-------- Original Message -------- Subject: NYTimes.com Article: Arthur H. Robinson, 89, Dies; Reinterpreted World Map Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 14:41:15 -0800 From: Julie Sweetkind-Singer <[log in to unmask]> To: Maps-L <[log in to unmask]> ------------------ Hi all, Arthur Robinson's obituary was in the New York Times yesterday. I've included it here. Julie >Arthur H. Robinson, 89, Dies; Reinterpreted World Map > >November 15, 2004 > By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD > > > > > >Dr. Arthur H. Robinson, a geographer who improved on the >venerable Mercator projection for drawing the round Earth >on a flat map, died on Oct. 10 in Madison, Wis. He was 89. > >His death, after a brief illness, was announced by the >University of Wisconsin, where he was an emeritus professor >of geography and cartography. > >In a career of teaching, writing and research, Dr. Robinson >always found time, as mapmakers have for centuries, to look >for the best possible solution to cartography's frustrating >"Greenland problem." On maps drawn according to the most >familiar projection, devised by Gerardus Mercator in the >16th century, Greenland appears to be about the size of >South America, though it is actually no larger than Mexico. > > >The distortion is a result of the compromises inherent in >representing a sphere on a flat piece of paper. If the >shapes of land masses are correct, the sizes will be >distorted, and vice versa. If lower latitudes are close to >reality on maps, then the polar regions will be grossly >misshaped. > >In 1963, Dr. Robinson devised his own map projection. He >had been dissatisfied with existing projections since his >experience as director of the map division of the Office of >Strategic Services in World War II. > >"I started with a kind of artistic approach," Dr. Robinson >said in a 1988 interview in The New York Times. "I >visualized the best-looking shapes and sizes. I worked with >the variables until it got to the point where, if I changed >one of them, it didn't get any better." > >Only then, he said, did he "figure out the mathematical >formula to produce that effect." For his projection, Dr. >Robinson chose 38 degrees north and 38 degrees south as the >standard parallels. This established the two places on the >map where both size and shape are most accurate in the >middle of the temperate zone, where most of the land and >people are. > >The Robinson projection was eventually adopted by the >National Geographic Society for use in some of its world >maps. It is also the basis for maps by several federal >agencies and the world atlases of Rand McNally. > >Dr. Joel L. Morrison, a former president of the American >Congress on Surveying and Mapping and a government >geographer, said that Dr. Robinson was "a major contributor >to the creation of a solid foundation for the development >of cartographic science" in the 20th century. > >Born in Montreal on Jan. 5, 1915, to American parents, >Arthur Robinson was educated at Miami University in Ohio >and received a doctorate at Ohio State in 1947. After his >service with military intelligence in the war, he joined >the Wisconsin faculty, where he spent the rest of his >career. > >Dr. Robinson's textbook, "Elements of Cartography," >published in 1953, is now in its sixth edition and still >widely used in university courses. His honors include the >presidency of the International Cartographic Association >and medals from the American Geographical Society and the >British Cartographic Society. The map library at Wisconsin >is named for him. > >Survivors include his wife, Martha E. Robinson of Madison; >a son, Stephen M., of Madison; a daughter, Patricia A. >Robinson of Sonoita, Ariz.; and two grandchildren. His >first wife of more than 50 years, the former Mary Elizabeth >Coffin, died in 1992. > >http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/15/obituaries/15robinson.html?ex=1101644489&ei=1&en=23d6dd8b7df0d4cc > > >--------------------------------- > >Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine >reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! >Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy >now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: > >http://homedelivery.nytimes.com/HDS/SubscriptionT1.do?mode=SubscriptionT1&ExternalMediaCode=W24AF > > > >HOW TO ADVERTISE >--------------------------------- >For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters >or other creative advertising opportunities with The >New York Times on the Web, please contact >[log in to unmask] or visit our online media >kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo > >For general information about NYTimes.com, write to >[log in to unmask] > >Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company Julie Sweetkind-Singer Head Librarian; GIS & Map Librarian Branner Earth Sciences Library & Map Collections 397 Panama Mall, M/C 2211 Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305 [log in to unmask] Phone: 650-725-1102