1 What are the ‘ Classic ’ Articles in Cartography ?

The intention of Classics in Cartography is to provide an intellectually-driven reinterpretation of a selection of some of the most influential articles from the last thirty years of academic cartography research. The ten chosen ‘classic’ articles were written by a range of the leading academic cartographers, geographers and allied scholars. Theywere all published in the international peer-reviewed journal Cartographica. While the ten ‘classic’ articles are diverse in their agendas and approaches, they are all thought provoking texts that demonstrate how different aspects of mapping work as a mode spatial representation; they also shed light how different cartographic practices have been conceptualised by academic researchers. They are reprinted in full in this volume and, importantly, they are accompanied by newly commissioned reflective essays by the original authors (or other eminent researchers) to provide fresh interpretation on the meaning of the ideas presented and their wider, lasting impact on cartographic scholarship. Moreover, these essays give insights into how academic ideas emerge and some present a personal perspective on the nature of scholarly research. As such it is hoped that they will furnish current and future researchers with insights into how influential academic ideas come about and circulate as catalysts that can codify and instigate important areas of research within cartography and generate novel theoretical perspectives on mapping. While the focus on past ‘classics’ is perhaps rather backward looking in an era of such rapid social and technical change in cartography, it can be counter-argued that today there is real intellectual value in historical reflection because of the ways it helps us to understand better the present context for cartographic studies and to better inform future strategies for more innovative, creative mapping research (Dodge, Perkins and Kitchin, 2009; Kitchin and Dodge, 2007).