1.
University of Amsterdam
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The University of Amsterdam is a public university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities and later renamed for the city of Amsterdam and it is one of the largest research universities in Europe with 31,186 students,4,794 staff,1,340 PhD students and an annual budget of €600 million. It is the largest university in the Netherlands by enrollment, the main campus is located in central Amsterdam, with a few faculties located in adjacent boroughs. The university is organised into seven faculties, Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Science, Law, Medicine, the University of Amsterdam has produced six Nobel Laureates and five prime ministers of the Netherlands. In 2014, it was ranked 50th in the world, 15th in Europe, in January 1632, the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam was founded by the municipal authorities in Amsterdam. It was mainly devoted to medical teaching, the first two professors were Gerardus Vossius and Caspar Barlaeus. The Athenaeum Illustre provided education comparable to higher education institutions. After training at the Athenaeum, students could complete their education at a university in another town, Amsterdams large degree of religious freedom allowed for the establishment of these institutions. Students of the Colegium Chirugicum and the institutions regularly attended classes at the Athenaeum Illustre. ”The Athenaeum began offering classes for students attending non-academic professional training in pharmacy. The Athenaeum remained an institution until the 19th century, with no more than 250 students. Alumni of the Athenaeum include Cornelis Petrus Tiele, in 1877, the Athenuem Illustre became the Municipal University of Amsterdam and received the right to confer doctoral degrees. This gave the university the same privileges as national universities while being funded by the city of Amsterdam, the professors and lecturers were appointed by the municipal council. This resulted in a staff that was in ways more colorful than the staffs of national universities. The University of Amsterdams municipal status brought about the relatively early addition of the faculties of Economics, after the World War II the dramatic rise in the cost of university education put a constraint on the university’s growth. In 1961 the national government made the university a national university, giving it its current name, funding was now given by the national government instead of the city and the appointment of professors was transferred to the Board of Governors. The city of Amsterdam retained a limited influence until 1971, when the appointment was handed over to the Executive Board, the protest lasted for days and was eventually broken up by the police. During the 1970s and 1980s, the university was often the target of nationwide student actions, the university saw considerable expansion since becoming a national university, from 7,500 students in 1960 to over 32,000 in 2010. In 2007, UvA undertook the construction of the Science Park Amsterdam, much of the park has now been completed
2.
Joan Blaeu
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Joan Blaeu was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu. In 1620 he became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father, in 1635 they published the Atlas Novus in two volumes. Joan and his brother Cornelius took over the studio after their father died in 1638, Joan became the official cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. Blaeus world map, Nova et Accuratissima Terrarum Orbis Tabula, incorporating the discoveries of Abel Tasman, was published in 1648 and this map was revolutionary in that it depicts the solar system according to the heliocentric theories of Nicolaus Copernicus, which show the earth revolving around the sun. Blaeus map was copied for the map of the set into the pavement of the Groote Burger-Zaal of the new Amsterdam Town Hall, designed by the Dutch architect Jacob van Campen. As Jean Blaeu, he published the 12 volume Le Grand Atlas, ou Cosmographie blaviane, en laquelle est exactement descritte la terre, la mer. That was folio, and contained 593 engraved maps and plates, in March 2015, a copy was on sale for £750,000. Around 1649 Joan Blaeu published a collection of Dutch city maps named Toonneel der Steeden, in 1651 he was voted into the Amsterdam council. In 1654 Joan published the first atlas of Scotland, devised by Timothy Pont, in 1662 he reissued the Atlas Novus, also known as Atlas Maior, in 11 volumes, and one for oceans. A cosmology was planned as their project, but a fire destroyed the studio completely in 1672. Joan Blaeu died in Amsterdam the following year and he is buried in the Westerkerk there. Blaeu and Joan Blaeu, Houten, Hes & De Graaf publishers BV, ISBN 90-6194-438-4 BROTTON, Jerry, A History of the World in Twelve Maps, London, utrecht University Arader Galleries Collection of Maps from Blaeus Atlas Major. Brazil map by Joan Blaeu, Amsterdam 1650 Plan of Delft from Joan Blaeu Town book, Amsterdam 1660 Blaeu on the Dutch map Jonathan Potter Maps
3.
Atlas
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An atlas is a collection of maps, it is typically a map of Earth or a region of Earth, but there are atlases of the other planets in the Solar System. Furthermore, atlases of anatomy exist, mapping out the body or other organisms. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats, in addition to presenting geographic features and political boundaries, many atlases often feature geopolitical, social, religious and economic statistics. They also have information about the map and places in it, the use of the word atlas in a geographical context dates from 1595 when the geographer Gerardus Mercator published Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura. This title provides Mercators definition of the word as a description of the creation and form of the whole universe, nonetheless, this distinction is conventionally awarded to the Flemish cartographer Abraham Ortelius who in 1570 published the collection of maps Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. A travel atlas is made for use during travel. It has maps at a large zoom so the maps can be reviewed easily, a travel atlas may also be referred to as a road map. A desk atlas is made similar to a reference book and it may be in hardback or paperback form. With the coming of the market, publishers in different countries can reprint maps from places made elsewhere. This means that the names on the maps often use the designations or abbreviations of the language of the country in which the feature is located. For example, islands near Russia have the abbreviation O. for ostrov and this practice differs from what is standard for any given language, and it reaches its extremity concerning transliterations from other languages. In particular, German mapmakers use the transliterations from Cyrillic developed by the Czechs, national Geographic MapMachine History of atlases Atlases, at the US Library of Congress site - a discussion of many significant atlases, with some illustrations. Part of Geography and Maps, an Illustrated Guide, Historical atlases online Centennia Historical Atlas required reading at the US Naval Academy for over a decade. Manuscript Atlases held by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries - fully digitized with descriptions, Historical Altas in Persuasive Cartography, The PJ Mode Collection, Cornell University Library Other links Google Earth, a visual 3D interactive atlas. Wikimapia a wikiproject designed to describe the entire world
4.
Map
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A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, although the earliest maps known are of the heavens, geographic maps of territory have a very long tradition and exist from ancient times. The word map comes from the medieval Latin Mappa mundi, wherein mappa meant napkin or cloth, thus, map became the shortened term referring to a two-dimensional representation of the surface of the world. Cartography or map-making is the study and practice of crafting representations of the Earth upon a flat surface, in addition to location information maps may also be used to portray contour lines indicating constant values of elevation, temperature, rainfall, etc. The orientation of a map is the relationship between the directions on the map and the compass directions in reality. The word orient is derived from Latin oriens, meaning East, in the Middle Ages many maps, including the T and O maps, were drawn with East at the top. Today, the most common – but far from universal – cartographic convention is that North is at the top of a map, several kinds of maps are often traditionally not oriented with North at the top, Maps from non-Western traditions are oriented a variety of ways. Old maps of Edo show the Japanese imperial palace as the top, labels on the map are oriented in such a way that you cannot read them properly unless you put the imperial palace above your head. Medieval European T and O maps such as the Hereford Mappa Mundi were centred on Jerusalem with East at the top, indeed, prior to the reintroduction of Ptolemys Geography to Europe around 1400, there was no single convention in the West. Portolan charts, for example, are oriented to the shores they describe, Maps of cities bordering a sea are often conventionally oriented with the sea at the top. Route and channel maps have traditionally been oriented to the road or waterway they describe, polar maps of the Arctic or Antarctic regions are conventionally centred on the pole, the direction North would be towards or away from the centre of the map, respectively. Typical maps of the Arctic have 0° meridian towards the bottom of the page, reversed maps, also known as Upside-Down maps or South-Up maps, reverse the North is up convention and have south at the top. Buckminster Fullers Dymaxion maps are based on a projection of the Earths sphere onto an icosahedron, the resulting triangular pieces may be arranged in any order or orientation. Modern digital GIS maps such as ArcMap typically project north at the top of the map, compass decimal degrees can be converted to math degrees by subtracting them from 450, if the answer is greater than 360, subtract 360. The scale statement may be taken as exact when the region mapped is small enough for the curvature of the Earth to be neglected, over larger regions where the curvature cannot be ignored we must use map projections from the curved surface of the Earth to the plane. Thus for map projections we must introduce the concept of point scale, which is a function of position, although the scale statement is nominal it is usually accurate enough for all but the most precise of measurements. Large scale maps, say 1,10,000, cover relatively small regions in detail and small scale maps, say 1,10,000,000, cover large regions such as nations, continents. The large/small terminology arose from the practice of writing scales as numerical fractions, there is no exact dividing line between large and small but 1/100,000 might well be considered as a medium scale
5.
Abraham Ortelius
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Abraham Ortelius was a Flemish/Netherlandish cartographer and geographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. Ortelius was born in the city of Antwerp, which was then in the Habsburg Netherlands, the Orthellius family were originally from Augsburg, a Free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1535, the family had fallen under suspicion of Protestantism, following the death of Ortelius father, his uncle Jacobus van Meteren returned from religious exile in England to take care of Ortelius. Abraham remained close to his cousin Emanuel van Meteren who would move to London. In 1575 he was appointed geographer to the king of Spain, Philip II, on the recommendation of Arias Montanus, beginning as a map-engraver, in 1547 he entered the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as an illuminator of maps. He supplemented his income trading in books, prints, and maps, in 1560, however, when travelling with Mercator to Trier, Lorraine, and Poitiers, he seems to have been attracted, largely by Mercator’s influence, towards the career of a scientific geographer. This map subsequently appeared in reduced form in the Terrarum, in 1578 he laid the basis of a critical treatment of ancient geography by his Synonymia geographica. In 1596 he received a presentation from Antwerp city, similar to that afterwards bestowed on Rubens and his death on 28 June 1598, and his burial in the church of St. Michaels Abbey, Antwerp, were marked by public mourning. Quietis cultor sine lite, uxore, prole, reads the inscription on his tombstone, on 20 May 1570, Gilles Coppens de Diest at Antwerp issued Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas. Most of the maps were admittedly reproductions, and many discrepancies of delineation or nomenclature occur, in 1573 Ortelius published seventeen supplementary maps under the title Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terrarum. Four more Additamenta were to follow, the last one appearing in 1597 and he also had a keen interest and formed a fine collection of coins, medals and antiques, and this resulted in the book Deorum dearumque capita. He also published Itinerarium per nonnuilas Galliae Belgicae partes, a record of a journey in Belgium, in 1589 he published Maris Pacifici, the first dedicated map of the Pacific to be printed. Among his last works were an edition of Caesar, and the Aurei saeculi imago, sive Germanorum veterum vita, mores and he also aided Welser in his edition of the Peutinger Table in 1598. Contrary to popular belief, Abraham Ortelius, who had no children, never lived at the Mercator-Orteliushuis, originals of Ortelius maps are popular collectors items and often sell for tens of thousands of dollars. Facsimiles of his maps are available from many retailers. A map he made of North and South America is also included in the worlds largest commercially available jigsaw puzzle which is of four world maps and this puzzle is made by Ravensburger, measures 6 feet ×9 feet, and has over 18,000 pieces. Ortelius was the first to underline the geometrical similarity between the coasts of America and Europe-Africa, and to continental drift as an explanation. Kious described Ortelius thoughts in this way, Abraham Ortelius in his work Thesaurus Geographicus, suggested that the Americas were torn away from Europe and Africa
6.
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
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Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is considered to be the first true modern atlas. The Ortelius atlas is sometimes referred to as the summary of sixteenth-century cartography, the atlas contained virtually no maps from the hand of Ortelius, but 53 bundled maps of other masters, with the source as indicated. Previously, only the pooling of disparate maps were released as custom on order, the Ortelius atlas, however, dropped the maps for this all in the same style and on the same size on copper plates, logically arranged by continent, region and State. He provided the maps in addition to a comment and referrals on the reverse. So was first all Western European knowledge of the world together in one book. This list grew in every Latin Edition, and included no less than 183 names in 1601. For the map of Europe, wall map. of the Mercator map of Scandinavia by Olaus Magnus, map of Asia was derived from his own Asia-map from 1567, also for the Africa map he referred to Gastaldi. This work by Ortelius, consisted of a collection of the best maps, refined by himself, combined into one map or split across multiple, the naming and location coordinates were not normalized. After the initial publication of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, Ortelius regularly revised and expanded the atlas, from its original seventy maps and eighty-seven bibliographic references in the first edition, the atlas grew through its thirty-one editions to encompass 183 references and 167 maps in 1612. The 1573 Additamentum to the atlas is notable for containing Humphrey Llwyds Cambriae Typus, from the 1630s, the Blaeu family issued their work under a similar title, Theatrum orbis terrarum, sive, Atlas Novus. All those editions had the same structure and they started with an allegorical title page, on which the five known continents, were presented by allegorical women, with Europe as the Queen. Then a command to Philip II, King of Spain and the low countries, from 1579, the editions contain a portrait of Ortelius by Philip Galle, an introduction by Ortelius, in the Latin editions followed by a recommendation by Mercator. The moneyed middle class, which had much interest in knowledge and science, turned out to be much interested in the convenient size. For buyers who were not strong in Latin, published at the end of 1572 and this rapid success prompted the Ortelius Theatrum constantly continued to expand and improve. In 1573, he released 17 more additional maps under the title Additamentum Theatri Orbis Terrarum, by Ortelius death in 1598, there were twenty-five editions that appeared in 7 different languages
7.
History of cartography
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Cartography, or mapmaking, has been an integral part of the human history for thousands of years. Maps began as drawings but can also adopt three-dimensional shapes. The term cartography is modern, loaned into English from French cartographie in the 1840s, the earliest known maps are of the stars, not the earth. Dots dating to 16,500 BC found on the walls of the Lascaux caves map out part of the night sky, the Cuevas de El Castillo in Spain contain a dot map of the Corona Borealis constellation dating from 12,000 BC. Cave painting and rock carvings used simple visual elements that may have aided in recognizing landscape features, another ancient picture that resembles a map was created in the late 7th millennium BC in Çatalhöyük, Anatolia, modern Turkey. This wall painting may represent a plan of this Neolithic village, however, Maps in Ancient Babylonia were made by using accurate surveying techniques. For example, a 7.6 ×6.8 cm clay tablet found in 1930 at Ga-Sur, near contemporary Kirkuk, cuneiform inscriptions label the features on the map, including a plot of land described as 354 iku that was owned by a person called Azala. Most scholars date the tablet to the 25th to 24th century BC, Leo Bagrow dissents with a date of 7000 BC. Hills are shown by overlapping semicircles, rivers by lines, the map also is marked to show the cardinal directions. An engraved map from the Kassite period of Babylonian history shows walls, in contrast, the Babylonian World Map, the earliest surviving map of the world, is a symbolic, not a literal representation. It deliberately omits peoples such as the Persians and Egyptians, who were known to the Babylonians. The area shown is depicted as a circular shape surrounded by water, examples of maps from ancient Egypt are quite rare. Its originality can be seen in the inscriptions, its precise orientation. In reviewing the literature of early geography and early conceptions of the earth, all lead to Homer. Regardless of the doubts about Homers existence, one thing is certain, Homers knowledge of the Earth was very limited. He and his Greek contemporaries knew very little of the Earth beyond Egypt as far south as the Libyan desert, the south-west coast of Asia Minor, furthermore, the coast of the Black Sea was only known through myths and legends that circulated during his time. In his poems there is no mention of Europe and Asia as geographical concepts and that is why the big part of Homers world that is portrayed on this interpretive map represents lands that border on the Aegean Sea. Additional statements about ancient geography may be found in Hesiods poems, through the lyrics of Works and Days and Theogony he shows to his contemporaries some definite geographical knowledge. He introduces the names of rivers as Nile, Ister, the shores of the Bosporus, and the Euxine, the coast of Gaul, the island of Sicily
8.
Willem Blaeu
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Willem Janszoon Blaeu, also abbreviated to Willem Jansz. Blaeu, was a Dutch cartographer, atlas maker and publisher and he was one of the notable representatives of the Netherlandish/Dutch school of cartography in its golden age. Blaeu was born at Uitgeest or Alkmaar, as the son of a well-to-do herring salesman, he was destined to succeed his father in the trade, but his interests lay more in mathematics and astronomy. Between 1594 and 1596, as a student of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, he qualified as an instrument, in 1600 he discovered the second ever variable star, now known as P Cygni. In 1633 he was appointed map-maker of the Dutch East India Company and he had two sons, Johannes and Cornelis Blaeu, who continued their fathers mapmaking and publishing business after his death in 1638. Prints of the works are still sold today. Original maps are rare collector items, Blaeus maps were featured in the works of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer of Delft, who holds a position of great honor among map historians. Several of his paintings illustrate maps hanging on walls or globes standing on tables or cabinets, Vermeer painted these cartographical documents with such detail that it is often possible to identify the actual maps. Though no longer extant, the existence is known from archival sources. Topographia, Descriptore Balthazaro Florentio a Berkerode Batavo, Vermeer must have had a copy at his disposal. Bright sunlight bathes the girl and the map on the wall. Vermeers gift for realism is evidenced by the fact that the map, mounted on linen and wooden rods, is identifiable as Blaeus 1621 map of Holland. He captures faithfully its characteristic design, decoration, and geographic content and his maps formed the bulk of the Atlas Maior, that became a collectors item in Amsterdam. One of Blaeus globes was purchased at auction by Maarten Magielse, Magielse is now lending it to the globe museum in Vienna, where it is being exhibited. Aardglobe Hemelglobe Nieuw Graetboeck Nywe Paskaerte t Licht der zeevaert Spieghel der Schrijfkonste Nova et Accurata Totius Hollandiae Westfriesiaeq, Atlas Novus Atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Toonneel des Aerdrycks Le Theatre du Monde Theatre du monde ou Nouvel Atlas Firma Blaeu is window nummer 18 in the Canon of Amsterdam. Blaeu and Joan Blaeu, Houten, Hes & De Graaf publishers BV, ISBN 90-6194-438-4 P. J. H. Baudet, Johannes Keuning and Marijke Donkersloot-de Vrij, Willem Jansz. Blaeu, a biography and history of his work as cartographer and publisher, Amsterdam 1973
9.
Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
10.
Damrak
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The Damrak is an avenue and partially filled in canal at the centre of Amsterdam, running between Amsterdam Centraal in the north and Dam Square in the south. It is the street where people arriving at the station enter the centre of Amsterdam. Also it is one of the two GVB tram routes from the station into the centre, with lines 4,9,16 and it is also on the route of the North/South Line being constructed between the existing metro station at Centraal Station and the new Rokin station. The street was located on a rak, a part of the Amstel river near a dam. In the 19th century, a section of it was filled in, the Beurs van Berlage now serves as a concert and exhibition hall. Today, the area is known for its restaurants, bars and its canals serve as a busy area for canal boats, as well
