History of Geographic Information Systems - Essay Example

Section/# GIS: A History Although it might be tempting to understand geographic information systems (GIS) assomething specifically related to computers and/or software suites, the fact of the matter is that geographic information systems have a long and storied past. As a function of seeking to understand this past and helping to draw a further level of inference upon the history of GIS, the following analysis will engage in a discussion of some of the first instances in which geographic information systems were utilized as a means of addressing the human needs. Further, the evolution of this particular progression will be traced in the hopes that such a discussion will be fundamentally useful in allowing the analyst to come to a further appreciation of the way in which geographic information systems have evolved and impacted upon the way in which decisions are made and information is understood within the current world. As a result of tracing the historical origins of geographic information systems, the analysis will present some of the key ways in which GIS has been able to positively impact upon human knowledge and drastically developed over the past several hundred years. By discussing and analyzing GIS and its history outside of the era of computing, it is the further hope of this author that the reader can gain a more informed and definitive understanding of the ways in which this particular technology is likely to grow and expand in the immediate future; representing more and more a pivotal way of understanding the world around us and less contingent upon complicated software applications. One of the first recorded applications of GIS denotes the fact that computer imaging and/or sophisticated software suites are not required in order for this particular science to be represented. Accordingly, in 1832, the French geographer Charles Picquet utilized GIS as a means of tracking the 48 districts of Paris and seeking to determine a level of inference with respect to a debilitating and deadly cholera outbreak that was threatening the health of the entire city. By creating a primary layer of geographic information that represented 48 districts of Paris and overlaying this map with cholera infections, Charles Picquet was able to pinpoint the actual well that was responsible for the illness that was killing so many Parisians at that time. Through analyzing the two different data sets at the same time and being able to draw a useful level of inference from what was represented, most GIS historians did note that this particular representation was the first of its kind in which GIS was utilized as a means of affecting a level of understanding on the practitioner. Although it is of course possible that geographic information systems were utilized previously, this particular case is the one that generally garners the highest level of attention and is represented as the first application of GIS within the modern world. Drawing inspiration from this particular application of GIS, subsequent geographers utilize the very same approach as a means of tracking prevalence and geographic distribution of disease and seeking to focus upon the source of this disease as a means of stopping it completely. Drawing upon the inspiration of Charles Picquet, John Snow of London utilized the very same technique as London experienced a cholera outbreak only 2 decades later. Whereas the previous example is indicative of the way in which geographic information systems were utilized as a means of promoting public health and decreasing the incidence of disease, GIS was also utilized as enhanced form of early cartography and topography. By utilizing the different layers that GIS has subsequently become so famous for, geographers and others were able to accurately denote many different data sets with respect to a particular land area. For instance, foliage and Flora could be represented on one layer whereas water resources and/4 another data set could be represented on another. This particular approach to mapping and cartography continued virtually unchanged up until the 20th century. It was during this period of time that plastics were introduced. Prior to the introduction of plastics, then parchment paper was utilized as a means of depicting the different layers between maps and the way in which GIS information could be represented. However, with the production and widespread distribution of cheap and available clear plastics, the ways in which these layers could be represented came to be drastically altered and improved. Further additional change that has had the greatest impact with respect to the way in which GIS is represented in utilized within the modern world has to do with the introduction of computers and the means by which GIS came to be synonymous with different software suites and virtual representation. In the early era, computers were of course rudimentary at best. However, as their capabilities shifted and evolved, GIS came to be more complex and could accurately represent a great deal more information on a computer as compared to what could be represented utilizing clear plastic film and/4 traditional cartographic tools (Knowles, 2012). Ultimately, as scientists and researchers sought to develop further computing power and means of understanding issues such as nuclear fallout and environmental damage issues, the need for ever expansive computing power and the ability to rapidly draw inference upon comparable data sets is only compounded over time. As a direct result of this prescient and existing need, GIS has come to play an extraordinarily fundamental role with respect to geography and the world in which we live. Although it is clear and apparent that the era of GIS came long before the era of modern computing, it nonetheless has expanded in light of the developments of recent technology and computing. However, with this being said, it must also be understood that even though GIS is necessarily somewhat divorced from computing, the integration of modern computing and the potential that it can bring to bear with respect to GIS has allowed this particular field of study to grow exponentially and affect the way in which individuals and scholars utilize this technology more so than any other development that has thus far been represented. However, as greatly as GIS has grown and evolved the past decades, it must also be appreciated that this evolution and growth has not effectively changed the end goal that GIS seeks to effect. Ultimately, from its very first to use, GIS has been specifically interested upon allowing the researcher/analyst to draw inference upon different data sets and conclude a level of understanding based upon the way in which the expand world is represented. Ultimately, from the earliest application of GIS technology as denoted with respect to the cholera outbreak in Paris of 1832, the end goals and approach that GIS seek to affect have shifted level. Whereas it is true that the use and application of current GIS technology is not wholly and entirely concentric upon the amelioration of disease, the representation of data sets upon a specific geographic area and the ability to draw inference upon these still represents the final and in goal that all geographic information technology is concentric upon reviewing. Whereas it is true that the power of computing has significantly altered the way in which GIS is utilized and applied, it can and should be expected that this level of representation, that is so commonplace within the modern world, is not something that is guaranteed indefinitely. Ultimately, further growth in technology will likely create a situation in which GIS can experience further growth in applications that researchers and laymen alike could likely utilize as a means of effecting positive and useful change/inference to their daily lives. Reference Knowles, A. (2012) History and GIS: Considerations and reflections. International Journal Of Geographical Information Science, 28(1), 206-211. Read More