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Spatial Mathematics: Theory and Practice through Mapping
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<h2 id="topics">Topics</h2> <p>The book has 10 chapters, divided into two sections on <a href="/facts/Geodesy/EJH0Te0m">geodesy</a> and on techniques for <a href="/facts/Information_visualization/DSHteV85">visualization</a> of spatial data; each chapter has separate sections on theory and practice.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> For practical aspects of geographic information systems it uses <a href="/facts/ArcGIS/pYPJ9GD5">ArcGIS</a> as its example system.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p><p>In the first part of the book, Chapters 1 and 2 covers the <a href="/facts/Geoid/6aR04HQl">geoid</a>, the <a href="/facts/Geographic_coordinate_system/RkjfcY6k">geographic coordinate system</a> of <a href="/facts/Latitude/IBYqkjhU">latitudes</a> and <a href="/facts/Longitude/HsC61ML9">longitudes</a>, and the measurement of distance and location. Chapter 3 concerns <a href="/facts/Data_structure/yNsNvL1I">data structures</a> for geographic information systems, data formatting based on <a href="/facts/Raster_graphics/HkXNc8oI">raster graphics</a> and <a href="/facts/Vector_graphics/y8ok7M2P">vector graphics</a>, methods for <a href="/facts/Buffer_analysis/jKd2YzBa">buffer analysis</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> and its uses in turning point and line data into area data. Later in the book, but fitting thematically into this part,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> chapter 9 covers <a href="/facts/Map_projection/XYxklzIu">map projections</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>Moving from geodesy to visualization,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> chapters 4 and 5 concern the use of color and scale on maps. Chapter 6 concerns the types of data to be visualized, and the types of visualizations that can be made for them. Chapter 7 concerns spatial hierarchies and <a href="/facts/Central_place_theory/w8yEzQjf">central place theory</a>, while chapter 8 covers the analysis of spatial distributions in terms of their <a href="/facts/Covariance/hILocGNH">covariance</a>. Finally, chapter 10 covers network and non-Euclidean data.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p><p>Additional material on the theoretical concepts behind the topics of the book is provided on a web site, accessed through <a href="/facts/QR_code/B0l0IS7a">QR codes</a> included in the book.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="audience-and-reception">Audience and reception</h2> <p>Reviewer reactions to the book were mixed. Several reviewers noted that, for a book with "mathematics" in its title, the book was surprisingly non-mathematical, with both Azadeh Mousavi and Paul Harris calling the title "misleading".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> Harris complains that "the maths is treated quite lightly and superficially".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> Alfred Stein notes the almost total absence of mathematical equations,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> and Daniel Griffith similarly notes the lack of proof of its mathematical claims.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p><p>Mousavi also writes that, although the book covers a broad selection of topics, it "suffers from lack of necessary depth" and that it is confusingly structured.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> Sang-Il Lee points to a lack of depth as the book's principal weakness.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> Stein notes that its reliance on a specific version of ArcGIS makes it difficult to reproduce its examples, especially for international users with different versions or for users of versions updated after its publication.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> Another weakness highlighted by Griffith is "its limited connection to the existing literature, with its citations far too often being only those works by its authors".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> Harris sees a missed opportunity in the omission of spatial statistics, movement data, and spatio-temporal data, the design of spatial data structures, and advanced techniques for visualizing geospatial data.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> </p><p>Nevertheless, Mousavi recommends this book as an "introductory text on spatial information science" aimed at practitioners, and commends its use of QR codes and <a href="/facts/Word_cloud/cKJnqhFq">word clouds</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> Stein praises the book's attempt to bridge mathematics and geography, and its potential use as a first step towards that bridge for practitioners.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a> Harris suggests it "in an introductory and applied context", and in combination with a more conventional textbook on geographic information systems. Lee argues that the overview of fundamental concepts and cross-disciplinary connections forged by the book make it "worth reading by anyone interested in the geospatial sciences".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a> And Griffith concludes that the book is successful in motivating its readers to "explore formal mathematical subject matter that interfaces with geography".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Mousavi, Azadeh (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Journal of Spatial Information Science, 2014 (9): 125–127, doi:10.5311/josis.2014.9.210 <a href="https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/" target="_blank">https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Stein, Alfred (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 33: 342, Bibcode:2014IJAEO..33..342S, doi:10.1016/j.jag.2014.06.014 <a href="https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/spatial-mathematics-theory-and-practice-through-mapping(b00331c7-9fea-4e50-b9dd-8876819e6a96).html" target="_blank">https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/spatial-mathematics-theory-and-practice-through-mapping(b00331c7-9fea-4e50-b9dd-8876819e6a96).html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Lee, Sang-Il (September 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Geographical Analysis, 46 (4): 456–458, doi:10.1111/gean.12066 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Mousavi, Azadeh (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Journal of Spatial Information Science, 2014 (9): 125–127, doi:10.5311/josis.2014.9.210 <a href="https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/" target="_blank">https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Harris, Paul (July 2016), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 43 (5): 963–964, doi:10.1177/0265813515621423, S2CID 63886416 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Lee, Sang-Il (September 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Geographical Analysis, 46 (4): 456–458, doi:10.1111/gean.12066 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Mousavi, Azadeh (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Journal of Spatial Information Science, 2014 (9): 125–127, doi:10.5311/josis.2014.9.210 <a href="https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/" target="_blank">https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Mousavi, Azadeh (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Journal of Spatial Information Science, 2014 (9): 125–127, doi:10.5311/josis.2014.9.210 <a href="https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/" target="_blank">https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Lee, Sang-Il (September 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Geographical Analysis, 46 (4): 456–458, doi:10.1111/gean.12066 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Mousavi, Azadeh (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Journal of Spatial Information Science, 2014 (9): 125–127, doi:10.5311/josis.2014.9.210 <a href="https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/" target="_blank">https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Mousavi, Azadeh (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Journal of Spatial Information Science, 2014 (9): 125–127, doi:10.5311/josis.2014.9.210 <a href="https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/" target="_blank">https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Harris, Paul (July 2016), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 43 (5): 963–964, doi:10.1177/0265813515621423, S2CID 63886416 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Harris, Paul (July 2016), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 43 (5): 963–964, doi:10.1177/0265813515621423, S2CID 63886416 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Stein, Alfred (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 33: 342, Bibcode:2014IJAEO..33..342S, doi:10.1016/j.jag.2014.06.014 <a href="https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/spatial-mathematics-theory-and-practice-through-mapping(b00331c7-9fea-4e50-b9dd-8876819e6a96).html" target="_blank">https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/spatial-mathematics-theory-and-practice-through-mapping(b00331c7-9fea-4e50-b9dd-8876819e6a96).html</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Griffith, Daniel A. (April 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", The AAG Review of Books, 2 (2): 65–67, doi:10.1080/2325548x.2014.901863 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Mousavi, Azadeh (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Journal of Spatial Information Science, 2014 (9): 125–127, doi:10.5311/josis.2014.9.210 <a href="https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/" target="_blank">https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Lee, Sang-Il (September 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Geographical Analysis, 46 (4): 456–458, doi:10.1111/gean.12066 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Stein, Alfred (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 33: 342, Bibcode:2014IJAEO..33..342S, doi:10.1016/j.jag.2014.06.014 <a href="https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/spatial-mathematics-theory-and-practice-through-mapping(b00331c7-9fea-4e50-b9dd-8876819e6a96).html" target="_blank">https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/spatial-mathematics-theory-and-practice-through-mapping(b00331c7-9fea-4e50-b9dd-8876819e6a96).html</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Griffith, Daniel A. (April 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", The AAG Review of Books, 2 (2): 65–67, doi:10.1080/2325548x.2014.901863 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Harris, Paul (July 2016), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 43 (5): 963–964, doi:10.1177/0265813515621423, S2CID 63886416 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>Mousavi, Azadeh (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Journal of Spatial Information Science, 2014 (9): 125–127, doi:10.5311/josis.2014.9.210 <a href="https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/" target="_blank">https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/josis/vol2014/iss9/5/</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Stein, Alfred (December 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 33: 342, Bibcode:2014IJAEO..33..342S, doi:10.1016/j.jag.2014.06.014 <a href="https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/spatial-mathematics-theory-and-practice-through-mapping(b00331c7-9fea-4e50-b9dd-8876819e6a96).html" target="_blank">https://research.utwente.nl/en/publications/spatial-mathematics-theory-and-practice-through-mapping(b00331c7-9fea-4e50-b9dd-8876819e6a96).html</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>Lee, Sang-Il (September 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", Geographical Analysis, 46 (4): 456–458, doi:10.1111/gean.12066 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>Griffith, Daniel A. (April 2014), "Review of Spatial Mathematics", The AAG Review of Books, 2 (2): 65–67, doi:10.1080/2325548x.2014.901863 <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>