descripción de las Yndias Ocidentalis. Because of the dividing line, the Portuguese got a foothold in the New World, the one thing the Spanish had tried to prevent.
The discovery and claiming of parts of the disclosed world (both in the Western Hemisphere as well as in India and the Pacific) was based on who got there first. No one knew (at least officially) that Brazil existed, and the ability to navigate safely was a state secret. That manipulation of "navigational intelligence" is just as important and guarded today.
A list for today might include cryptographic codes, used by the military and by businesses in their communications. It might include "launch codes" for missiles. Tangible things might be included as well, such as weapons-grade plutonium or one of the space shuttles. Consider the recent scandals at the Department of Energy, Los Alamos and Hanford: They alone provide evidence that we still regard information as powerful, as valuable to its possessor.
Consider the history of Teflon®, once a capitalized proper noun, a brand name and now, like Kleenex®, an adjective of choice for slippery characters. Teflon's closely-guarded formula was a by-product of the not-too-distant past; the Space Race. It has always been the case: In the 1700s when Samuel Slater appeared in Rhode Island with his master's plans for a textile mill, he was violating British national security by removing the technological, and therefore profitable, advantage they enjoyed over the Colonies.
We Americans make it illegal to provide codes to foreign powers or even to the public at large, in some cases. For example, the sale and production of certain supercomputers has been strictly regulated for years, as was the sale and distribution of modems. It is common knowledge (look at that term: common as opposed to rare or "secret") that until recently the American military used a more-accurate form of the Global Positioning System: an example of "navigational intelligence."
Slater's subterfuge is just an early example of industrial espionage. The practice has a long tradition which goes past Solomon's guarding the formula for hydraulic cement used in his construction of harbors. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were considered just that in part because the knowledge required for each wonder was rare; its application in each case represented its value to the possessor. During World War II the Battle of Britain was won not only because of the brave Spitfire pilots, but also because of adept British code-breaking as well. Winston Churchill recognized the value of knowledge when he said that the truth was such a valuable weapon that it had to be protected by "a bodyguard of lies."
One of the best examples of modern nation-state recognition of the value of knowledge is the effort made by the Allies and the Soviets to "adopt" the German scientists in the Nazi V-1 and V-2 programs. Goddard may be the father of American rocketry, but it was Wehrner von Braun who got us to the moon.
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