On the Origins of Analytical Cartography

This paper examines the development of analytical cartography and the contributions Waldo Tobler has made to it, starting well before his definition of the subject in 1976. Analytical cartography's roots in World War II and the Cold War are examined, and the influences and precedents for the academic course that Tobler described are discussed. The systems of knowledge production developed for analytical cartography in its social context are summarized and are found to show a powerful dependence on a working relationship between academia, industry, government, and the intelligence mapping community. Current research trends in analytical cartography, including the organization of research, its institutions, and its priorities, are discussed, and it is proposed that declassifying the "missing pool" of analytical cartographic research literature could be of great benefit in the future. The four-way academic/industrial/government/intelligence partnership is seen as an opportune direction forward for analytical cartography. The next generational shift in the center of the discipline may occur in networks that even Waldo Tobler did not anticipate.