Medieval map errors sprang from fixed climate categories as much as ignorance
Evidence
Dowd’s plan was a wonderful example of crackpot realism. The lines were laid out with geometric exactness and ignored geography, topography, region, trade, or natural affinity. Maine and Florida were put in separate time zones. It is a wonderful example of the maxim that the grid is the geometry of empire. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 850 (
#complicates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Medieval Arab geographic errors followed logical climate-theory deduction — Eve M. Troutt Powell, A Different Shade of Colonialism_…, 144; Medieval Arabic maps of Africa mixed myth with empirical knowledge; Medieval Arab geography of Africa mixed empirical fact with scriptural legend (+3 more)
Related
- Medieval Arab geographic errors followed logical climate-theory deduction (similarity 0.88)
- Medieval Arab geography of Africa mixed empirical fact with scriptural legend (similarity 0.84)
Broader Connections
- Inconsistencies in colonial racial categories reveal latent distinctions rather than errors
#corroborates(0.60) - Medieval Arab geography of Africa mixed empirical fact with scriptural legend
#complicates(0.55) - The time-zone grid ignores geography and embodies imperial control
#complicates(0.45) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 850 - Cold-climate civilizations developed rich specialized vocabularies for snow and ice
#exemplifies(0.35) — Schafer, Murray R, The Soundscape- Our Sonic Environment…, 72